ERIC Number: EJ1261627
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0362-6784
EISSN: N/A
Deimperialising Asia-Related History: An Australian Case Study
Cairns, Rebecca
Curriculum Inquiry, v50 n2 p126-148 2020
History curriculum in Australia has moved beyond its traditional British imperial roots and currently takes a world history approach. Postmodern and postcolonial approaches have challenged the dominant Western metanarrative projected on and by curriculum and the inclusion of Asia-related histories has contributed to the diversification of the narratives represented. Nonetheless, as the analysis presented in this paper demonstrates, the traditional points of reference for framing Asia -- imperialism, colonialism, cold war structures, and the nation-state -- continue to play a significant role in the way Asia is positioned. This paper reports on a study that investigated the representation of Asia in Victorian senior secondary history curriculum documents of the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) over the last three decades. Chen's "Asia as method" and "deimperialisation" are employed to critically examine how Asia is imagined by curriculum. The paper examines the potential of deimperialisation as an intervention for disrupting dominant curricular constructions of Asia. It argues that in order to reconceptualise Asia as relational, dynamic, and an active participant in historical processes, history curriculum needs to provide opportunity for reflection on the ongoing effects of imperialism on subjectivity formation and engage with contemporary historiographical developments.
Descriptors: Case Studies, Foreign Countries, History Instruction, Secondary School Students, Asian History, Foreign Policy, Postcolonialism, Curriculum Development, Postmodernism, Western Civilization, Educational Change, Intervention, Historiography, Units of Study, Discourse Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A