Treading on sacred ground? Confronting the Anzac myth in higher education

Abstract

The Anzac legend, with its firm grip on popular abstractions of Australian history, nationhood, and identity, incites trepidation in the university History teacher like few other topics. Casting a critical eye over the Anzac metanarrative can also be disquieting for students unfamiliar with scholarly History and method because their conceptions of identity, both individual and national, are disrupted. In the tertiary classroom, popular understandings collide not only with scholarship but also with professional and ethical requirements. In a generic History course, which includes many teacher education students, our trepidation to teach Anzac is highlighted. We argue that many young people belong to a state‐sanctioned conceptualisation of Anzac. This highly nationalistic interpretation is partly reinforced in schools, by certain sections of the media as well as other corporate and political interests. Prompted by the centenary of Anzac, the article suggests that an appreciation of students' existing knowledge and conceptions of the subject become the starting point for engaging with such a contentious topic. This is especially important because the Anzac legend is an evolving, malleable myth that means different things to different people. The article argues that eliciting students' views on Anzac as an entry point enables tertiary teachers to craft strategies to overcome the resilience of the myth.