Campus Review Vol 29. Issue 10 October 2019 | Seite 15

policy & reform
campusreview.com.au
Forgotten history
Call for greater recognition
of history in education.
Stephen Gapps interviewed
by Richard Garfield
T
he History Council of New South
Wales has launched a statement
emphasising the value of history
and the ways in which it can enhance
many aspects of our lives.
Delivered by Dr Stephen Gapps at the
recent Annual History Lecture in Sydney,
the statement argues that teaching history
and learning from the past are essential
in providing a “foundation for future
generations”.
“With common agreement, commitment
and open conversation about why history
is important, we believe the historical
community can change perceptions of the
value of history and articulate its important
role in the public sphere,” Gapps said.
Inspired by the US History Relevance
Campaign, he added this was the first time
the history councils across the country had
collaborated on a campaign, signifying “the
importance that needs to be placed upon
history that may have dropped away over
the last 20 years or so”.
Campus Review caught up with Gapps
and asked him whether he thought history
is valued in an education context, and also
got his thoughts on changes he’d like to see
to ensure a better appreciation of history.
CR: Do you think the value of history is fully
appreciated in our education system?
SG: I think the value of history is
appreciated, but it could be more
appreciated, particularly in education. It’s
changed a lot over the last few years from
what I understand. It needs to be treated
more as a bedrock than other elements of
the curriculum because it’s critical.
It’s a critical part of people’s lives in
Australian society to understand history,
and I think the importance of that is really
strong in education, which has historically
not been that good on teaching various
and varied elements of Australian history.
I suppose this is a reflection of broader
changes in Australian history where we’re
focusing, or refocusing, upon different
areas that have been limited, forgotten or
not talked about in the past.
There’s been a lot of focus on STEM and
vocational learning of late. Do you think
that’s contributing to subjects like history
perhaps being undervalued?
It is. I mean, I’m no education expert,
but I can see that there’s a focus on
STEM that has been important. But has
it been at the expense of, for example,
history? I think that’s the question. And
whether people have really understood
the connections between history and all
the other elements of education, I think
that’s perhaps something that’s been left
aside a little.
The Value of History statement says one
reason why history is important is that it can
contribute to our economic wellbeing. Can
you give us some examples of this?
We don’t really see history as having an
economic value. It’s not an obvious thing.
We might see it a little bit in terms of the
heritage value of a certain property, but we
tend not to see how history, mostly (but not
only) in terms of heritage, underpins a lot of
economic enterprise.
A few examples are in museums. They’re
critical in terms of creating jobs and
tourism opportunities, and history tourism
and heritage tourism are really prominent,
but they may be packaged up in the other
sorts of tourism. Museums might be part
of a broader tourist circuit, but they’re
still talking history and making economic
transactions around history.
Heritage is a good example where
there’s a monetary value upon the heritage
fabric of our buildings and our places. But
it’s about the landscape as well. The natural
environment has ... a really significant
element of historical importance as well as
its natural significance.
I think when you try and unpack or
unpick the role of history as an economic
factor, it’s quite difficult. But it is actually
there. It’s important to understand its
financial value, which often gets missed.
Is our appreciation of history hindered by
our fast-paced, high-tech world, or is it
enhanced by it?
That’s a good question. I think it’s a bit
of both. For example, recent historical
research has been dramatically changed
by new technology. As a historian, 20 years
ago there was no such thing as digital
records. Trove was not around. Nowadays,
there are so many more research
opportunities – what would’ve taken you
years of research previously can now be
done in seconds.
That’s another reason why people don’t
see history in their daily lives: we’re constantly
using historical information that’s online, but
because it’s been digitised and is no longer
in stuffy old books, we tend not to think
of it as history, but it is. I think that’s been a
wonderful change with new technologies. I
certainly couldn’t have conducted some of
the research I’ve done recently without it, but
we do tend to value it less when it’s ready to
hand in a digital format.
If there was one policy or legislative change
you could make to improve the appreciation
of history, what would that be?
In terms of heritage, we need to really
consider stricter guidelines on landscape and
urban development, and restrictions around
that. We tend to think of, for example, the
fringes of Sydney as real estate and space
for development. Whereas once we do that,
we lose the historical value of those places,
or it has to start again. So stricter planning
controls would be a great thing.  ■
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