This month the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority completes its consultation on the draft senior secondary Australian Curriculum for English, Mathematics, Science and History.
Although I applaud the inclusion of two mentions of East Timor in the Draft of the Australian Senior Secondary Modern History Curriculum, I believe that the history of the relationship between Australia and Timor-Leste is not sufficiently represented.
Any teacher wanting to teach East Timor in the Curriculum unit 'Movements for Rights and Recognition in the 20th Century' would find investigation points which rightly outline the global forces affecting the many countries and issues suggested for study. But in the case of East Timor, omitting any specific mention of Australia’s role could easily lead to false impressions.
Many people’s opinions are shaped by notions championed by various political forces and media, and therefore some actually believe that regarding East Timor, Australia has been unremittingly courageous, generous and exemplary. That Australian soldiers went into Portuguese Timor in 1941 ‘to protect the Timorese’, for example, and that Australia ‘saved’ East Timor in 1999. A study of the history would allow students to have these perceptions challenged by examination of the facts.
If Australia’s relationship with East Timor was given prominence, students would be able to fulfil the other aims of the curriculum i.e. how to inquire, how to use sources and how to defend well-researched positions, all by using a line of inquiry which has relevance to the place of Australia in the modern world and in this region in particular.
In 'Unit 4 'The Modern World Since 1945' East Timor again appears as one among others in a study of 'Movements of People', which refers to conflict and persecution in 1975 and 1999. Without specific reference to Australia’s role, however, the tendency to portray Australia as the champion may not only remain unchallenged, but may be strengthened.
It is true that students can transfer historical skills learned with respect to one set of material to other content. But transference of skills could be as adequately served if the Australia/Timor relationship was included as a choice, for example, in Unit 4 of the 'Engagement with Asia' section. Students could learn their skills in relation to Timor’s history and so be equipped to understand Vietnam, or indeed, cultural and sporting ties with Asia, topics for which the present Draft Curriculum provides.
If students are to engage in valid participation in contemporary debates, they require an understanding both of history and of its relevance to the present. Without this there is the danger that current political realities will cloud historical inquiry, and that Australian students will pass through schools with little knowledge of a history which has peculiar relevance to how Australians see ourselves, to demonstrated facts, and to the current effects of those facts.
Timorese poverty, among the most dire in the world, is the result of recent regional history in which Australia played a pivotal role.
Many issues concern Australia and East Timor, for example unresolved justice issues, the building of Timorese systems and structures, ongoing Australian roles in Timor-Leste, the increasing presence of China there, the questions of maritime boundaries and the resources of the Timor Sea. Unless students are given the impetus to study the modern history that makes these questions relevant, they will remain likely to repeat the stereotypical thinking which affects those with a veneer of historical understanding. That can sometimes be heard from westerners in the eating houses of Dili.
To introduce a meatier engagement with the region, in the 'Engagement with Asia' section the relationship between Australia and East Timor could be presented as a free standing element in these terms: the significance of Australia's policies concerning East Timor, including the effects of the Australian presence in World War II, the Balibó Five, the invasion and occupation by Indonesia, Timorese independence, and the resources of the Timor Sea.
Students would find here a wealth of content from which to draw conclusions and develop the skills of historical inquiry. The inclusion of the relationship between our two nations in the Curriculum would both educate the young and encourage Australian educators to grapple with this unique chapter of modern history.
The Draft Senior Secondary Curriculum available for anyone to read and comment until 20 July 2012.
Susan Connelly is a western Sydney-based Sister of St Joseph who for many years has been the prime mover in the advocacy work of the Mary MacKillop East Timor Mission.