Nina Cook St Catherine’s School English Term 2015 unit: Being Australian
Unit overview
Stage 5
Success Criteria
This unit explores how Australian identity was shaped, the resulting devastation of Aboriginal culture and the
complexities implicit in being Australian today. It examines the changing attitude of artists and writers towards
what it means to be Australian. Students investigate the idea that an understanding of Australian identity
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emerged, not from a set of ideals or values, but from a disparate group of individuals. These characters were
forced to negotiate their relationship with the land, and each other, in order to create a society that was
familiar.
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Understanding Goals
How have artists and writers helped to forge an emerging sense of Australian identity?
Was the destruction of Aboriginal culture an inevitable result of an emerging Australian identity?
What are the complexities inherent in being Australian today?
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Resources
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Core Text: Novel: Kate Grenville, The Secret River (2005)
Opportunities are provided for the exploration of
Nina Cook, St Catherine’s School, Waverley. English 2015 Stage 5 unit: Being Australian
Success criteria
Program:
I can identify how cultural identity is shaped
I can understand how context affects
representation
I can evaluate the representation of
indigenous culture in a range of literary and
visual texts
I can understand how values are represented
in texts
I can identify and evaluate how voice is used
to convey values
I am able to develop and present a sustained
argument in response to the stimulus using
relevant textual evidence and explain their
effects on the responder. (Developing a clear
persuasive argument)
I am able to compose creatively about
Australian identity in various forms (short
story, short film).
I can read critical material with understanding
Visible learning:
I can explain the three focus areas of visible
learning; learning intentions, learning
progressions and success criteria.
I can apply these focus areas to the
completion of each task
I can recognise how visible learning guides
my learning
I understand that I am in control of my
learning and progress.
I have set goals and attempted to reach them.
Duration: 10 weeks
Cross Curricular Focus
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Cross Curricular Priorities:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories
1
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* spoken texts: Geraldine Brooks, Boyer Lectures 2011, ‘The Idea of Home’
* print texts: Excerpts The Harp in the South, Ruth Park; The Road to Coorain, Jill Ker Conway; Monkey
Grip, Helen Garner; A Fortunate Life, A.B. Facey; The True History of the Kelly Gang, Peter Carey; The
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Turning, Tim Winton. Newspaper Articles: Geraldine Brooks, ‘The singer and the silence’, Quentin Boyce,
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‘Extract from 2013 Boyer Lectures.’
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*nonfiction: The Tall Man, Chloe Hooper
* visual texts: Edmund Capon, The Art of Australia, BBC Television
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZCESEMuBXU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYcRQRghSOw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H5KQ_pFkkA
Website for series:
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http://www.abc.net.au/arts/artofaustralia/fullscreen.htm
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William McInnes, The Making of Modern Australia, ABC television,
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/makingaustralia/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEaD0o3J97M&list=PLKzBEHzV7hS9t3eyccmukTIYwi1B5dgdz&index=2
Australian Story, ‘The Light of Day’, ABC television,
http://www.abc.net.au/austory/specials/thelightofday/default.htm
* film: The Tall Man, SBS television or Redfern Now, Series 1, Episode 4, ABC television
* media, multimedia and digital texts: Tropfest Short Films, ‘Made in Australia’,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG0RJgLo8I4, ‘Between the Flags’,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWLb8d_cxPU, ‘Cracker Bag’, http://vimeo.com/8833777
advertisement, Baz Luhrman, ‘Australia: Come Walkabout’, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcYYSIYLcwg
Extension: Postcolonial Theory, Extracts from Edward Said, Orientalism. YouTube discussion of Orientalism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVC8EYd_Z_g
Extract: Michael J Sandel; Justice
*Podcast: Michael J. Sandel, The Public Philosopher, ‘National Guilt’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/r4sandel
Across a stage of learning, the selection of texts must give students experience of:
* a widely defined Australian literature, including texts that give insights into Aboriginal experiences in
Australia
* texts which are widely regarded as quality literature
* texts written about intercultural experiences
* a wide range of factual texts that present information, issues and ideas
* an appropriate range of digital texts, including film, media and multimedia.
