The Australian Curriculum gambit: playing knowledge games with education policy

The Australian Curriculum, and therefore the Australian education system, continues to be a site of contestation and review. The Australian Curriculum has become dominated by third parties playing knowledge games with the document to win elections. This paper draws on ongoing research into political...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCurriculum perspectives Vol. 44; no. 2; pp. 181 - 191
Main Authors Heggart, Keith, Barnes, Naomi, Kolber, Steven, Mahoney, Tom, Malcher, Cameron
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Singapore Springer Nature Singapore 01.07.2024
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Critical race theory
Curricula
Curriculum Studies
Desegregation
Diversity training
Education
Education policy
Educational Change
Educational Equity (Finance)
Educational Finance
Educational Policy
Educational Technology
Grade 1
Ideology
Inclusion
Industrial Training
Knowledge
National Curriculum
Neoliberalism
Phonics
Politicians
Politics
Politics of Education
Race
Racial Integration
Racism
Research Article
School boards
School Choice
School Desegregation
Social Media
Social networks
Teacher Improvement
Teacher Qualifications
Think tanks
United Kingdom > UK
Australia
United States > US
Critical race theory
Australian Curriculum
Educational policy
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Summary:The Australian Curriculum, and therefore the Australian education system, continues to be a site of contestation and review. The Australian Curriculum has become dominated by third parties playing knowledge games with the document to win elections. This paper draws on ongoing research into political knowledge games in educational policy making in the ongoing debates about History and Civics and Citizenship Education (CCE) in the Australian Curriculum. The actions are undertaken by various politicians via an analysis of social media activity. The findings indicate that the development of curriculum, which is something that should be undertaken via a democratic process that privileges community engagement and majority influence, is at risk of being subverted by these actors through ideology-borrowing, laundering and acquisition. The paper will conclude with a discussion of what teachers and traditional advocacy groups should be concerned with in an age where curriculum is determined by social media.
ISSN:0159-7868
2367-1793
DOI:10.1007/s41297-023-00222-x