Re The Australian's article 'Students resent history 'guilt'' p. 1, 18 May 2007 Statements attributed to the History Teachers' Association of NSW in the above article were in fact the thoughts of an individual executive member in response to a specific question, rather than HTA policy. Indeed, the article focuses on comments that were not part of HTA's submission to the Senate Enquiry into academic standards in schools. HTA represents up to 1200 history teachers in NSW. While it is to be expected that there will be a diversity of opinion amongst such a group, it needs to be emphasised that HTA has no feedback from members that would support the conclusion: 'High school students resent being made to feel guilty during their study of Australia's indigenous past and dislike national history in general.' Indeed, the junior Australian history syllabus has been only recently revised and early indications suggest that it has received a positive response. What teachers do at a Year 9 level has a practical focus and is a long way removed from concerns about the history wars and ideological conflict. If there is an overall aim, however, it is to give indigenous history its rightful place in Australia's story, with the hope that this may assist reconciliation. Obviously, this is a sensitive area and it is distressing to see it approached with such a provocative headline as 'students resent history guilt'. Used on the front page of a national newspaper, it is a worrying example of the way in which educational issues are dealt with in much of the media. Paul KiemVice PresidentNSW HTA
