Catering for Diversity:

Migration
Alan Deng

Migration in the Year 6

Australian Curriculum
Migration allows for interdisciplinary learning by intertwining history, geography, and
civics and citizenship. The focus activity is grounded in history - to conduct an oral
interview with a migrant. In terms of tying in geography, students would look at how
people, places and cultures differ and the geographical reasons for migration (e.g.,
climate, infant mortality, population density). For civics, students would look at what it
means for their interviewee to be an Australian citizen. The ideas for these tasks come
from the ACARA Year 6 Work Sample Portfolios: Geography and History.
History: Stories of groups of people who migrated to Australia and the reasons they migrated
(ACHHK115).
Geography: Differences in the economic, demographic and social characteristics between countries
(ACHGK032). The worlds cultural diversity (ACHGK033) and connections between people and the
world (ACHGK034, ACHGK036).
Civics: The values of Australian citizenship (ACHCK038). The obligations citizens may consider
beyond their own national borders as active and informed citizens (ACHCK039).

Inquiry Skills in the Year 6

Australian Curriculum
History: In order to interview people, students will need to identify questions about what
they want to find out (ACHHS119). Using their oral interviews as source material
(ACHHS120, ACHHS121), students would develop and communicate texts and
descriptions (ACHHS124, ACHHS125) on their interviewee and use this for further
geographic and civic inquiry.
Geography: Develop geographical questions to investigate and plan an inquiry
(ACHGS040). Collecting and recording geographical data from people (interviewees) and
photographs (family photos), and internet research. Finding out how to conduct ethical
research, and interviewing people on their knowledge and opinions of other places
(ACHGS041).
Civics: Investigating the society in which they live (ACHCS040). Use and evaluate a range
of information to develop a point of view (ACHCS042). Identifying over-generalised
statements in the media in relation to civics issues (ACHCS041). Interacting with others
and sharing personal perspectives (ACHCS043). Presenting civics issues for a particular
purpose (ACHCS045).

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

Students bring to school rich cultural knowledge through funds of knowledge and virtual schoolbags (Hill, 2012).
These include students backgrounds, languages, skills, memberships in the community. The strengths students bring
to school should be identified, nurtured and used to promote student achievement (Richards, Brown & Forde, 2007).
Therefore, humanities-based teaching should draw on students interests to address real world concerns. (Richards,
Brown & Forde, 2007). These issues could inform their investigations: people and their origins, family history,
migration, citizenship.

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

Getting parents involved in the classroom
stimulates the learning process as origin
and migration stories are part of family
history. It allows parents to witness and
participate in their childrens curriculum.
This inclusivity supports refugee parents in
dealing with the stress they face from
coping with a new host nations expectation
of their involvement in their childrens
education (Sainsbury & Renzaho, 2011, p.
291).
Students have authentic learning
experiences as they are focusing on issues
that are directly related to their own lives
(Taylor & Larson, 1998; Rowe, 2006).
Additionally, they draw on their prior
knowledge for use in a task that has a high
level of interest.

Guided Inquiry Pedagogy

Given the refugee background of a significant number of
students, these students would feel very emotional and
passionate about the topic of migration. Students have unique
cultural and learning differences that teachers need to be aware
of and treat sensitively (Bullock et al., 2013).
However, tapping into this knowledge is powerful for learning as
their passion fosters engagement and a desire to learn.

Guided Inquiry Pedagogy

In their migration inquiry, the oral interview task
would be modelled for the whole class, providing
them with strategies they could use when they
conduct their interviews (e.g., framing
appropriate questions, interviewing techniques).
Scaffolding the task makes it more accessible
and within the students Zone of Proximal
Development (Vygotsky, 1978, as cited in
Hmelo-Silver, Duncan, Chinn, 2007, p. 100).
The modelling would be succinct, and providing
clear instructions and segmenting the lesson into
chunks would benefit all the students with
engagement, particularly ADHD students.
For students with literacy difficulties, simplifying
the language so that the focus is on
comprehension (and understanding) of text will
allow them to work on the task more effectively.

(ACARA, 2014a)

Technological Pedagogy
ICTs such as computer-assisted
instruction and WebQuests guide
students through the inquiry process by
providing them with a selection of
teacher-screened resources to choose
from (Milson, 2002; Gilbert & Hoepper,
2014). These could include
government websites about migration
(Civics & Citizenship, Geography) and
student resources such as My Place
(History).
Students with high academic potential
can be given more control to find their
own resources on the Internet (e.g.,
finding and interpreting their own
geographical data). Students with
ADHD benefit from these ICTs as they
break learning into segments.

