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commonly used in classrooms, and by teachers in their lesson planning, such as textbooks,
school based literary texts, such as School Readers (in the absence of History textbooks),
government endorsed teaching materials (such as sourcebooks) and school magazines.
1.2 Rationale of the Study
We can’t be selective about the history we embrace or the history we ignore. –Chris
Sarra (Brockie, 2006)
The practicality of school curriculum and teaching means that the content and perspectives of
Australian history is selective. As an embodiment of collective memory, included in order to
value certain historical facts over others, the selection of content is a deeply political
enterprise. The historical narratives included and those omitted directly impact the education
received by school students. What these selections are is the area of interest for this
dissertation. In particular, the ideological underpinnings which inform curriculum content,
such as syllabuses and textbooks, are critically deconstructed. This enables curriculum
content to be considered in its political and social context, rather than being viewed as a
benign, natural, or ‘common sense’ selection. When mapping the Australian history content
taught in Queensland schools over an extended time period, the ideologies that emerge
through the curriculum become crucial to gaining a deeper understanding of the groups and
events considered to be important for students to learn. A mapping of school curriculum can
then take place against the relevant dominant socio political discourses of the time.
This research maps the History curriculum 2 in Queensland schools throughout selected 20 th
century time periods. Three specific historical periods are explored to expose the connection
between public discourses and the content of Australian history within school History
curriculum through two selected exemplar topics, British heritages and Indigenous
representations. The historical periods are characterised by two features. First, when major
political or social events occurred within a short timeframe creating an identifiable shift in
public discourses; and second, when a new syllabus was implemented in Queensland schools.
Three specific areas of focus that meet the two characteristics listed above are: prior to and
2 When a History curriculum is not available, as is often the case for primary school grades, the broader Social
Science or Social Studies curriculum is used in its place.
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