School kids to rethink Captain Cook claims

Primary students are being asked for a ‘more accurate Captain Cook description’ than the ‘discoverer of Australia’.

A portrait of Captain James Cook hanging in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

Primary school students are being encouraged to “suggest another, more accurate description of Captain­ Cook’’ after weighing up whether the British explorer was the “discoverer of Australia’’.

Year 4 students are asked to consider the implications of the word “discoverer’’ in relation to the presence of Aboriginal people in Australia before the arrival of Europeans and consider other ­explorers who reached Australia before James Cook, such as Willem Janszoon, Dirk Hartog, William Dampier and Abel Tasman.

The teaching resource, developed by the State Library of NSW, is designed to introduce children to the concepts of contested history and multiple interpretations of history. It also asks whether they consider as accurate a 1934 inscription on a plaque recognising the parish of Cooks River. It describes Cook as the “discoverer of Australia’’.

“If the information is not accur­ate, why was it written on the plaque in 1934? Suggest another, more accurate description of Captain­ Cook,’’ it says.

A NSW Education Standards Authority spokesman said teachers and schools could choose to use the resource or other resources in class. “The appropriateness of any resources is a matter for ­individual schools and teachers to determine,’’ the spokesman said.

Asked to comment on whether he believed Cook discovered ­Australia or whether it was an ­inaccurate description, NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes said: “Of course Captain Cook did not discover Australia.

“There were people living in Australia for thousands­ of years before Cook first visited.

“As far as we know. the first ­Englishman to visit Australia was William Dampier.

“Captain Cook was an incredible explorer and naval officer. He was the first ­Englishman in recorde­d history to visit Australia’s east coast. I learned all this in a NSW public school.’’

The chief executive of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, Robert Randall, said the national curric­ulum, “which offers a balanced view of historical events, was endorse­d by every education minister­ across Australia”.

“The curriculum provides stud­ents with the opportunity to ­explore a great variety of topics, including stories of the First Fleet, the reasons for the journey, the people who travelled to Australia, and their experiences upon ­arrival,” he said. “In the same area of the curriculum, students can learn about Australia’s first peoples and their experiences before, during and after the arrival of Europeans. This is the right balance.

“It is important to remember that the Australian curriculum does not specify how content must be taught.

“Schools and teachers have the flexibility to make decisions about how they teach the curriculum. They are the best-placed to do so in their classrooms.’’