Secondary students on a tour of the National Museum of Australia photograph by Lannon Harley National Museum of Australia Why a national history curriculum needs a museum site study by Louise Zarmati Abstract With the Rudd government committed When Australian high school students were to producing a national history curriculum asked what they thought about learning by 2011, an opportunity now exists to include a mandatory site study. After the Australian history, a majority said they were implementation of its national curriculum bored by textbooks, notes, dates, teacher- in 1989 the United Kingdom government talk and repetition of content. What they introduced initiatives that successfully did enjoy was ‘doing history’, in particular, established partnerships between schools going on excursions. Teachers also said they and museums. This model is offered as an were keen to take students to museums example of how Australian students could and historic sites. In this paper I present be given opportunities to visit significant a number of reasons why students should museums and heritage sites and actively be given learning opportunities out of the experience the ‘practical stuff’ of Australian classroom that allow them to see, touch history, thus forging stronger links with and experience Australia’s historical and schools and promoting historical literacy in archaeological heritage. positive and creative learning environments. reCollections: Journal of the National Museum of Australia vol. 4, no. 1, April 2009, 1–12 Towards a national history curriculum much. Teachers and students told Clark The final product of the Howard that while they thought it was important government’s attempt to develop a national to learn Australian history, not everyone history curriculum in 2006–07 was its agreed it should be a compulsory subject. Guide to the Teaching of Australian History In fact, many teachers were against in Years 9 and 10, which ‘aimed to provide making Australian history a compulsory, the rationale and objectives for the study examinable subject because, as one teacher of Australian history in Years 9 and 10 as a from Brisbane put it, ‘if you put the words separate subject in schools across Australia’.1 “compulsion” and “teenager” in the same Shortly after its election in November 2007 sentence, it’s a disaster, and you will get 4 the Rudd Labor government began afresh a backlash’. A student from New South by establishing a National Curriculum Wales, where history is a compulsory subject 5 Board whose directive is to deliver national in years 7 to 10, said, ‘I don’t think it curricula for English, mathematics, the should be compulsory because I’ve always sciences and history to be implemented in found from personal experience that if you January 2011. try and make things compulsory it’s the While politicians, state curriculum fastest way to make people not interested’.6 bodies, academics and teachers were arguing The general opinion was that if about the content of school history courses, Australian history has to be mandatory then Anna Clark, researcher in history education it should be taught extremely well. Clark at Monash University, was conducting a maintains that, ‘unless these classroom national survey of the attitudes of Australian perspectives play a real and distinct role in students and teachers to the teaching of developing a national history curriculum ... Australian history in schools.2 Clark’s it’s doubtful whether any effort to mandate research was completed in 2007 and provides the subject will be “doable”, “teachable” or the most up-to-date record of what teachers “sustainable”’.7 and students think about how Australian history should be taught and what students What adolescents do like about themselves think they should be learning. It learning Australian history provides a valuable evidential base to support Fortunately, the prognosis was not all bad. In the argument presented in this paper that response to Clark’s question, ‘How do you Australian students would benefit from the learn history best?’, most said they preferred inclusion of a site study in a national history discussing different interpretations of history curriculum. and some said they enjoyed it most when they were given the opportunity to do What adolescents don’t like about history themselves. A student from Tasmania learning Australian history said she would ‘like to have more hands on When Christine Halse conducted in 1997 sort of stuff ... if I’m watching something or a survey of the state of history teaching in actually doing something I find it easier to New South Wales secondary schools, one learn’.8 student commented, ‘We did Australian Most importantly, a number of students history in years 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. It was specifically mentioned that they liked going boring. I would rather watch paint dry’.3 on excursions, ‘because it motivates you Ten years later attitudes had not changed practically. It’s a different setting, different 2 Why a national history curriculum needs a museum site study Secondary students on an excursion to the National Museum of Australia photograph by Lannon Harley National Museum of Australia environment, and it’s also really good to have engaged in the physical act of doing history discussions’. Students in one rural public themselves, rather than sitting passively in a school in New South Wales9 ‘begged for classroom and having it taught to them. more history fieldwork’.10 Group after group described how Teaching historical literacy comparing different perspectives through In pedagogical terms, students indicated a mixture of class discussion, excursions that learning was most effective when and research projects made the subject teachers were imbuing them with the 11 more engaging. A Canberra student said, skills of historical literacy, an approach ‘Excursions always keep you interested now widely accepted in history education because it’s something different, something discourse.13 Historical literacy covers the new — you’re not in the classroom, you’re range of knowledge, understandings and out doing something else, so that helps you skills required by the student to grasp the learn as well’.12 nature of history, including using historical The general consensus among students reasoning, synthesis and interpretation to was that they responded well to learning explain the past. Historical literacy is an during excursions and were able to important part of life as a whole because remember the concepts and details of history is not merely about understanding history because they enjoyed the learning what happened in the past, but also about experience in a novel environment. They using that understanding to develop an were most interested when they were actively informed moral, political and social view Louise Zarmati 3 of the world.14 While historical literacy view’ of various historical interpretations; represents the ideal learning outcomes to evaluate and criticise reasoning in history students should achieve as a result historiographical texts and debates; to of effective teaching, it is important to draw evaluate the use of historical evidence and a distinction between it and the methods the reliability of sources referred to in used to actively teach historical literacy to historiographical texts; to understand and students. critically evaluate historians’ use of causal attribution; and to engage in rational debate with different historical interpretations so as The process of historical inquiry to widen the scope of their own experiences Historical inquiry is a method employed of the past.15 by teachers to teach historical literacy. Developed concurrently in the United Kingdom and the United States during Real problems with virtual the mid-1980s, it has become the most experiences commonly used (but not exclusive) method Although a plethora of textbooks, teaching of teaching history in Australian high resources and the internet now provide schools. In this paradigm, students are no teachers with easy access to a variety of longer considered passive consumers of written sources on Australian history, history taught didactically by the teacher- authority. They are taught to work as access to authentic, tangible artefacts and historians: evaluating historical sources, cultural heritage sites may not be possible identifying contradictions and conflicts, and for a number of practical reasons discussed developing interpretations supported by below. In response, some museums have historical evidence. attempted to solve the problem by providing Fundamental to the process of historical loan services that deliver replica or authentic 16 inquiry method is the evaluation and artefacts to schools. Although students interrogation of sources: primary and can access virtual tours via the internet, secondary, written and archaeological. ultimately such activities are poor substitutes Students analyse primary sources such as for the real experience of being physically 17 eye-witness accounts, diaries, newspaper present at a museum or heritage site. reports; two-dimensional objects such as photos, postcards and paintings; and, Places and things: object lessons in less commonly, artefacts such as pottery, teaching history weapons, statues, coins and jewellery. Quite simply, the power of an out-of-the- Most importantly they are encouraged to classroom experience cannot be replicated critically evaluate secondary interpretations by virtual reality. Visiting is experiential of history. The emphasis is on interpreting