Peter Brett

Putting on the Style

Many children are living in extreme poverty; barely meeting their daily survival needs. Yet in the more developed world we are spending billions of dollars per year on toys and games. Surely this money is better spent helping to evaluate the problems associated with world poverty? Surely it could be used to help the problems with water? Surely it is better spent on education in undeveloped countries? It is really simple – think before you buy.

Beyond "Navel-Gazing" and "Mush": Learning about Identity in Australian Classrooms.

This article explores how teaching about identity in Australia has been framed by the recent historical and political context. It analyses the influential characterisation of Australian identity during John Howards period in office between 1996 and 2007. The findings of Australian education researchers relating to young peoples sense of what it means to be Australian are reviewed. The author goes on to discuss the curriculum content, language, and underpinning intellectual frameworks of key areas of the emerging Australian Curriculum. Methodologically, the article draws upon the tools of critical policy and discourse analysis. The History, Geography, Civics and Citizenship curricula and related cross-curricular priorities are analysed in relation to their articulation of learning about identity. Some conclusions are drawn as to how Australian teachers can best be supported to address issues relating to identity in their school contexts. The author argues that teachers need help in developing the skills and confidence to see the emerging Australian Curriculum as a framework and not a straitjacket which prevents them from exploring unarticulated identity issues. He further concludes that there need to be curriculum opportunities to explore the political dimensions of identity issues in critical and participative ways.

The Challenges of Undertaking Citizenship Education Research in Pakistan

A long-standing curriculum controversy erupted in Pakistan in 2009 between two relatively polarised interpretive communities – represented by individuals drawing upon theocratic and liberal-democratic influences respectively. Following the announcement of a new National Education Policy, civil society groups and influential commentators vigorously debated features of the policy in opinions and editorial sections of national newspapers.

Citizenship education in England in the shadow of the Great War

This article explores a comparatively undocumented gap in the history of citizenship education in England. Drawing upon archival material from the Civic Education League, the study analyses calls for citizenship education around the time of the First World War and its aftermath. On the face of it social and political circumstances after 1918 were propitious for citizenship education. The article goes on to explain why arguments in favour of enhancing citizenship education in schools failed to gain significant purchase.