ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates how ACARA's 2021 review of the ‘Asia and Australia's engagement with Asia’ cross-curriculum priority perpetuates the impossibility of Asia curriculum, despite its intention to address those well-documented curriculum dilemmas. ACARA's upfront statement that more explicit emphasis on the relevance of the Asia cross-curricular priority was a focus of the recent curriculum review acknowledges the urgency of resolving the enduring challenges that a comprehensive and effective implementation of the Asia priority has been facing. Within current policy discourse ‘Asia engagement’ remains anchored to Australian self-interest and the language of the market. The review of ACARA's Asia cross-curriculum priority represents a current example of the perpetual difficulty of articulating a clear rationale for Asia learning.
