5th recommendation for anyone seriously considering Australia's history curriculum is 'You Daughters of Freedom' by @clareawright Another quick thread here because I think it's important 1/7 #historyteacher #histedchat: booktopia.com.au/you-daughters-…
Not only is this book completely absorbing, but it also brings forward stories that I don't think are (or were) too widely known or at least stories that are not very well-understood (I certainly learned a lot reading it!). 2/7
More importantly in the context of this discussion, it raises crucial Qs around how the story of modern Australia is often told (with a major focus in school history on Federation, early social reform and WW1). Australian women were on the world stage before any of this. 3/7
How we often structure that underlying 'narrative' of Australian history deserves a rethink and this book makes a strong argument for how it could be reassembled to tell a unique story of Aust. and one that might even be a (wait for it) more optimistic version of our past. 4/7
I think this is also important for another reason and that is that I think school history is one part of the wider discipline and it can be strengthened by drawing on good scholarship (i.e. specific works of history) to constantly update and revise what and how we teach. 5/7
The current Aust. Curr. (History) includes an option to study 'progressive ideas and movements' covering the period 1850-1918 (roughly the same as YDOF) but it does not specifically mention the efforts to gain women voting rights though it is tucked away in 'Making a Nation'. 6/7 
Again, there is plenty more to say about this book and how it might contribute to discussions about history curriculum in Australia but, at the very least, I think it’s an important read that also happens to be very enjoyable. 7/7
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