civics and citizenship civics and citizenship … · civics and citizenship ... the explanation is...

Ethos : Term 2, 2008 19

Civics and Citizenship EducationWhy is Civics and Citizenship Education unpopular among teachers?

by Ron Anderson with a Foreword by Warren Prior

ForewordIn this article, Ron Anderson challenges us to consider the nature and role of Civics and Citizenship Education in Australia over the past two decades. It is a very timely article, as the ‘story’ of Civics and Citizenship Education in Australia, as told in the series of articles in Ethos largely written by me over the past two years, has warranted some analysis and critique.

While I don’t agree with much of what Ron Anderson is saying, for example the lack of evidence about a ‘civic deficit’ among young people in Australia, the article does warn us of the ‘spin’ that the current Civics and Citizenship Education programs and curriculum frameworks are merely the ‘take’ given to this area by curriculum developers in Australia, who are increasingly under political pressure to conform to the current ideological line. Hence, there is the danger of Civics and Citizenship Education becoming just the propaganda of governments.

At the core of the article is the question, “What are schools for?” I come from the position that Civics and Citizenship Education is THE central core business of schools and that a focus on the common good, social justice and active engagement enables schools to contribute to a ‘better world’. The author comes from a different position. As educators, it is the big question for us all and the article makes a valuable contribution to this discussion.

by Warren Prior

Ron Anderson is a life member of Social Education Victoria. He taught for a number of years at Scotch College in Melbourne.

Currently he is working as a sessional staff member in Humanities at Deakin University and contributes to Social Education Victoria professional development program especially in VCE

International Politics. He enjoys life both in Melbourne and Inverloch and plays the occasional jazz.

Since the Whereas the People, the report of the Civics Expert Group, in 1994, the education industry has been preoccupied with efforts to encourage the teaching of ‘Civics and Citizenship’. These efforts have included: direct injunctions and exhortations at the ministerial level of State and Federal governments; stimulus from curriculum bureaucrats with programs such as Discovering Democracy; financial inducements to schools to ‘fly the flag’; numerous articles in publications of subject associations; and professional presentations at subject conferences. Yet despite more than a decade and a half’s activity, there is evident reluctance to the point of resistance to include more than a token element of Civics and Citizenship in schools programs. Why is this?

CIVICS AND CITIZENSHIP

Ron Anderson

Ethos : Term 2, 200820

Is it simply professional resistance to change? Or are there more profound and deep seated reasons why the take up on significant programs based on civics and citizenship has been slow, hesitant and cautious?

In my view it is the latter; there is something about the fundamental nature of the push for and the details of Civics and Citizenship Education that has induced a healthy skepticism and professional reluctance to engage seriously in this area of the curriculum. The following factors may help to explain this.

The explanation is grouped around three scepticisms:

Civics and Citizenship Education in relation to liberal 1 education and a ‘free society’

Civics and Citizenship Education from the view point of the 2 discipline of political science

In relation to teaching realities and practicalities. ‘Scepticism’ 3 is to be taken literally; I do not hold an implacable opposition to Civics and Citizenship Education but rather experience considerable personal and professional misgivings about the way in which it has been articulated and attempted to be inculcated.

Liberal education and a free societyMuch of my initial skepticism derives from my past experience of primary school citizenship ceremonies. During at least the 1950s, on a weekly basis, every government primary school student in Victoria had to stand to attention, sing the National Anthem (then God Save the Queen), and with his/her hand over the heart intone:

I love God and my country

I honour the flag, serve the Queen, and

Cheerfully obey my parents, teachers and the laws.

Meaningless in its effect, possibly; trite in its sentiments; but worryingly propagandistic in its intentions.

Such deliberate state sanctioned inculcation of civic values is in retrospect nostalgically laughable. During the 20th century, various attempts to inculcate civic virtue included programs which emphasized the superiority of the British Empire, the bravery and courage of the ANZACs, the evils of communism and the ‘wonders’ of Australian democracy. By the late 20th century, many saw this for what it was – political propaganda – not qualitatively different from Nazi propaganda and the Hitler youth.

