The History Man
The subject of how Australian history should be taught has been much in the news of late. It is interesting to see just how new an academic subject this is. It was for a long time taught in Australia as simply a footnote to British history.
I have been reading John Thompson's new book "The Patrician and the Bloke: Geoffrey Serle and the Making of Australian History" (Canberra: Pandanus Books). As a young academic at the University of Melbourne he was in at the beginning, after World War II, of a new nationalistic approach to the teaching and writing of Australian history.
Despite teaching at an elite institution (after obtaining a doctorate at Oxford), Serle (1922-98) regarded himself as an "ordinary" Australian. He was relaxed, easygoing, democratic and a man of few words.
The 1950s (somewhat different from today!) were a growth period for interest in Australian history. There was a rapid expansion in the numbers of students taking the subject at the University of Melbourne, the growth of local historical societies, huge increases in the membership of the National Trust, the expansion of local historical museums, and the growth of the conservation and environment movements.
Serle's time as a university student was interrupted by the war (in which he was wounded). After graduating from the Universities of Melbourne and Oxford (where he was a Rhodes Scholar), he returned to his native city as a temporary appointment at the University of Melbourne in 1950. It later became a permanent appointment and he spent most of his professional life there and at the new Monash University.
He joined in the building of Australian history as a major academic discipline, extending its boundaries and its relevance, and working to reach a new audience, including people who visited libraries and bookshops. The discipline stopped being merely a footnote to imperial British history.
It was not necessarily an easy struggle in the academic world. Some university staff (who often did not teach history) said it was a boring subject. They said it was narrow, parochial, lacking in great ideas, the clashes of ideology, the great men, the crises and events that have changed the course of world history. European and American history was far more interesting to teach and study.
But Serle persisted. Besides the teaching, he also wrote some important history books and then biographies. The history of Australia may have been dull compared with all the dramas in Europe and the US. But that may also be viewed as a success of the country. With a federation formed in 1901, it is one of the oldest and most successful in the world.
A life without drama can be a comfortable one. But as a proud product of Scotch College, Melbourne he did not approve of taking the comfort for granted. The Presbyterian heritage meant that there was a sense of serious civic responsibility instilled into the boys. Serle was both a hard worker and a contributor to Australian community life.
I teach a course containing Australian history to American students at Wesley Institute, Drummoyne. It is interesting to note the framework for teaching Australian history is very much that inspired by Serle's own design of the University of Melbourne course. The main textbook was written by one of his students.
Serle had a major impact on the teaching and study of Australian history. He showed that there was more to the country's history than just bushrangers and sportsmen.
Keith Suter, Consultant for Social Policy
Broadcast Friday 6th October 2006 on Radio 2GB's "Brian Wilshire Programme" at 9pm.
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