by the Editor The Australian National Curriculum draft has been launched, and all Australians are invited to visit the new website and have their say.  The purpose of the new National Curriculum is to deliver a set of national education goals to better prepare young people for their participation in a changing world.

At the moment, the existence of eight different sets of education goals makes it difficult for the 80,000 students who relocate interstate each year.  The former Minister for Education, Julia Gillard, said "it's hard enough to get used to a new school without having to get used to a whole new curriculum."

The government believes that a uniform curriculum will make it easier to improve students' learning and to develop high quality resources, and all Australian education ministers have committed to a set of national goals.

According to Professor Barry McGaw, author of the draft, “The overall aim is to produce a final curriculum in English, history, mathematics, and science that equips all young Australians with the essential skills, knowledge and capabilities to thrive and compete in the globalised world and information rich workplaces of the current century.”

The Australian Primary Principal's Association welcomes the development of "a truly Australian curriculum" The association's top priority is to ensure that "what the Government has developed works to effectively reduce the crowding of the school curriculum so that students can focus on getting the basics right."

The National Curriculum aims to cover less material but in greater depth. While "back to basics" appears to be a major theme in the new curriculum, Professor McGaw says it goes beyond that.  He says that the new curriculum will also extend students by building on strong base to take students to more advanced levels.

Some of the features of the new curriculum are:

• expectations in early years of learning clarified to address complexity of teaching to diverse student population
• the explicit teaching of grammar at every level that a child studies in every grade
• reading and writing taught using phonics, recognising and sounding out letters of the alphabet
• "the three L's" of literacy, language and literature
• the teaching of "fluent and legible" handwriting
• literature studies using texts of "enduring or artistic value"
• the teaching of history in every grade
• history of major Asian partners as well as European origins
• greater acknowledgement of Australian history, including indigenous perspectives
• concept of sustainability and climate change to be taught
• science studies to be encouraged in university/ vocational training
• mental and written mathematical strategies to be taught along with other methods
• the interpretation of data to make informed judgements

The launch of the National Curriculum has not been without criticism.  The Australian Education Union is disappointed with respect to the level of genuine broad consultation with the teaching profession.  Other detractors of the new curriculum claim that political pressure and lobby groups may have influenced certain aspects of the curriculum, in particular, the amount of attention given to indigenous perspectives.  Ms. Gillard says that experts have been through an extensive consultative process to develop the curriculum.

Have Your Say!

Australian parents and teachers are all invited to have a say in the draft National Curriculum.

Consultations Open:

• Draft papers, the Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Technologies and the Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Health & Physical Education, are now available for national public consultation until 3 June 2012.
• Draft paper for Senior Secondary Australian Curriculum for English, Mathematics, Science and History, now available for consultation until July 20.
• Consultation Link
• Australian Curriculum Wiki: Provide feedback directly, in addition to the other consultation streams.

Concultations Closed:

• The consultation period for the four main learning areas (English, maths, science and history) is now closed.
• Final versions of the K-10 curricula in English, maths, science and history endorsed by education ministers,  8 December, 2010. See news item.
• General Capabilities: Literacy, Numeracy, ICT, Critical and creative thinking, Personal and social competence, Ethical behaviour, Intercultural understanding. The consultation period is now closed.
• Cross-Curriculum Priorities: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, Asia and Australia's engagement with Asia, sustainability. The consultation period is now closed.
• The consultation period for the arts is now closed.
• The consultation period for languages is now closed.
• The consultation period for students with disability is now closed.
• The consultation period for geography is now closed.

Other Links:

• Implementation Coordination: Check implementation progress. Schools, states and territories are responsible for their own implementation.
• Acara statement 29 October, 2010
• Australian Curriculum

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