and cultures
General capabilities:
Critical and creative thinking
Ethical understanding
Intercultural understanding
Personal and social capability
The Board's syllabuses include other areas
identified as important learning for all
students:
Civics and citizenship
Difference and diversity
Outcomes
Assessment overview
Focus Outcomes:
The following assessment experiences have been integrated into this unit of
Nina Cook, St Catherine’s School, Waverley. English 2015 Stage 5 unit: Being Australian
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A student:
EN5-1A responds to and composes increasingly sophisticated and sustained
texts for understanding, interpretation, critical analysis, imaginative
expression and pleasure
EN5-2A effectively uses and critically assesses a wide range of processes, skills,
strategies and knowledge for responding to and composing a wide range of
texts in different media and technologies
EN5-3B selects and uses language forms, features and structures of texts
appropriate to a range of purposes, audiences and contexts, describing and
explaining their effects on meaning
EN5-4B effectively transfers knowledge, skills and understanding of language
concepts into new and different contexts
EN5-5C thinks imaginatively, creatively, interpretively and critically about
information and increasingly complex ideas and arguments to respond to and
compose texts in a range of contexts
EN5-6C investigates the relationships between and among texts
EN5-8D questions, challenges and evaluates cultural assumptions in texts and
their effects on meaning
EN5-9E purposefully reflects on, assesses and adapts their individual and
collaborative skills with increasing independence and effectiveness
work.
Assessment for learning
Generate Sort Connect after initial discussion. Peel the fruit throughout unit to
continually review.
Changing images of Australia – having watched extracts from Capon’s Art of
Australia, Create questions around issues the series raises about Australian
identity. I used to think Now I think…
Close visual analysis of one particular image from the series that represents
most nearly, or challenges, your perception of Australia.
Extracts from Boyer lectures or listening to ‘The Idea of Home’. Students to
record their own message about what the idea of home means to them.
Oral recording:
What does being Australian mean to me?
Response to extracts from Australian novels: a short piece of creative writing
that involves a description of a ‘typical’ contemporary Australian setting.
Extended response to The Secret River:
“It takes us back to a moment in our country’s narrative when a different
outcome, a different history, was possible, or at least imaginable, where those
who came might have listened and learnt from those who were here, might
have found a way of living here on this land with respect and humility.”
“The Secret River depicts a turning point in the development of Australia; a
fork in the road with the chosen path resulting in consequences we all live
with today.”
Having discussed the above quotations use the question starters to create
your own question about the novel. Make sure the focus is on what the novel
has to tell us about the shaping of an Australian identity.
OR
Aboriginal Australia, Having looked at extracts from The Tall Man or Redfern
Now or The Light of Day a compass points exercise to explore issues of
Aboriginal culture and identity.
Tropfest short films: Micro labs, Why do you think these particular films were
singled out by the judges at the festival? What do they reveal about
Australian culture today?
Assessment as learning
Peer marking of student recording of idea of home. Reflection on the nature
of home from listening to others comments.
Self Reflection on process of composition
Feedback to others on questions created for extended response
Ladder of feedback and reflection on short film or creative piece
Nina Cook, St Catherine’s School, Waverley. English 2015 Stage 5 unit: Being Australian
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Evaluation of unit and reflection upon changing sense of Australian identity.
Assessment of learning
Creative piece on the complexity of Australian identity. Can be either a short
film or short story. Students to set criteria for task. Showcase students work in
short film festival or anthology of written work. Reflection on creation of
Creative piece.
Learning Progression and assessment
Extension
EN5-1A responds to and composes increasingly sophisticated
and sustained texts for understanding, interpretation,
critical analysis, imaginative expression and pleasure
Develop and apply contextual knowledge
• explore real and imagined (including virtual) worlds
through close and wide reading and viewing of
increasingly demanding texts
• analyse and explain the use of symbols, icons and myth
in still and moving images and how these augment
meaning (ACELA1560)
Week 1: How have artists and writers helped to forge an
emerging sense of Australian identity?
Remembering: What is already known about Australian
identity?
Suggested activities to pretest, students understanding:
Tug of War:
Australia has never had a clearly defined cultural identity.
Australia has always struggled with racism and it is still evident in our
cultural attitudes and assumptions today.
Indigenous culture has been destroyed due to the development of
Australian society.
Generate Sort Connect Elaborate:
My understanding of what it means to be Australian is …
Begin peel the fruit
Extracts from Edmund Capon’s Art of Australia and investigation of
website for series.
