The myth of a white, Christian nation versus Australia's diverse worldview reality: rectifying post-truth Christian privilege in the Australian curriculum.
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| Title: | The myth of a white, Christian nation versus Australia's diverse worldview reality: rectifying post-truth Christian privilege in the Australian curriculum. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Halafoff, Anna1 (AUTHOR) anna.halafoff@deakin.edu.au, Fitzpatrick, Ruth1 (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Journal of Beliefs & Values: Studies in Religion & Education. May2026, Vol. 47 Issue 2, p401-423. 23p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Curriculum frameworks, *Religious education, *Cultural relations, Religious diversity, Social integration, Cultural nationalism, Traditional ecological knowledge, Hegemony |
| Geographic Terms: | Australia |
| Abstract: | The inclusion of content on religion in Australian curricula has always been a highly contentious issue. Education plays a central role in nation building, and tensions over curriculum content on religion reflect a greater battle waged over the myth of a white, Christian nation, versus Australia's diverse worldview reality. This article presents an analysis and evaluation of content on worldview diversity – spiritual, religious and secular – in the Humanities and Social Science (HASS) Learning Area of the two latest Australian Curricula (AC), versions 8 and 9. This study reveals that the current HASS content does not adequately reflect either the historical facts or the contemporary demographics of the worldview diversity of this continent, and particularly that of young Australians. Moreover, Australian and international research has demonstrated that worldview education can play a critical and positive role in advancing intercultural understanding and social inclusion. However, the AC still lags behind other nations in this capacity, beholden instead to the interests of post-truth Christian lobbyists' narrow nationalism. This article concludes, by contrast, with a call to rectify the AC's privileging of Christianity through a truer account, which foregrounds First Nations knowledges and better reflects the worldview diversity and complexity of Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Journal of Beliefs & Values: Studies in Religion & Education is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 192847063 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: The myth of a white, Christian nation versus Australia's diverse worldview reality: rectifying post-truth Christian privilege in the Australian curriculum. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Halafoff%2C+Anna%22">Halafoff, Anna</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> anna.halafoff@deakin.edu.au</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Fitzpatrick%2C+Ruth%22">Fitzpatrick, Ruth</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR) – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Beliefs+%26+Values%3A+Studies+in+Religion+%26+Education%22">Journal of Beliefs & Values: Studies in Religion & Education</searchLink>. May2026, Vol. 47 Issue 2, p401-423. 23p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Curriculum+frameworks%22">Curriculum frameworks</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Religious+education%22">Religious education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cultural+relations%22">Cultural relations</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Religious+diversity%22">Religious diversity</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+integration%22">Social integration</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cultural+nationalism%22">Cultural nationalism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Traditional+ecological+knowledge%22">Traditional ecological knowledge</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Hegemony%22">Hegemony</searchLink> – Name: SubjectGeographic Label: Geographic Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Australia%22">Australia</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: The inclusion of content on religion in Australian curricula has always been a highly contentious issue. Education plays a central role in nation building, and tensions over curriculum content on religion reflect a greater battle waged over the myth of a white, Christian nation, versus Australia's diverse worldview reality. This article presents an analysis and evaluation of content on worldview diversity – spiritual, religious and secular – in the Humanities and Social Science (HASS) Learning Area of the two latest Australian Curricula (AC), versions 8 and 9. This study reveals that the current HASS content does not adequately reflect either the historical facts or the contemporary demographics of the worldview diversity of this continent, and particularly that of young Australians. Moreover, Australian and international research has demonstrated that worldview education can play a critical and positive role in advancing intercultural understanding and social inclusion. However, the AC still lags behind other nations in this capacity, beholden instead to the interests of post-truth Christian lobbyists' narrow nationalism. This article concludes, by contrast, with a call to rectify the AC's privileging of Christianity through a truer account, which foregrounds First Nations knowledges and better reflects the worldview diversity and complexity of Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Beliefs & Values: Studies in Religion & Education is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1080/13617672.2025.2595919 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 23 StartPage: 401 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Curriculum frameworks Type: general – SubjectFull: Religious education Type: general – SubjectFull: Cultural relations Type: general – SubjectFull: Religious diversity Type: general – SubjectFull: Social integration Type: general – SubjectFull: Cultural nationalism Type: general – SubjectFull: Traditional ecological knowledge Type: general – SubjectFull: Hegemony Type: general – SubjectFull: Australia Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: The myth of a white, Christian nation versus Australia's diverse worldview reality: rectifying post-truth Christian privilege in the Australian curriculum. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Halafoff, Anna – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Fitzpatrick, Ruth IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 05 Text: May2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 13617672 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 47 – Type: issue Value: 2 Titles: – TitleFull: Journal of Beliefs & Values: Studies in Religion & Education Type: main |
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