Across Australia, very few Year 12 subjects focus on Asia, according to a report completed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) for the Asia Education Foundation.

The report, Studies of Asia in Year 12, by Jenny Wilkinson and Gina Milgate, found that Year 12 subjects are significantly more likely to contain content on Europe than they are on Asia.

Asia should hold particular significance to Australians being educated in a global context. Asia comprises 60 per cent of the world’s population and 30 per cent of world land mass. It includes the world’s two most populous nations and fastest growing major economies, China and India. The countries of the Asian region are Australia’s closest neighbours and major trading partners.

Despite this, Australia is “a society which has historically acted as if the only really important ideas, cultures, beliefs and norms are those with their origins in western Europe and latterly North America,” according to the Asia Education Foundation’s Studies of Asia: A Statement for Australian Schools.

This is reflected in the content of studies in Australian schools today. The ACER researchers found that in practice, it is schools and teachers who select the material that students will study. Teachers are not likely to select material with which they themselves are unfamiliar or may have never studied. They will tend to choose what they know about and are confident of teaching, particularly at Year 12 level, where so much rides on students’ results.

What teachers know and teach about will reflect to some extent the content of their own education. If their school and tertiary studies have not included a focus on Asian studies, they may be less likely to incorporate it into their own teaching. It is thus difficult to break the cycle.

The report found that simply making content or focus on Asia available as an option in courses does not stimulate the study of Asia. Many of the subjects reviewed allow for the possibility of content or focus on Asia, but teachers and students do not often choose these options.

Across Australia, there is generally a strong disposition for the inclusion of content on Europe rather than content on Asia, or, for that matter, Africa or America.

In those cases where specific content on Asia is offered as an option, and the rare cases where it is mandatory, the content often has an Australian or Western focus. This is particularly the case for any material relating to war or other conflicts, such as the Vietnam War.

Where content on Asia is included, it generally covers a limited range of countries within the region. There appears to be little opportunity to study anything to do with India or Pakistan.

In Year 12 English, for example, where there are texts with content or focus on Asia, they are often older established texts or texts that relate to war and conflict, such as Graham Greene’s The Quiet American. Exam marker reports indicate that Asian texts are less frequently selected than other texts.

In History, courses will often include one or more units which focus on Asia, but schools and students select which units to study from a wide range. The NSW Modern History course, for example, includes many opportunities for focus on Asia. Only two per cent of students, however, chose to write about China and less than four per cent chose India, Japan, Indonesia and Australia combined. Germany accounted for 65 per cent and the Soviet Union 19 per cent.

The ACER researchers conclude that if the education system aims to increase its focus on Asia, teacher education courses should promote specific training in teaching Asia content. Training should also be offered to practicing teachers.

The report also suggests that detailed study guides and resources on Asia could be made available to teachers, and teachers could be encouraged to participate in study tours similar to the Endeavour Program for language teachers.

The full report, Studies of Asia in Year 12, by ACER researchers Jenny Wilkinson and Gina Milgate, is available from http://www.asiaeducation.edu.au

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