| In his Australia day speech, Prime Minister John | | | | entertain.Long before lawyers, prior to the |
| Howard called for a return to the teaching of | | | | priesthood, millennia before that misnamed 'oldest' |
| History as a narrative in our schools. Mr Howard | | | | service, one professional was treasured by all in |
| deplored the current emphasis by classroom | | | | his tribe, even though he 'toiled not, neither did he |
| teachers on ISSUES, with the facts often heavily | | | | spin.'In a time before memory, people huddled |
| revised to fit politically correct fashions of the | | | | around their campfires and watched the orange |
| day. The PM also criticised the lack of any | | | | flames of light flicker on the face of the |
| connective material between the records of | | | | Storyteller. In the culture of that most ancient |
| nation-building in Australia and the European | | | | hunter/gatherer society - the Australian |
| civilizations which were the incubators of our | | | | Aborigines - his title was Songman. His duty was |
| modern society.I think that these errors arose | | | | to memorise the important events and individuals |
| from well-intentioned efforts by teachers to | | | | in the life of the tribe. More than that, he had to |
| counter the twin monsters that stalked their | | | | impress these facts onto the memory of each |
| curriculum in the past. On the one hand, boredom | | | | member of the group, so they would know who |
| smothered any interest that might be found in | | | | they were and how they should behave for the |
| the endless list of British kings enlivened by | | | | benefit of the whole group.People cannot pay |
| nothing but their dates to be memorised for | | | | attention to a lecture when their ears are straining |
| exam day. On the other hand, the overwhelming | | | | to catch the first warning cough of a leopard |
| presence of the USA in news headlines and pop | | | | lurking in the blackness beyond the fire or if they |
| culture resulted in Australian youth knowing more | | | | are mesmerised by dreams envisioned in the |
| about American history than their own. We | | | | dancing flames.To distract them from their fears |
| cannot fault Americans for this. They were acting | | | | and their fancies, the historian must catch their |
| on the truth known by every great Teacher | | | | attention in a net of Story. Once Upon A Time... |
| from Buddha to Jesus:To teach, you must first | | | | |