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...the single most important obstacle to the constructions of a sound and sustainable
national history education curriculum is political interference. By that I mean
attempts by both sides of the education debate to characterise history education,
which is particularly susceptible to political interference as a form of indoctrination.
(2008a, p. 28)
A third and final concern or obstacle to note, and one that links directly with the point above
is community concern over the type of History school students should learn, and the approach
taken to teach students this history. As noted specifically in Appendix A: Contexts and related
to curriculum theory more generally in Chapter 2: Literature Review, is the issue of whether
students should learn dates and facts within a traditional approach, or whether students should
be immersed in an open inquiry and progressivist approach to learning. Much of the debate is
concerned with a traditional versus progressive education (even if these terms are not always
used). Like other aspects of the history/culture wars, a binary between the two is established,
whereby it is perceived that only one approach can form the pedagogical content approach of
History curriculum. In all, these three concerns highlight the contentions that exist in the
History curriculum and how they have surfaced in the curriculum throughout various eras in
the 20 th century.
8.3 Representations of British Heritages and Indigenous Australians in National
History: A critical reflection.
What follows in this and the following sub-sections, and in consideration of the points listed
above, is the final stage of Fairclough’s approach, being the stage of “reflect critically on the
analysis” (Fairclough, 2001, p. 124). This reflection covers a final analysis of the two
exemplar topics, British heritages and Indigenous representations across the three eras
investigated: Before and immediately after WWI; Black movement in Australia 1964-1975;
and the 1988 Bicentennial era. To avoid repetition, as each of the eras has already been
extensively analysed within their relevant chapters, what is included here is a summary
critical reflection.
Across the three eras studied, it became apparent that the perspective attributed to historical
events and people was presented in a way that reflects the dominant or (especially in the case
of the 1980s curriculum) the emerging dominant socio-political discourses of the time. Whilst
this is not a great revelation, what is of interest is that these views are reflected in the school
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