The curriculum of a school is a difficult thing to decide. There are many competing ideas and perspectives that are possible to include. What we teach our children in school is shaping them as adults and helping to form their worldviews. It is a huge responsibility to determine what should and should not be taught to the next generation.

Sometimes, when a curriculum is being revised, there is an underlying assumption from some that what we currently have must be OK, so why change it? Some people will oppose change for its own sake. Others, who have issues with the current curriculum and want change may approve or not of the proposed changes, but they want something different. The Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority (ACARA), who are responsible for the Australian curriculum, must navigate these challenges.

One of the current criticisms of the proposed changes is the heavy emphasis on Australian First Nations history and culture now included in the History and Civics component of the new K-10 curriculum. To include much more of Australian indigenous history is to exclude much of what is currently being taught. Criticisms are coming from a couple of angles: firstly, that there is too much First Nations material included and there will be insufficient time to teach it properly, and secondly, that its inclusion has led to the removal of much of the story of Western civilisation and culture which has been so influential in Australia’s development since 1788 and which is necessary to provide an understanding of modern Australia.

Dr David Hastie in an article on the ABC’s Religion and Ethics site, fully supports a greater emphasis on First Nations history but thinks it needs balancing out against the wider understanding of Western culture’s role in Australia’s development and in an understanding of much of the contemporary world in which we live. I would agree with his view.

He also points out the significant absence of references to the role Christianity has played in the development of Western culture and in fact the role it has played in the history of modern Australia. In spite of the fact that our society is becoming increasingly secular, good historians cannot (and should not) fail to acknowledge and reference the part Christianity has played in the development of the world since the time of Christ.

As a Christian school we would not want to see a new curriculum unbalanced in this way, while at the same time we want to see a balanced approach to the good and the bad of past practices by all people, including those who called themselves Christian. Much wisdom is needed by those who make the final decision on what to change in the curriculum, we pray for that wisdom for them.