Blog Post 3 - Citizenship Learning in the Context of Australian History

We are beginning a unit on Citizenship through Australian History which will combine the History and Civics and Citizenship Education (CCE) learning areas. The purpose of this unit is for students to see how people’s decisions in the past brought about change and how they, the students, can bring about change within their context. 

When studying history, we want students to consider the relevance for their own lives. Brett (2018) argues that when students study historical events and see decisions made through those events, they can become more engaged to affect change in their own contexts. We want students to see the impacts that individuals have had through history and how they impacted other people, communities, countries and even the world.

By the end of Year 5, in CCE, students will identify how people can effectively work in groups to achieve shared goals (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2015). By combining CCE with History, students will consider the ways in which people have done this in the past and consider how events of the past influence the world today and into the future.

Learning Outcomes

To use historical inquiry when researching and to consider the ways in which people work together to achieve a goal. The main purpose of this unit is for students to use inquiry-based approaches to consider the roles people had in shaping Australia and how it impacts us today.

Learning

We will be looking at the Victorian Gold Rush and how it impacted the early Australian settlements.

We will start by researching the gold rush. After doing some research, students will write a short, 150-word outline describing what the Victorian Gold rush was. Part of the research will include playing the game ‘This House: Settling in Ballarat’. (http://education.abc.net.au/home#!/media/1386705/this-house-settling-in-ballarat)
This game allows students to consider how a location has changed over time including during the Gold Rush.

Education Services Australia, n.d.

We will have class discussions about the roles of people through this event and how individuals or groups of people brought about change through this event. We will answer the questions: What roles were vital for this event? How did change occur? What brought about change? 

We will then discuss how this event, the roles of individuals and groups and the decisions they made still influence life today. 

Students will then write a brief summary (one or two paragraphs) outlining their thoughts on how these things might have shaped society at the time and how modern society is the same or different from that time.

Students’ final task for this unit will be to write a reflection. This reflection will focus on what they have learned, and how that can shape the future. Students will consider ways in which the past can influence the future and comment specifically on their personal contexts.

Australian Curriculum Links

History: 

ACARA, 2015. 

CCE: 

ACARA, 2015. 

Inquiry and Skills: 

ACARA, 2015. 

ACARA, 2015. 

References

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

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, 15-29.

Education Services Australia. (n.d.). This house: settling in Ballarat. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved from http://education.abc.net.au/home#!/media/1386705/this-house-settling-in-ballarat