Tuesday, December 18, 2007

We're just too young - and relaxed

Okay, so our governments obviously think kids aren't learning enough of Australian history, or something like that, seeing as how their planning to put even more hours of history into the already bloated curriculum. They're always saying that kids don't learn enough of our history. Thing is, we do. Ho ho do we ever. Over the last two years i have been treated with enough Australian history to last me at least 5 years. The thing is, we just forget it. On the majoritie's side i'm sure it's just the fact that they're kids, who don't care about it when they're 14, 15 or 16.
However, I believe one major factor in Australian kids not "knowing" some important parts of Australian history (think dates of the first fleet, first to discover the country, first prime minister etc etc) can be boiled down largely to the fact that we have a short and boring history.
Think about it. Our biggest scandles and such things in politics are the Whitlam dismissal (which I never want to hear another word about, ever again in my life) and the disappearance of Harold Holt. I was taught nothing about the latter in school (and i'm sure most kids would have no idea of even how the guy disappeared).
And if we're not taught nothing about it, the subject is taught to death, a sure way to kill a students enthusiasm for a subject.
But really, having been watching Monarchy lately on the ABC, a programme which traces the histroy of English monarchy, i have realised just how deathly borign our history is. Of course this is due to our late start as a country, when democracy was already THE western government system, religion was not controlled by the state and we had a well established, powerful mother country to look after us through a good deal of our development.
There's just no blood in our history, and it makes us boring.
England had kings, queens and all other associated being killed left, right and centre over any slight claim to throne that they possessed and a whole load of countries in Europe and beyond, not to forget America of course, have had revolutions and civil wars which have shaped the history of their nation, nto to mention assassinations of powerful figures, which in some cases sparked wars - world wars.
In any case, i believe Aussies are too relxed to have started any major, politically centred, conflict - we jsut don't care. Of course, if we'd had a longer history i'd probably be eating my words, but the fact remains, that is one reason kids just plain don't like Australian history.
I would just like to know, why doesn't the government look at taking stuff out of the geography course that isn't geography??

1 comment:

sejtraav said...

i know how harold holt disappeared!
He was captured by a chinese mini-sub off the coast of victoria!!
lol