Textbook Usage in the Implementation of the New History 7-10 Syllabus: A NSW Perspective.

N

11

Course Descriptions; Curriculum Development; Foreign Countries; History Instruction; Interviews; Secondary Education; Secondary School Teachers; Teacher Attitudes; Textbooks

In 1993, a new history syllabus for years 7-10 was implemented in schools in New South Wales (Australia). The syllabus mandated 100 hours of study of Australian history, to include 5 broad topics: Australian identity, Australian heritage, international relations, women's history, and Aboriginal history. Interviews with eight teachers and an examination of textbooks in metropolitan Sydney revealed that the majority of schools had purchased copies of "Checkerboard," the first published text supporting the new syllabus. Some schools had purchased topic books and kits that covered specific course sections. In the majority of schools, the mandated hours had been placed in years 7-8. Teacher reactions to the syllabus reflected both concerns over the planning processes at the school level as the syllabus was introduced and concerns about the syllabus as a reflection of substantive and syntactic representations of the discipline of history. A number of concerns were expressed about the syllabus' inquiry-based approach. The "heritage" and "international relations" areas of the course were felt to be difficult to resource. The study concludes that school-based curriculum development is still alive, that book budgets to implement the course were small or nonexistent, and that schools developed their own printed resources to support the course. (Contains 14 references.) (JDD)

1995

ED376142