Activity Introduction
Quick summary: In this Finding Out lesson, students will read, watch, and analyse historical sources relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights and freedoms. They will use visible thinking routines and scaffolded discussions to interpret and analyse each source. Students will engage in a Socratic Seminar to discuss the influence of Charles Perkins on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ struggle for rights and freedoms, then deepen their historical understanding through independent research. Students will make connections between the National Apology to the Stolen Generations, progress in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ struggle for rights and freedoms and reconciliation in Australia. They will research the events that prompted the apology, and communicate their understanding in an extended text. Students will reflect on their learning in this lesson by writing a paragraph explaining their understanding of the role that they play in ensuring that the rights and freedoms of others are not denied.
Essential questions:
- What are some of the historical events in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ struggle for rights and freedoms?
- Who is Charles Perkins and what role has he played in the movement for Indigenous rights?
- What is the National Apology to the Stolen Generations and how is it related to reconciliation in Australia?
21st Century skills:
Australian Curriculum Mapping
Content descriptions
Year 10 History:
- Background to the struggle of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ for rights and freedoms before 1965, including the 1938 Day of Mourning and the Stolen Generations (ACDSEH104)
- The significance of the following for the civil rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples: 1962 right to vote federally; 1967 Referendum; Reconciliation; Mabo decision; Bringing Them Home Report (the Stolen Generations), the Apology (ACDSEH106)
- Methods used by civil rights activists to achieve change for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and the role of ONE individual or group in the struggle (ACDSEH134)
Syllabus outcomes: HT5-3, HT5-2.
General capabilities: Literacy, Information and Communication Capability, Personal and Social Capability, Ethical Understanding, Intercultural Understanding.
Relevant parts of Year 10 achievement standards: Students refer to key events, the actions of individuals and groups, and beliefs and values to explain patterns of change and continuity over time. They analyse the causes and effects of events and developments and explain their relative importance. They explain the context for people’s actions in the past. Students sequence events and developments within a chronological framework, and identify relationships between events across different places and periods of time. When researching, students develop, evaluate and modify questions to frame a historical inquiry. They process, analyse and synthesise information from a range of primary and secondary sources and use it as evidence to answer inquiry questions. Students analyse sources to identify motivations, values and attitudes. When evaluating these sources, they analyse and draw conclusions about their usefulness, taking into account their origin, purpose and context. They develop and justify their own interpretations about the past. Students develop texts, particularly explanations and discussions, incorporating historical argument. In developing these texts and organising and presenting their arguments, they use historical terms and concepts, evidence identified in sources, and they reference these sources.
Topic: Human Rights
Unit of work: Story of Our Rights and Freedoms – Year 10.
Time required: This lesson should be delivered over a series of four to five 60-120 minute sessions.
Level of teacher scaffolding: High – facilitate class discussion, student research and manage the sensitive nature of the content being delivered.
Resources required: Student Worksheet – one copy per student. Device capable of presenting a video to the class. One web-enabled device per student for online research. Chalk-Talk Visible Thinking Routine Prompts (enough copies for one between four students). Socratic seminar text: “Australia needs to be embarrassed, Perkins says” (one per student). Sticky-notes. Butcher’s paper (optional).
Keywords: rights, freedoms, stolen generations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, human rights, research, presentation.
Cool Australia’s curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum.
