Australian students will be encouraged to use Twitter, blogs and Facebook as study tools in the new Civics and Citizenship national curriculum.
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The draft curriculum was issued for public consultation yesterday. If it is adopted, it will be compulsory for students in years 3 to 8, and optional for students in years 9 and 10, to study civics and citizenship.
The new subject will rest on three platforms: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, sustainability, and Asia and Australia's engagement with Asia.
Underpinning these would be a commitment to liberal democratic values, civic duty and a multicultural and multi-faith society.
Students would be taught skills including research, analysis and synthesis, collaborative problem-solving and decision-making, and communication.
Communication skills will include ''presenting ideas in oral and written form; critical reading, debating, writing and listening; applying empathic and social skills; using both traditional and social media [Twitter, blogs, Facebook and so on] and the internet in socially constructive ways as communication tools in modern democracy''.
After the draft history curriculum was announced in January, opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne hit out, saying Labor's new national curriculum risked becoming ''so obviously driven by ideological and sectional interests that it will be adopted by virtually no one''.
Yesterday Mr Pyne offered no criticism of the draft curriculum, but said civics should be taught as part of the history curriculum.
''The former Howard government sought to include this area in the history curriculum as developing an understanding about the rights and powers of individuals and institutions within our democracy comes with understanding their historical evolution,'' Mr Pyne said. ''If students are not learning about the history of our liberal democracy in history, then something is very wrong.''
But Education Minister Peter Garrett said the new curriculum would complement other fields of study, and would emphasise ''respect, tolerance and an understanding and appreciation of our nation's culture and history''.
If the draft curriculum is finalised, students will be encouraged to volunteer, take part in fundraising for charities or perform other work to contribute to their communities.
''Every democracy relies on a citizenry that actively participates in civic life,'' Mr Garrett said.
''Respect, tolerance and an understanding and appreciation of our nation's culture and history are also vital.'' In March 2010, the authority issued the draft K-10 [kindergarten to Year 10] curriculum for English, mathematics, science and history. Those four subjects began to be included in the national curriculum last year.