Topical Teaching

So the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority reportedly has said An Inconvenient Truth has a place in modern history studies and English.

In my opinion the new Australian Curriculum is a very flawed document and needs to be fixed from its current draft state.  My biggest problem with it is that it doesn’t just tell us what topics to cover, but also what angle to use.

An example of this is climate change.  The word ‘consensus’ which has been bandied around lately does not belong in the classroom.  The classroom is best served by looking at all sides of an issue and letting the students come to their own conclusions.  Instead, the National Curriculum wants teachers to teach climate science with a clear and unambiguous position.

In a recent unit on Weather, I played an excerpt of ‘An Inconvenient Truth’.  I think it’s an interesting movie and has a place in the classroom. However, the curriculum should encourage teachers to present opposing views.

Perhaps the film could be shown together with the recent documentary Cool It to present both sides of the argument.

Provide the tools, and let the kids decide.

Tags: Articles, Education, Entertainment, Film, Opinion

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