Abstract
The 2014 national curriculum of Australia is a significant initiative that the Australian government has taken in proposing a curriculum that stresses Australia’s engagement with Asia. In practice, this means that Asian cultures, beliefs, environments and the connections between Australia and Asia are embedded in the learning processes of Australian schools. This article provides an analysis of Australia’s engagement with Asia, which is a cross-curriculum priority in the Australian curriculum. In particular, using the example of China, the article examines the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis involved in Australia’s engagement with Asia from an educational perspective, especially during the global pandemic with the spread of COVID-19 affecting the world so significantly. The intent of this analysis is to map out the educational factors involved and consider what might happen to Australian students and schools as a result of their engagement with the educational cultures, beliefs and practices of China. This is connected to the two countries’ economic engagements and people-to-people ties. By considering some of the current discourses that shape the Australia-China relationships, possibilities are opening up to rethink educational positions.
Highlights
IntroductionIt is the purpose of this article to follow up on Ditchburn’s earlier argument about the unquestioning acceptance of the Australian curriculum by Australian schools
The introduction of an Australian curriculum is likely to have a widespread and Karen GUO ( ) School of Education, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia E-mail: karen.guo@deakin.edu.au long term impact on schools, teachers and students, and yet there has been a swift and an almost unquestioning acceptance of its introduction by the Australian public and by educators (Ditchburn, 2012, p. 259). It is the purpose of this article to follow up on Ditchburn’s earlier argument about the unquestioning acceptance of the Australian curriculum by Australian schools
At the center of the argument was the idea that Australian schools needed to be aware of their own educational beliefs and cultures and those of Asia
Summary
It is the purpose of this article to follow up on Ditchburn’s earlier argument about the unquestioning acceptance of the Australian curriculum by Australian schools. The Keating Government gave an explicit message that it was for Australia’s own political, economic, and cultural benefits for Australian values and identity to shift closer to Asia (Johnson, 2018) This political intention resulted in some prominent actions, including the establishment of the National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools, the foundation of the Asia-Australia Relations Institute and an increase in the number of Asian immigrants to Australia. The government’s intention to be close to Asia was evident in the way in which the Abbott Government implemented the New Colombo Plan as an initiative of public diplomacy Under this plan, Australian students were supported to study in the Indo-Pacific region as a way to learn from and continue to strengthen intercultural understandings and ties (Australian Government: DFAT, 2020). According to Rimmer (2019), this action that purported to further enhance Australia’s commitment to the Pacific communities had the tacit aim of reducing China’s increasing influence in the region
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