The number of content descriptions of what teachers should teach and what students should learn has been cut by 21%. In primary school geography, 50% of these descriptions have gone or been reduced.
Articles on Australian Curriculum review
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More of the curriculum is devoted to climate change, but it’s still not presented holistically. Teachers also need more training and resources to help them prepare students for a changing climate.
By pushing the timing of approval back to April, likely just before the election, the government has put itself in a position to use the curriculum to score political points.
The new version of the Australian Curriculum should be approved for use by 2022. With the ongoing controversy around the document, ministers must remember three crucial things.
Education Minister Alan Tudge has rejected the draft history curriculum. He wants students to learn that ‘we live in the greatest country on Earth’. That’s not history. It’s jingoistic nationalism.
Public debates about the Australian Curriculum are arguably a sign of democracy at work. Suggesting that some things, such as Anzac Day, are sacred and beyond critical inquiry is not.
The national curriculum expects teachers to teach some maths concepts through a financial lens. The revised curriculum includes the financial lens as an example teachers can use, if they choose to.
Critical race theory highlights the systemic and institutional nature of racism. A campaign to misrepresent the theory is being waged by right-wing actors in the US, and some at home.
The proposed maths curriculum would result in a deeper understanding of key concepts. It expects students to explain their maths reasoning rather than present their answer without justification.
At the heart of accusations of a crowded curriculum are concerns key areas — such as literacy and numeracy — will be compromised by an insidious creep towards content such as gender issues.
Australia’s curriculum is being reviewed for the first time since 2014. The proposed changes include positive additions to acknowledge our many cultures. But there are some reductive changes, too.
Top contributors
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Senior Lecturer, School of Education, The University of Queensland
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Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Tasmania
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Lecturer and Research Fellow, School of Geography, Planning, and Spatial Sciences. Coordinator, Education for Sustainability Tasmania, University of Tasmania
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Research associate, University of Sydney
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Professor of Education Policy and Practice, Youth Studies, Monash University
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Professor, Mathematics Education, University of New England
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Future Ocean and Coastal Infrastructures (FOCI) Consortium, Memorial University, Canada, and Centre for Marine Socioecology, University of Tasmania
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Senior Lecturer in Education, Deakin University
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Associate Professor, Southern Cross University
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Professor, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies and Director of the Centre for Marine Socioecology, UTAS, University of Tasmania
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Senior Research Fellow in Climate Science Communication, Climate Futures Program, University of Tasmania, University of Tasmania
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Lecturer in Arts and Teacher Education, University of the Sunshine Coast
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Professor, School of Education, Deakin University
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Senior Lecturer in Curriculum and Pedagogy, University of Tasmania
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Professor, School of Education, University of Southern Queensland