What Are Our Kids Really Learning at School
United Nation's agendas and the Australian School curricula (by Catherine Karena)
As a parent, I expect you have always trusted that your child’s education was focused on the basics—reading, writing, maths, and perhaps a touch of history or science to inspire curiosity? But recently, I was recounted a talk by Colleen Harkin (Institute of Public Affairs, IPA) that should open your eyes as to what’s really happening in Australian schools. Her insights into the national curriculum, managed by ACARA (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority), should leave you deeply concerned—not just for your child but for all Australian children.
Colleen explained how our schools are being shaped by an ideological agenda that aligns with the United Nations’ Agenda 2030, embedding concepts like sustainability, social justice, gender identity and global citizenship into every subject. While these ideas might sound noble on the surface, the way they’re implemented is quietly reshaping education—and not for the better.
What’s Really Being Taught?
The national curriculum has moved away from foundational education. Here are some examples she shared:
Math Through a Political Lens
Math lessons are no longer neutral. For example, instead of simple arithmetic exercises, children are learning to “count sustainably” by tallying recyclable materials or engaging in lessons tied to Aboriginal cultural contexts. While these themes might seem innocuous, they bring ideological content into what should be a straightforward subject.
Example: https://joannenova.com.au/2021/06/infinity-woke-is-there-anything-more-racist-than-pushing-anti-racist-maths/“Two is two all over the world, no matter the language. Maths unites humanity — that is, until someone decides to un-race-ify that which isn’t racist. At this point in the nonsense-time-continuum everything they do to make it less racist will only make it more.”
Handwriting That Teaches Shame
In a prep class, children learning to write the letter “S” were tasked with writing "S is for Stolen Children." Colleen recounted stories of little ones coming home in tears, confused and frightened by the lesson. Some worried they might be “stolen” too. (It reminded me of a four year old Oshi, I babysit who came back from daycare and declared he was an aboriginal and that he would never marry a white women because she would steal away his babies. - he’s Australian of Portuguese/English ancestry )
Physical Education with a Twist
A Grade 3 PE lesson tasked children with experiencing what it feels like to be “invaded.” Older students were instructed to ransack their classroom, stealing and tossing things around and then the children discussed how “terrible” it is to be invaded. Later, this activity was tied to a history lesson about the First Fleet, reinforcing guilt about "stolen land"
Global Citizenship Over National Pride
The curriculum promotes the UN agenda of “global citizenship” and downplays our national identity. Figures like Captain Cook are barely mentioned in history, and when they are, it’s usually as “invaders” rather than explorers. Meanwhile, civics lessons emphasise Australia’s responsibilities under the UN Sustainable Development Agenda, encouraging students to see themselves as activists first, rather than Australian citizens.
Anxiety About the Future
Lessons on climate change present dire scenarios as fact. For example, grammar exercises use sentences like, “The whales are dying from man-made climate change,” teaching young children to see the future as bleak. A survey Colleen cited revealed that 75% of 15-year-olds felt their future was frightening, with many believing humanity is doomed.
How Did This Happen?
The roots of this agenda can be traced to the United Nations' Agenda 2030, the UN’s blueprint for sustainable development, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) programs. While these programs align with Agenda 2030, they place a particular emphasis on Comprehensive Sex Education (CSE) and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) initiatives. The national curriculum’s “Cross-Curriculum Priorities” reflect the UN’s Agenda 2030 goals, emphasising sustainability, equity, inclusion, and diversity. ACARA mandates that these priorities be embedded in every school subject, making them unavoidable and directly tied to a school’s funding.
At In Defence of Children, we are no strangers to UNESCO’s agenda. Our work in producing the Independent Sex & Gender Guidelines familiarized us with programs like the Build Respectful Relationships Guidelines, which contextualize CSE and SEL within the Australian framework. Both UN agendas incorporate concepts such as Climate Change, Critical Race Theory, Queer Theory, and third-wave Feminism as foundational elements of their goals for equality, diversity, equity, and inclusion. UNESCO also ties a country’s UN funding to the inclusion of CSE in its educational system.
Embedding these programs into the school curriculum follows what is referred to as a "whole school approach." However, this approach often comes at the cost of subject integrity. Instead of encouraging students to critically evaluate these issues, these teachings are embedded into every curriculum topic—English, Maths, Science, and more—as unquestionable truths.
We describe this phenomenon as providing "a lens for children to see and interpret the world." For further discussion, see Australian Schools Are in Breach of Duty of Care:
Why Should Parents Care?
There are troubling consequences of this ideological shift:
Academic Decline: Over the past 15 years, academic performance has steadily dropped. Half of all 15-year-olds fail basic literacy and numeracy benchmarks. Yet, instead of focusing on foundational skills, the curriculum prioritises activism.
Loss of Transparency: Parents often don’t realise the extent of ideological content in schools. Much of it comes from third-party providers, like Cool.org, which promotes boycotting Australian symbols like the national anthem, and WWF, which teaches children to eat bugs as a solution to climate change. ACON which teaches gender identity as the core identity over nationality, family and group associations.
Impact on National Identity: The focus on global citizenship is designed to erode pride in Australia’s history and values. Students are taught to see their country through the lens of guilt and shame rather than as a place of unity and achievement.
What Can We Do?
Colleen encouraged parents to take an active role in their children’s education. Here are steps we can all take:
Ask Questions: Find out what’s being taught in your child’s classroom. Ask about third-party providers and review the curriculum whenever possible.
Speak Up: Work with other parents to request transparency from schools. Use template letters we provide under ‘take action’ to demand prior notice of ideological lessons or external programs.
Instill Your Family Values: Talk to your kids daily about what they’re learning. Teach them to think critically and reinforce your family’s values.
Advocate for Reform: Push for a curriculum that prioritises foundational skills and removes ideological mandates. Support a return to balanced education that fosters both critical thinking and national pride.
The Bottom Line
Our children’s education is not just about preparing them for the future—it’s about shaping who they become. Schools should equip kids with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed, not burden them with guilt or indoctrinate them with ideological agendas. It’s time for us, as parents, to step up. Together, we can advocate for an education system that puts our children’s best interests—and our nation’s future—first.
Let’s ensure our kids grow up proud to be Australians, ready to contribute to their communities and thrive in the world. After all, no one cares more about their future than we do.
For further reading see:
'The woke agenda has come into the teaching of maths'
Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute revealed high school math enrolments have collapsed, with less than 10 per cent of Year 12 students studying the highest level of mathematics.Schoolroom Climate Change Indoctrination
In one assignment, students measure the size of their family’s carbon footprint and suggest ways to shrink it.Woke agenda overrides critical lessons kids need for life
"Australia was once within the top 10 in the OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment for maths, science and reading — a commonly used international benchmark. Australia is now ranked 29th for maths, 15th for science and 16th in reading. Despite increasing investment and continued discussion about how to do better, we sit behind comparable developed nations we once outranked." June, 2021‘Woke ideology’ setting Australian students up for failure – report
"Teaching courses in Australian universities are “setting students up for failure” by spending too much time focusing on woke issues and activism and not enough on core literacy and numeracy skills, new research has found...Of the 3,713 subjects currently offered to teaching students, 1,169 subjects teach issues related to Critical Social Justice, while fewer than one-in-ten teaching subjects are about literacy and numeracy."