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Civics and Citizenship in the NSW Curriculum: Part 2

New South Wales Years 7-10 Syllabus released on 12 September 2024

On Thursday 13th September in the middle of NSW History Week, the final NSW Year 7-10 History Curriculum was released.  The NSW State government should be congratulated.

They have responded to feedback given by the Rule of Law Education Centre in the September and March consultations and included compulsory and explicit material on civics and citizenship with the rationale that “through the study of history students learn civics and citizenship, which form the basis for Australia’s free, democratic and egalitarian society.”

In particular, we are pleased that in response to feedback, NSW secondary students will now learn:

  • The features of the Australian Constitution, including federalism, the division of powers and separation of powers
  • Continuity and change of NSW governance structure with the example of the Supreme Court of NSW and the legacy of Sir Francis Forbes.
  • Significance of the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215 and how it limited the power of the monarchy

We are also delighted that the Stage 5 Unit (years 9 & 10), “Australia: Making a nation from Federation to World War 1”, is a now a compulsory unit.

However, if this History Curriculum is the key content that NSW students are given to be active, informed and responsible citizens, we have some serious concerns.

1. Civics education is not merely learning about Government and then voting at election time

Students must also learn about laws, the legal system and checks and balances on government powers. They must learn about their responsibilities in a free society to maintain Australia’s important institutions. Australians cannot maintain what they do not know.

The final Curriculum provides students with a cursory understanding of the Constitution and separation of powers, but greater opportunities are needed for students to understand the purpose of law, the fairness and appropriateness of laws and their punishment, the role of the Courts, principles of justice including an independent judiciary, presumption of innocence, open justice, fair trials and checks and balances such as freedom of speech.

2. The core unit for Stage 4: Aboriginal Peoples’ experiences of colonisation in Australia (1788-1901) looks at colonisation only from the perspective of the Aboriginal People’s experience.

The Rationale of the History Curriculum considers differing perspectives within a historical context “to develop an understanding of the shared history that has shaped Australia.” Whilst the Indigenous experience is important to examine, this Core Unit does not provide a balanced perspective on the formation of Australia.

It ignores the key values and foundations that were established from 1788 that have formed Australia such as the rule of law with equality before the law, the establishment of Courts, freedom of the press and the importance of enforced property rights that allowed businesses to flourish and the economy to grow etc.

3. Teacher Training is essential.

Teacher training that is linked to Curriculum areas explicit in this curriculum cannot just be specifically for History teachers. Teacher training is needed for all teachers, particularly with teacher shortages, as it may mean that a PE or English teacher may be assigned to History. All pre-service teachers should be required to complete a dedicated unit in Civic education as part of their degree, and civics and citizenship education needs to be prioritised for current practicing teachers. We need to adequately equip teachers to understand and value our democratic and legal institutions in order to teach these concepts explicitly and with depth.

This Curriculum is now FINAL so there is no real point nit-picking items in the curriculum.

The Rule of Law Education Centre will continue to advocate for explicit civic content (particularly regarding government and laws) in curriculums around Australia.

We will continue to fill those gaps in the Curriculums to develop active and informed citizens by running Court Excursion Programs and creating resources for Legal Studies, Commerce, History and Social Sciences students. In addition, we will be adding to our already popular online historical resources that provide a balanced perspective of Australia’s of legal and democratic foundations that underpin our society and provide the safety and prosperity we enjoy today.

Resources for new Curriculum… and relevant for all Australian Curriculums

The Magna Carta established the rule of law and the idea that all citizens, including those in power, should be fairly and equally ruled by the law. It began the tradition of respecting the law, limiting government power, providing access to justice and the protection of human rights.

Our video on the Magna Carta in Australia has been viewed almost 100K times! Our poster on the Legacy of the Magna Carta on Human Rights is also popular.

Francis Forbes and the NSW Supreme Court. From the earliest of days of the NSW Penal Colony, the values and institutions that underpin Australia’s democratic form of government were present. The concept of the separation of powers, with an independent judiciary and freedom of speech (through the free press), were important elements that protected the rights of citizens (both convicts and free) and contributed to a fair society.

Our resources on Checks and balances help students understand what Checks and Balances we have in Australia and how they prevent the concentration of power in a single individual or body. Our videos consider what are checks and balances and how our society would look like without checks and balances

Advocacy for Curriculum Changes

The Rule of Law Education has provided feedback and submissions on the Australian and New South Wales Curriculums.  We believe that democracy and the key principles that underline our system of government such as equality, fairness and justice must be deliberately and intentionally taught to every generation of Australians. Intentionality ensures each generation has sufficient knowledge, understanding, skills and values required to maintain a constitutional, liberal democracy.

Our Rule of Law Wheel states ‘the rule of law must be supported by informed and active citizens.’ As a result our submissions regarding the curriculum consider, from a rule of law perspective, whether Australian students are being equipped with adequate knowledge so can they be active, informed, responsible and engaged citizens and undertake their civic duties to ensure the stability of the Australian community going forward.

A copy of our most recent submissions for NSW are:

 

Submissions for  the New South Wales Curriculum Review:

NSW Commerce Curriculum

NSW History Curriculum

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