Primary history- Australia as a Nation

This resource is a segment from the ABC’s ‘Behind The News’ program (air date: 18/3/2014, length 4.54) that explores the origins of Federation in Australia. It explores why Australian people wanted a united nation, how that came to be with a focus on key personalities such as Henry Parkes and Alfred Deakin, and what implications it had in the history of the development of Australian democracy. It uses authentic images from the period as well as re-enacting particular scenes using children in period costume, which can help make the content relevant to students. It also comes attached with a raft of related web resources.

It might be useful to have students, like the kids in the video, role play the negotiations leading up to Federation and drafting of the constitution. Students can be placed in groups that represent each state and then given particular points that their state wanted, or general concerns that parties had about the constitution, to argue in a mock debate.

A question that students can focus on when watching this video is what has changed or remained similar after Federation. These ideas can then be collated together as class by the teacher on the white board or smart board. It might be interesting to discuss the role of states in Australia and even debate whether we should still have states or not. This can then link in nicely with looking at the 1967 referendum and the idea of a need for federal, rather than state, legislation concerning Aboriginal people.

This website provides oral accounts by members of Blacktown’s Sudanese community as they share their experiences of moving from Sudan to Australia. It exemplifies diversity between people, within a community and a variety of experiences.

Grace Jook’s story of studying at the library will interest, and possibly amaze, students. Her and her friends’ determination to overcome their disrupted schooling and do well in their HSC demonstrates an appreciation of the value of education, which may be a value students recognise in their own families.

Photos, maps and descriptions of Sudan provide students with some understanding of the adjustment required of immigrants. An activity may be to compare life in Australia to life in Sudan.

Students could conduct research about migrantion. They could conduct an interview of a person who has migrated to Australia and document their experience. This could be part of a unit of study about the link between world events and the arrival and plight of migrant groups.

In order to incorporate literacy students could read and review a book about a migrant’s experience. They could read or perform part of this text to the class. Here is a reading of “The Little Refugee” by Anh Do and Suzanne Do: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fml6dIcfQFA

Through the meaning implied in Aboriginal celebration of Survival Day, the page introduces Aboriginal perspective about the contemporary issue existing in Australia. When Australian people are celebrating Australian Day, many Aboriginal people found there is little to celebrate with the same meaning; rather, they celebrate Survival Day that implies their commemoration of a deep loss_ the loss of their rights to their land, loss of family, loss of the right to practice their culture. The source also includes Aboriginal participation by representing difference voices of Aboriginal people about the issue. The site also emphasises the account of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal history by introducing the emerging thinking in some Australians about the concept of “Arrival Day” celebration in which both Indigenous and Australian history are praised and promoted.

The source provides teachers with a different perspective from which they can design teaching activities that promote students developing different viewpoints. This is a useful resource for teachers not only in term of obtaining information to teach the concept and the origin of Australia Day, but also in term of teaching the story implied in the event viewed from an Aboriginal point of view. By applying the idea of this resource into teaching, teachers would be able to raise students’ awareness of the diversity that has been existed since the foundation of the country in which they are living, and advise them the existing discrimination that they should avoid. When carry on any teaching activities that requires students to collect data about the event from different perspective, it is crucial for teachers to provide enough guidance to students in order to avoid encountering sensitivity and offensiveness.

Through poetry, song and stories, this page offers Aboriginal perspectives on Australia day. After several lessons spent discussing what Australia Day means to different people, this resource asks students to think deeper about the day and its significance for Aboriginal people.

Many Aboriginal people call January 26 Invasion Day or Survival Day. Why is that? To clarify their thoughts, students could complete a fishbone diagram (Global Education, 2014). Global Education suggest labeling the scales with “how, why, when, where and what” (2014). For example, ‘HOW does this person feel? WHY do they feel this way? WHAT does this make me feel?’

Students could expand their individual ideas in an independent assessment task, looking at the Creative Spirits site. Students could choose to present their findings in a variety of ways, for example as a poem about how a particular story made them feel to be read at assembly (inspired by a project at Coffs Harbour Public School), a report for the class blog, or an educational poster to display in the school to raise awareness.  

REFERENCES:

Global Education. (2014). Retrieved 31 March, 2015 from http://globaleducation.edu.au/verve/_resources/fishbone.pdf

Coffs Harbour Public School (2015). Retrieved 31 March, 2015 from http://coffsharbourpublicschool.edublogs.org/2014/03/20/august-6th-1945-nagasaki-and-hiroshima-bombings-by-6h/#more-5160

Description of what is on this site:

This resource explains the HSIE outcome at CCS2.2 in relation to what has become known as Australia Day but is mourned as Invasion Day by many Aboriginal people.

This is done by looking at Australia Day over time and from the perspective of different Aboriginal people and the impacts the arrival of the British had on their family members/ancestors and on them personally.

This is a good follow-on resource from First Australians, Episode 1, since it gives the perspectives of people of today on the events which happened in 1788 and their impacts now. 

