Curriculum includes controversial views on memorials

THE history of Gallipoli and the sacrifices of Australian soldiers have become mired in a row over the new national curriculum.

If a draft modern history curriculum is approved, year 11 and 12 students would learn of alleged "controversies surrounding the purpose and function of memorial sites and commemorative events".

A spokesman for the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority said there was a view that asked "should we be glorifying Gallipoli?"

"In some areas of the community, more in the academic community, you will find those sorts of arguments," he said.

But RSL president Don Rowe said yesterday he struggled to understand how educators could justify the claims war memorials or commemorative events were controversial.

"There are thousands and thousands of young people who have gone to Gallipoli and continue to go to Gallipoli. They're not there to glorify it, that is for sure," Mr Rowe said.

"I would certainly like to have a look at the final curriculum.

"I think somebody needs to have more of an input in it if that is what they're looking at."
Opposition education spokesman Adrian Piccoli said: "High school history is not the place to start questioning the purpose of events such as Anzac Day."

The national curriculum spokesman said there was no intention of diminishing the role of war memorials and commemorative events. "Rather, the intention is to provide a context for debates that have taken place, and continue to take place, about the role of war in Australian memory," he said.

Students would also be asked to examine "disagreements between historians about key events and interventions by politicians and other public figures".

In another section about the "search for peace and Arab unity", students would learn about the "aims, beliefs and influence" of al-Qaida.

An agreement between education ministers two years ago also means environmental sustainability will be taught across subjects including history.

Climate change film An Inconvenient Truth is on a draft study list for English students.
Students could "undertake their own research" into the film's claims, the spokesman said.

"Sustainability simply recognises that successful learners understand their place as local and global citizens, sustaining and improving both natural and social environments,"
he said.http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/curriculum-includes-controversial-views-on-memorials/story-e6frf7kx-1225943437277