Mindless: How the Education System is Indoctrinating Children and Destroying Our Civilisation

This Sunday we welcome Dr Bella d’Abrera to discuss her latest book, Mindless: How the Education System is Indoctrinating Children and Destroying Our Civilisation.
Dr d’Abrera is Director of the Foundations of Western Civilisation Program at the Institute of Public Affairs. She holds a BA in History and Spanish from Monash University, an MA in Spanish from the University of St Andrews, and a PhD in History from the University of Cambridge. She has written several books on history, including a trilogy on the English Reformation, and is a founder of History Reclaimed. Her work regularly appears in The Australian, The Spectator Australia, the Herald Sun and Daily Telegraph, and she is a frequent commentator on Sky News.

In Mindless (Wyborn Press, 2026), Dr d’Abrera examines the state of education in Australia, Britain and the United States. She argues that despite substantial increases in government spending, literacy and numeracy results continue to decline. The book contends that schools and teacher training institutions have increasingly prioritised identity politics, decolonisation, victimhood narratives, and climate activism over the teaching of core academic knowledge and critical thinking.

The author looks at how history curricula have shifted toward grievance-based perspectives, the influence of Critical Pedagogy in education faculties, and cases where schools have made significant decisions about children’s social transitions without parental involvement. Dr d’Abrera maintains that children belong to their parents, not the state, and that the current direction of schooling poses risks to both educational standards and the long-term health of Western liberal democracy.

The book was released in April 2026 and has been the subject of a number of well-attended events during the recent Australian book tour. Psychologist Clare Rowe, speaking at the Brisbane launch, described it as “a necessary and important book that will stimulate discussion.” Senator Leah Blyth called it “a must-read for everyone who cares about our children and our civilisation.” In Education Today, Dr Kevin You wrote that it is “a sobering wake-up call” based on extensive research and offers a clear account of the issues facing schools and teacher education.
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On the podcast this Sunday, Dr d’Abrera will talk about the key findings from her research, observations from the book tour, and what parents, teachers and policymakers might consider in response.

The episode streams this Sunday.

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John Stapleton
Commissioning Editor
A Sense of Place Publishing
ABN: 8589 215 7567
Emails:
john.stapleton@gmail.com
asenseofplacepublishing@gmail.com