Are contemporary aspects of Civics and Citizenship Education significantly different? In my view, no! Civics and Citizenship Education’s aims and programs, share at root similar aims to achieve social compliance. Whether it be to ‘teach’ ‘mutual obligation’, ‘rights and responsibilities’, understanding and support for ‘multiculturalism’ or encouragement of student democracy in schools, these elements are designed to encourage social compliance and build social cohesion. These ‘modern’ civics values are not so different in principle and intention of previous past misuses of civic education.

Our education has traditionally been based on the values of ‘liberalism’. This at root entails students the freedom to choose the values by which they wish to live. Rather than encourage students to think for themselves, Civics and Citizenship Education imposes deliberately or unintentionally, sets of values – including the knowledge and importance of democratic values. Thus Civics and Citizenship ‘education’ is closer to the indoctrination of citizenship training, rather than liberal education. While values education is and should be an important element of liberal education, it should be only as value clarification – the educational imperative to encourage students to explore and illuminate values – analyse and explicate their consistency, logical implications and applicability.

Civics and Citizenship Education serves political agendas too obviously. In the hands of governments of various persuasions, the underlying motive is political and ideological. In the early 1990s, under a federal ALP government, the citizenship push began in earnest, based on an underlying agenda to give sufficient understanding of republicanism, multiculturalism and aboriginal rights. In the hands of the Howard government the fear of the loss of social cohesion based

on a suspicion of multiculturalism became evident. This was in a climate of induced fear of unauthorized migrants (‘boat people’). Schools received financial inducements to fly the Australian flag and display government written charters of rights and responsibilities. The concerns over terrorism since September 11, encouraged a renewed convergence towards the importance of social cohesion. The bipartisan feeling

that social cohesion was failing, implied a need to teach consensus values to avoid the potential threat of internal terrorism. Some of these agendas appear perfectly laudable, even at times justifiable, but they do not sit comfortably with a tradition which aims at freedom in education.

The correlation of the Civics and Citizenship Education push with contemporary views of Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) educators to ‘teach’ controversial and contestable curriculum, further exemplifies these propagandistic concerns. Currently many SOSE

Rather than encourage students to think for

themselves, Civics and Citizenship Education imposes deliberately or unintentionally, sets of

values…

Ethos : Term 2, 2008 21

educators including professional pre- service trainers advocate and emphasise the teaching as core concepts, ideas like social justice, sustainability and even social change as the explicit (and one suspects the main focus) of SOSE classes1. It is not just coincidence that these SOSE educators strongly correlate and overlap with those who advocate a strong view of the teaching of Civics and Citizenship Education.

There should be no misunderstanding here – I do not wish to exclude concepts like social justice, social change or sustainability from the curriculum – but I insist that: they not be the sole or even a significant purview of SOSE teaching; the underlying values component be explored through a values clarification model, and they be included in ways which encourage open outcomes (students’ right to criticize and even reject them).

Viewed from the perspective of the discipline of politicsContemporary citizenship programs, especially those components which are based on civic participation, derive from a selective understanding and application of one of two competing strands in democratic thinking. In the divide between traditions based on Rousseau and those deriving from John Locke, the Citizenship push favours Rousseau. Believing in little separation between government and the people, Rousseau placed more emphasis on popular political participation and hence direct democracy – where elected representatives were ‘delegated’ – subject to immediate and regular recall. Locke, and later Burke however, viewed government as more separate from the people, who legitimized government by regular consent through elections. Their theory of representation was based more on ‘trust’ – participation is more limited to informed and responsible voting. Representatives were entrusted to exercise independent judgment until the next election2. Both traditions are justifiable, and are located across both ends of the conventional political spectrum (they are not confined to Left and Right), yet the Civics and Citizenship Education push appropriates only one strand in a complex debate.

Civic engagement and participation is based on unacknowledged concepts of civic competence – the positive feelings, capability, know-how and desire of civil society to participate or ‘act’ in the civic sphere. However this insistence, which is mandated throughout the levels of VELS, needs analysis and justification.

