Recently, the Federal Education Minister, Alan Tudge, called upon the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) to substantially rewrite the new draft of the Australian Curriculum. Among other subjects, he focused on History and Civics and Citizenship, arguing that, in the new draft, “important historical events are removed or reframed, such as the emphasis on invasion theory over Australia Day. Even…
Category: Politics
Citizenship and Power
I was recently asked to provide some feedback about a program that had been developed to encourage active citizenship amongst young people in one of Australia’s state. It was an interesting experience, and afforded me the chance to reflect just how far I have come as an expert – and an opinionated one, too –…
Franken-citizens, Washington and Domestic Terrorism
As with many other people, I’ve been watching the events unfolding in Washington with a mixture of anxiety and concern. While the situation remains confused, I thought it would be worthwhile noting some initial thoughts and observations about what took place, and also making some suggestions as to what that means for civic educators like…
The Public Sphere, Twitter, and Trump
One of the most interesting moments (and there have been a great many) over the last couple of weeks to arise out of the mess in the US has been the action by Twitter, and then other social media companies, to ban actors like the President from their sites. Predictably, such actions aroused the ire…
Politics 2020: A Flipping of Political Poles
I’m sure I’m hardly the first person to consider this, but I’ve been musing a little bit now about the way that politics seems to have become an entirely more confused affair. I’m mostly speaking about Western countries like Australia and the US, and these are the observations of an interested amateur more than any…
COVIDSAFE and Citizenship
One of the areas related to civics and citizenship education and active citizenship that I am finding particularly interesting is the way that various groups and individuals are reacting to the release of the COVIDSAFE app by the federal government. This app will be used to trace the contacts that people who have tested positive…
The politics of disgust
For no good reason, I think that I’m a keen follower of political news and trends. Although it is often maligned, I quite enjoy twitter, because I like to read about people’s opinions and ‘hot takes’ even if I disagree with them. I am, to be honest, more than an interested onlooker – I’ve been…