(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)
The federal government has released its controversial review of the national school curriculum.
The review has recommended schools return to the basics of literacy and numeracy, rather than the more general approach of key classroom themes.
The Government says it will take the review to the states and territories for them to review before establishing a final position on the recommendations.
They include scaling back an emphasis on Indigenous history and Asia.
Amanda Cavill reports.
(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full report)
The federal government has released a long-awaited, 288-page report by former teacher and Liberal staffer Kevin Donnelly and business professor Ken Wiltshire.
It recommends what it calls a "de-cluttered," parent friendly and back to basics approach, saying excessive content is affecting students' learning, particularly at primary schools.
It also says literacy and numeracy skills, including phonics, need to be prioritised.
In commissioning the review, the Government had said it wanted more focus on getting the basics right.
It said it wanted students to leave school with the ability to read, write, count and think and to understand Australia and the world around them.
Education Minister Christopher Pyne says he would like to see most of the 30 recommendations adopted, saying the change is not driven by a political agenda.
"Obviously, the states and territories own and operate the schools, and, as you point out, we want them to be very much on board in improving the outcomes of our students. But I don't know any education minister that doesn't think that, if we can make an improvement, we should make it. And this is not an ideological document. This is a document about how to improve student outcomes, written by two very eminent educators."
The report says the decision to embed the cross-curriculum priorities of Indigenous, sustainable and Asian perspectives in every subject should be dropped.
It suggests those issues be taught as separate subjects.
The Minister says Indigenous history should remain very imprtant but needs to be taught in a broader context.
"In terms of history, what it finds and I support -- and I think most would -- is that we need to continue to have a strong emphasis on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and history but you can't know the people we are today without knowing our Western civilisation and where we've come from and how we've arrived at the point we have today. And I think it emphasises that as well."
The Australian Education Union says the overcrowded curriculum does need to be addressed, particularly in primary school.
But union federal president Angelo Gavrielatos says teachers already use their judgment to integrate the general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities.
He says the review will not change that.
"To suggest that issues such as general capabilities, as they're called, and cross-curriculum priorities, including issues of Indigenous culture and histories, sustainability and the like, should be embedded in the national curriculum where appropriate is nothing new. That's what teachers do. Teachers exercise their professional judgment to properly enact a curriculum in school."
The National Catholic Education Commission has welcomed the review and its focus on the teaching of Judaeo-Christian heritage.
And the Principals Association says many of the review's findings were expected and teachers agree some changes need to be made to the current curriculum.
In Canberra, Daramalan College principal Rita Daniels says she believes changes to teaching Indigenous history and cross-cultural understanding will have little impact on the curriculum.
"I think one of the things that has happened over recent years is there is more integration of literature from a whole range of cultures, and I suspect that will stay. But, overall, my view is that it hasn't moved massively."
Education ministers will meet in December to discuss their recommendations, but the response from the states and territories has already been positive.
Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia have supported the curriculum changes.
Mr Pyne says he hopes to release a final government response to the review early next year.
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