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A syllabus in the Queensland schooling context refers to a document, usually in booklet form,
that directly informs and influences the teaching of school subjects. Luke and Weir, writing
for a Queensland context, define the syllabus “as a map and descriptive overview of the
curriculum, as a structured summary and outline of what should be taught and learned”
(2008, p. 11). They also go on to write,
We define the syllabus as an official map of a school subject. That is, it provides
teachers with a rationale and outline of the school subject in question, an overview
and specification of preferred expected ‘stuff’ to be taught and learned, and
description of operational ways of appraising standards for gauging student
performance. The expected learnings can be stated in various forms (e.g., as
knowledge, skills, competences, processes and experiences). (Luke and Weir, 2008,
p. 14-15, emphasis in original)
During the construction stages of a syllabus in Queensland, consultation occurs with a variety
of stakeholders including Department of Education employees, university academics,
teachers, parent groups, teacher professional associations and community groups. Completed
syllabuses are endorsed, published and distributed by the Department of Education. It is
mandated through legislation (currently through the Education (Queensland Studies
Authority) Act 2002) that government schools adhere to the syllabus curriculum content, and
unit plans for each school term are generally derived directly from the syllabus content.
Syllabuses cover one subject each (except in the early 20 th century when they were usually
combined) and set the structure and content of curriculum, including suggested assessment
practices (although depending on the syllabus and era it was produced, there are some
mandatory rather than suggested assessment practices for teachers to follow). Content is
divided into school years and is sometimes further explicitly divided into term by term
curriculum requirements particularly in past eras such as those covered in this research. Each
syllabus also contains an explicit statement of its aims and educational philosophy that
informs the teaching and learning, and pedagogical approaches generally, of the subject it
covers.
Curriculum, for the purposes of this study, takes on a narrow meaning, due in part to the
research only investigating the content of History curriculum, rather than pedagogical
processes of teaching. Here, then curriculum refers to the range of content-based materials
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