Exploring the intentions behind the inclusion of the cross-curriculum priority ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures’ in the Australian Curriculum

Exploring the intentions behind the inclusion of the cross-curriculum priority ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures’ in the Australian Curriculum

The authors of the Australian Curriculum have been required to simultaneously work toward the realisation of economic and reputational goals that are in the national interest whilst also appearing to cater for groups who have traditionally been disenfranchised by such interests. This study explores the explicit and implicit intentions behind the inclusion of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures cross-curriculum priority in the curriculum, and ways in which those intentions are interpreted. Final year pre-service teachers surveyed and interviewed as part of the study shared a widespread belief that the cross-curriculum priority was developed as the result of converging interests, with those of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples appearing to converge with those of the broader community. Numerous documentary data sources were collected and analysed according to a bricolage approach, in order to study apparent intentions and uncover those that were less evident in the Australian Curriculum when read in isolation. Finally, a racial realist interpretation of Critical Race Theory principles was deployed to synthesise the answers to three major questions.