The National Curriculum: ACARA must ensure that “all students” clearly includes students with special needs.

During 2009, the Australian Association of Special Education (AASE), representing over 1,000 members nationally, made a submission to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) urging them to implement a number of recommendations.

It was pointed out that ACARA needed to amend the proposed National Curriculum during the consultation stage or the National Curriculum would clearly be in breach of the Australian Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA).

In developing the draft Australian National Curriculum, ACARA’s own guidelines and principles stated:
“…the curriculum should be based on the assumptions that all students can learn and that every student matters. It should set high standards and ensure that they apply to all young Australians while acknowledging the different rates at which students develop.” (The Shape of the Australian Curriculum, p8)

In addition, ACARA has legislative obligations as an ‘education provider’ under the DDA and the corresponding Disability Standards for Education 2005 to:

“…take reasonable steps to ensure that the course or program is designed in such a way that the student is, or any student with a disability, is able to participate in the learning experiences (including assessment and certification requirements) of the course or program, and any relevant supplementary course or program, on the same basis as a student without a disability, and without experiencing discrimination.”

At a meeting in January 2010 of ACARA senior officers and the National Presidents of AASE and ASEPA (Australian Special Education Principals’ Association), the following points were discussed:

• That ACARA takes responsibility as an education provider for ensuring that courseoptions in each learning area K-12 have sufficient scope and flexibility to cater for the full range of students, including students with special education needs who have an intellectual disability and are not able to access regular course content.
• That recognition of prior learning be reflected in the development of courses with sufficiently flexible entry points to cater for the full range of students who choose to participate.
• That course options in English, Mathematics Science and History provide for the full range of students with special education needs, including students with intellectual disabilities.
• That course structure and time allocations be sufficiently flexible to enable the full range of students to undertake an appropriate program of study which meets their individual learning needs.
• That the content in each curriculum document provide schools and teachers with explicit advice and support in relation to teaching, learning and assessment for the full range of students, including students with special education needs.
• That the curriculum documents include support for teachers in developing the broader general capabilities of all students, including students with special education needs.
• That ACARA ensures that all advice in relation to curriculum content, assessment and achievement standards takes account of the needs of the full range of students, including students with special education needs who have an intellectual disability.

A commitment was made at that time to further explore how the national Curriculum could in fact meet its own mandate to include ALL students in our schools in Australia. We urge all teachers, school leaders and parents to provide feedback during the consultation phase to ensure the National Curriculum is inclusive of all learners.

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