Week 3 - Blog Post One

Citizenship Through History – Grade 5

Over the last couple of weeks in Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS), students have been learning about why people have come to Australia in the past and present and what our country’s democracy has to do with this. Students enjoyed looking at the different crimes convicts were sent to Tasmania for during the excursion last week to the Campbell Town’s Convict Trail. It was wonderful seeing students who had convicts in their family history find their brick and I’d like to thank the parents who have discussed their family heritage with their children. Students collected data on the types of crimes committed and back in class we discussed what the consequence for such crimes would be today (for example a common crime was food theft).   

(Woodford, 2017)

Switching students learning to the current day, I asked students to brainstorm the reasons why people might migrate to Australia now. With the current reasons, students were placed into groups and created a PowerPoint presentation which they presented to their peers. Today the students began brainstorming ideas for how they are going to present a ‘welcoming’ to new migrants. Some students have chosen a letter or information brochure and others are recording a video. Within this the students are encouraged to welcome and provide information about how our democracy works in Australia, covering topics such as elections, the government, freedom of speech, expression and religious beliefs, etc. The students will complete this as a group directed inquiry which allows for students to take control of their own learning (Killen, 2013). Once completed, the ‘welcomes’ will be passed onto a local Politician within the community.

Parents can help extend this activity by discussing any people that you know in the community, such as friends, family or colleagues who are migrants to Australia. Allow them to see and understand that migrants are within our local community. Discuss what it would be like if your family had to move to another country, what would everyone be feeling and what questions would you want to know about the new country. This information, empathy and ability to see different viewpoints will assist the students in their ‘welcomes’.

Through learning history first, students are able to identify how the events of the past have led to the present (Harrison, 2013; Gilbert, 2011). Connecting the lesson to the present and including Civics and Citizenship Education (CCE) through the ‘welcoming’ project, students are able to learn through the promotion of positive attitudes, actions and behaviours by taking action in their local community (Ying Neoh, 2017). By extending the learning beyond the classroom and into the community, the students are able to identify a purpose within their learning and understand what makes them a citizen. It shows them that they do have the ability to go beyond the ‘normal’ duties of a citizen (voting, taxes, etc.) and can create change and participate in ways which can make a difference within their community (Wood, & Black, 2014).

The curriculum links to our learning this week are:

(Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2016)

References

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2016, December 16). The Australian Curriculum: F-6/7 HASS (Version 8.3), F-6/7, all curriculum elements, all curriculum dimensions. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/download/f10

Gilbert, R. (2011). Can history succeed at school? Problems of knowledge in the Australian history curriculum. Australian Journal of Education, 55(3), 245-258.

Killen, R. (2013). Effective teaching strategies: Lessons from research and practice. South Melbourne, VIC: Cengage Learning Australia.

Harrison, N. (2013). Country teaches: The significance of the local in the Australian history curriculum. Australian Journal of Education, 57(3), 214-224.

Wood, B., & Black, R. (2014). Performing citizenship down under: Educating the active citizen. Journal of Social Science Education, 13(4), 56-65.