Activity: Stories of Justice and Injustice – English – Year 10

Quick summary: Students are introduced to the concepts of justice and injustice and study media texts that represent issues and communicate perspectives about seeking asylum with respect to these concepts. They enhance their understanding of how media texts use language, visual and structural features to represent these justices and injustices with respect to people seeking asylum in different ways; including the use of selection and omission to position audiences. With a specific focus on news media texts, students will use a selection of thinking and analytical tools to deconstruct and evaluate perspectives represented and analyse how language and visual features influences audiences.

Chasing Asylum exposes the real impact of Australia’s offshore detention policies through the personal accounts of people seeking asylum and whistleblowers who tried to work within the system. To watch the documentary, stream it on Kanopy and Clickview or purchase the DVD at the ATOM Education Shop.

Learning intentions:

• Students will understand how combinations of language and visual features of news media texts shape meaning and position audiences in relation to issues of justice and injustice in people seeking asylum and in offshore detention.
• Students will understand and explain how news media texts use written and visual language for inclusive and exclusive effects that empower or disempower and foreground perspectives.
• Students will enhance their understanding and skills in analysing and evaluating visual and language choices used to shape meaning and communicate perspectives about seeking asylum.

21st century skills:

Australian Curriculum Mapping

Content descriptions:

Year 10 English

• Evaluate the impact on audiences of different choices in the representation of still and moving images (ACELA1572)
• Understand how language use can have inclusive and exclusive social effects, and can empower or disempower people (ACELA1564)
• Analyse and evaluate how people, cultures, places, events, objects and concepts are represented in texts, including media texts, through language, structural and/or visual choices (ACELY1749)
• Evaluate the social, moral and ethical positions represented in texts (ACELT1812)

Syllabus outcomes: EN5-1A, EN5-5C, EN5-8D, EN5-7D.

General capabilities: Literacy, Personal and Social Capability, Ethical Understanding, Intercultural Understanding.

Cross-curriculum priority:

• Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia OI.8.
• Sustainability OI.5.

Relevant parts of Year 10 English achievement standards: Students explain how the choice of language features, images and vocabulary contributes to the development of individual style. They listen for ways features within texts can be manipulated to achieve particular effects.

Topic: Social Issues

Unit of work: Stories of Chasing Asylum – access the unit overview here.

Time required: 150 minutes.

Level of teacher scaffolding: High – facilitate class discussion and assess student work.

Resources required: Student Worksheet – one copy per student OR computers/tablets to access the online worksheet. Device capable of audio/visual presentation to present a website to the class. Justice and Injustice Images to project. Limbo is Nauru’s Real Torture for Asylum-Seekers – Chris Kenny. Sticky-notes (optional).

Digital technology opportunities: Digital sharing capabilities.

Keywords: asylum seeker, refugee, migrant, media representation, justice, injustice, children.

Cool Australia’s curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum.