HSC Belonging
HSC English
Standard and Advanced
Text version
Area of Study: Belonging
Instructions
Listen to a reading of the concept statement for the Area of Study: Belonging.
After you have listened to the concept statement roll over the highlighted text to hear
ideas about belonging.
Concept statement
This Area of Study requires students to explore the ways in which the concept of
belonging is represented in and through texts.
Perceptions and ideas of belonging, or of not belonging, vary. These perceptions are
shaped within personal, cultural, historical and social contexts. A sense of belonging
can emerge from the connections made with people, places, groups, communities
and the larger world. Within this Area of Study, students may consider aspects of
belonging in terms of experiences and notions of identity, relationships, acceptance
and understanding.
Texts explore many aspects of belonging, including the potential of the individual to
enrich or challenge a community or group. They may reflect the way attitudes to
belonging are modified over time. Texts may also represent choices not to belong, or
barriers which prevent belonging.
Perceptions and ideas of belonging in texts can be constructed through a variety of
language modes, forms, features and structures. In engaging with the text, a
responder may experience and understand the possibilities presented by a sense of
belonging to, or exclusion from the text and the world it represents. This engagement
may be influenced by the different ways perspectives are given voice in or are absent
from a text.
From: English Stage 6 Prescriptions: Area of Study
Higher School Certificate 2009–2012 p 10–11
You can access the text list at the Board of Studies:
www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au
Highlighted text
modified over time
My idea of belonging has changed. I used to think it was all about having things, like
cars and TVs, but now it’s much more, it’s about who you are and your community.
sense of belonging
My house, and I suppose everyone’s, most people’s homes, give you a sense of
belonging, which you don’t have if you are homeless, do you?
relationships: connections by blood, marriage or emotions
I came over here about ten years ago for a holiday but I haven’t left. It’s just the
friendly neighbours that keep me here.
HSC Belonging: Text version
© State of New South Wales, Department of Education and Training 2008
1
HSC Belonging
connections: links between people or things
Belonging has nothing to do with ownership; it’s about a spiritual connection to place.
It’s the place that we long for when we are not there. It’s a belonging place.
acceptance: receiving approval
We decided to leave the city and move to the coast. People here are friendly, ask
about our day, the pace is slow and now, in our fourth year, we are settled. There’s a
spirit of community here. We feel we belong.
identity: distinguishing features of a person or thing
When I think about belonging, I think about identity and how important land is to the
way people define themselves. We like to talk about where we come from.
Indigenous people in Australia and around the world have a special relationship with
their land.
historical: relating to a period or time in the past
cultural: related to underlying beliefs and attitudes of people
By going back to your homeland, you meet your people, find out about your past. It
really gives you a different meaning to living, makes you feel you belong.
personal: relating to one's self
Well, belonging is all about family. I can walk down the street feelin’ safe and say
hello to all my cousins.
HSC Belonging: Text version
© State of New South Wales, Department of Education and Training 2008
2