Year 9 10 classroom resources First Steps

Year 9 - 10 classroom resources

First Steps

Teacher Support Resources > Year 9 - 10 First Steps

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​First Step resources are introductory activities that support students’ development of the intercultural understanding general capability. Students are introduced to issues of identity, culture and diversity in Australia.

Alignment to the curriculum

Intercultural understanding

Students understand the importance of mutual respect in promoting cultural exchange and collaboration in an interconnected world and recognise the challenges and benefits of living and working in a culturally diverse society and the role that cultural mediation plays in learning to live together. For more information, see: the Australian curriculum intercultural understanding learning continuum

Civics and Citizenship

Students evaluate the role of the Australian Government in the global community including Australia’s role in the United Nations, through contexts such as government responses to environmental concerns such as global warming or other issues of environmental sustainability, natural disasters, peacekeeping operations, world poverty and national and global security issues. For more information, see: AusVELS Civics and Citizenship domain

Engage

Introduce students to two texts, one animation and one digibook, focusing on human rights. Ask students to listen carefully to what each speaker says and to note down key ideas; words or phrases that resonate; powerful or emotive comments. Students may wish to work with a partner to assist with this task.

For more information, see:

What are Human Rights?– an animation on human rights.

Rights and Freedoms – a digibook on human rights.

Invite students to share their notes with others in a small group and to discuss what each text has conveyed about human rights.

Open up a discussion with students about human rights, using these questions as a guide:

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  What new understandings have you developed about human rights?
  
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  How have these new understandings challenged your prior knowledge about human rights?
  
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  Has your prior knowledge about human rights been confirmed?
  
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  In your opinion, what is the relationship between human rights and human responsibility?
  

Introduce students to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. Ask them to explore the link What is the Universal Declaration on Human Rights? and to take notes. For more information, see: What is the Universal Declaration on Human Rights?

Collate students’ discoveries into a list.

Examine

Ask students to examine the two videos below that relate to the human right to seek asylum.

For more information, see:

Asylum – an animation on asylum seeking.

Human Being: The David Nyuol Vincent story – a short video on David Nyuol Vincent.

Before viewing, present this quote from one of the videos for students to think about: "When your human rights are denied, do you become less human?" (David Nyuol Vincent).
After viewing, ask students to share their thoughts about the human right to seek asylum and the question that David Nyuol Vincent posed about becoming less human when your rights are denied.
Ask students to make connections between David Nyuol Vincent’s story and the process of seeking asylum in Australia. Encourage them to write about the connections they see.
Invite students to share their connections with the whole class.

Respond and create

Encourage students to imagine what David Nyuol Vincent may have experienced in his personal journey and to write a brief description of this to share with the whole class.
Ask students to think about this in relation to Australia’s obligation to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and its legal obligations to those who seek asylum.
Then ask students to view the poster located on the Australian Human Rights Commission website and to carefully consider the image and the text. For more information, see: Rights and freedoms: right by right
Invite students to design a poster or a digital image, using visuals and text, which conveys their understanding about human rights, with particular reference to the right to seek asylum.
Ask students to share their posters or digital images and to explain the thinking behind what they are trying to convey.

Reflect

Ask students to reflect on what they have learned about human rights using the visible thinking routine I used to think… Now I think as a guide. For more information, see: I used to think… Now I think
Invite them to share their new thinking with the whole class.

Further ideas

For more information, see:

Visible Thinking – provides resources and information on visible thinking routines.

The Australian Human Rights Commission – provides more information on human rights and Australia’s international and legal obligations.

RightsEd: Australia as a nation – race, rights and immigration – is a unit of work that explores Australia’s development as a nation throughout the 20th Century with a particular focus on the changing experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.

Exploring Deeper

Teacher Support Resources > Year 9 - 10 Exploring Deeper

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​Exploring Deeper resources are learning sequences that support students’ development of the intercultural understanding general capability. Students explore issues of identity, culture and diversity in Australia.

Alignment to the curriculum

Intercultural understanding

Students understand the importance of mutual respect in promoting cultural exchange and collaboration in an interconnected world and recognise the challenges and benefits of living and working in a culturally diverse society and the role that cultural mediation plays in learning to live together harmoniously. For more information, see: the Australian curriculum intercultural understanding learning continuum

History

Students study the history of the modern world and Australia from 1918 to the present, with an emphasis on Australia in a global context.
Students address the inquiry question, 'How was Australian society affected by other significant global events and changes in this period?'
Students use historical skills to:

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  Identify points of view in the past and present.
  
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  Identify and analyse the perspectives of people from the past.
  
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  Identify and analyse different historical interpretations, including their own.
  
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  Evaluate the reliability and usefulness of primary and secondary sources.
  

For more information, see: AusVELS History domain

Engage

Before commencing this series of activities with students, familiarise yourself with this information from the History Teachers’ Association of Australia which refers to the role of artworks in teaching the Australian Curriculum: History. For more information, see: How to teach history
Begin by reminding students that artworks are a reflection of the social and cultural context in which they have been created. They are a primary historical source in that they provide a visual encounter with the past and the present.
Introduce students to the collected story Identity – Migration and multiculturalism from the National Gallery of Victoria.For more information, see: Identity – Migration and multiculturalism

Explain to students that these artworks have been curated as a collected story, offering a particular narrative of migration history in Australia.

