An international literature review was conducted and an environmental scan of the following Australian jurisdictions and international curriculum documents was undertaken. Enabling the development of school-based curricula within curriculum guidelines is seen as a strength of the Queensland curricula under review. All curricula should incorporate inquiry-based learning according to the syntax of the relevant discipline and encourage the development of conceptual understandings of specific subjects.
The only exception to this is the UK where most assessment is 100% external.
Pedagogical approaches
Study of Religion: When studying this subject, the internal component takes various forms including: oral presentations, written reports, research reports and source analysis. Social Studies: Where this subject is offered, common assessments include short answers, extended answers, in-depth studies and exams. External components are mostly exams, but these exams can take many forms such as tests, essays or short answers.
An exception to this is Geography AS/A level, which has an internally moderated piece of assessment.
Implications for the revision of Queensland syllabuses
Recommendations
Critical inquiry should be maintained with more explicit links to the role of second-order concepts such as evidence, meaning, cause and effect, change and continuity, perspective, empathy and contestability in the study of the modern world. Bridging and background studies should also be included in context, from local to international, and build on the Australian Curriculum History 7–10 focus on Australia in the world history approach to ensure that the proposed topics for research are balanced (i.e. not just focused on Australian and/or European history). More scaffolding (as above) to help teachers interpret complex social, political and cultural dialogues in relation to the role of religious views for classroom practice.
Specific guidance should be provided to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives are incorporated.
Comparable syllabuses from selected Australian and international
Recommendations
Ancient History: This subject is offered in three of the Australian jurisdictions under review - Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia. There are many similarities between these jurisdictions, including that they use a historical inquiry approach and that they value knowledge and understanding, as well as higher-order thinking skills through a range. This is more in line with the United Kingdom where the equivalent subject is called Archaeology.
Modern History: As with geography, Australian modern history curricula share a similar foundation: inquiry, conceptual and higher order thinking taught through a range of topics and assessed through a variety of assessment instruments. The subject is not available in New South Wales but is called Philosophy and Ethics in Western Australia. Like other courses in the humanities and social sciences, the emphasis here is on research and higher-order thinking.
Study of Religion: This subject is referred to variously across the national and international jurisdictions: Religion (New South Wales); Religion and Society (Victoria); Religion and Life (Western Australia); Religious Studies in the UK and World Religions in Canada (university preparation) and for the IB. Again there is evidence of higher order thinking skills, inquiry through a variety of themes and assessment instruments. Study of Society: This subject is only offered in one other jurisdiction in Australia, namely New South Wales, where it is referred to as Society and Culture.
In Canada, university preparation is again mentioned, where the subject is called General Social Sciences. The IB uses the name Social and Cultural Anthropology and in the United Kingdom the subject is known as Sociology.
Connections with the Australian Curriculum
Implications for the revision of Queensland syllabuses
The Senior Secondary Australian Curriculum: Ancient History reflects the trend of the syllabus documents reviewed as it covers a similar period, i.e. The Senior Secondary Australian Curriculum aims to equip students with the skills to deal with written and archaeological sources, together with conflicting interpretations about their meaning (historiography). This syllabus builds on the approach to developing historical knowledge and understanding and Historical Skills from the Australian Curriculum History F–10 (version prior to the 2014 review).
Of note is the inclusion of an understanding of issues related to ethical study, ownership, and conversation about the past. It is proposed that this focus be incorporated and emphasized in the revision of the Queensland Ancient History Curriculum. The limited scope for introductory, basic and bridging studies due to the long proposed time allocation for advanced studies is a cause for concern.
It develops an approach to the history of the modern world, which is studied at levels 9-10. Grades in the Australian Curriculum: History F–10 (2014 pre-review version). The emphasis is on research approaches to the interpretation and evaluation of primary and secondary sources from the past in connection with the significance of events, movements, individuals and groups that shaped the modern world. The curriculum defines the content (knowledge, understanding and skills to be taught and learned) and achievement standards for the quality of learning (depth of understanding, .range of knowledge and difficulty of skills).
