First Nations education must not be sidelined in curriculum reform
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation (NATSIEC), and the National Indigenous Youth Education Coalition (NIYEC), are warning that proposed changes to the Australian Curriculum risk weakening how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and knowledges are embedded in what Australian students learn.
The Coalition has announced that it would remove the Australian Curriculum’s three cross-curriculum priorities, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures. It has proposed, instead, teaching these areas as discrete, carefully planned topics within relevant subjects.
The Coalition has also proposed greater emphasis on what it describes as “Western values”, including democracy, the rule of law, a “fair go”, constitutional monarchy and federation, alongside Western literature, art, music and philosophy, and a stronger focus on building “national pride”.
NATSIEC believes these proposals raise fundamental questions about what Australian students should be expected to know about the country they live in, and how they will develop the knowledge and critical thinking needed to understand Australia’s history and contemporary society.
NATSIEC CEO Shas Jurud said First Nations histories and knowledges cannot be separated from an understanding of Australia.
“You cannot meaningfully teach democracy, equality, the rule of law or national identity without giving students the opportunity to understand the history of this country, including colonisation, dispossession, terra nullius, frontier violence, discriminatory laws, the forced removal of children, and the continuing impacts of colonisation and settler colonialism.”
“Our community have been clear that culture, Country, language and identity are fundamental to education. They have also been clear that education must be culturally safe, anti-racist and self-determined.”
The current Australian Curriculum does not treat Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures as a standalone subject.
The cross-curriculum priority provides a framework through which First Nations histories, cultures, perspectives and knowledges are incorporated into relevant learning areas. ACARA states that cross-curriculum priorities are embedded in learning-area content where they are integral to the knowledge, understanding and skills being taught.
Jurud said moving First Nations histories and cultures from a cross-curriculum priority to discrete topics risks narrowing where and how students encounter that knowledge.
“Truth-telling gives young people the knowledge and critical thinking skills to understand how Australia came to be what it is today.
“If we are going to teach students about democracy, the rule of law, equality and national pride, they should be able to examine how those ideas and institutions have operated throughout Australian history, including for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
“Curriculum reform framed around national identity, Australian values, social cohesion or addressing racism and discrimination must not narrow students’ ability to understand colonisation, settler colonialism and their continuing effects.
“National identity becomes stronger, not weaker, when students are equipped to understand the whole history of the place where they live.”
As the National Peak Body for First Nations education, NATSIEC is informed by community who have consistently called for education that is culturally safe and anti-racist, recognises the role of culture, Country, language and identity in learning, gives First Nations people meaningful authority in decisions affecting our children, and recognises families, Elders, communities and Country as fundamental to education.
NIYEC CEO Hayley McQuire said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and young people had consistently called for their histories and cultures to be reflected in the curriculum.
“We have heard from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and young people, time and time again, that they want to see themselves reflected in the curriculum. Learning the truth of our past and having their cultures safely represented in classrooms supports inclusion and belonging.”
“The proposed changes to the curriculum do not address the many tangible issues that are impacting our students and young people and growing inequity currently within our education systems.”
She said governments should listen to the priorities of First Nations children and young people rather than using their histories and cultures as a political issue.
“Rather than using Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, our histories, knowledges and cultures as a political football, we’d welcome the Coalition to listen to the experiences and priorities of our children and young people - the very people most impacted by these changes.”
“All young Australians deserve an education where they feel safe, included and where they can form a connection to this place. We fear the broader rhetoric that accompanies the proposed changes will cause harm to the more than 270,000 First Nations students currently in school.”
Jurud said any future curriculum reform must include First Nations people in its design.
“Community have already told governments what good education looks like.
“Any reform to the national curriculum must be developed with First Nations communities, educators and organisations, and it must not result in First Nations histories, cultures and knowledges having a smaller or more marginal place in Australian education.
“First Nations histories and cultures are not optional. First Nations knowledge is knowledge. And First Nations history is Australian history.”
ENDS
Media contact:
Bronte Charles
Communications and Engagement Officer
NATSIEC
0448 385 984
bronte.charles@natsiec.edu.au