Values education and Discovering Democracy

Discovering Democracy helps students to learn about Australia's democratic heritage and the values underpinning it, including equality, liberty, fairness, trust, mutual respect and social cooperation.

(Commonwealth Minister for Education, Science and Training, Dr Brendan Nelson, Ministerial Statement)

The inculcation of civic values and attitudes which accompany knowledge and understanding of Australia's democratic heritage and institutions has been part of the Discovering Democracy Program since its inception in 1997.

Indeed, similar concerns preceded Discovering Democracy. Whereas the People …, the Report of the Civics Expert Group (1994) noted that Civics and Citizenship Education at the 'basic level' would involve formal knowledge of systems and institutions. However, to be 'effective' it would also need to encompass:

• the basic liberal democratic values that sustain our system of government and enrich its operation;
• not just formal knowledge of the system of government but appreciation of how it works in practice and how the operations of government affect citizens;
• the role of non-government organisations as well as government agencies in public affairs;
• the rich diversity of Australian society, the ways in which the different sections of the society are able to live together, and the principles that enable them to do so with tolerance and acceptance;
• what it means to act as a citizen – the rights and responsibilities of citizens and the opportunities for exercising them.

(Whereas the people … Civics and Citizenship Education, Report of the Civics Expert Group, Commonwealth of Australia, Australian Government Publishing Service, 1994, p 7.)

A key part of the rationale behind the Discovering Democracy School Materials Project was to develop resources to support teaching and learning about democratic values, 'the skills and values necessary for effective, informed and reflective participation in civic life'.

the materials will support values such as tolerance, acceptance of cultural diversity, respect for others and freedom of speech, religion and association.

(Introducing Discovering Democracy: School Materials Project, Curriculum Corporation, 1997, p 8)

The teaching of civic values is supported by the Commonwealth and all State and Territory Ministers. The Adelaide Declaration on National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-first Century (MCEETYA, 1999) includes an emphasis on educating students to understand their role in Australia's democracy and states that when they leave school students should:

1.2 have qualities of self-confidence, optimism, high self-esteem, and a commitment to personal excellence as a basis for their potential life roles as family, community and workforce members;

1.3 have the capacity to exercise judgement and responsibility in matters of morality, ethics and social justice, and the capacity to make sense of their world, to think about how things got to be the way they are, to make rational and informed decisions about their own lives, and to accept responsibility for their own actions;

1.4 be active and informed citizens with an understanding and appreciation of Australia's system of government and civic life.

(http://www.dest.gov.au/schools/adelaide/adelaide.htm)

What then are the core values that might bind Australians in a liberal representative democracy together? Donald Horne, in writing for the NSW Centenary of Federation Committee, outlines as 'a talking point … to encourage a discussion' the values that underline his adaptation of the Australian Compact offered by the Australian Citizenship Council for the Centenary of Federation.

The full text of An Australian Compact? What are the core values that all Australians might respect? (2002) is available from http://www.australiaday.com.au/pdfs/compact.pdf.

The following are brief summaries of the underlying values of the principles described by Donald Horne in An Australian Compact.

• To maintain the rule of law
  The rule of law means that each citizen is equal before the law, that laws must be predictable and known to all, that laws must be fair and apply equally to the government as well as the governed. This includes openness of courts, independence from government and presumption of innocence. Finally laws must be democratic in that ultimately citizens make the law.

• To strengthen Australia as a representative liberal democracy based on universal adult suffrage and on freedom of opinion
  The notion of representation means that Australians delegate power to government through elections. Regular elections ensure that all legal power comes from the people.

While Australia does not have a formal statement about rights and freedoms most people believe that freedom of expression, freedom of information, freedom of assembly, freedom to demonstrate and freedom of association are essential for freedom of opinion in a democracy.

Universal adult suffrage is the right of all citizens to vote. In addition the voting system must be fair.

A liberal democracy encompasses a high level of individual freedom and checks on the power of the government through the independence of the judiciary, a multi-party system, separate Houses of Parliament and a federal system of government.

• To maintain the ideal of equality under the law of all Australians
  As well as equal civic rights and equal rights of legal access and treatment by the courts this encompasses the notion of no discrimination based on race, skin colour, ethnic and national origin, sex, age, place of residence, sexual preference and marital status as well as equality of opportunity.

• To uphold the ideal of Australia as a tolerant and fair society
  Fairness might cover such things as a fair go for minorities, a fair go in expressing opinions and a fair share for the less fortunate, while tolerance encompasses the acceptance of diversity.

• To recognise and celebrate Australia as an inclusive society of multi-national, multi-ethnic and multi-racial origin
  Australia has become a society that has successfully brought together immigrants from many nations, races, religions and ethnic groups. To sustain this society we need to recognise its richness and at the same time encourage the notion of core civic values that all Australian citizens might hold in common.

• To continue to develop Australia as a commonwealth devoted to the wellbeing of its people
  Wellbeing covers issues such as social justice for all Australians which includes areas such as welfare for the disadvantaged and the right to jobs.

• To respect and care for the land we share
  The land we share is a civic idea in that it is a symbol for all Australians and it is in our national interest to sustain it.

• To value the unique status of the Indigenous peoples
  This principle calls for recognition that Australia is the homeland of Indigenous peoples and it was a homeland where they had their own rights and customs. Further, this recognises that Europeans displaced the original inhabitants and these actions disturbed the cultures of Indigenous peoples and their societies.

Inevitably the teaching of Civics and Citizenship Education involves study of contested issues and value conflicts. Examples include: the tension between the support for individual liberties and freedoms and the role of government to pass laws and make decisions for all Australians; discussions about the mandate of governments and majority opinion; consideration of the justice of laws; the fairness of electoral systems; and debates about protest. By studying the role of campaigners for equal civil and political rights for all Australians in our history, students gain critical perspectives on these and contemporary issues and think about how things got to be the way they are. And by practising democratic values in classrooms and schools and exploring opportunities for students to exercise citizenship, students gain an understanding of the complexity of their democracy in a personally meaningful way and learn to accept responsibility for their own actions.