History curriculum: literacies and democracy in NSW syllabuses

Abstract

A relationship between school history and notions of citizenship is evident in the Australian context. In this way, it is important to reflect on the nature of the subject of history (Körber, 2011) and how socio-political forces have impacted discourses relating to its aim and purpose (Goodson & Marsh, 1996). This paper seeks to consider how literacies are historically embedded in history (mandatory) syllabuses in New South Wales (NSW), and the implications of this for a conceptualisation of literacy that acknowledges the changing nature of communication, and as a result, participatory citizenship. Following the linguistic turn, and acknowledgement of the importance of language to social practice, a successful approach to literacy in secondary school contexts should consider the language and literacies required for specific subjects, rather than common or foundational areas of literacy (Lo Bianco & Freebody, 2001), as are often the focus of standardised literacy assessments. Positioned as a history of the present (Popkewitz, 2011), official curriculum documents are examined covering the period of the 1990s to the early 2000s, prior to the implementation of the first national curriculum. It was found that there was a distinct and explicit separation of notions of literacy and understanding in official curriculum, as well as presenting information communication technologies (ICTs) and literacy as distinct (and separate) competencies. It is argued that if history education is to contribute to active citizenship, there is a need to reconceptualise this idea to align with emerging civic practices of the twenty-first century.