THE GENIE AND THE BOTTLE - PUTTING HISTORY BACK INTO THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM

This article originated in addresses to the annual conferences of the Queensland History Teachers Association on 23 June 1996 and the South Australian History Teachers Association on 24 March 1997, with some su bsequent revision. It begins with the widespread concern that the teac hing of history is under threat, considers statistical evidence for th e decline of history enrolments in the postcompulsory years of schooli ng, and qualifies the predictions of the doomsayers. The principal con cern is with the erosion of history as part of the common curriculum i n Years P-10 and its subsumption into studies of society and environme nt. I suggest that if history is to be restored to its proper place in the school curriculum, we need to think of academic history and schoo l history as related but distinct activities. The renewed attention to civics provides an opportunity to revive school history.