Create questions around issues the series raises about Australian
identity. I used to think Now I think…
Close visual analysis of one particular image from the series that
represents most nearly, or challenges, your perception of Australia.
Extension reading:
Geraldine Brooks Full
Text Boyer Lecture 2011,
‘The Idea of Home”
EN5-4B effectively transfers knowledge, skills and
understanding of language concepts into new and
different contexts
Respond to and compose texts
• use prediction, speculation, hypothesis and paraphrasing
as strategies for accessing complex types of texts with
unfamiliar ideas or structures
Weeks 2 and 3: Understanding what we know about Australian
Identity
Representations of Australia.
Discussion of anecdotes from William McInnes, The Making of
Modern Australia, ABC television and website for series. How are we
positioned to view Australian identity in this series?
Extension Response:
Quentin Boyce, 2013
Boyer Lectures. How does
Quentin Bryce position us
to view contemporary
Australia?
Nina Cook, St Catherine’s School, Waverley. English 2015 Stage 5 unit: Being Australian
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Learning Progression and assessment
EN5-5C thinks imaginatively, creatively, interpretively and
critically about information and increasingly complex
ideas and arguments to respond to and compose texts in
a range of contexts
Engage personally with texts
• investigate the ways different modes, subject
areas, media and cultural representation affect their
personal and critical responses to texts
• engage in wide reading of self-selected imaginative,
factual and critical texts for enjoyment and analysis and
share responses in a variety of relevant contexts,
including digital and face-to-face contexts
• create literary texts that reflect an emerging sense of
personal style and evaluate the effectiveness of these
texts (ACELT1814)
Extension
Excerpts The Harp in the South, Ruth Park; The Road to Coorain,
Jill Ker Conway; Monkey Grip, Helen Garner; A Fortunate Life, A.B.
Facey; The True History of the Kelly Gang, Peter Carey; The
Turning, Tim Winton. Newspaper Articles: Geraldine Brooks, ‘The
singer and the silence’, Quentin Boyce, ‘Extract from 2013 Boyer
Lectures.’
Continue peel the fruit exercise.
Oral recording:
What does being Australian mean to me?
Response to extracts from Australian novels: a short piece of
creative writing that involves a description of a ‘typical’ contemporary
Australian setting.
EN5-6C investigates the relationships between and among
texts
Engage personally with texts
• explain and justify responses to texts and widening
personal preferences within and among texts
EN5-2A effectively uses and critically assesses a wide range
of processes, skills, strategies and knowledge for
responding to and composing a wide range of texts in
different media and technologies
Engage personally with texts
• evaluate their own processes of composition and
response and reflect on ways of developing their
strengths, addressing their weaknesses and consolidating
and broadening their preferences as composers and
responders
• value engagement in the creative process of composing
texts
• consider how aspects of texts, including characterisation,
setting, situations, issues, ideas, tone and point of view,
can evoke a range of responses, including empathy,
sympathy, antipathy and indifference
Understand and apply knowledge of language forms and
Weeks 4 - 8: Applying and Analysing understanding about
Australian identity. Was the destruction of indigenous culture
an inevitable result of an emerging Australian identity?
Kate Grenville, The Secret River (2005)
Australian Story, ‘The Light of Day’, ABC television,
http://www.abc.net.au/austory/specials/thelightofday/default.htm
Extracts from The Tall Man, Chloe Hooper; The Tall Man, SBS
television or Redfern Now, Series 1, Episode 4, ABC television
Extension Reading:
Postcolonial Theory,
Extracts from Edward
Said, Orientalism.
YouTube discussion of
Orientalism
http://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=fVC8EYd_Z_g
Extract: Michael J Sandel;
Justice
Extended response to The Secret River:
“It takes us back to a moment in our country’s narrative when a
different outcome, a different history, was possible, or at least
imaginable, where those who came might have listened and learnt
from those who were here, might have found a way of living here on
this land with respect and humility.”
