Week 3 Blog Post: Citizenship Learning Through History

Welcome back parents, today I wanted to discuss how I will be integrating History within our Citizenship Education strand. Students develop their curiosity and imagination through the process of inquiry from the past. It is essential for students to carry an awareness of History in order to participate in society and gain an understanding of themselves and others (ACARA, 2020). Reynolds (2011) defines History as the study of the past, the continuity and change that enriches students’ understandings and appreciation of previous people, events and ideas. Through the study of History students can develop empathy and considerations for different perspectives.  

Source: https://nation.com.pk/21-Apr-2018/why-are-we-studying-history  

For my year 4 class I have conducted an activity that focuses on the history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander’s citizenship which is a follow-up to previous learning in our history topic whereby students have already learnt some key events such as when the first fleet arrived. Students will be tasked to construct a timeline that shows important times and events that have a significant effect on Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander people. I will generate a class discussion by encouraging brainstorming from each student about the details of these events including the time and setting, who was involved and what occurred.

"What was the nature and consequence of contact between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and early traders, explorers and settlers?"

All answers will be written on the board for students to relate back to. Students will then be put into small groups to work on one chosen event, they will research this event in greater detail and will explain how it affected Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and how it influenced their culture and rights as citizens both positively and negatively. These will be made into posters in the form of a timeline so that when each group finishes them, they can all be linked up at the end and put on our wall. An example is shown below. 

Information found from ABC News (2015).

This activity links to the following content descriptors shown in the images below. Students learn about the nature of contact between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and whether these exchanges were positive or negative through researching and inquiry skills. The cultural diversity in the community is explored along with the use of communication skills to present findings.  

History:

Civics and Citizenship: 

Literacy: 

The Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters (2007) states that there are strong links between civics and citizenship education and Australian History, emphasising that civics and the values it holds, should be recognised as part of Australian history. Students creating a timeline acts as a visual aid that will help develop students’ confusion with what time period certain events took place as they may often forget or do not have prior knowledge. Twyman, McCleery and Tindal (2006) state that the lack of proper background knowledge will cause students to struggle to develop the contexts for historical thinking. This project promotes collaborative participation that will improve students’ historical understanding along with what it means to be a citizen. 

References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] (2020a). The

Australian: Foundation to year 10 curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences:

Year 4. Retrieved from: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/humanities-and-social-sciences/hass/

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] (2020b). The

Australian: Foundation to year 10 curriculum: English: Year 4. Retrieved from: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/english/

Henderson, A. (2015, July 13). Timeline: Recognition of Australia's Indigenous people. 
           ABC. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-06/indigenous-recognition-
           timeline-of-australian-history/6586176
The Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters (2007). Civics and electoral 
          education. The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, 27-63.  

Reynolds, R. (2011). Teaching History. Geography and SOSE in the Primary School 
           (2^nd Ed.) South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.  

Twyman, T., McCleery, J., & Tindal, G. (2006). Using concepts to frame history 
            content. The Journal of Experimental Education, 74(4), 331-349.