In the words of Graham Nash, “Teach, your children well, their father's hell, did slowly go by.” Those words, and the accompanying music, may well resonant Down Under, given the debate kicked up by the recent release of the “Review of the Australian Curriculum,” a final report after an independent review led by Prof. Ken Wiltshire and Dr. Kevin Donnelly . It results from a massive project, underway since the start of the year, inquiring into what “young people should be able to know, understand and be able to do following their time at school,” and whether the existing educational system in Australia is getting them there. The result has a global quality to it, comparing aspects of the Australian educational system to those in effect in (among other locales): England, Singapore, and the United States. What may interest readers of this blog, in whatever nation they reside, is the discussion of economics and economic history. Experts consulted generall...