1 ‘The challenge for schools, . . . is to prepare young people who can not only survive in a global world, but who can constantly transform it, so that it is locally viable, meaningful and socially beneficial’ (Warren Prior 2003, quoted in SEV, Social Education: a Statement for Victorian Schools (emphasis added))

2 Hugh V Emy, The Politics of Australian Democracy 1st ed, 1974, p 67 ff, and passim.

Arguably, there is a democratic right to apathy. If, as they must, democratic values include freedom, there is or should be a right, a freedom, to not become involved in the community.

Civics and Citizenship Education is based on the view that ‘active citizenship’ is highly desirable. The concept of civic deficit – low civic knowledge and low civic competence - is relevant here. There is no evidence that civic competence is low in Australia. Nor is there any suggestion that civic competence is affected by the low state of civic knowledge. Australia has had low levels of civic knowledge, yet this has not hampered democratic functioning. Australian democracy still functions tolerably well despite widespread ignorance of the actual details of its operation.

It is of course desirable that this knowledge be extended, however Australia’s democratic system is extraordinarily complex and difficult to understand. Who, beyond constitutional lawyers can fully understand the Federal-State power separation? Who can really comment authoritatively on how Senate votes are counted? Who can readily and accurately describe the governor-

general’s powers? I endorse any extension of civic knowledge, but recognise the inherent difficulties in full understanding. However, the push for increased civic participation, lacks evidence of its low levels, and appears to wish to increase political activism along the lines of direct democracy.

Any serious extension of civic participation runs the serious risk of over-politicisation. Local ‘civic’ projects may benefit from increased involvement, but may reap little benefit from the consequent politicisation of that involvement. Contrary to the implications of increased civic participation, over-politicisation can be detrimental to democratic functioning. Too many issues become subject to political discord, which can erode consensus and encourage or exaggerate political divisions.

Lacking evidence that there is a genuine civic deficit in Australia, the various justifications for an extended Civics and Citizenship Education course are insufficiently strong, and induce the suspicion that the push is serving more narrow political motives.

Rather than the ambitious and facile general principles of Civics and Citizenship Education, a better model is one which encourages ‘political literacy’. Such a model is less ambitious, and begs fewer conceptual questions about the nature of democracy and the contested value of active citizenship. It is also more understandable, practical and achievable.

Teaching realities and practicalitiesAll teachers are painfully aware of the difficulties caused by an ‘overcrowded curriculum’. It is a harsh fact that eminently sensible, desirable and often very practical educational elements find it hard to win a place in schools. This makes it more

Any serious extension of civic participation runs the serious risk of over-

politicisation.


important that proposed additions to the curriculum be fully

justified and educationally achievable. In my view extended Civics

and Citizenship Education in the forms proposed is not justified

due to its potential for propaganda and agenda pushing, and its

selective and simplistic appeals to only one side of a complex

debate, within the discipline of politics.

But there are additional more practical realities which compound

this scepticism.The sad reality is that the details of democratic

functioning can easily be boring and mechanical, devoid of life

and therefore difficult to teach. This is an ever present pedagogical

problem and one where inquiry methods are not well suited.

Inquiry methods imply ‘open’ learning outcomes; and proper

understanding of democratic functioning is very much a ‘closed’

learning outcome.

But more than this, in the teaching situation it is often difficult to

avoid a narrowly conceived ‘triumphalism’ regarding democracy

and Australian democracy in particular. It is difficult to teach

the values underlying democracy - equality, majority rule and

tolerance of diversity through minority rights without some sense of

triumphalist superiority. Would any liberal minded teacher, even one

with a strong ‘relativist’ inclination, ‘teach’ the opposites with a clear

conscience?

