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the curriculum presents information with overt bias, such as through claims of teaching
students about historical figures like Hoh Chi Minh, at the expense of early Australian
explorers. This dissertation rejects neo conservative viewpoints of a single truth being
paramount for students to learn. The position taken in this study is that it is important for
students, in studying narrative constructions of history, to also understand that history is both
a contested area of study and a study of contested social memory and remembering.
This dissertation, then, is based on an acknowledgement that there are connections between
official curriculum content and core and dominant socio-political values, even if they are not
always explicitly articulated. It is argued that contemporary debates surrounding the teaching
of Australian history in school classrooms are fuelled by a major readjustment of dominant
socio-political ideologies, presently linked directly to neo-patriotic notions of national values
and to changing perceptions of the role and function of history in forging the contemporary,
post-September 11 Western nation state. Appendix A: Contexts outlines the debates which fall
under the broad umbrella of the history/culture wars. These debates are linked to the impact
they have had in the classroom context, especially regarding the identity of History teaching
linked to the declining number of students studying History in senior high school (Taylor et
al., 2000).
1.1.2 Working definitions.
To explain the use of specific terms and their spelling, the following is offered as a
clarification. Terms related to the conceptual literature and the methodology that frame this
project, are defined in depth in their relevant chapters.
History/history: Throughout this dissertation, when discussed as a school subject, ‘History’ is
capitalised. When used to describe the broader field of history studies and the discipline of
history, lowercase is used. This is done in order to follow the usual school conventions of
naming subjects.
Syllabus/syllabus: Likewise, ‘Syllabus’ is capitalised when referring to a specific published
curriculum document by an official government Education Department; and lowercase
‘syllabus’ is used to describe this type of curriculum document more generally. In addition,
the increasingly accepted term syllabuses is used as the plural form, rather than the more
awkward, but traditionally acceptable, syllabi.
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