History textbooks in crosshairs of Australia's curriculum wars
In the annals of European military history, the battle for Turkey’s Gallipoli Peninsular, which began April 25, 1915, is only a footnote. But for generations of Australians it forged a national identity of endurance, bravery, and mateship – a uniquely Australian brand of solidarity. Over 8,000 Australian soldiers died in Gallipoli, making it the country’s worst military defeat.
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The date is marked in Australia and New Zealand as ANZAC Day, a national holiday, and both countries are gearing up for a major celebration of next year’s centenary.
Now the teaching of Gallipoli in Australian schools has become one of the central skirmishes in so-called “curriculum wars” that pit a conservative government against educators and their textbooks in a young, multi-ethnic country with a complex and contested history.
Some blame Australia’s middling scores in international science and math tests on a requirement to incorporate cross-curriculum themes, such as environmentalism.