Equally the ‘success’ that Australia achieved in their early

adoption of these practices - manhood suffrage, secret ballot [‘the

Australian ballot’], even women’s franchise [decades ahead of the

British model] – induces a natural inclination towards national

self congratulation. But this should be balanced with the residue

of ‘un’ or even ‘anti’ democratic features within the Australian

system. These include a Senate lacking the essential democratic

feature of one vote one value, with long periods of office (twice

that of the ‘popular’ house) a rotation system designed to prevent

the domination of the most recent electoral opinion; and above

all possessing a full legislative veto, and the potential to remove

popularly elected governments. But the list does not end there – the

slow failure to develop Australian citizenship (not till the late 1940s

was this a legal entity separate from British citizenship), aboriginal

voting rights (federally not till 1963), and subsequently not on an

equal basis with whites (aboriginal voting was not compulsory until

1984). Also there are remnants of vested interests in State Upper

Houses each with undemocratic features. The NSW Upper House was

nominated until the 1980s. Victoria’s was subjected to restrictive

franchise and plural voting until the 1940s.

Such ‘details’, while encouraging critical thinking and some national

embarrassment are also too detailed and difficult for the period of

compulsory education till year 10. While ‘triumphalist’ teaching may

be hard to avoid, the democratic deficiencies also make its rational

balanced assessment difficult until the final years.

Victorian Essential Learning StandardsVELS also compounds these difficulties. One of the more frustrating aspects of VELS is their choice of verbs. In VELS documents, student learning is couched in a series of unqualified active verbs. Students ‘explore’, ‘develop’, ‘sequence and develop’. ‘explain’ , ‘contribute’ and ‘demonstrate’. What is lacking is a clear and unambiguous sense that they ‘must’ or ‘should’. The curriculum planners responsible for VELS are reluctant to enunciate the authoritative force of their pronouncements, using unambiguous language of prescription. Rather student learning is expressed in ways which are consistent with the prevailing orthodoxy of constructivist theory – it is as if students ‘naturally’ do these things as they become ready at the various stages. This is what they ‘do’. There is consequently too little help for practitioners as to ‘how’ students and teachers are to achieve these aims couched in terms which imply a selective and partial educational ideology.

This vagueness and ambiguity itself means that significant elements of VELS curriculum are educationally unachievable at the level designated – at least in forms that are educationally meaningful. Some examples:

Civic Knowledge and Understanding

At level 4, students describe the nature of Australia’s democracy that developed as a result of Federation. They describe the three levels of government and some of the key functions of each level. They explain the basic elements of Australia’s federal parliamentary system and key democratic principles and values such as freedom of speech and equality before the law. They explain the concept of multiculturalism.

Civic Engagement

At Level 4, students demonstrate understanding of the roles and responsibilities of leaders, and of democratic processes, when engaging in school and community activities. They present a point of view on a significant current issue or issues and include recommendations about the actions that individuals and governments can take to resolve issues.

This is ambitious beyond belief for year 6 primary students. I have had only limited success at year 10 with such outcomes. It is achievable only by extreme simplification of issues to the point of falsification; or by another bad teaching practice – encouraging lower order skills through the learning of factual knowledge for its own sake.

By level 6 in years 9 and 10 under Civic Knowledge and Understanding ‘students [will, should or must?] explain the development of a multicultural society and the values necessary to

Ethos : Term 2, 2008 23

sustain it’. This bald statement not only fails to indicate what level of ‘explanation’ would be satisfactory, but critically assumes that the concept of multiculturalism is clear, unambiguous and uncontested and it is expected that it be sustained as a desirable social norm and that students must internalize the requisite values.

There is no other way of describing this, except as propaganda to achieve social compliance on a ‘fuzzy’ and contestable concept.

Multiculturalism In a popular sense, multiculturalism as simply ethnic and cultural diversity is unproblematic. However the term has always had a sharper edge. From its inception in the 1970s, it contained an anti-assimilationist ideology; migrants were no longer to be expected to assimilate into a dominant ‘Australian’ norm. In its most trenchant form this could be taken to imply the acceptance and continuation of permanent ethnic and cultural enclaves. Most Australians would not accept this. But if the inbuilt anti-assimilationism of multiculturalism is taken seriously (and I would contend that this rarely happens), then the developed understanding of the meaning of multiculturalism in practice is eminently contestable and for the healthiness of the body politic, must be debated. Must all cultural practices of migrants be tolerated by the ‘host’ community’? How much tolerance might endanger social cohesion? Has the ‘host’ community no rights? Has the ‘host’ community the right to expect adherence to ‘core socio-political values’? What are they?

