PDF (Whole Thesis) - USQ ePrints - University of Southern ...

elativism in school curriculum, specifically in relation to religion and history which he views
as encompassing “...a postmodern view of the world, one where there are no absolutes and
where knowledge is subjective, students are also told that historical understanding is multiple,
conflicting and partial...” (Donnelly, 2006b, p. 12).
A1.8.2 National curriculum.
Criticisms of the impact of the history/culture wars in school classrooms have boosted
support from conservatives (politically right-wing) and non conservatives (politically leftwing)
alike for the implementation of the proposed national curriculum. The emergence in
the current plan to implement a national curriculum (commenced by the Howard Government
and continued by the Labor Government), can be seen in relation to the sustained criticism of
state-based syllabuses, particularly those of English and SOSE. Since the National History
Summit held in Canberra in August 2006, there has been sustained interest in the school
History curriculum, evident through media reports and other publications. The summit was
held, due to Howard’s view that school history was “...taught...as some kind of fragmented
stew of moods and events, rather than some kind of proper narrative” (Salusinszky & Ferrari,
2006, p. 1). The outcome of the summit was a communiqué providing an overview of a
proposed Australian history curriculum. It stated that “Australian history ‘should be
sequentially planned through primary and secondary schooling and should be distinct
subjects in years 9 and 10’ as an ‘essential and required core part of all students’ learning
experience’” (Kelly, 2006, p. 20).
A direct relationship between the history/culture wars and education is made evident with
Kevin Donnelly’s welcoming of the Howard government’s proposed national curriculum.
Writing in The Weekend Australian, Donnelly; who appears to have amnesia from his prior
statement in The Weekend Australian of “...judged by the attempt already under way,
represented by the Australian Statements of Learning in maths, English and civics, there are
dangers in imposing a national approach” (2006c, p. 24, emphasis added); now asserted
“Prime Minister John Howard’s intervention in the culture wars, represented by the proposed
Australian history guide for years 9 and 10 of high school, has drawn a chorus of criticism
from the usual suspects” (Donnelly, 2007b, p. 24). Here, Donnelly attempts to create or at
the very least prolong argument that in order to revert the influence of the “cultural Left”
(Donnelly, 2007b, p. 24), a national curriculum needs to be established so that, unlike the
current state-specific SOSE syllabuses, History is taught as a “...stand-alone subject, and its
488