Provide them with the notes describing each artist and artwork to use for this task, and for later discussion. Ask students to consider the perspective of each artist and the purpose of these various artworks.
Then ask students to write an initial interpretation of the historical narrative/s presented through this collected story.
Invite students to share their interpretations with the whole class.

Respond

Ask students to work in small groups to engage in a deeper historical interpretation of these artworks as a 'collected story' of identity, migration and multiculturalism in Australia.
Building on their initial interpretation of the narrative and the notes accompanying each artwork, ask students to address the following questions:

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  What is the story or stories being told here?
  
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  What other stories could be told about identity, migration and multiculturalism?
  
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  Why do you think these particular art works have been collected into a story?
  

Invite a representative from each group to present a synthesis of the discussion to the whole class.

Invite students to ask questions of each other. 
Then ask students to reflect on these more broad questions about the role of art in interpreting historical narrative:

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  What historical skills do you draw on when you interpret art?
  
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  How effective is art as a visual encounter with the past and the present?
  
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  How useful is art as historical evidence?
  

Invite students to share their responses and then draw these together by asking: What are we saying about the role of art in historical inquiry?

Create

Invite students to create a narrative response to the prompt "Australian society has been shaped in different ways by the global movements of people." Encourage students to use a range of artworks as their reference point and create a 'collected story' to present their particular point of view.
Students can locate Australian art works on a number of websites.
For more information, see:

National Gallery of Victoria - Collections – this website contains a number of artworks from the gallery's collections.

National Gallery of Victoria - Education Resources – onsite, online and outreach programs for learners of all levels and interests inspired by the National Gallery of Victoria's collections and exhibitions.

National Gallery of Australia - Collections – this website contains a number of artworks from the gallery's collections.

National Gallery of Australia - Education Resources – onsite, online and outreach programs for learners of all levels and interests inspired by the National Gallery of Australia's collections and exhibitions.

National Portrait Gallery - The Portraits – this website contains a number of artworks from the gallery's collections.

Ask students to present their collected story in the form of multimedia or pages, using digital technologies such as Global2 and then to share their collected stories with the class. Encourage students to ask questions about the point of view presented in each story. For more information, see: Global2
Return to the questions posed previously and ask students to reflect again on the role of artworks in historical inquiry.

Extend

Introduce students to the provocative artwork of Indigenous artist Vernon Ah Kee, who focuses on re-claiming his family’s identity from the anthropological studies of the past, and his desire to add depth to any discussion about Indigenous identity and history.
For more information, see:

An art curator’s explanation of Ah Kee’s art – a short film by the National Gallery of Australia.

An interview with Vernon Ah Kee  – a short documentary and interview.

An interview with an Indigenous art curator about the historical influences of Ah Kee’s artwork – a short film by The Guardian. 

Ask students to reflect on the contribution of Ah Kee’s art to the study of Indigenous history in Australia, using this question as a guide:

• 
  How does artwork such as this add to, challenge or subvert an historical narrative?
  

Encourage students to write a brief reflection in response to this question and discuss this with others in a small group.

Return students to the focus of this investigation into artwork as an historical source and ask them to how they think Australians in the future will interpret Ah Kee’s work.
Encourage students to share their thinking with the whole class.

Further ideas

For more information, see:

Cool tools for schools– provides a comprehensive range of web 2.0 tools for use in the classroom.   

Engaging with Challenging Issues

Teacher Support Resources > Year 9 - 10 Engaging with Challenging Issues

Page Content

Engaging with Challenging Issues resources are inquiry-based units of work that support students’ development of the intercultural understanding general capability. Students investigate some of the challenges associated with issues of identity, culture and diversity in Australia.

Alignment to the curriculum

Intercultural understanding

Students understand the importance of mutual respect in promoting cultural exchange and collaboration in an interconnected world and recognise the challenges and benefits of living and working in a culturally diverse society and the role that cultural mediation plays in learning to live together harmoniously. For more information, see: the Australian curriculum intercultural understanding learning continuum

History

Students investigate the contribution of migration to Australia’s changing identity as a nation and to its international relationship, in particular the key inquiry question: 'How was Australian society affected by other significant global events in the twentieth century and changes in this period?' For more information, see: AusVELS History domain

Civics and Citizenship

Students explore Australia’s multicultural society. They learn about the past and present policies of government in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and immigration, and the values and beliefs which support a harmonious multicultural society. They explore the concept of Australian identity and the contributions of various cultural groups. They consider the development of Australian citizenship over time and reasons why people choose to become Australian citizens. They link their understanding of multiculturalism to contemporary issues, such as global humanitarian crises and population growth. For more information, see: AusVELS Civics and Citizenship domain

The Globalising World

Use the RightsEd: The Globalising World unit of work as the curriculum resource. This unit of work investigates how migration from 1945 to the present day has shaped Australian society. In particular this unit focuses on the impacts of changing immigration policies and the development of human rights and anti-racism movements in Australia.

For more information, see: RightsEd: The Globalising World

Further ideas

For more information, see:

Take a stand against racism – a unit of work by the Australian Human Rights Commission designed to equip young people to take a stand against racism in their community, by valuing diversity and encouraging others to do the same.

Tackling racism in Australia – a unit of work by the Australian Human Rights Commission designed to equip students to develop strategies and actions for celebrating diversity and taking action against racism.

Racial Discrimination: Know your rights  – information by the Australian Human Rights Commission on racial discrimination and how it can be addressed.

Resources for exploring diversity and developing intercultural understanding in the classroom May 2015