Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture in HASS curriculum

Geography in the Curriculum – Aboriginal perspectives

Geography is one of the Humanities and Social Science subjects outlined in the Australian Curriculum. As a subject, geography ‘nurtures students’ curiosity about places and the differences between them’ and as students learn and investigate geographical concepts they develop a ‘geographical imagination that enables [them] to relate to other places and people, and to appreciate the cultures and perspectives of others’. The curriculum outlines seven geographical concepts that children will learn about and investigate over their schooling years however, only four of these are focussed on in the Year two curriculum – change, place, space and interconnections.

Learning about Place

Over the past couple of weeks we have been learning about place and how we are all connected to places. The children have been sharing about places that they are connected to and we have had a specific focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ connections to Place. As the children learn about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experiences, perspectives and beliefs they are developing an intercultural understanding and respect for Indigenous Australians. Craven says that ‘Australia will never matter as a nation unless we know what our roots are. Our roots lie firmly in Aboriginal culture.’. It is crucial that we are providing a school environment that includes and respects Indigenous perspectives.

How we’ve been learning

‘Aboriginal perspectives are not found in Aboriginal content, but Aboriginal processes’ and we have therefore been using Aboriginal ways of learning to develop our understanding of Aboriginal perspectives and cultures. Children have been engaging in story sharing with their peers as well as other people from our local community, including local Aboriginal Elders. One of our local Aboriginal Elders came to share his story with the children recently and talked about Aboriginal peoples connections to Country/Place.

(Picture retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-06/tasmanian-aboriginal-people-seek-practical-change-not-symbolism/6598948)

The children watched this Dust Echoes video clip which tells the story of a song man who visited a waterfall and lived with mermaids there – we discussed why he missed his family and how he told his story when he returned to his family.

We have also looked at how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples share about places that are important to them through dreaming stories, dances, art and cultural representations. The children have experimented with representing their own stories about places they have been through drawing and have displayed these drawings in the local Deloraine Deli.

(Image retrieved from https://europeanchildrencelebrate.wordpress.com/activities/the-newspaper-how-we-celebrate/szkola-podstawowa-nr-4-prof-wladyslawa-szafera/cildrens-drawings-mothers-day-and-most-picturesque-places/)

We plan to finish this unit of work by evaluating the importance of looking after significant places, discussing if we should look after places that are important to others and investigating how we can do this.

What YOU can do

• Be informed about and respectful of Aboriginal Culture

• Choose some Aboriginal children’s books to read with your child and discuss Aboriginal experiences, perspectives and beliefs
• Discuss what places are important to you/that you feel connected to and take your child on a 'day out' to one of these places

References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2011). Shape of the Australian curriculum: Geography. Retrieved from http://www.acara.edu.au/_resources/shape_of_the_australian_curriculum_geography.pdf

Craven, R. (2003). Mandatory indigenous teacher education courses. In D. McInerney & S. Van Etten (Eds.) Sociocultural influences and teacher education programs. (pp. 165 - 172). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Gilbert, R. & Keeley, K. (2014). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures. In R. Gilbert & B. Hoepper (Eds.) Teaching humanities and social sciences: History, geography, economics and citizenship. (pp. 344 - 369). South Melbourne, VIC: Cengage Learning Australia.

8Ways. (n.d.). 8 Aboriginal ways of learning. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20100810154020/http://8ways.wikispaces.com/

Civics and Citizenship – Teaching sensitive/controversial issues as active citizenship

Civics and Citizenship – Tasmanian Forests

It is widely recognised that ‘young people need to be able to operate as informed and active citizens’ both in their local communities and in the wider world. What does this look like in the early childhood classroom though and how can you support your child to be an informed and active citizen?

What it looks like in our classroom

The Australian Curriculum Humanities and Social Sciences curriculum aims to capitalise on children’s ‘curiosity and imagination about the world they live in and empowers them to actively shape their lives; make reflective, informed decisions; value their belonging in a diverse and dynamic society; and positively contribute locally … ’. We have therefore been developing our students understanding of controversial community issues, specifically Tasmanian Forest protection.

According to Preston, Harvie and Wallace ‘an inquiry approach underpins the Humanities and Social Sciences curriculum area’ with inquiry skills such as questioning, researching, analysing, evaluating/reflecting and communicating being explicitly taught. Our grade two class has recently been engaging in discussions about Tasmanian Forests and thereby developing the ability to ask questions, clearly articulate their opinions and learning to have tolerance and respect for others’ opinions. The class went on an excursion to Liffey Falls to see first-hand some of the trees and animals that we have been talking about in class. We have also engaged in a Forest Discovery Experience in which the children engaged in a range of activities to develop their understanding of Tasmanian trees, forests and habitats.

(Forest Discovery Experience. Photo retrieved from http://www.forest-education.com/forest-discovery-experience)

Considering others views

As the students consider the concept of place and Tasmanian Forests as a place, I have asked them to consider the importance and significance of Tasmanian Forests and how others might feel about them. Our class has had a visit from a local parks and wildlife officer and Aboriginal Elders who talked about their roles in the protection of our forests and expressed why our Forests are important to them. We have also looked at some relevant newspaper articles and why different people have different opinions on the protection of our Forests.

(Parks and Wildlife officer Ian Mamoin. Photo retrieved from http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=2406)

(Aboriginal Elders. Photo retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/far-from-extinct-indigenous-languages-thriving-in-public-schools-in-dubbo-20150226-13pvmk.html)

Communicating learning

We will begin evaluating and reflecting on what we have learnt through our research of Tasmanian Forests and the controversy around their protection. We will be looking at if we should be involved in protecting Tasmanian Forests and how we can respectfully inform our community about the current situation from either side of the debate.

What YOU can do

As a parent/carer your child looks up to you and is influenced by the way that you act and speak, this gives you a significant opportunity to support them in becoming an active and informed citizen.  You can support your child as they learn about real controversial issues within our community by:

·         Demonstrating tolerance of and respect for other people’s opinions.

·         Talk about/read/watch interesting and relevant newspaper articles/online articles/video clips about the issue, with your child (For example type the issue into Youtube or Google and check out what pops up).

·         Ask them questions and express your opinion (For example, ask questions about the who, what, where, when and why of the issue).

·         Get involved in the community!

References

Hoffnung, M., Hoffnung, R., Seifert, K.L., Burton Smith, R., Hine, A., Ward, L., Pause, C. & Swabey, K. (2013). Lifespan development. Milton, Qld: John Wiley and Sons Australia, Ltd.

Woolfolk, A. & Margetts, K. (2013). Teaching for learning. In Educational Psychology. (3rd ed. pp. 460 – 507). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Australia.

  Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (retrieved 14^th November, 2016). Australian Curriculum. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/

Preston, L., Harvie, K., & Wallace, H. (2015). Inquiry-based learning in teacher education: A primary humanities example. Australian Journal of Teacher Education. 40(12), 73-85.

Tudball, L. & Gordon, K. (2014). Teaching for active and informed citizenship. In Teaching humanities and social sciences: History, geography, economics and citizenship. (5th ed. pp. 297 – 320). South Melbourne, VIC: Cengage Learning Australia.