On Liberty Ep.48 | Dr Fiona Mueller | Education Or Enstupidation? English In The Curriculum

Centre for Independent Studies

How can students be expected to develop into intellectual adults if they are never exposed to the best reading that the English language has to offer? The New South Wales curriculum acknowledges that English is the national language of Australia, but what is it actually doing to educate the state's children in its use? Join us this week as we "talk English" with educationalist Dr Fiona Mueller, author of "From Education to Enstupidation -- Teaching English Language and Literature in Australia." Our regular host Salvatore Babones will be asking Dr Mueller about the proper role of English in school and university education, how reading improves writing, and the importance of great literature in the formation of young people's very identities. Dr Mueller writes that "in Australia, the globalists and quackademics now advocate unsubstantiated approaches to teaching and learning that have no grounding in national identity, intellectual rigor, and a strong moral and ethical sense of character based on disciplined, wide reading." Is that just the age-old yearning for a lost golden age? Or are we really witnessing the hollowing-out of education, and with it the betrayal of our own children? Fiona Mueller has a comprehensive background in schools, universities, and government bodies as well as a longstanding commitment to research and writing. Most recently, Fiona co-authored a policy paper on school education for the Page Research Centre. Fiona is an Adjunct Scholar with the CIS and previously held a national role as Director of Curriculum at the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).