History in Outdoor & Environmental Education

1. History in Outdoor & Environmental Education 2014 OEEC Conference

2. Agenda 1. A Violent History of the Australian Curriculum: History 2. Vivisection of the Australian Curriculum: History 3. Introducing Historical Thinking 4. “Why did the chicken cross the road?” Inquiry as the Bedrock of History Teaching 5. Historical Thinking - Significance 6. History-EE Links in the Australian Curriculum 7. Selected Reading

3. Introducing Myself

4. You have a decision to make!

5. 100 billion neurons and a quadrillion synapses! Can we save Brigitte? 'Who controls the past' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past’

6. “What is history good for? Why even study it in schools?” “My claim in a nutshell is that history holds the potential…of humanizing us in many ways offered by few other areas in the school curriculum” (Wineburg, 2000) “In times of crisis and uncertainty, historians are expected to provide instructive historical parallels and defensible responses” (Levesque, 2009 ) “To shed light on what it means to be a human being” (Eisner, 1984) History takes us beyond the narrow confines of our present circumstances and confronts us with the cares, concerns, ways of thinking of people different than ourselves (Barton & Levstik, 2003)

7. Introducing Myself

8. A Violent History of the Australian Curriculum: History

9. The Violent History of the Australian Curriculum: History Criticisms 1. Standards 2. Purpose 3. Method (Interest)

10. The Violent History of the Australian Curriculum: History History has been part of the mass schooling project since its inception. Calls to improve history teaching have been made since the introduction of mass schooling!

11. Criticism 1: Standards! Criticism – Standards Who was Australia’s first PM?

12. Criticism 1: Standards! Only 18% of those interviewed knew Edmund Barton was Australia’s first Prime Minister Most thought first Canadian astronaut was Neil Armstrong (Morton, 2000) Some school children astonishingly thought Adolf Hitler was Britain’s Prime Minister in World War II 74% of respondents knew who the US won independence from.

13. Criticism 1: Standards! US History

14. Criticism 1: Standards! ‘The whole world has turned upside down in the past 80 years but one thing has seemingly remained the same: Kids don’t know history.’ (Wineburg, 2001)

15. Criticism 1: Standards! In the course of conversation with many such lads…I have been repeatedly struck with the very small and disjointed knowledge of history possessed by them (Williamson, 1891) I once asked a boy at Eton, who had given me a date, whether it was B.C. or A.D. Being hopelessly puzzled, he replied that it was B.D. (Browning, 1889)

16. Criticism 2: Purpose “One of the more insidious developments in Australian political life over the past decade or so has been the attempt to rewrite Australian history in the service of a partisan political cause” (Howard, 1996) “I do not take the black armband view of Australian history…I believe that the balance sheet of Australian history is overwhelmingly a positive one” (Howard, 1996)

17. Criticism 2: Purpose History is not peace studies. History is not social justice awareness week. Or conscious-raising about ecological sustainability. History is history, and shouldn’t be a political science course by another name. “

18. Criticism 3: Purpose Celebrating “environmental zealotry and communist heroes while dismissing white settlement as an invasion” (Thomas, 2000) “The most radical attempt in Australia to indoctrinate children in key left-wing values” (Bolt, 2000)

19. Criticism 2: Purpose

20. Criticism 3: Interest

21. Criticism 3: Interest “No subject so widely taught is, on the whole, taught so poorly” (Hall, 1883)

22. Criticism 3: Interest Australian high school students surveyed for the book History's Children: History Wars in the Classroom: "Australian history just makes us want to cry. It's so boring and I can't stand it.“ (Natalie) “Like, I'm fascinated with European history but with Australia, it's like, bleurgh.” (Amber) "If they pretended there was a civil war, it would be much more interesting. But there wasn't, so it's boring.” (Jake)

23. Criticism 3: Interest

24. Criticism 3: Interest ''some drunk bogans with beards (the Kelly gang) wandering around boring dusty towns drinking whiskey. Who cares?'' ''Who gives a rat's that Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson crossed the Blue Mountains?'' “Excuse me for not being a jingoistic bogan wrapped in a flag and off to Gallipoli every April, but not only is Australian history boring, so much of our history is embarrassing and cringeworthy.” “A form of child abuse” In Topsfield, 2012

25. The Violent History of the Australian Curriculum: History Review of Criticisms 1. Standards 2. Purpose 3. Method

26. Criticism 3: Interest How best to teach history?

27. Purpose

28. A Violent History – Resolved? Black Armband Bias Memory Knowledge Deficit Trust Pedagogy White Blindfold Activism Scaremongering Methods Militarisation Boring! Discipline Jingoism Standards! Western heritage Nationalism Left-wing Politics Conservative

29. A Violent History – Resolved? "I think the unions are mentioned far more than business," Mr Abbott said. "I think there are a couple of Labor prime ministers who get a mention, from memory not a single Coalition prime minister. So I think it is possible to do better."

