Good analysis. There is a roundup of views on the curriculum issue athttp://honesthistory.net.au/wp/minister-pyne-and-the-curriculum-again/

Thank you for your comments David and the link to Honest History. There is certainly a wealth of information on your website. While I think (hope?) this review will all turn out to be much ado about nothing my real concern is the total lack of vision on education by the Coalition and its obsessions with distractions. I did not agree with all aspects of the Gillard/Garrett push on education (see some earlier contributions to Online Opinion) but there was a genuine commitment to
improvement.

Ian
If you wish to receive email updates you can sign up at http://honesthistory.net.au/mailer/ HH noted the line in the Min's comments about needing to have curriculum settled by 2015. There is a subtext of our history being a single line from Magna Carta to Queen Victoria to Anzac to Bob Menzies ('Western Civilisation'). HH preference is 'Not only Anzac but lots of other strands as well'.

In at least foundational basic literacy teaching throughout Australia, Chris Pyne and his new appointees have all the justification in the world to issue a number of exceptionally clear or distinctly 'autocratic' directives to the likes of the current ACARA and one of its its former leaders, Prof Barry McGaw. McGaws leadership period both before ACARA (as head of his NCB) and well into the first few years of ACARA's existence, was not less than profoundly incapable of producing even a workable basic literacy curriculum Australian primary teachers to follow. The proof of this is embarrassingly simple to find:

If you have a PDF file maker on your computer, examine any primary English curriculum document produced by the NCB or ACARA since 2008, and then go looking for KEY words and concepts such as test,correct spelling, vowel, consonant, syllable, alphabet, year level spelling
list and many more. When you discover to your horror that all utterly vital words such as these are either missing or diminished to points of extinction, then you simply must conclude that Australian literacy curricula have been made patently ludicrous and incompetent by the likes of ACARA and the NCB.

Give Pyne and his mates a go in at least basic literacy education. With a bit of luck, they'll do Australian basic literacy teaching a huge favor, sack the lot of them and start from scratch. Simply nothing could be more incompetent than the methods of the 'status quo' lot. Over the last three decades this 'lot' has produced 9.5 million students and workers with problems in basic reading and spelling skills. Pyne should have zero tolerance for failure like this.

there is general agreement of falling and failing educational standards. It is the fault of the mindless fools who have followed the wrong path for the last 60 years. It has gone bad and they should take the blame or perhaps have the blame sheeted home to them.
Asia shows the way with rote learning. It is not as much fun and demands discipline but that is what is needed. It can never happen with the current crop of educators that's for sure!

Dear Ian,

So, << On January 20 Minister Pyne was given 750 words in the Fairfax Media to justify his Government’s review of the Australian Curriculum.>> Oh, wow, really?

I guess that means the conservatives have “failed another test” according to you and the media left?

Great, now what are you going to say to the majority of Australians who voted for them?

Ah, yes, I forgot. The majority of Australians are ready to vote for a change of government in 2016?

You can put your money where your mouth is or consider a quiet exit to retirement.

My advice would be the latter before you compromise your pension