This syllabus is based on the approach to developing historical knowledge and understanding and the Historical Skills of Australian Curriculum History F–10 (version prior to the 2014 Revision). Note that concerns about the suggested timing of in-depth studies were raised during ACARA's consultation process as the documents were developed.
Recommendations
Classical Studies focuses on investigating sources and the nature of societies in the Western tradition, Greece and Rome. Modern History focuses on the analysis of primary and secondary sources of the past from the late 18th century to the present. Modern History focuses on the analysis of primary and secondary sources from the 20th century, but refers to significant formative changes from the 18th century.
The study of religion focuses on the nature of religion, the influence of religion, and religious inquiry. Modern History focuses on the nature of history as a discipline, its method, sources and interpretations, and historiography. Philosophy and Reason focus on the nature of philosophical activity as applied to a variety of sources.
Study of Religion focuses on the nature of the human condition and core beliefs of a range of religions and their practices. AQA Ancient History (Archaeology) focuses on the interdisciplinary nature of archeology and its significance for the tracing and interpretation of sources. Ancient History (Classical Civilization) focuses on the study of primary classical sources to understand Greek and/or Roman society and values.
Modern history focuses on the nature of evidence, the significance of historical events, the role of individuals, and the nature of change over time. The study of religion focuses on the study of different religions in order to gain an understanding of different, philosophical and ethical viewpoints.
Recommendations
The Composition of the Fleet The Nature of the Voyage Early Experiences in the New Settlement. The literature emphasizes the importance of students constructing an understanding of the past through questions (van Drie & van Boxtel, 2008). History educators in the European Union (EU) and the USA argue that the development of historical knowledge and understanding in history requires an aptitude for asking questions about the past and sources (Wineburg, 1998; van Boxtel & van Drie, 2004).
Such higher-order thinking skills provide a foundation for students to engage with the concept of contestability in the study of the past (Davies, 2011; Lévesque, 2008; Wineburg, 2001). The Senior Secondary Australian Curriculum: Ancient History and Modern History emphasizes that students engage with the concept of contestability in their study of the past. It is recommended that the revised syllabi for Ancient History and Modern History continue the focus of the 2004 versions on the critical process of research/source use and formulation of questions.
The challenge for teachers is to make the study of the remains of the past meaningful and relevant to young people. Response from historians writing about Chinese immigrants in Australia in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Use a copy of the following table to identify, if necessary, how each of the historians responded to the questions described in the first column.
Inquiry is not new, originating in the work of Dewey and Vygotsky in the first half of the 20th century. Recent international literature and contemporary debates have centered on issues such as secularisation, civil religion and the coherence of religion in the context of globalization and multiculturalism. One of the most important scholars of religious studies, Ninian Smart advocated multi-perspective and multi-dimensional approaches to the study of religions.
In the revision of the syllabi Religious Studies, Philosophy and Reason, Social Research, Religion and Ethics, Society and Social Studies, it is important to build on the inquiry.
Recommendations
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) (2012) Geography Curriculum, www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/humanities-and-social-. A Roadmap for Geography Education in the 21st Century: Research into Geography Education (A Geography Commission of Inquiry Report of the Roadmap for Geography Education in the 21st Century Project). How students' beliefs about the relationship between past and present influence the way they make meaning of the history taught.
London: Department for Education, www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-history- programs-of-study. Defining social studies again', paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans. Useful historical pasts: A study of students' framings of the past: Full research report ESRC end of grant report.
Teaching the humanities and social sciences: history, geography, economics and citizenship in the Australian curriculum 5th ed. Hart (ed.), Teaching the Social Sciences and Humanities in an Australian Curriculum (pp th ed. Students' historical imagination and the attribution of meaning while engaged in heritage projects (Unpublished doctoral dissertation).
