ABSTRACT
Until the 1980s, the teaching of history in Australian schools almost always represented the nation’s past from a very narrow perspective. Through more than 100 years of compulsory universal education, Australian children had been taught little about Aboriginal people and culture and even less about the history of the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. Despite the fears of some conservatives that the new syllabus would represent a return to some form of political correctness in teaching the nation’s history in Australian schools, the proposed new History syllabus suggested that the Rudd Government was as adventurous as its predecessor in its determination to return to the basics in Australian education. Aboriginal people have insisted that the diversity of these experiences be recognised. As well, teachers must be prepared to give equal emphasis to Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal perspectives. All must be recognised, for to prefer one is to make others feel marginalised, excluded or under-valued.
