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- Teacher Plan for Aboriginal Cross-Cultural Awareness Program
Teacher Plan for Aboriginal Cross-Cultural Awareness Program
Week | Teacher and student activities |
Week 1 | Background research of Tasmanian Aboriginal culture before invasion by the Europeans (extracts from Living off the Land: Book 1 – Invasion). Students:
Played the game My Patch (On the Track, p 22). Students:
Excursion to Margate Aboriginal Centre. Students:
Task 1: Write a report about your feelings during the Gumnuts to Buttons game at Margate. |
Week 2 | In science we followed up an earlier unit on natural resources and the environment by looking at the land management issue. We read selected extracts from Towards a New Dreaming (p 8, pp 20–4) and discussed:
We then looked at European land management and the impacts settlement has had on the environment. These included:
We came to the conclusion that by studying how the Aborigines were able to work with nature we could begin to repair the damage caused by 200 years of European settlement. Task 2: List the problems caused by European settlement. Shared reading of 'A Just Punishment' (Australian Readers Discovering Democracy Upper Primary Collection, pp 40–1). |
Week 3 | We explored the concepts:
We discussed:
Task 3: From your knowledge of Aboriginal culture what view do Aborigines have of the land and how does this differ from the European settlers' viewpoint? Through reading and writing activities we explored and discussed the concept of inequality (Australian Readers Discovering Democracy Upper Primary Collection, 'Different Laws for Different People', pp 4–5; Australian Readers Discovering Democracy Middle Primary Collection, 'Equal Opportunity', pp 18–19). |
Week 4 | Task 4: In small reading groups read 'From Little Things Big Things Grow' (Australian Readers Discovering Democracy Upper Primary Collection, pp 38–9). Students:
Small group computer activity (Stories of Democracy CD-ROM, 'Native Title Act' – Eddie Mabo). In SOSE we looked at different strategies people use (Discovering Democracy Upper Primary Units, Handout 16, p 145) and listed the strategies Vincent Lingiari and Eddie Mabo used. Task 5: Research and construct a timeline of significant events in relation to the land rights issue. |
Week 5 | Do people have the power to change situations that are unjust? We investigated the 1965 Freedom Ride (Discovering Democracy Upper Primary Units, pp 117–120) by:
We discussed issues such as:
We then listed some of the injustices that the Freedom Riders wanted to change and the strategies they used. After a second viewing of the video, we:
Students were asked to imagine themselves as a journalist covering the story of the Freedom Ride. Task 6: Write a piece for the newspaper or a news report for television which tells the reader/viewer about the Freedom Riders. Using Handout 2, we discussed what news articles needed to include:
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Week 6 | A shared reading of 'Where Are the Children?' (Two Rivers, p 68–75) was followed by discussions on:
We then viewed Rabbit-Proof Fence (released 2002). Task 7: Write a review of the film. |
Week 7 | On the topic of reconciliation the students:
Task 8: Write your own view of what the vision statement means. |
Week 8 | At school assembly we sang songs about: Aboriginal identity ('Searching For Who We Are'); belonging to the land ('I Come From the Spirits'); and reconciliation ('We'll Travel Together', which talks about a journey of healing for the Aboriginal people). |
Book Week celebrations | Book Week/NAIDOC Week celebrations: As a culmination of our Aboriginal unit of work the class group presented a performance of prose and songs in the school library and hall for visiting high school students, parents and primary students. Discovering Democracy materials and class artwork were also featured at this time. |