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7.67. Two examples in particular show this from a Pupil information sheet. The first is
indicative of the way British heritages are significantly silenced during this era.
Source 7.67. Extract from a Pupil information sheet in Primary Social Studies
sourcebook year 5 (Department of Education, 1988a, p. 115)
There is no information provided of who “granted ‘responsible government’” (Department of
Education, 1988a, p. 115) or who the “settlers demanded a greater role in their own
government” (Department of Education, 1988a, p. 115) from, effectively silencing British
heritages. The second example is out-of-context to other information the students have been
exposed to throughout this unit, with the Pupil information sheet containing only one
reference to Great Britain, in its concluding paragraph (see Source 7.68).
Source 7.68. Pupil information sheet extract from Primary Social Studies
sourcebook year 5 (Department of Education, 1988a, p. 115).
These two extracts draw attention to a disjointed representation of Federation,
notwithstanding the exclusion of British heritages. Not even the date of Federation (1
January, 1901) is included for students to learn—a basic historical fact that students need to
be exposed to if the curriculum is to accurately cover Australian history.
Regarding the place of Australia’s Federation included in the high school curriculum, in
discussing the reasons for Federation, Spanning time (Power et al., 1985) leaves out any
mention of Great Britain, which other textbooks from this era (for example Cowie, 1980)
recognise as being an important factor in shaping arguments both for and against Federation.
These inclusions are analysed in the appropriate section of this chapter. In the decision of
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