Rights and Freedoms (1945- Present)

Stage: Upper Stage 5 (Year 10), 24 students of mixed abilities Topic: Depth Study 4 Duration: 10 ´ 1-hour lessons
Prior knowledge:
• Students are familiar with the historical source analysis process, ‘OCMA PRU’, and how to use it to extrapolate specific information from
sources.
• Students have learnt about the nature and consequences of British colonisation upon Aboriginal peoples in Australia from Stage 4 (Depth
Study 6: Topic 6d).
• Students have studied John Marsden and Shaun Tan’s The Rabbits in English, and are familiar with the content and context of the book.
Sequence Lesson topic Teaching and learning strategies
1 Acknowledgement of Country; Acknowledgement of Country (15 mins)
Universal Declaration of Human • Begin the lesson with an Acknowledgement of Country, making sure to have the words
Rights; visibly projected for students to read along.
Pre-colonial Australia • Explore the importance and necessity of conducting an Acknowledgement of Country.
• Highlight the issue of tokenism and its implications upon attitudes and perceptions of
and about Aboriginal cultures, country and peoples.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (20 mins)
• As a class, discuss what a ‘right’ is. Students brainstorm the types of rights they have as
Australian citizens.
• Print and distribute the abbreviated version of the UDHR (pp. 12-13,
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/introhumanrights/resources/lesson_2.pdf). Read
through articles and ask students to consider which articles apply to Aboriginal peoples.
Pre-colonial Australia (15 mins)
• As a class, view images of sketches composed by early colonists in Australia.
• Discuss the contrast that these images present between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal
livelihoods during this time. The ideas discussed will be used to explore the concept of
terra nullius in the following lesson.
Exit slip (5 mins)
• Explain the purpose of exit slips and issue the slips for lesson 1 to students.
2 Invasion, occupation, colonisation and Invasion, occupation, colonisation and settlement (30 mins)
settlement; • Introduce the concept of terra nullius. Provide students with a definition and
Background to rights and freedoms problematise the concept in relation to Aboriginal rights and freedoms.
• As a class, explore the meaning of the four concepts and develop a definition for each.
• Divide class into groups of four and initiate a progressive brainstorm. Each group will
focus on a concept. Groups will consider the implications of each concept upon society,
both immediately after colonisation and in the modern world, in Australia and around
the world.
• Review students’ ideas from the progressive brainstorm with a discussion of the
findings, as well as students’ own attitudes toward each of the four concepts.
Background to rights and freedoms (25 mins)
• Consider and discuss the importance and value of rights and freedoms relative to ideas
of sovereignty and identity.
• Using the process of deconstruct-reconstruct, identify key milestones in the timeline of
Aboriginal peoples’ fight for rights and freedoms in Australia.
Exit slip (5 mins)
• As above
3 Stolen Generations; Incursion (40 mins)
Assimilation policy • Invite a local Aboriginal representative to speak about his/her experiences of the Stolen
Generations, and the intergenerational implications that such horrific actions have had
upon Aboriginal communities in contemporary society.
Q&A (15 mins)
• Prior to the incursion, encourage students to submit questions for the local representative.
Filter out any inappropriate questions.
• On the day, select student to pitch the questions to the local representative.
Exit slip (5 mins)
• As above
4 Summative assessment task; Summative assessment task (15 mins)
US influence; • Issue summative assessment task and review task notification and marking criteria with
Methods of activism students (appendices 1 and 2).
 • Make the task expectations clear and answer any questions that students may have about
the task.
US Influence (15 mins)
• Review a timeline of the Civil Rights movement in the US, focusing particularly on the
student-led protests that incited extreme violence from extremist groups, such as the KKK.
• Consider the methods of activism utilised by student activists during this period (e.g. sit-
ins, boycotts, marches, freedom rides)
Methods of activism (25 mins)
• Analyse a series of photographs, videos and written accounts that capture the different
methods of activism utilised by Aboriginal peoples in Australia. Identify the key methods
of activism in Australia and compare these with those used in the US.
• Evaluate the degree of influence that the Civil Rights Movement in the US had in
changing attitudes toward Aboriginal peoples and cultures in Australia, as well as more
broadly about race.
• Show the ABC’s video titled ‘The Freedom Rides: then and now’:
http://education.abc.net.au/home#!/media/1824901/the-freedom-ride-then-and-now. Lead
discussion on what students think about the comments made in the video about Aboriginal
peoples. Encourage students to consider the continuing prevalence of racism in modern
Australian society and how such sentiments are still being manifested.
Exit slip (5 mins)
• As above
5 1962 right to vote; Incursion (40 mins)
1967 Referendum; • Invite a local Aboriginal representative to speak about his/her experiences about the
1992 Mabo decision changing rights and freedoms of Aboriginal people after 1962 (right to vote), 1967
(referendum) and 1992 (Mabo decision).
Q&A (15 mins)
• Prior to the incursion, encourage students to submit questions for the local representative.
Filter out any inappropriate questions.
• On the day, select student to pitch the questions to the local representative.
Exit slip (5 mins)
• As above
6&7 Reconciliation Excursion: Walking tour of the Rocks (115 hours)
• Students participate in a walking tour of The Rocks. On this walking tour, students learn
about the social and political history, languages and cultures of Aboriginal peoples
originally inhabiting the Sydney basin.
• On the excursion, students must photograph and take notes on at least three things: a site,
a flora and an aspect of Aboriginal culture. Doing so will ensure that students have at least
one piece of evidence that may be contributed to their ePortfolios.
Exit slip (5 mins)
• As above
8 Bringing Them Home Report; Recap: Reconciliation (10 mins)
The Apology • Revisit the concept of reconciliation, including its definition.
• Ask students to reflect on their excursion and highlight key learnings gained from the
experience in a whole class discussion.
Bringing Them Home Report (BTHR) (10 mins)
• Prior to the lesson, teacher summarises key findings and recommendations from the
BTHR in an infographic.
• As a class, review the infographic and consider the repercussions of these findings.
Consider also the bias of BTHR and what factors are included or omitted.
The Apology (15 mins)
• Show YouTube video of the Kevin Rudd’s Apology speech (2008)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RThkO3XBThs). Provide transcript for students to
follow.
• Discuss the contemporary social and political climate, and the implications that Rudd’s
Apology had upon both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities in Australia.
Reconciliation: Going strong, or not enough? (Preparation) (20 mins)
• As a class, brainstorm some ideas about the progress and status of reconciliation in the
modern world. Consider arguments supporting the view that reconciliation is going strong,
and those that suggest it is simply not doing enough. Then, split the class into two groups
with each group representing the two respective sides of the argument. In these groups,
students review their class notes and learning from country experiences to find evidence in
support of the sides that they represent.

