AUSTRALIAN HISTORY AND THE PRIME MINISTER

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found on ABC News online.

Howard urges history curriculum revamp

Prime Minister John Howard has opened a history summit at Parliament House in Canberra by calling for a return to a more disciplined approach to Australian history teaching in schools.
Mr Howard first ignited debate on the subject during his Australia Day address.

Today eminent historians, teachers and social commentators have gathered in Canberra to discuss it. Mr Howard wants history to be a stand-alone subject, with an emphasis on dates and facts.

"How you can just teach issues and study moods in history rather than comprehend and teach the narrative has always escaped me," Mr Howard said. But he says he is not trying to influence what is taught.

"I want to make it very clear that we are not seeking some kind of official version of Australian history," he said. "We're not seeking some sort of nostalgic return to a particular version of Australian history."

Vietnam veteran and Labor backbencher Graham Edwards says a greater focus on history might put an end to Australia's involvement in senseless conflicts. "A good reason for teaching history in Australia - it might keep us from being involved in more follies and more wars," he said.

Mr Howard has also announced a new $100,000 Prime Minister's prize for a substantial historical work.

State ministers excluded

Education Minister Julie Bishop has identified Western Australia and Victoria as states which are not placing enough emphasis on Australian history in schools. She has also defended her decision not to invite state education ministers to the summit.

"I have chosen a group of individuals who I believe have a great deal to offer in terms of providing advice to me and armed with that advice I'll be in a position to work with state and territory governments."

Ms Bishop says this afternoon's agenda will look at how much prominence the subject should receive. She says those taking part agree history should be a core part of curriculum, but that may not mean making it compulsory. "That's still under discussion - all participants agree that it should be a critical part," she said. "The question is how to ensure that is the case, how to ensure that education authorities are prepared to embed Australian history in the school curriculum."

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I agree that many of the young people today could do with more knowledge of Australia's History but what about Language studies, and Maths etc. Many young people seem to have bad diction and bad spelling. The teachers these days think it is okay for them spell how it sounds and I think it's wrong. There other languages to consider to learn. We are a multi-cultural nation and the young people could find being able to more effectively communicate in other languages quite beneficial. So many of then cannot count either without the help from calculating tools.
It appears to have created a loss of sense of monetary value.

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Summit agrees on national approach to history teaching

A history summit in Canberra has recommended Australian history be taught as a core, stand alone subject in years nine and 10. The issue was first raised by Prime Minister John Howard in an Australia Day address. Today historians, teachers and social commentators nutted out a new national approach to the subject.

The summit agreed a national curriculum should be developed for all states and territories, but Education Minister Julie Bishop will not say if she will tie the curriculum to federal funding. "It's been an extremely productive day and I'm looking forward to working collaboratively with the state and territory education ministers," she said. "What the Australian Government has done is taken a lead in restoring Australian history to a key place in Australian schools. "Now we don't run state government schools, but what we're seeking to do is provide the states and territories with the benefit of the advice that has come from the history summit."

Former New South Wales premier Bob Carr, who was involved in the summit, says the specific details of what exactly should be taught is still being worked through. "It agrees that students should come to an understanding of the character of Australian society by pursuing, over a wide range of years, a series of open ended questions about the character of Australia's society based on a clear chronology of events," Mr Carr said.

But Mr Carr has urged state leaders to adopt the recommendations. "I think states and territories should feel pretty comfortable moving within this space," he said. "I'd like to see this happen by cooperation. I'm pretty comfortable with it because we did this in New South Wales, it is compulsory - study for 100 hours subject to an external examination, so we're pretty comfortable with the concept."