30. Vivisection of the Australian Curriculum: History

31. Vivisection of the Australian Curriculum: History • Rationale • Aims • Strands • Overviews vs. Depth Studies • Curriculum Focus/Year • Inquiry Questions • General capabilities • Cross-curriculum priorities • Assessment • Achievement Standards • Glossary

32. Rationale

33. Aims

34. Curriculum Map • Foundation: Personal and Family Histories • Year 1: Present and Past Family Life • Year 2: The Past in the Present • Year 3: Community and Remembrance • Year 4: First Contacts • Year 5: The Australian Colonies • Year 6: Australia as a nation • Year 7: The Ancient World • Year 8: The Ancient to the Modern World • Year 9: The Making of the Modern World • Year 10: The Modern World and Australia

35. Strand 1: Historical Knowledge & Understanding Spatial Dimensions

36. Strand 1: Historical Knowledge & Understanding Temporal Dimensions

37. Strand 1: Historical Knowledge & Understanding Cause & Effect Perspectives Continuity & Change Significance (NEW) Empathy (NEW) Sources/Evidence (Year 3) Contestability (Year 7)

38. Strand 2: Historical Skills Chronology Terms & Concepts Historical Questions & Research Analysis & Use of Sources Explanation & Communication

39. Prep 20 hours Personal and Family Histories Inquiry Questions - What is my history and how do I know? - What stories do other people tell about the past? - How can stories of the past be told and shared? Limited links to OEE

40. Year 1 20 hours Present and Past Family Life Inquiry Questions • How has family life changed or remained the same over time? • How can we show that the present is different from or similar to the past? • How do we describe the sequence of time? Tenuous links to OEE

41. Year 2 20 hours The Past in the Present Inquiry Questions • What aspects of the past can you see today? What do they tell us? • What remains of the past are important to the local community? Why? • How have changes in technology shaped our daily life? Clear links to OEE

42. Year 3 40 hours Community and Remembrance Inquiry Questions • Who lived here first and how do we know? • How has our community changed? What features have been lost and what features have been retained? • What is the nature of the contribution made by different groups and individuals in the community? • How and why do people choose to remember significant events of the past? Clear links to OEE

43. Year 4 40 hours First Contacts Inquiry Questions • Why did the great journeys of exploration occur? • What was life like for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples before the arrival of the Europeans? • Why did the Europeans settle in Australia? • What was the nature and consequence of contact between Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples and early traders, explorers and settlers? Clear links to OEE

44. Year 5 40 hours The Australian Colonies Inquiry Questions • What do we know about the lives of people in Australia’s colonial past and how do we know? • How did an Australian colony develop over time and why? • How did colonial settlement change the environment? • What were the significant events and who were the significant people that shaped Australian colonies? Strong links to OEE

45. Year 6 40 hours Australia as a Nation Inquiry Questions • Why and how did Australia become a nation? • How did Australian society change throughout the twentieth century? • Who were the people who came to Australia? Why did they come? • What contribution have significant individuals and groups made to the development of Australian society? Limited links to OEE

46. Year 7 50 hours The Ancient World Inquiry Questions - How do we know about the ancient past? - Why and where did the earliest societies develop? - What emerged as the defining characteristics of ancient societies? - What have been the legacies of ancient societies? Tenuous Overview (5 hours) Depth Study 1 (15 hours) Investigating the Ancient Past Depth Study 2 (15 hours) Egypt (OR) Greece (OR) Rome (OR) Depth Study 3 (15 hours) China (OR) India (OR)

47. Year 8 Varied 50 hours The Ancient to the Modern World Inquiry Questions - How did societies change from the end of the ancient period to the beginning of the modern age? - What key beliefs and values emerged and how did they influence societies? - What were the causes and effects of contact between societies in this period? - Which significant people, groups and ideas from this period have influenced the world today? Overview (5 hours) Depth Study 1 (15 hours) Ottoman Empire (OR) Renaissance Italy (OR) The Vikings (OR) Medieval Europe (OR) Depth Study 2 (15 hours) Angkor/Khmer Empire (OR) Polynesian Expansion (OR) Shogunate Japan (OR) Depth Study 3 (15 hours) Mongol Expansion (OR) Black Death (OR) Spanish Conquest of America (OR)

48. Year 9 Varied 50 hours The Makings of the Modern World Inquiry Questions - What were the changing features of the movements of people from 1750 to 1918? - How did new ideas and technological developments contribute to change in this period? - What was the origin, development, significance and long-term impact of imperialism in this period? - What was the significance of World War I? Overview (5 hours) Depth Study 1 (15 hours) Movement of Peoples (OR) Progressive Ideas/ Movements (OR) Industrial Revolution (OR) Depth Study 2 (15 hours) Asia and the World (OR) Making a Nation (OR) Depth Study 3 (15 hours) World War I

49. Year 10 Varied 48 hours The Modern World and Australia Inquiry Questions • How did the nature of global conflict change during the 20th Century? • What were the consequences of WWII? How did these consequences shape the modern world? • How was an Australian society affected by other significant global events and changes in this period? Overview (3 hours) Depth Study 1 (15 hours) World War II Depth Study 2 (15 hours) Rights & Freedoms Environmental Movement(OR) Migration Experiences (OR) Depth Study 3 (15 hours) Popular Culture (OR)

50. Content Descriptors and Elaborations Not Mandated Mandated