The use of historical fiction to promote a critical citizenry

The use of historical fiction can be very useful in addressing the development of national identity, among other discipline and interdisciplinary based approaches, and can be very helpful in understanding historical events as well as learning historic literacy in our schools. Moreover historical fiction can link a number of disciplines under a broader framework of Australian values and so can provide an alternative approach to citizenship building. As part of the debate on the value of history education, historical fiction should be investigated and resourced. It provides a holistic approach to developing literacy skills, historical skills, citizenship perspectives and an approach to values exploration and moral learning.