“The Secret River depicts a turning point in the development of
Nina Cook, St Catherine’s School, Waverley. English 2015 Stage 5 unit: Being Australian
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Learning Progression and assessment
•
•
features
review, edit and refine students' own and others' texts for
control of content, organisation, sentence structure,
vocabulary, and/or visual features to achieve particular
purposes and effects (ACELY1747, ACELY1757)
understand that authors innovate with text structures and
language for specific purposes and effects (ACELA1553)
Respond to and compose texts
apply word processing functions, as well as web
authoring programs, to compose and format texts for
different purposes, audiences and contexts, including the
workplace
EN5-3B selects and uses language forms, features and
structures of texts appropriate to a range of purposes,
audiences and contexts, describing and explaining their
effects on meaning
Engage personally with texts
• compare and evaluate how 'voice' as a literary device can
be used in a range of different types of texts such as
poetry to evoke particular emotional responses
(ACELT1643)
Understand and apply knowledge of language forms and
features
• understand how to use knowledge of the spelling system
to spell unusual and technical words accurately, for
example those based on uncommon Greek and Latin
roots (ACELA1573)
EN5-4B effectively transfers knowledge, skills and
understanding of language concepts into new and
different contexts
Engage personally with texts
• appreciate and value the ways language concepts, ideas
and information can be shaped and transformed for new
and different contexts
Understand and apply knowledge of language forms and
features
• investigate and experiment with the use and effect of
•
Extension
Australia; a fork in the road with the chosen path resulting in
consequences we all live with today.”
Having discussed the above quotations use the question starters to
create your own question about the novel. Make sure the focus is on
what the novel has to tell us about the shaping of an Australian
identity.
OR:
Aboriginal Australia, Having looked at extracts from The Tall Man or
Redfern Now or The Light of Day a compass points exercise to
explore issues of Aboriginal culture and identity.
Nina Cook, St Catherine’s School, Waverley. English 2015 Stage 5 unit: Being Australian
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Learning Progression and assessment
Extension
extended metaphor, metonymy, allegory, icons, myths
and symbolism in texts, for example poetry, short films,
graphic novels, and plays on similar themes
(ACELT1637)
Respond to and compose texts
• creatively adapt texts into different forms,
structures, modes and media for different purposes,
audiences and contexts and explain the differences
emerging as a result of such adaptations
• creatively transform a range of different types of texts,
including their own, into new imaginative texts,
experimenting with patterns,
representations, intertextuality and appropriations
EN5-5C thinks imaginatively, creatively, interpretively and
critically about information and increasingly complex
ideas and arguments to respond to and compose texts in
a range of contexts
Engage personally with texts
• investigate the ways different modes, subject
areas, media and cultural representation affect their
personal and critical responses to texts
• engage in wide reading of self-selected imaginative,
factual and critical texts for enjoyment and analysis and
share responses in a variety of relevant contexts,
including digital and face-to-face contexts
Respond to and compose texts
• evaluate the ways inference, point of view, figurative
language and alternative readings can be used creatively
as strategies for responding to and composing spoken,
written, visual, multimodal and digital texts beyond the
literal level
• understand and explain the ways in which composers
transform ideas and experience into and within texts,
including consideration of their insight, imaginative
powers and ingenuity
EN5-9E purposefully reflects on, assesses and adapts their
individual and collaborative skills with increasing
independence and effectiveness
Nina Cook, St Catherine’s School, Waverley. English 2015 Stage 5 unit: Being Australian
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Learning Progression and assessment
•
•
•
Extension
Understand and apply knowledge of language forms and
features
understand and apply appropriate metalanguage to reflect
on their learning experiences
adapt knowledge of language forms and features for new
learning contexts
Respond to and compose texts
examine the ways that the processes of planning,
including investigating, interviewing, selecting, and
recording and organising ideas, images and information,
can and should be modified according to specific
purposes, texts and learning contexts
EN5-3B selects and uses language forms, features and
structures of texts appropriate to a range of purposes,
audiences and contexts, describing and explaining their
effects on meaning
Respond to and compose texts
• create literary texts with a sustained 'voice', selecting and
adapting appropriate text structures, literary devices,
language, auditory and visual structures and features for
a specific purpose and intended audience (ACELT1815)
• compose and respond to a wide range of visual texts,
eg picture books, graphic novels and films, using a range
of appropriate techniques and metalanguage
EN5-5C thinks imaginatively, creatively, interpretively and
critically about information and increasingly complex
ideas and arguments to respond to and compose texts in
a range of contexts
Develop and apply contextual knowledge
• compare ways in which spoken, written,
visual, multimodal and digital texts are shaped according
to personal, historical, cultural, social, technological and
workplace contexts
• critically respond to texts by drawing on knowledge of the
historical context in which texts were composed through a
program of wide reading and viewing
EN5-6C investigates the relationships between and among
texts
Weeks 9 and 10 Assessment task
Evaluating responses to issues of Australian identity. Creating
to demonstrate the complexity of being Australian today.
