Hearts and minds: Public archaeology and the Queensland school curriculum

Abstract

The school education system is an important public sphere where popular notions of archaeology and the archaeological past are produced and reproduced. Within the framework of an interpretive public archaeology, schools represent a significant social context in which archaeologists might seek meaningful engagement with the wider community. Analysis of the Queensland Education Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) syllabus reveals that there are many opportunities for the inclusion of Australian archaeology examples in the curricula of both primary and secondary schools. In this paper we develop a public outreach strategy for engaging the Queensland school curriculum and report on two case studies from southeast Queensland where this strategy was implemented.

Percorrendo caminhos da arqueologia e da educação: encontros no ensino escolar

“…Essas mudanças vêm trazendo para professoras e professores a responsabilidade e a necessidade de dominar temas arqueológicos (Zarmati, 2022). A arqueologia não ignora essa situação, sugerindo o contato constante de docentes com comunidades indígenas (Colley, 2000;Watson, 1990) e com as pesquisas de suas regiões (Colley, 2000;Owen;Steele, 2005;Zarmati, 2015b) durante o planejamento dos currículos, além de incentivar que arqueólogas e arqueólogos incluam problemáticas constantes nas diretrizes curriculares como parte de suas pesquisas (Nichols et al, 2005;Zarmati, 2015b). Nesse sentido já existe, por exemplo, uma publicação recente em revista especializada de educação com o objetivo de orientar professoras e professores na formulação independente de práticas de ensino que tratem de arqueologia (e.g.…”

Keeping CRM Archaeology Relevant: Presenting an Archaeology of Children and Childhood in the Past

“…Students also understand multi-cultural perspectives, and engage in cooperative learning (Gardner 1997;Smith 1998a). Furthermore, archaeology programs for school-aged children have been applied successfully in a variety of places including Australia (Nichols et al 2005;Owen and Steele 2005), India (Pappu 2000), Iceland (Jóhannesdóttir 2009), the United Kingdom (Henson 2004), Canada (Doroszenko 2007;Lea and Frost 2011), and the United States (Black 2001;Chisholm et al 2007;Geiger 2004).…”

Keeping Country: A Web-Based Approach To Indigenous Outreach In Cultural Heritage Management

“…While comprehensive research data are lacking specifically to explain low participation rates in archaeology/CHM, several factors may be identified as a basis for discussion. Of great importance is the widespread lack of awareness concerning Australian archaeology and CHM issues in the wider community (Colley 2002;Nichols et al 2005). Archaeology remains all but absent from the Australian school system-at both primary and secondary levels-beyond its somewhat out-of-date characterisation as a source of supporting data in classical/ Mediterranean ancient history (Nichols et al 2005).…”

“…Of great importance is the widespread lack of awareness concerning Australian archaeology and CHM issues in the wider community (Colley 2002;Nichols et al 2005). Archaeology remains all but absent from the Australian school system-at both primary and secondary levels-beyond its somewhat out-of-date characterisation as a source of supporting data in classical/ Mediterranean ancient history (Nichols et al 2005). While the new Australian Curriculum may correct this bias, there remains a widespread lack of knowledge concerning the subject amongst teachers and an absence of well-researched teaching materials outside the traditional fields and including Indigenous heritage.…”