These are not easy questions. Even to raise them, is to invite allegations of racism, or ‘Hansonism’. Yet they are critical to national self understanding and self definition as a multicultural nation.

In short, the precise definition of, and the requisite values entailed in multiculturalism, as indicated in VELS is impossible. As the coverage of the term varies, so do the ‘values necessary to sustain it’. The proper role in an education context, is to at the appropriate level (years 10 and above) encourage a difficult journey of the exploration of the range of meanings of multiculturalism and its implications for national identity, social cohesion and underlying social values. This value clarification is the only aspect which is consistent with liberal educational goals.

Conclusion In conclusion there should be no misunderstanding. The various knowledges and understandings covered by Civics and Citizenship Education and more broadly in SOSE, is educationally critical and justifies an important place in the curriculum. But because it is conceptually both more difficult and problematic than Civics and Citizenship Education proselytisers assume, its position in the curriculum needs to be more considered and fine-tuned sensitively, to what is achievable and age/development appropriate.

But above all, the more circumspect approaches based on ‘political literacy’ and ‘value clarification’, are the only ones consistent with the liberal-democratic values underlying education. Anything more than this is propaganda.

The new look SEV website

It’s exciting to have a new website that allows us to serve you, our members, in an effective and efficient way.

We will be adding new material to the website on an ongoing basis. We suggest that you visit the website regularly to check for upcoming events and new resources.

The SEV member only section will become active by the end of Term 2. SEV members will receive advice about how to access this area.


Are you looking for a new way to make Civics and Citizenship and Values Education meaningful for your students? Perhaps you are looking for a means to engage your students with the community? Or do you plan to assist your students to develop key competencies and practical skills? Y Challenge is a new resource developed by Australian Red Cross to assist teachers and youth leaders to meet all of these needs. Y Challenge is an up to date program and replaces earlier Red Cross programs Community Challenge, Community Action and Junior Red Cross.

The Australian Red Cross is part of the world’s largest humanitarian organisation, with more than 100 million volunteers in 186 countries. The Movement’s mission is to prevent and reduce human suffering, wherever it is found. Fundamental Principles of humanity, neutrality and independence guide this mission.

Y Challenge and Red CrossAs well as responding to emergencies and providing Australia’s Blood Service, Red Cross contributes to building strong, resilient and supportive communities across Australia. One way Red Cross achieves this is by involving young people in its education programs.

The Y Challenge programY Challenge is a highly flexible community service program for young people. Y Challenge 1 is designed for young people between 8 and 12

years of age; Challenge 2 is designed for those between 12 and 16. The Y Challenge program aims to give young people the opportunity to

discover how they can connect with and contribute to the ■

community

develop and carry out a community project in partnership with ■

others

develop practical project management skills. ■

A Y Challenge team can be a class, a school, a group within a school or a youth group. The team might collaborate with the school community, the local community or even with a community outside Australia; a Y Challenge project might take a few days or up to a year to complete or can be on going. The choice is up to those involved.

What does a Y Challenge project look like?A Y Challenge project is based around a community’s existing strengths, its concerns about current issues and the interests and values of young people.

Examples of Y Challenge projects include

the development of a whole school approach to address bullying ■

a local community energy usage audit to inform the development ■

of an energy conservation strategy

a reciprocal partnership with a school or orphanage in a ■

developing country

Y Challenge?Civics and Citizenship in Action

by Paula Taylor National Program Coordinator Y Challenge, Red Cross


Ethos : Term 2, 2008 25

Y Challenge resourcesA range of Y Challenge resources supports young people as they develop a community project under the guidance of a mentor (for example, a teacher or youth leader). Multiple entry points allow a choice of pathway through the materials that best suits a team’s interests and level of expertise.

