Developing a national geography curriculum for Australia

Abstract

Australia is in the process of implementing a national geography curriculum to replace the separate state and territory curriculums. The paper describes the process of curriculum development, and identifies the different groups that were involved. These included the board and staff of the national curriculum authority, geography teachers across Australia, the state and territory curriculum bodies and a great variety of interest groups. It analyses some of the issues on which there were differences of opinion, such as how to describe the concepts, and some of the debates over what content to include, such as what place knowledge or skills to teach. The paper ends with a brief assessment of the curriculum and of the roles of the various groups in determining its content.