As happens every few yearsâat great cost to the publicâa newly revised Australian curriculum appears on the scene. It ought to have the concern of the church with its Christian school because parents promised to nurture their children in accordance with Godâs Word âand have them instructed therein to the utmost of their powerâ, and the whole church is to help them therein.[i] So itâs important to check each revised curriculum to see whether we are being pushed into a direction antithetical to Scripture and our Confession.
Well, do we have reason for concern? In one sense thatâs always going to be the case simply because the Australian curriculum is mandatory and because it is a secular document that is not based on Scripture. It leaves God out of the picture, pretends He doesnât exist, even though the whole universe is before us as a most beautiful book pointing to God the Creator, Preserver and Governor of it all.[ii] So of course we are wary of it. Up till now, by the grace of God, our Christian schools have been able to work with the governmentâs curriculum. But how is it with this ânewâ curriculum, particularly since we see society increasingly departing from Christian principles and embracing unscriptural values?
One thing that strikes one immediately when browsing through the history (HASS) Year 7-9 section of the new curriculum is the huge number of references to âFirst Nations Peoples of Australiaâ.[iii] Given that one of the key groups influencing the new curriculum is the âAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education advisory groupâ this is perhaps not surprising, but one needs to ask, first, whatâs taken out of the previous curriculum to make place for all this additional focus on indigenous culture and history, and second, given the heavy focus lately on such âwokeâ notions as âidentity politicsâ and âcritical race theoryâ, where is this heading?
Identity politics
So what do we mean by âidentity politicsâ? As you know, we are living in a time when the worship of God has been replaced by the worship of the self, and particularly the self as identifying with a group fighting for its own cause. This is called âidentity politicsâ and it has a lot to do with presenting yourself as a group victim of a more powerful group. As part of the âvictimisedâ group you feel you have been disempowered and therefore fight for empowerment and a better deal.
I expect you know how it works: a person (school child or adult) is asked about which group they identify with. Some possibilities are: a particular immigrant group, indigenous (aboriginal) people, a religious minority group (Hindu, Muslim, Bahai), LGBT+ group, climate change advocates, etc. You then consider possible ways in which you are being victimised, disadvantaged or oppressed. Any criticism of the âvictimisedâ group and what it does or how such people live is seen as evidence of the way in which they are hurt and is itself seen as a form of disempowerment. No longer is God and His Word the guide to a solution but the focus is on self, on promoting self-esteem and self-interests, and on abusing and attacking those who are in some way seen as âoppressorsâ.
In a way this is similar to Marxism. Marxism of course was mainly concerned with the economic well-being of the disadvantaged, whereby those who are less well-off rise up against those who are well-off so that everyone has the same. (To see how that worked in Russia, read George Orwellâs satirical novel Animal Farm.) Identity politics applies this to any area in which a group feels victimised. Itâs sort of post-Marxist radicalism which:
âconstructs new revolutionary ideologies by replacing Marxâs concern for the oppressed working class with other oppressed groups (blacks, women, gays). Status and moral legitimacy come from being âexcluded from powerâ. The victim has the favoured role⌠Even affluent university professors cast themselves in the role of the victim of oppressive power. Scholarly papers quiver with outrage, self-pity, and âtheoretical extremityâ. To be black, female or gay is to enjoy a sort of secular sainthood.â [iv]
So, when a curriculum starts focussing heavily on one group of people in a society in contradistinction from others, itâs worth considering whatâs behind it and where this might be heading.
Critical Race Theory
The other thing to watch out for is critical race theory, a branch of identity politics. Like identity politics it is Marxist and strives, not for equal opportunity but for equality of outcome. Whilst it originated in the USA, where African Americans saw themselves as the victims of the white majority, it is spreading across the globe. Really it promotes a âthem versus usâ mentality and is based on the idea, not that everyone is a sinner needing redemption but that we are all the product of our environment. Those engaged in it are critical of everyone who is white, part of western civilisation (particularly its Christian influence), part of a capitalist/private enterprise system that they see as being responsible for the troubles they believe theyâre experiencing. Itâs always the otherâs fault; never their own. The whites, simply by virtue of being white, are considered to be racist. Itâs all part of the politically correct brigade that is fueled by feelings of resentment and rebellion rather than by the awareness of the need to turn in humble submission to the Gospel, which gives true freedom and joy and contentment.
The New Curriculum
What has this to do with the new curriculum? As I said earlier, thereâs now a very heavy focus on indigenous culture and history. Itâs part of the governmentâs âreconciliationâ programme. That term reconciliation suggests that the relations between indigenous and non-indigenous people are, at best, not friendly. Why else would people need to be reconciled to one another? What we all need, of course, is to be reconciled with God through Christ (2 Cor. 5:18, 19). The heavy focus on reconciliation with First Australians tends to accent the differences which can foster an unscriptural (Gal. 3:28) âthem versus usâ view on the basis of race, particularly by using terminology critical of the whites, as done in the curriculum. This is reinforced when all history is presented as a matter of perspective – the perspective of the white colonists, First Australians, capitalists, socialists, etc. Whilst there is always an element of truth in it, it implies there is no objective truth; all history is seen as a matter of perspective shaped by the group to which one belongs.Â
The heavy emphasis in the new curriculum on âFirst Australiansâ has been picked up by others. For example, Kevin Donnelly, a Roman Catholic educationist, wrote:
âIn line with the international movement to decolonise the curriculum by removing or ignoring the debt owed to Western civilisation, the curriculum further entrenches a focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait ÂIslander history, culture and spirituality.
