The importance of a historically literate society is increasing, says Associate Professor Tony Taylor.

For Associate Professor Tony Taylor, studying the past is much more than memorising lists of dead rulers. "History is exciting," he says. "It's partly about how individuals and groups in different times have dealt with issues similar to and different from today's problems."

Dr Taylor is faculty head of Education at Monash University's Gippsland campus, and project director of the National Inquiry into School History, which involved a team of Monash academics.

The inquiry's report, The Future of the Past, was launched recently by the Federal Government. Its development has been watched closely by history educators in Canada, the US and the UK, who view it as an inspiring international first for Australia.

Focusing on programs in history education, the report lists among its key recommendations the development of a National Centre for History Education, the formation of primary and secondary school history projects, a national seminar on history teaching, and a nationally-offered postgraduate program in history education for teachers.

The report identifies gaps in the management of online history research in the classroom and the need for educationalists to work more closely with academic and professional historians in their curriculum design and teaching.

Fascination about the past

"There's an enormous fascination among Australians about their past," comments Dr Taylor. "You can see this from the number of people going to heritage sites, from the number of museums, the attendance at those museums, and from the number of Australians who go to Gallipoli every year. The real problem is why this isn't so in schools."

The history teacher's role is central to the development of critical thought and learning.

Essentially, the inquiry found that the quality of history teaching varies dramatically across Australian classrooms.

The secondary curriculum in many states leaves history a low priority subject, often farmed out to teachers with little experience or knowledge in the area. In primary schools, history teaching relies on the enthusiasm of individual teachers, who are often inadequately trained. "There are groups, in each state and territory, of enormously enthusiastic and dedicated teachers," comments Dr Taylor. "But, as a subject, history has been on the back foot for 20 years."

While a teacher's personal enthusiasm for the subject is vital, international research also shows that, like science or English, history has unique and technical aspects that require specialist teaching. Students often approach history as they would mathematics, looking for a single right answer. The teacher's role is integral in developing different, more critical ways of thinking and learning.

Broader implications

Originally a history teacher, Dr Taylor became involved in the development of the UK national Schools History Project during the 1970s. The project promoted the view that history should be taught according to a consistent rationale, based on a reflective evaluation of sources, and this was essential in developing students' understanding of events. 'Historical literacy' can then be developed, which encourages students to read sources critically, to evaluate arguments and to assess the broader implications of the past.

Dr Taylor argues that politicians across the globe are increasingly seeing the importance of an historically literate society. This is vital not only for understanding and contributing to national celebrations - such as Australia's forthcoming Centenary of Federation - but also for being an active member of a healthy democracy.

Historical awareness is also vital in the development of meaningful discussions with Aborigines and with our Asian neighbours. "Those are two areas needing serious critical historical understanding," says Dr Taylor.

Political agenda

Handling the complexities of past wrongs against humanity and accountability for them has also become one of the most compelling issues in the international community. "In political and social terms, the historical debate has of necessity become part of a high-profile, political agenda," he says. "One of the really important jobs that history does is allow students to deal with information as a set of identified issues and to arrive at some kind of informed conclusion."

These critical skills can be applied as much to weighty issues of human rights for persecuted peoples as to rebutting the myriad of conspiracy theories to which adolescents are exposed, particularly through the internet.

The inquiry argues strongly for links between history teaching and online research, both to exercise critical evaluation of sources and to access important historical materials. Not only does history risk being seen as "becoming antiquarian" if it doesn't get itself into the cyber-age, says Dr Taylor, but its traditional scholarly hierarchies are being overturned, as students access archives which were once the sole preserve of the academic few, by a simple mouse-click.

"We now have archives that are uncloseted and uncontained. I can search all over the world in an instant, and students can too. They no longer need their teachers as mediators, they need them as mentors."

		Further information on The Future of the Past can be accessed at http://www.detya.gov.au/schools/ publications/reports/future/index.htm