High school students will take a broader view of Australia's colonial past as part of a reform of the NSW curriculum.
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The NSW Education Standards Authority on Tuesday released freshly updated syllabuses for students from Kindergarten to year 10 and invited feedback.
One new unit - Australia's European Heritage and Aboriginal Cultures and Histories - would give older students a "deeper understanding" of Australia's past, the authority said.
"In History (years) 7 to 10, we've struck a good balance for students learning more about the perspectives of Australia's past," chief executive Paul Martin said on Tuesday.
"The addition of new content relating to Aboriginal Cultures and Histories provides a more complete understanding of the Australian experience and heritage and is not at the expense of European history."
The changes to the unit include subject-specific content designed to strengthen students' knowledge about Indigenous history in Australia and provide more background to previously-taught history studies.
Students would also dive deep into Indigenous people's experiences of colonisation, including the causes of the frontier wars and differences between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal worldviews of relationships to land and country.
Mr Martin said students needed a broader understanding of the country's past.
"It would be disrespectful in 2023 to have a history of Australia that didn't include the dispossession of culture and land of Aboriginal people," he said.
"That's included in there. It's not the only thing that's included but if we're being accurate about our history, we need to include those elements that are about telling the truth."
Health movement science, geography, visual arts and science and technology syllabuses have also been updated.
NESA will conduct two rounds of consultation on the drafts and release final syllabuses in 2024, to be implemented from 2027.
It is hoped the new timeline will give teachers better clarity about changes to the syllabus, with at least two years for educators to get their heads around Kindergarten-to-10 syllabuses before implementing them.
The consultation will run for six weeks until September 11.
Meanwhile, the CSIRO on Tuesday launched a new program aimed at connecting students to Indigenous scientific knowledge in the classroom.
The Living STEM program draws on community engagement principles and was developed with Aboriginal desert schools, the science agency said.
"The model allows students to explore STEM subjects that value and connect with their cultural identity, leading to increased engagement and enthusiasm for learning," CSIRO education director Ruth Carr said.
Australian Associated Press