In the humanities and social sciences curriculum covering the years to Year 10, there are four references to Christianity but 13 to Indigenous history and culture. In the EngÂlish document, instead of introducing students to the evolving literary canon associated with Western culture, there are 45-plus references to Indigenous oral tradition, languages and texts.
Even mathematics and science are not immune, with schools told to teach Aboriginal âalgebraic thinkingâ and âto learn that First Nations peoples of Australia have longstanding scientific knowledge traditionsâ.â [v]
To be sure, that in itself is not proof of Critical Race Theory, but its heavy emphasis on Aboriginal life and history at the cost of the value of Christianity and Western culture sets the groundwork for it.
Rebecca Urban writes,
âWhile overall curriculum content is being scaled back by about 20 per cent, the elevation of indigenous history, culture and perspectives across the humanities has come at a cost of topics dealing with ancient history and western civilisation. More books by First Nations authors are to be incorporated into the English curriculum from the foundation level upwards.â[vi]
Particularly critical of the new curriculum is Nick Cater:
âTeachers are no longer trained in practical skills, they are immersed in postmodern sludge for four years and indoctrinated with theory. Post-colonial theory, queer theory, gender theory and critical race theory have found fertile ground in pedagogy, framing the classroom not as a place where kids are taught but a frontline in the universal battle between the oppressors and the oppressed.
This dismal worldview permeates almost every paragraph of the revised national curriculum, which prioritises the cause of social justice over competent teachingâŚ
The curriculumâs lack of attention to the history and meaning of modern Australia is not mere carelessness on the authorsâ part, but a deliberate attempt to hide it from children lest they be drawn into thinking there is anything virtuous in our liberal heritage. The previously essential virtues of courage, responsibility and duty have been brushed aside in favour of a philistine morality of diversity, inclusion and sustainability.
The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, which costs us $36m a year, has downgraded the profession of teaching and handed more power to subversive educational theoreticians than they ever would have dreamed. Its curriculum has become a super spreader of infected thought that has been fomenting in the darker corners of our universities.â[vii]
Lastly, Rebecca Urban speaks of a growing concern among parents âthat a proposed new national curriculum will embed critical race theory into Australian schoolingâ. She refers to the Institute of Public Affairs which âhighlighted the growing influence of critical race theory on the draft curriculum, including dozens of history and civics and citizenship topics preoccupied with the oppression, discrimination and struggles of Indigenous AustraliansâŚâ She adds,
“Born out of the US, critical race theory is an academic framework for analysing the intersection of race and power that has coined terms such as âsystemic racismâ and âwhite privilegeâ.
IPA director Bella dâAbrera said there were signs that critical race theory were already creeping into schools, such as the recent case of Victoriaâs Parkdale Secondary College where a visiting social worker labelled boys who were white and Christian as âoppressorsâ, however the draft curriculum threatened to âbrainwash children ⌠to hate Australiaâ.
âAustralians are rightly saying no to critical race theory â they are egalitarian and do not support divisive ideologies in the classroom,â said Dr dâAbrera. âUnfortunately, however, critical race theory and identity politics are very much present in the radical new national curriculum.
âThe study of Indigenous history is important, but the radical curriculum not only embeds it across every learning area, but it also teaches [a] discredited ⌠version of Indigenous history into Australian classrooms.â
Released last month, the draft history curriculum presents the arrival of the First Fleet as an âinvasionâ for the first time and replaces references to âAboriginalâ and âIndigenousâ with âFirst Nations Australiansâ or âAustralian First Nations Peoplesâ.
Suggested activities for secondary school history include studying âthe impact of invasion, colonisation and dispossession of lands by Europeans on the First Nations Peoples of Australia, such as frontier warfare, genocide, removal from landâ as well as analysing âdifferent historical interpretations and debates about the colonial and settler societies, such as contested terms, including âcolonisationâ, âsettlementâ and âinvasionâ.
âThis is reversing the 1967 referendum which brought Australians together,â she said. âIt is embedding racial divisions and sowing resentment in society.ââ[viii]
As can be seen, there are reasons for concern.
What can we do about it?
- Pray that the Lord may cause ACARA, the people responsible, to heed the objections and concerns which, it is to be hoped and expected, will land on its table.
- Email ACARA expressing concern (before coming Thursday 8th July).[ix]
- Be alert to the dangers. Test the spirits. Shed Scriptural light on the subjects. The Lord Jesus said: âI am the way, the truth and the light. No one comes to the Father except by Meâ (John 14:6). As we know: only in Him is there joy and light and salvation for all who believe and repent, irrespective of skin colour, race, culture, economic position, or whatever. It is this glorious Gospel which, by the grace of God and notwithstanding the many evils committed by both whites and non-whites, was brought to this land and was, again by Godâs grace, embraced by many indigenous people.
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[i] Heidelberg Catechism LD 21 and Church Order of the FRCA article 53
[ii] Belgic Confession article 2
[iii] See, for example, hass_history_comparative_information_7-10.pdf (australiancurriculum.edu.au).
[iv] Gene Edward Veith, Jr., Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture, Crossway, Wheaton, 1994, p. 161.
[v] Kevin Donnelly, âNational syllabus fails the key testâ, The Australian (digital version), 30-4-2021.
[vi] Rebecca Urban, âAustralian school curriculum ânow totally politicisedââ, The Australian (digital), 30-4-2021.
[vii] Nick Cater, âNational Curriculum: The more we spend, the less our kids learnâ, The Australian (digital), 10-5-2021.
[viii] Rebecca Urban, âCurriculum pushes radical racial theoryâ, The Australian (digital), 22-5-2021.
[ix] https://www.acara.edu.au/curriculum
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