Table of Contents
When Prime Minister John Howard gave his speech to the National Press Club on the eve of Australia Day in 2006 he called for a ‘root and branch renewal’ of history teaching in our schools. ‘In the end,’ he said, ‘young people are at risk of being disinherited from their community if that community lacks the courage and confidence to teach its history.’ Nation-building is often conceived in very tangible forms — engineering marvels, wars, and even national institutions can claim credit for helping to define the nation’s legacy. Teaching the nation’s history in schools also raises questions of national definition. But what story of Australia do we want to teach in schools? This chapter examines recent public debates over Australian history teaching and argues that meaningful nation-building will not arise from a simplistic promotion of Australian nationalism, but by encouraging genuine critical engagement with the past.