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Implicit in this passage, and representative of the ideology underpinning curriculum during
this time, is that holding or declaring “radical views” (Cramp, 1927, p. 237) is not a positive
trait. This is emphasised in the extract above through a sentence stating that Parkes was
considered radical by some, but assuring the reader, “this is not true...” (Cramp, 1927, p. 237).
Ideology of knowledge that is apparent in this textbook is that there can be no opinion other
than that expressed. Although two opposing views are presented here, there is no opportunity
for students to make up their own minds by being given samples of primary source
documents. Instead the truth is mediated for students by the textbook author.
5.10.4 On being British.
A noteworthy area of content that changed in textbooks published prior to WWI and those
after WWI is the British battles mentioned so prolifically in textbooks (F.J. Gould, 1909) and
Readers (1913a, 1913b) before WWI have largely been omitted and not completely replaced
by WWI stories. This resulted in a decreased focus on military discourses post WWI. The
battles that are mentioned are now largely to do with WWI, especially Gallipoli and to a
lesser extent France, and some pre-WWI conflicts are still included. However, overall there is
less interest in military conflict as being promoted as worthy, perhaps a consequence of the
impact of the large-scale slaughter of enlisted soldiers, not previously seen in any conflict.
This era has brought some unexpected findings with it not being as ‘British’ as expected.
Whilst the British heritages discourses are certainly present and Australian identity can be
seen to be mediated through British heritages, this does not overshadow all content. Whereas
memory making, constructed through selected documents used in history textbooks and
school history textbooks in contemporary times, drawing on specific material from this era,
emphasize Australia’s connection to Great Britain, this was not as significantly reflected in
school History textbooks of the time. Although it is clearly evident that Great Britain is
presented as the superior power to the colonial outpost, Australia as an independent country
formed an important and significant aspect of the curriculum content. Whilst there is
evidence of loyalty to Great Britain, and it is clear that Australians should see themselves as
British this is not communicated with the amount of fervour that would be otherwise
expected. This expectation is based on the type of mediated memory making about
Australia’s connection with Great Britain in the earlier parts of the 20 th century. This is an
example of data analysis not pre-empting findings, a common criticism of this type of
qualitative research, discussed by Pennycook (1994); Wetherell (2001) and Verschueren as
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