New analysis by the Institute of Public Affairs reveals how new Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority’s text selection rules force teachers to teach texts promoting identity politics based on critical social justice theories.
The analysis found the followings.
19 of the 36 texts on the reading list are woke or social justice ideology texts, grounded in critical race theory, or critical gender theory.
Teachers are required to select texts by Australian authors, but of the 17 Australian-authored texts available, thirteen promote a social justice ideology.
Just eleven texts are non-ideological, and just a further six texts are considered essential texts of the Western canon.
Complex new text selection rules mean teachers who seek to avoid woke texts are no longer able to, and must teach, at minimum, two woke texts out of a total five texts.
Institute of Public Affairs research director Morgan Begg said Victorian parents have been left in the dark about radical new Victorian government rules, which force the state’s Year 12 students into lessons on woke and divisive race and gender theories as part of their English studies.
“These complex new rules are designed to inculcate students to see life through the divisive prism of fringe critical race and gender theory, instead of opening their minds to literature that has stood the test of time,” he said.
“Students are being deprived of classic English literature and therefore the rich history of Western Civilisation, as well as texts that celebrate the uniqueness of Australia’s way of life.
“The agenda is obvious, one of the mandated texts propagates the myth that Indigenous Australians were historically categorised in the law under ‘a Flora and Fauna Act’, a falsehood that has no place in learning. Several texts promote the notion of toxic masculinity and call for students to be activists.”
“Worse still, students are not being taught to think critically. In examinations, they are forced to summarise ideological interpretations of texts and are prompted to uncritically incorporate critical social justice theory into their creative writing attempts.”
The new analysis follows previous IPA research which highlights the persistent decline of Australia’s education standards and the crisis of teachers leaving the profession, this is despite record new government spending into the education system.
“Woke ideology now pervades every part of the education structure from how teachers are trained at university to what students are being taught in the classroom, at the same time as academic achievement continues to collapse and teachers leave the profession in droves,” Mr Begg said.
“With the National Curriculum focused on identity politics and critical race theory, along with Victoria’s new English rules, it is little wonder why our education system continues to decline.”