Manuals for young people and their mentors are divided into two parts. Part A prepares the team for working on a community project - activities focus on interests, values and understanding ‘community’. Part B supports the team as they research, plan and implement a project - activities focus on developing skills in project management.

Online modules, Communication, Community, Mentoring, Leadership, and Working together, provide information and activities that supplement and extend the materials in the manuals. The modules are continually updated in response to feedback by young people and mentors.

Red Cross further supports the program by assisting with

access to guest speakers ■

online information ■

printed materials ■

publicity in Red Cross publications such as the Humanitarian and ■

Red Cross Youth (RCY) publications

publicity in the mass media ■

awards and presentations at the completion of projects ■

Program implementationThe Y Challenge program was launched on World Red Cross Day, May 8, 2008. The program will be introduced across Australia through a phased implementation, with schools and youth groups currently implementing Red Cross youth programs making the transition to Y Challenge from May through to the end of 2008. The resource materials and support will be available to all young people and their mentors at the beginning of 2009.

To ensure equity of access, Red Cross educational materials are provided free of charge to all schools and youth groups.

Example of a Y Challenge 1 Activity

Our interests and values

Successful teams are those whose members respect each other and their differences, and enjoy working together to achieve a common purpose. Giving children time to share their interests and perspectives, to understand and clarify their values helps to foster acceptance of each other and build a cohesive team.

Requirements

butcher’s paper and pens ■

three different coloured packets of adhesive dots: 8 dots of each of 3 ■

colours per person total = 24 dots per person

means of displaying posters ■

sufficient space to display four charts and allow for movement of ■

children

Prior to the activity

Tear strips of coloured dots into lots of eight of each colour.

Draw up eight posters on butcher’s paper. Each poster has a table headed with one of the questions.

For example

What interests us at school?

Interest


What interests us at home?

What interests us in our local community?

What interests us in the world?

Importance

What is important to us at school?

What is important to us at home?

What is important to us in our local community?

What is important to us in the world?

Instructions

Display the four ‘What interests us’ posters. Explain that following a brainstorm and listing of what interests them, each child will rate their preferences with three different coloured dots.

Identify the colour they will use to rate the highest. Children place a dot for their highest preference on each of the four posters.


Playing sport ••

Seeing friends ••••••

Maths puzzles •••

Repeat the process for their second and third preferences using a different colour in each instance.

The resulting four bar graphs indicate the spread of interests and the number of children interested in each. Analyse and discuss the graphs with the team.


Playing sport ••••••••••

Seeing friends •••••••••••

Maths puzzles ••••••••

Repeat the exercise with the four ‘What is important to us?’ posters.


Example of a Y Challenge 2 Activity

Research your issue

Once an issue of interest has been identified, further research will help the team to work out the best way of dealing with it in their project. The views of members of the community about an issue are likely to vary; canvass their views.

Information from a range of sources will help your team to make

well informed decisions in relation to the project ■

contact with community members who can help and who might ■

want to be involved.

Requirements

access to information sources ■

writing materials ■

computer access ■

Instructions

The team identifies an issue of interest using the method described ■

in Part B of Activity

Community issues and resources.

Assist your team in developing and carrying out a research design. ■

As the participants research, they collect relevant articles from ■

newspapers and other media and share them on a media board or blog.

Help your team to prepare a brief report that summarises their ■

findings. The report could take the form of a poster, a written document or an electronic presentation.

Research tips

Record and investigate additional questions that come up during your research

Make sure you are well prepared before you conduct interviews or undertake a survey (see the online module Communication)

See the ‘Information sheet - Research design’ on the following page

Further informationSee: www.redcross.org.auContact: Ms Paula Taylor, Red Cross

23-47 Villiers Street,

North Melbourne 3051

Tel: +61 3 8327 7954

Fax: +61 3 8327 7961 |

Email: [email protected]

A project can break down barriers to cutural understanding A project might involve cross-age tutoring

Ethos : Term 2, 2008 27

Information Sheet - Research Design

1. Pose key questions

Who is most affected by the issue and why? ■

How are people responding to the issue? ■

Why is there an issue? ■

Other questions might include

What are the views of the main groups involved? ■

What are the views of the general community? ■

Who are the key decision-makers involved? ■

How could the situation be improved? ■

What technical information do we need ■

2. Identify sources of information

Where will we find the answers? ■

- In primary sources? - In secondary sources?