9 Continuing efforts
10 Summative assessment task
Exit slip (5 mins)
• As above
Reconciliation: Going strong, or not enough? (Debate) (20 mins)
• In the two respective groups from the previous lesson, students participate in a debate on
whether the current progress and status of reconciliation in Australia is effective or
ineffective.
Open letter (35 mins)
• Provide scaffold for an open letter then, as a class, read and identify key features of a
model response chosen by the teacher.
• Then, using ideas and notes gathered from the debate, students compose a draft open letter
to the Australian government about their personal thoughts regarding the progress and
status of reconciliation in the country.
Exit slip (5 mins)
• As above
Summative assessment task (55 mins)
• Students work on their ePortfolios at the computer lab.
• Circulate classroom and provide assistance and feedback to students.
• Reiterate the submission requirements as stated in the assessment notification to students.
Exit slip (5 mins)
• As above
Appendix 1

Assessment task

Year 10 Assessment Task Notification

(Term 4: Depth Study 4)
Issue date: Week 3, in class
Due date: Week 10, no later than 10:00 pm on the night of class
Weighting: 20%
Word count: 850 words equivalent (excluding bibliography)
Task title: Creating an ePortfolio
Task You are required to create an ePortfolio using Google Sites to document five (5)
description: key aspects of your learning within this unit.

In your ePortfolio, you must include:

1. A title page – introducing yourself and the unit of study (100 words)
2. A separate page for each of the chosen key aspect of learning (5 pages in
total). Each page must contain at least one image and a brief statement (150
words) that:
a. Recounts and explains the significance of the learning from country
experience from which the image(s) originate;
b. Evaluate the learning from country experience, and include an outline of
how it reinforced or challenged your knowledge of the topic.
3. A page for the bibliography – cite all works consulted in the preparation of
this ePortfolio (including any images that you did not capture on your own)
Submission You are required to publish your Google Site before emailing a share link to your
instructions: teacher. You must do this by no later than 10.00pm on the night of the day
that you had class.

This is an independent task. All students must submit an ePortfolio.

Penalties of one mark per day will be applied for late submissions. A maximum
deduction of 10 marks will result in a fail mark for this assessment task and an
‘N’ Award. Failure to submit an ePortfolio will result in an ‘N’ Award.
Marking • Demonstrates an understanding of key knowledges and perspectives
criteria: acquired on learning from country.
• Reflects upon the key knowledges and understandings acquired on learning
from country.
• Communicates and presents key knowledges and understandings according
to submission requirements.
Outcomes HT5-6, HT5-9, HT-10
assessed:
Appendix 2

Marking criteria

Marking criteria Marks

• Demonstrates a strong understanding of key knowledges and 17 – 20
perspectives acquired on learning from country.
• Critically reflects upon the key knowledges and understandings
acquired on learning from country.
• Effectively communicates and presents key knowledges and
understandings according to submission requirements.
• Demonstrates a good understanding of key knowledges and 13-16
perspectives acquired on learning from country.
• Effectively reflects upon the key knowledges and understandings
acquired on learning from country.
• Clearly communicates and presents key knowledges and understandings
according to submission requirements.
• Demonstrates a sound understanding of key knowledges and 9 - 12
perspectives acquired on learning from country.
• Reflects upon the key knowledges and understandings acquired on
learning from country.
• Communicates and presents key knowledges and understandings
according to submission requirements.
• Demonstrates a developing understanding of key knowledges and 5–8
perspectives acquired on learning from country.
• Describes the key knowledges and understandings acquired on learning
from country.
• Attempts to communicate and present key knowledges and
understandings according to submission requirements.
• Demonstrates a limited understanding of key knowledges and 1–4
perspectives acquired on learning from country.
• Limited attempt to describe the learning from country experiences.
• Attempts to communicate and present key knowledges and
understandings according to submission requirements.
Non-attempt; late submission of 10 or more days. 0