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