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7.23.6 Representations of British heritages.
As discussed throughout the analysis, there is an obvious absence of British heritages
represented in national history, even when topics are included that lend themselves to have
British heritages extensively included. More often, British heritages are included significantly
disjointed from the main point of the given historical narrative, included as random anecdotes
or footnotes to history narratives, rather than an important component of events. Instead of
discussing any British roots or framework in modern Australia, history is very much
presented as only ‘Australian’ without the influence of Great Britain in the past or present.
Two representations of British heritages in particular emerge from the analysis of this era,
prominent in school curriculum across grade levels. First, British representations are
significantly absent and sometimes omitted from Australian history. Second, is that these
representations are often included in content, for example The Treaty of Versailles and post
WWII policies, as a way to point out the increasing dissociation of Australia from the former
colonial power. Unlike Indigenous representations, examples of British heritages in textbooks
do not speak so much of a British culture or the actions and attitudes of British people and
groups. Instead, a global view of British heritages is evident that presents British systems and
processes, such as for example, Australia’s parliamentary system influenced by Great Britain.
The inclusion of British heritages in Australian national history is legitimised by featuring
Great Britain as the leader of systems, processes and institutions (for example, parliamentary
systems, governance and military power), with Australia copying parts of these and greatly
influenced by the once-imperial power. In early 20 th century history, this is viewed through
an ideology of British superiority, with Australia following or complying with Great Britain.
However, there is a marked shift in this—especially evident through the narrative in the
textbook The modern world emerges (Lawrence et al., 1986)—whereby Australia ceases to
position Great Britain as a superior nation or empire and makes decisions independent from,
and not always aligned with the views of Great Britain. It is as though in celebrating the 1988
Bicentennial, Australia is attempting to establish a distinct ‘Australian’ identity through
selective history narratives, at the expense of British influence and participation, with
discourses of multiculturalism replacing British heritages.
To conclude, analysis of textbooks and other school curriculum documents for this era
demonstrate that discourses of celebration related to the exemplar topics, British heritages
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