Beyond unfounded: examining conservative criticism of Asia literacy in the Australian curriculum

ABSTRACT

In recent times, the Australian Curriculum has shifted towards valuing Asia literacy. ‘Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia’ is a cross curriculum priority that signifies how the Australian Curriculum now places an importance on Asia literacy. This article positions Asia literacy discourses within the Australian context, which reveals historical and contemporary anti-Asian racism. Furthermore, the conservative hostiles against Asia literacy have paralleled this contextual backdrop and communicated several arguments that uphold Euro-centric hegemony in the Australian curriculum.

KEYWORDS:

• Asia Literacy
• Curriculum
• Racism
• Conservative
• Progressive

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The other two cross curriculum priorities in the Australian Curriculum are ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures’, and ‘Sustainability’. However, the scope of this paper will only focus on Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia.

2. In discussing Asians in Australia as a diasporic community, it is erroneous to interpret that white Australians are not a diasporic community within Australia. In this article, I take a position that all non-Indigenous peoples that currently live in a content that we now call Australia from diasporic communities.

3. The ‘new racism’ refers to recent trends in racism, where the focus is increasingly cultural differences instead of biological aspects.

4. This is not to dismiss the experiences of racism by people from South Asia, but rather point out how categorisations are a result of socialisation.

5. The comparison between Indigenous experiences of colonial racism and anti-Asian racism is not an equivalence in any sense. It is also worth mentioning that this article is dedicated to exploring anti-Asian racism and initiatives within the Australian curriculum, and therefore is limited in terms of the scope of discussing Indigenous experiences of racism.

6. It’s worth noting that Asian Australian teachers would endure a different process in terms of challenging anti-Asian bias and racism than other teachers.