What are the complexities inherent in being Australian today?
Creative piece on the complexity of Australian identity. Can be either
a short film or short story. Students to set criteria for task. Showcase
students work in short film festival. Reflection on creative piece.
Nina Cook, St Catherine’s School, Waverley. English 2015 Stage 5 unit: Being Australian
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Learning Progression and assessment
Extension
Weeks 9 and 10: Short film analysis
Tropfest Short Films, ‘Made in Australia’,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG0RJgLo8I4, ‘Between the
Flags’, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWLb8d_cxPU, ‘Cracker
Bag’, http://vimeo.com/8833777
advertisement, Baz Luhrman, ‘Australia: Come Walkabout’,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcYYSIYLcwg
Podcast: Michael J.
Sandel, The Public
Philosopher, ‘National
Guilt’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podc
asts/series/r4sandel
Develop and apply contextual knowledge
• investigate, hypothesise and explain the ways a concept
may be reinterpreted over time through different texts and
media
• use appropriate metalanguage to identify, describe and
explain relationships between and among texts
EN5-1A responds to and composes increasingly sophisticated
and sustained texts for understanding, interpretation,
critical analysis, imaginative expression and pleasure
Develop and apply contextual knowledge
• explore real and imagined (including virtual) worlds
through close and wide reading and viewing of
increasingly demanding texts
• analyse and explain the use of symbols, icons and myth
in still and moving images and how these augment
meaning (ACELA1560)
Respond to and compose texts
• explore and explain the combinations of language and
visual choices that authors make to present information,
opinions and perspectives in different texts (ACELY1745)
Reflection:
I used to think… Now I think…
EN5-6C investigates the relationships between and among
texts
Respond to and compose texts
• choose a reading technique and reading path appropriate
for the type of text, to retrieve and connect ideas within
and between texts (ACELY1753)
EN5-7D understands and evaluates the diverse ways
texts can represent personal and public worlds
Develop and apply contextual knowledge
• understand that people's evaluations of texts are
influenced by their value systems, the context and
the purpose and mode of communication (ACELA1565)
•
Imagine a country guilty of
past crimes. What
obligations do its current
citizens have to make
amends? In this edition of
The Public Philosopher,
Michael Sandel poses that
question to an audience in
Japan. The discussion
involves students from Japan
and from China and South
Korea - countries which were
victims of Japanese
aggression during the
Second World War. How has
Kevin Rudd’s apology
influenced our understanding
of what it is to be Australian?
Understand and apply knowledge of language forms and
features
analyse the ways in which creative and imaginative texts
can explore human experience, universal themes and
Nina Cook, St Catherine’s School, Waverley. English 2015 Stage 5 unit: Being Australian
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Learning Progression and assessment
Extension
social contexts
EN5-8D questions, challenges and evaluates cultural
assumptions in texts and their effects on meaning
Engage personally with texts
• analyse and explain the ways in which particular texts
relate to their cultural experiences and the culture of
others
Develop and apply contextual knowledge
• identify, explain and challenge cultural values, purposes
and assumptions in texts, including representations of
gender, ethnicity, religion, youth, age, disability, sexuality
and social class
• identify and analyse implicit or explicit values, beliefs and
assumptions in texts and how these are influenced
by purposes and likely audiences (ACELY1752)
• compare and evaluate a range of representations of
individuals and groups in different historical, social and
cultural contexts (ACELT1633, ACELT1639)
•
•
•
•
analyse how the construction and interpretation of texts,
including media texts, can be influenced by cultural
perspectives and other texts (ACELY1739)
Understand and apply knowledge of language forms and
features
examine how language is used to express contemporary
cultural issues
explain and evaluate the ways in which modern
communication technologies are used to shape, adapt
and re-present past and present cultures,
including popular culture and youth cultures, for particular
audiences
Respond to and compose texts
analyse and evaluate how people, cultures, places,
events, objects and concepts are represented in texts,
including media texts, through language, structural and/or
visual choices (ACELY1749)
Nina Cook, St Catherine’s School, Waverley. English 2015 Stage 5 unit: Being Australian
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