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Of significance here is Goal 2 of the Declaration which includes curriculum directions, in
terms of eight national key learning areas (KLAs). One of the curriculum areas agreed to by
all Australian states and territories was Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE). This
Declaration can really be seen as a watershed in initiating public discussion of the SOSE
curriculum and related topics. Since this time, there has clearly developed different and often
opposing perspectives on the relative merits of SOSE and its value in schools. It is important
to know and understand that the specific subject are, called SOSE as it is taught up to Year 10
in Queensland schools, is supported through and based on the goals of The Adelaide
Declaration.
Replacing the former Social Education strand in Queensland schools, SOSE, as a core
subject, was introduced in Queensland schools as a result of the recommendations made in
the Shaping the future—Review of the Queensland School Curriculum Report (commonly
known as Shaping the future) (Wiltshire, McMeniman & Tolhurst, 1994), chaired by Kenneth
Wiltshire. Here, it was recommended that all eight KLAs be implemented as “core areas of
the curriculum” (Wiltshire et al., 1994, p. xi), with the eight KLAs having originally been
agreed on in The Hobart Declaration (1989). Elements of the structural elements and
inclusions of the SOSE syllabus such as the “futures perspective” and “critical thinking
skills” (Wiltshire et al., 1994, p. ix) came from recommendations made in Shaping the
Future. SOSE continues to form a part of the core learning areas of school education in
Queensland, and continues to provoke considerable interest, controversy and disagreement.
A1.9.1 Queensland SOSE, History and Geography debates.
Direct connections between the history/culture wars debate and school curriculum entered the
public domain in Queensland with conservative journalist Andrew Bolt’s article in the only
state-wide newspaper, The Courier Mail, starting a Queensland-specific debate by focusing
on the then-new school syllabus for the Key Learning Area (KLA) of Studies of Society and
Environment (SOSE). The impact of this article was widespread, influencing opinions of the
general public, including parents of school age children, and providing a reference point for
commentators, academics, journalists, and persons with prominent public profiles to enter
and contribute to the debate. The article, Class Revolution, criticised the ideology Bolt
believed to be behind the syllabus, calling the syllabus writers “ideologues” (2000, n.p.) in an
attempt to cast suspicion on the motivation of the writers, particularly within the Queensland
School Curriculum Council and the Queensland Department of Education. Beyond the
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