A teaching idea and link to relevant pedagogical research:

Working in groups, students could be asked to look at the changes in the community and family life and impacts of these due to the arrival of the British, January 26, 1788 and to create a timeline of events which caused these changes or resulted from them, including quotes from different Aboriginal people.

The students could be told that this task would be assessed and students asked to help devise a rubric for assessing this outcome since "...learning is best achieved when students are actively involved in the teaching and learning process." (Bobis, Mulligan, & Lowrie, 2013, p. 291). This lessons learning would be assessed formatively.

A literacy strategy/link to English KLA:

Again, this task would also be fulfilling outcomes in the NSW English Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum such as:

EN2-6B 'distinguishes between different forms of English' and 'identifies organisational patterns and features' and 'listen to and contribute to conversations and discussions to share information and ideas'.

References:

Bobis, J.,Mulligan, J., & Lowrie, T. (2013). Mathematics for Children: Challenging children to think mathematically. Frenchs Forest: Pearson Australia.

Creative Spirits, Jens Korff (2014). Australia Day – Invasion Day. Retrieved April 20, 2015, from http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/history/australia-day-invasion-day#toc0

The "Symbols of Australia" collection shows how Australian is represented by different symbols. Students can explore concepts such as national identity, culture, values and history through the online images in this collection.

This interactive timeline technology allows you to create a mashup using maps, text, video and pictures.

This site contains copies of original letters written by people involved in the events of the Eureka Stockade, such as Lieutenant Governor Hotham's report on “a serious riot and collision at the Ballaarat Gold Field”. As these documents are true historical artefacts, they could be used as background information before asking students to write expositions or perform debates using the different viewpoints of significant people involved in the Eureka Stockade. Perspectives from Lieutenant Governor Hotham, Police (the Native Police Corps and the British Police), Peter Lalor, and miners should be considered.

Another activity would involve students interpreting and rewriting the Ballarat Reform League charter in their own words so that they understand the meaning.

This site also has links to the Eureka Stockade timeline. A lesson plan may involve mapping the consecutive steps the miners took before accumulating enough frustration to rebel.

The site poses questions for consideration, such as:

What was the purpose in forming the Ballarat Reform League?

Why do you think the thirteen prisoners tried for treason were not found guilty?

Why was the meeting on Bakery Hill so significant – what did it represent to both the authorities and to the diggers?

Could the miners have avoided violence in an effort to achieve their objectives?

The main purpose of this site is to enable students to differentiate information based on personal perspectives of 'facts'.

This video is primarily talking on the widely known topic of migration. 3 percent of the worlds population is living away from there place of birth. The push of migration from places include poverty, war, and environmental disasters. The migration pull in some places are because of  economic opportunity, and political freedom. Migration is increasing, and is thought of as a bad thing.(s.s.)

This video is great for going over the many different aspects that go along with migration. It talks about what migration is and the reasons why people migrate known as push and pull factors. It talks about the different types of migration such as asylum seakers and illegal immigration. It mentions the disadvantages and advantages of migration.

A great YouTube video- discussing the controversy of international migration among other things that fall into place of the disapproval of international migration. -UNIT 2 

What does Australia Day mean to you? Responses from the great resources on the Together for Humanity website.

More great responses from primary students after watching the Together for Humanity teacher resource videos.

Primary students reflect on what Australia Day means to them.

The History Teacher's Association of Australia recommends both Becoming Billy Dare & Bridie's Fire for Year 6. To check out their resources go to:

http://achistoryunits.edu.au/year-6/unit-program/y6-overview-v2.html

Many primary teachers use a range of both fiction and non-fiction texts in their teaching. Use these 6  research-based guidelines (Barton & Levstik, 2005) for selecting historical fiction:

1. Does the book tell a good story? A book must be good literature and good history.

2. Is the story accurate and authentic in its historical detail? Children's fiction deserves the same attention to historical accuracy as nonfiction.

3. Is the language authentic to the times? Completely authentic language is rarely possible in children's historical fiction. Look for the flavour of the times.

4. Is the historical interpretation sound? Avoid romanticised historical fiction.

5. Whose voices are missing? Consider who the participants in an event might have been, and select literature to represent those perspectives.

6. Does the book provide insight and understanding into current issues as well as those in the past? Well-written narratives have relevance for the present.

Year 5 and Year 6 AC History- stories of immigration explored through Drama and role-play. 

Drama is an excellent way of teaching historical events as it forces the student to become the character in the situation. This resource outlines how the drama process could work in a Humanities lesson on immigration (as it was inspired by the Immigration Museum). It includes focus questions as well as goes through the history of settlement in Australia. I think this is an inspiring resource because it's innovative and engaging for the students. I'd use this drama resource in conjunction with other resources (such as videos, images, texts, etc) when teaching about this topic in my classroom.

Bringing Chinese History to life...

Bringing Chinese History to life...

Looking for a way to embed a global perspective? Visualising China 1850-1950: an interactive resource exploring historical photos of China