Citizenship learning in the context of an aspect of Australian history

Dear Year 6 parents/carers, 

I am writing to share with you about what we will learn in the Humanities and Social Sciences learning area in this term. We will learn Civics and Citizenship in the context of an aspect of Australian history. Our historical topic is the ‘Stolen Generations’, which refers to many Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families as a result of the policy of Assimilation between 1910 and 1970 (Australians Together, n.d.). The intended learning outcomes are shown below (figure 1).

Figure 1 (ACARA, 2015)

Firstly, I would pose some questions to students to think, answer and share because research reveals that using inquiry-based learning method could actively engage the students in the learning, and promote students’ achievement by enabling them to plan their own investigations, gather and interpret data and cultivate their higher order thinking skills (Bhagat, 2017). The questions include:

· What if you are forced to leave your parents and live with a stranger who speaks different language and has different lifestyle from you?

· What kind of feeling will you have?

· How do you think of this kind of action?

After sharing what they think about this issue, I will elicit our focus topic ‘the Stolen Generations’ and also pose a series of questions, such as:

· When and why did it happen?

· What are the consequences?

· What happened and who made effort and decision to cease it?

· What did the Australian government do to remedy the Aboriginal people who suffered a lot from this tragedy?

· What did you learn from this period of history? 

Figure 2 (Diss, 2017)



Figure 3 (Immigration Museum, 2008)

Then the class will be divided into small groups with allocated questions that they need to research. They have up to 45 minutes to use resources from internet and library to investigate their questions and share what they have come up with in front of the whole class.

Through this activity, the students will develop the skills of collaborating with other people to solve problems and analysing the data and then be able to pick the reliable ones. In addition, history learning and historical thinking could foster the students’ sense of understanding, appreciation of their own and others’ identities and civic responsibility and most importantly, it could promote the students’ sense of empathy, which is a powerful emotion that could help children recognise, understand and appreciate diversity and empathy is also a prerequisite for achieving reconciliation across society in many countries (Brett, 2018). Therefore, the activity could assist the children to become active, informed and better citizen.

As parents/carers, I hope that you can share what you know about this period of history with your child and provide emotional support for your child because, as we know, this topic is difficult and confronting. Meanwhile, if you have any concerns about this topic or want to share your child’s special needs, feel free to contact with me.

Word count: 472

References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority ([ACARA], 2015). Australian Curriculum. Retrieved form https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/humanities-and-social-sciences/hass/

Australians Together (n.d.). The Stolen Generations: The forcible removal of Indigenous children from their families. Retrieved form https://australianstogether.org.au/discover/australian-history/stolen-generations

Bhagat, A. (2017). Inquiry-based learning: assessing students’ science inquiry skills. Retrieved form https://www.acer.org/files/ABHA-Article.pdf

Brett, P. (2018). Retrieving the civic dimension in history: creating meaningful and memorable links between history and civics and citizenship in primary classrooms. The Social Educator, 36 (No.2), 15-29. Retrieved from https://mylo.utas.edu.au/content/enforced/296741-AW_EAS_19S1_19935_0_0_0_1_1/Retrieving%20the%20Civic%20Dimension%20in%20History%20-%20The%20Social%20Educator%20article%20December%202018.pdf?_&d2lSessionVal=EpuFqPZTYRvZ7LdEUCf2wrRpZ&ou=296741

Diss, K. (2017). Stolen Generation picture collection in WA looking for new home [online image]. Retrieved Jun 15, 2017 from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-15/stolen-generation-funding/8618366

Immigration Museum. (2008). Kevin Rudd's 2008 Apology to the Stolen Generations. Retrieved from https://museumsvictoria.com.au/website/immigrationmuseum/discoverycentre/identity/people-like-them/the-white-picket-fence/kevin-rudds-2008-apology-to-the-stolen-generations/index.html