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Historian Stuart Macintyre slams Australian school course

THE lead writer on the national history curriculum has criticised the development of the school course as an unwieldy and frustrating process, with four groups of experts making changes without consulting one another.

Eminent historian Stuart Macintyre criticised the impasse between the states and the federal government over who is going to pay for the teaching resources and training needed to implement the new curriculum, due to be introduced from 2011. While universities are training teachers who will be required to teach the national curriculum, no faculty of education has adjusted its course to take account of the changes.

The problem is most serious in history, with few education faculties outside NSW including the subject in teaching degrees, and many removing it from primary school teaching courses when it is about to become mandatory.

Professor Macintyre told The Australian the consultation process set up by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority had become derailed by "capricious" decisions made to change the course without reference to the expert advisory groups or the writers....
Read entire article at The Australian