3. Gather information

How will we gather, record and store information? ■

- Surveys? - Interviews with individuals? - Group interviews? - Hard copy? - Electronic?

4. Identify researchers

Who will find out the answers? ■

- Will everyone be involved? - Will we work in small teams? - Who will we ask?

5. Document research design

Create a landscape table using the headings ■

- Research questions - Information sources - Method - Researchers

Primary sources of information are those that contain information gathered directly from

interviews with members of ■

community groups

interviews with interested or affected ■

individuals

surveys of community members ■

experts who have carried out research ■

Australian Bureau of Statistics ■

www.abs.gov.au

Secondary sources of information are those that report what others have found out. Examples include

newspaper (local and major) ■

television, radio and internet ■

commentaries

documentaries ■

oral traditions that hand down ■

information over time

books and magazines ■

Information from secondary sources is less likely to be reliable than information from primary sources. Why?


National Schools’ Constitutional ConventionThe 122 Year 11 and 12 students, including 27 from Victoria, who attended the National Schools’ Constitutional Convention held in Canberra last week, spent three days exploring the case for and against Australia becoming a republic.

On the Convention topic Australian Republic: to be or not to be? the students, who were selected from government, independent and Catholic schools in all states and territories, voted strongly for a republic.

All those in favour…In response to the question - Are you in favour of the Australian Constitution being amended to establish the Commonwealth of Australia as a republic? 54 per cent were in favour and 45 per cent were not. (There was one informal response.)

The students listened as experts in constitutional law outlined three possible republic models for Australia:

Model 1

A republic with the Queen and Governor-General being replaced by a President selected and appointed by the Prime Minister.

Model 2

A republic with the Queen and Governor-General being replaced by a President appointed by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Commonwealth Parliament.

Model 3

A republic with the Queen and Governor-General being replaced by a President elected directly by the electors of Australia.

Following discussion and debate, the students took part in a mock referendum using a preference voting system to determine the preferred model.

Model 2 was favoured by 73.1 per cent of students; model 1 by 18.5 per cent; and model 3 by 8.4 per cent.

It was only the second time in thirteen years that delegates to the Convention voted in favour of amending the Constitution.

Decisions taken at the convention were incorporated into a Communiqué which was presented to the Deputy President of the Senate, John Hogg, Senator for Queensland, for tabling in the Senate.

Australian Republic:to be or not to be?

by Ros White National Schools’ Constitutional Convention publicist


In response to the question “Are you in favour of the Australian Constitution

being amended to establish the Commonwealth of

Australia as a republic?” 54 per cent were in favour and 45 per cent were not. (There was one informal

response.)

Ethos : Term 2, 2008 29

The convention is supported by the Australian Government as one of the major components of the national civics and citizenship education program.

Students from VictoriaTwo students were at the hub of activities during the convention are Olivia Koh from University High School and Liam Power from Elwood College, who were appointed to run a weblog for the period of the convention. They posted photographs, reports and interviews on the site in the lead-up, during and after the event.

The weblog is part of the Global Classroom Program managed by the Department of Education & Early Childhood Development, so the students were given some training and support before they go to Canberra.

Mr Gary Shaw from the Targeted Programs Branch of the Department said Olivia and Liam had a good grasp of the technology and he was confident that the students would prove excellent reporters of the 2008 convention. “They are both very bright and have a talent for engaging seriously in issues,” he said.

For More Information Students attending the convention were encouraged to post their comments on the site before and after the event. http://constitutionalconvention.globalstudent.org.au/

If you would like to interview Olivia and Liam, please call

Olivia 0431 093 102

Liam 0434 646 023.

Gary Shaw Department of Education and Early Childhood Development

Tel 9637 2031.

Olivia Koh, University High School and Liam Power, Elwood High School

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