Technological Pedagogy
As a significant number of students have
socioeconomic difficulty, it is likely that they
have limited access to technology at home.
Therefore, they may be less skilled with
their use of ICT. Access to ICT varies in
direct relation to socioeconomic status
(Clark & Gorski, 2002).
One approach would be to use a
combination of direct instruction and
strategy instruction to guide the less skilled
group through a WebQuest (Rowe, 2006).
This would be helpful for helping students
with computer-related tasks such as
collecting data for geographical reasons for
migration, graphing the data, as well as
explaining terminology (e.g., population
density) for analysis.

(ACARA, 2013)

Collaborative Pedagogy
To cater for this digital divide, implementing
group work so that students who are
competent ICT users can assist those who
are less skilled. This allows for peer teaching.
Providing students with opportunities to work
in groups allows them to learn from each
other by sharing and building on each others
ideas (van Dijk & Lazonder, 2013).
In the context of peer interaction, students
speak the same language which allows
them to comprehend the content in a
language they can understand (van Dijk &
Lazonder, 2013).
Using the migration interview task, students
could interview each other in small groups to
practice their content, delivery and this would
also provide them with an opportunity to learn
about each others culture (civics and
intercultural understanding).

Critical Pedagogy
Students with high academic potential could be extended through
critical pedagogy exploring the critical issues surrounding
migration in the context of civics (e.g., human rights and asylum
seekers).
Rather than give students something that is more difficult in terms of
extending towards the Year 7 Australian Curriculum, this task allows
them to do something different challenging them to look at
alternative points of view (Gilbert & Hoepper, 2014). To develop
higher levels of thinking, students could write a letter to the state or
national government, which would be Creating in Blooms taxonomy,
and developing Communicating skills in the civics curriculum.

Contention
The research literature provides strong support to the notion that guided inquiry is
the most effective approach to teaching humanities due to its blend of direct
instruction and strategy instruction (Rowe, 2006; Hmelo-Silver, Duncan, Chinn,
2007).
The incorporation of different pedagogies to suit different learning styles allows
students to have rich learning experiences.
Whether disadvantaged students are supported by the teacher, their peers or
technology, they are active in the learning process and are developing skills they
can use for use for further inquiry.
Making the content relatable and accessible to all the students helps break down
the barriers for disadvantaged students and creates an inclusive classroom. This
is heightened when they are asked to think critically about real world issues that
affect themselves and those around them.

References
ACARA Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2013). Year 6 Geography: Work Sample
Portfolio Summary. Retrieved from
http://www.acara.edu.au/curriculum/worksamples/Year_6_Geography_Portfolio.pdf
ACARA Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2014).The Australian curriculum: Year 6.
Retrieved from www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/Year6
ACARA Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2014a). Year 6 History (Above
Satisfactory): Student Portfolio Summary. Retrieved from http://
www.acara.edu.au/curriculum/worksamples/Year_6_History_Portfolio_Above.pdf
Bullock, L.M., Gable, R., Lewis, C., Collins, E., Zolkoski, S., Carrero, K. & Lusk, M. Ensuring successful
outcomes for children and youth from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Preventing School
Failure, 57(1), 2-6.
Gilbert, R., & Hoepper, B. (2014). Teaching Humanities and Social Sciences: History, Geography, Economics &
Citizenship (5th edn.). Southbank, VIC: Cengage Learning.
Gorski, P., & Clark, C. (2002). Multicultural education and the digital divide: Focus on language. Multicultural
Perspectives, 4(2), 30-34.
Hill, S. (2012). Developing early literacy: Assessment and teaching. (2nd ed.). South Yarra, VIC: Eleanor Curtain
Publishing.

References
Hmelo-Silver, C. E., Duncan, R. G., & Chinn, C. A. (2007). Scaffolding and achievement in problembased and inquiry learning: A response to Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006). 42, 99-107.
Milson, A. J. (2002). The Internet and inquiry learning: Integrating medium and method in a sixth
grade social studies classroom. Theory and Research in Social Education, 30(3), 330-353.
Richards, H. V., Brown, A. F., & Forde, T. B. (2007). Addressing Diversity in Schools: Culturally
Responsive Pedagogy. TEACHING Exceptional Children(3), 64-68.
Rowe, K. (2006). Effective teaching practices for students with and without learning difficulties:
Constructivism as a legitimate theory of learning and of teaching? Retrieved from http://
research.acer.edu.au/learning_processes/10
Sainsbury, W. J., & Renzaho, A. M. N. (2011). Educational concerns of Arabic speaking migrants
from Sudan and Iraq to Melbourne: Expectations on migrant parents in Australia. International
Journal of Educational Research, 50(5-6), 291-300.
Taylor, H. E., & Larson, S. (1998). Teaching children with ADHD--What do elementary and middle
school social studies teachers need to know? Social Studies, 89(4), 161-164.
van Dijk, A. M., & Lazonder, A. W. (2013). Scaffolding students' use of learner-generated content in a
technology-enhanced inquiry learning environment. Interactive Learning Environments.