Australian Human Rights Commission

Teaching strategies

1. Stolen pre-reading questions

NOTE: These pre-reading questions consolidate issues explored in other sections of the Bringing them home education resources and are a useful starting point if the Stolen activities are being taught on their own. Teachers should move on to the next step if these have already been discussed as part of the activities in previous sections.

Before commencing reading, the class should be directed to discuss what they already know about The National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families.

A set of questions is included below to aid in the discussion:

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  Over what period of time were children separated from their families?
  
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  Where were the Indigenous children taken?
  
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  What happened to them once they were taken to those places?
  
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  Were they ever allowed to go back to their parents or family?
  
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  What kinds of experiences, both positive and negative, do you think Indigenous people involved in this history had?
  
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  What did the Inquiry say about what has happened to the children who were ‘taken away’?
  
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  Have governments taken notice of the recommendations made by the national Inquiry?
  
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  What do you think would happen today if Indigenous children were taken from their families?
  

The aim of this discussion is to establish what students already know about the separation of Indigenous children from their families.

This is also an excellent opportunity to introduce some of the vocabulary of the issue. The Bringing them home Glossary provides useful information.