By Lucy Carroll
Students will be taught about Indigenous Australians’ experience of European colonisation under a proposed overhaul to the mandatory content included in the year 7 to 10 history syllabus.
In a draft syllabus released by NSW Education Standards Authority, a new unit on the era of colonisation would be introduced to deepen high school students’ knowledge about Aboriginal culture and past, and to present a “a more balanced view” of Australian history.
A new unit on the era of colonisation will be introduced to deepen high school students’ knowledge about Aboriginal culture and past.
Paul Martin, the chief executive of NESA, said new compulsory content on Aboriginal cultures and history gives students a thorough understanding of the Australian experience and heritage, “but is not at the expense of European history”.
The syllabus changes – released to teachers for consultation on Monday – mean students in year 7 and 8 will learn about colonisation and Aboriginal perspectives as a core study area, in addition to compulsory ancient world and global Middle Ages units.
“We’ve struck a good balance for students learning more about the perspectives of Australia’s past,” Martin said.
The changes mark a move away from the political turmoil that was ignited in 2021 when former federal education minister Alan Tudge expressed concerns about draft changes to the national curriculum and the level of emphasis given to teaching First Nations perspectives.
Historian at the University of Technology, Anna Clark, said that given the decades-long “heat of the history wars”, the proposed revisions to the NSW syllabus represent a powerful inclusion about understanding Australian history and how it is taught it in schools.
“Indigenous Australians’ experience of colonisation was broadly included in the old syllabus, but it was not nearly as explicit in the way it details the effects of colonisation on First Nations people,” Clark said.
“Some violent aspects of colonisation were included, but this is shifting our gaze back to what it means for people who were here first.”
In the previous syllabus, students learnt about Aboriginal history in the years 9 and 10 topic on rights and freedoms but colonisation – and Indigenous perspectives – were optional study areas.
Students in year 7 to 10 will be taught about Indigenous Australians’ experience of European colonisation.Credit: Ben Plant
A spokesperson for NESA said the proposed year 7 and 8 history syllabus changes would include broader Aboriginal perspectives and experiences of colonisation, the causes and consequences of the Frontier Wars, significant conflicts during initial contact, and the reasons for expansion over the Blue Mountains and into Tasmania.
More focus on the impact and legacies of colonisation would also be included, and developments in government policies towards Indigenous Australians.
The revisions follow the release of the final NSW Curriculum Review which recommended NESA develop a curriculum that spells out what students should know and understand about Aboriginal culture and history.
A draft human society and environment (HSIE) syllabus will also be released for primary school students, which will for the first time include ancient history topics, place more emphasis on writing, and include more Aboriginal history, language and culture content.
Students from kindergarten to year 6 will be able to learn about sites and structures from the ancient past, and compare and identify objects from China, Egypt, Greece and Rome.
Martin said having one simplified primary school HSIE syllabus would replace the existing separate geography and history syllabuses.
Draft syllabus changes for year 7 to 10
- Focus on Aboriginal peoples’ experiences of colonisation in Australia
- Significant groups, individuals, ideas, beliefs, practices and events in the period of contact and colonisation in Australia with a focus on the causes of the Frontier Wars, and significant conflicts during initial contact
- Reasons for expansion over Blue Mountains and into Tasmania
- Escalating tensions, resistance, conflicts and significance of Aboriginal identities involved
- Impact and legacies of contact and colonisation of Aboriginal peoples
“This is a major improvement for primary teachers planning and delivering lessons. Students will also be introduced to the ancient world in age-appropriate ways from kindergarten to year 2,” he said.
“Significantly for the first time, draft syllabuses in primary and high school offer students a deeper understanding of Australia’s European heritage and Aboriginal history, giving a more balanced view.”
Other proposed changes to the high school history syllabus include an optional in-depth Holocaust study unit, which was previously only available if schools decided develop and offer it.
“It is now being offered as a depth study to provide teachers with clarity and detail about this significant historical event,” a NESA spokesperson said. A separate in-depth study unit on the rights and freedoms of Australian women has also been included.
Chief executive of the NSW Education Standards Authority, Paul Martin, said the draft syllabuses offer students deeper understanding of Australia’s European heritage and Aboriginal history.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
Jonathon Dallimore, from the NSW History Teachers Association, said the changes were pragmatic, and rebalanced the syllabus to include a mix of mandated and optional content.
“It proposes a sensible structure, and will force all teachers and students to engage with 19th century Australian history, whereas that has been optional. It gives the content more backbone and a narrative that leads into year 9 and 10 topics on Australians at war and rights and freedoms topics,” he said.
Dallimore said the history wars spiked in the 1990s when “politicians were rigorously debating the nature of the Australian story”.
“That spilled over into discussions about what should be included in schools curriculum. That was all intensified again when a national curriculum was introduced about ten years ago,” he said.
“I see these changes as a rebuilding of the history syllabus. Before 2012 students could have learnt about perspectives on colonisation, however these changes spell out more specific terminology and point out specific events.”
Other syllabuses released for consultation this week include kindergarten to year 6 physical development, health and physical education, creative arts; and years 7 to 10 PDHPE, history and visual arts.
The consultation follows a major revamp to the English and maths syllabuses for years 3 to 10, set to be implemented across all schools from next year.
Martin said the syllabus consultation will guarantee changes reflect the views of teachers and the community. “NSW is delivering a world-class curriculum that will better support teachers delivering lessons and improving student outcomes,” he said.
NESA will run two rounds of consultation on the drafts, with the final syllabuses to be released in 2024 and implemented in schools from 2027.
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