Changes to the NSW high school syllabus will now require students to learn about First Nations experiences and colonisation.
The NSW Government has announced several curriculum reforms for year 7 to 10 students.
The syllabus changes will be rolled out in classrooms from 2027. It will include mandatory lessons about First Nations experiences and colonisation.
The experiences of Jewish people and Holocaust victims will be added to the history syllabus, as part of World War Two studies.
The state’s geography syllabus has also been updated to include compulsory lessons on the impacts of climate change.
History
From 2027, First Nations Peoples’ “experiences of colonisation” will be taught as a core history study area in the syllabus for year 7 and 8 students (Stage 4) in NSW high schools.
Year 9 and 10 (Stage 5) will learn about the contributions of Australia’s defence force personnel in WWII. It will include the experiences of First Nations people during this time.
Core studies for Stage 5 history students will involve “the contribution of migrants” post WWII. It will also include “the experiences of the Holocaust for Jewish survivors in post-WWII Australia” and
Geography
From 2027, geography students will be taught about the impacts of climate change.
Further, the Department of Education said students will learn how to apply their knowledge to “present day environmental and global challenges, to understand how these factors affect wellbeing and development.”
The new geography syllabus also includes 20 hours of compulsory fieldwork across Stages 4 and 5.
Response
CEO of the NSW Education Standards Authority Paul Martin said the syllabuses are “research-driven”. It “will ensure students from Years 7 to 10 are challenged and extended with engaging content taught explicitly.”
The state’s Education Minister Prue Car, said the “evidence-based” reforms will “support teachers”.
Car told TDA that lessons about colonisation and European histories in Australia “will give students an in depth understanding of history in Australia.”
NSW Shadow Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the syllabus reforms appear “to have a balanced offering” for students.
Mitchell told TDA it’s important to give students “a strong understanding of Australia’s story, from our First Nations history and experiences to British settlement… to the diverse multicultural society we live in today.”
