Australian citizenship report: Australia in the 21st century
Stage(s): 4–5
Sydney Technical High
School:
School
Forest Rd, BEXLEY NSW
Address:
2207
Telephone:02 9587 5899
Facsimile: 02 9553 8315
Contact: Peter Heath
Rationale, aims and objectives
This project aimed to effectively engage students with the civics and
citizenship component of the Stage 5 Australian History course, especially in
relation to the changing rights and freedoms of marginalised groups such as
Aborigine peoples, women and migrants.
The project aimed to make citizenship issues meaningful to students by
encouraging them to undertake original research with people in today’s world.
This involved interviewing members of marginalised groups and discussing
their experiences of discrimination, disadvantage and injustice in Australian
society as well as their hopes and dreams for a better Australia in the twenty
first century. An important part of the rationale for the project was to counter
common misconceptions among students that citizenship issues were
irrelevant, politically correct, theoretical constructs, with little relevance to their
own lives.
As part of their research, students interviewed a range of people as first hand
oral sources. Often the interviewees were from ‘their own backyards.’ These
included family members, such as mothers and aunts who shared their
experiences of being a woman, migrant or both in the 1960 and 70’s; fathers,
uncles and neighbours who candidly told their stories about migrating to
Australia; or discussions with Aboriginal people about the pain of being a
‘stolen child’.
The benefits of the project include a much better understanding amongst
participating students about citizenship issues facing marginalised groups in
Australia. Students responded that by talking to real people (especially those
whom they knew well) and listening to their stories, they were able to
empathise more readily with their experiences of disadvantage and
discrimination. Participating students gained ‘deep knowledge’ by undertaking
Best practice in civics and citizenship
NSW Discovering Democracy professional development
http://www.abc.net.au/civics/democracy/default.htm
original research using oral sources, something which would have been much
more difficult using written sources alone.
Project description
The project directly addressed the Stage 5 History Syllabuses’ Focus Issues 3
and 4 (What has been the changing nature of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal
relations in Australia? How have the rights and freedoms of various gender,
cultural, social and economic groups changed over time?); knowledge and
understanding objectives (changing nature of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal
relations in Australian history, the changing rights and freedoms of various
gender, cultural and economic groups) skills objectives (interpretation,
analysis and empathy), research and communication objectives; and values
and attitude objectives (commitment to informed and active citizenship and
commitment to a just society).
It also effectively fulfils a wide range of syllabus’ outcomes.
The project required all Year 10 Australian History students at Sydney
Technical High School to complete a research task entitled: ‘Australian
Citizenship Report.’ The task was one of the components of their School
Certificate assessment program in Australian History for 2003 and required
students to write ‘a report for the Federal Government’ based on their wide
knowledge and research (including interviews with oral sources) of
marginalised groups in Australia in the twentieth century.
The report was also to include a section on future directions for each group
addressed in terms of ‘recommendations for the government’ on how it could
best redress any current injustices or disadvantage for each group for the
twenty first century. The actual task is outlined below:
Scenario
The Australian Federal Government is seeking advice from a range of experts
on citizenship issues, especially discrimination and injustice, in order to make
Australia a fairer place for all citizens in the twenty first century. As a historian
and expert in the field, you have been researching marginalised groups who
have struggled for rights and freedoms over the last century, especially
indigenous (Aborigines), gender (women) and cultural (migrant) groups. You
have been asked to provide a historical perspective and to give you views.
The Task
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Compile your findings, based on thorough research, into a report to be
submitted to the Federal Government entitled:
Australia in the Twenty First Century: Towards a Just and Fair Society. A
Report on the Rights and Freedoms of Aborigines, Women and Migrants in
the Twentieth Century.
The report should be organised for each marginalised group (Aborigines,
women and migrants) into two parts:
1. Changing Rights and Freedoms in the Twentieth Century (400 words)
Outline the key changes in the rights and freedoms, explain how and why
these changes have occurred and identify some of the rights and freedoms
gained by each group by the end of the twentieth century.
2. Recommendations for the Twenty First Century (100 words)
Make brief recommendations on future directions for Australian society in the
twenty first century eg What, if anything, still needs to done to redress
injustice, discrimination or disadvantage?
Hints, ideas, comments
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Use a range of different types of sources in your research including;
primary and secondary, electronic and textual, oral and written.
Use at least three primary oral sources (one for each group i.e.
Aborigine peoples, women and migrants). You could consult with
interest groups or interview friends, relative, neighbours. Interviews
may take a variety of forms eg face to face, by phone, by e-mail or online chat. Include a list of questions carefully compiled beforehand eg a
relevant question might be to ask ‘How successful have changes
been?’
Use the information skills process, locate, select and organize an
investigation in which you answer the question above. You should plan
your task using a research proposal
Correctly reference your task using the Harvard or author/date/page
method
At the end of your task you should include a bibliography which is
annotated (i.e. comments on) three sources explaining their
perspective or interpretation and usefulness for you as a historian
researching this topic (20-30 words each). One should be oral and one
a web site.
The task was assessed using four key criteria. These included, demonstrated
ability to: explain key historical events and issues in Australian history; explain
and uses sources for historical inquiry, including oral sources; explain different
Best practice in civics and citizenship
NSW Discovering Democracy professional development
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perspectives and historical interpretations; plan and conduct historical
research with some independence; use appropriate written forms to
communicate. The completed tasks were marked by one member of the
History faculty.
All Year 10 History staff (three teachers) were involved in helping students
resource and research the task. In some cases, other staff members at the
school were interviewed for the project. However, students were encouraged
to show initiative and to interview people outside the school in the wider
community. This meant speaking to their parents, relations, neighbours or
even contacting various interest groups. A range of resources was provided
outside their class text. These included a list of useful websites and
organisations which could to be consulted.
Implementation
The duration of the project was approximately ten weeks from when the task
was first issued to the final marking and feedback. There were three main
steps in implementation of the project:
a. Explaining and researching the project. Students in all Year 10 classes
were issued with the task and the components, procedures and marking
criteria were explained. Students were then assisted by teachers to locate and
research appropriate resources, which included written, electronic and oral.
b. Organising, synthesising and evaluating sources. Students synthesised
their research material for each marginalized group sequentially in Part
1(Changing Rights and Freedoms in the Twentieth Century) from 1901 to the
present. They then used the historical understanding gained to evaluate the
present situation and speculate about the future needs of each group by
making appropriate recommendations for the twenty first century (Part 2).
Finally, students evaluated three of their sources (including oral sources) by
annotations explaining their perspective and usefulness.
c. Assessing and providing meaningful feedback. Students were provided with
meaningful feedback in the form of verbal and written comment from their
teachers. Written feedback was provided in two forms: first, through a set of
marking guidelines and comments on each of the four marking criteria;
second, by providing students with copies of exemplar tasks and discussing
their key features.
Evaluation
Best practice in civics and citizenship
NSW Discovering Democracy professional development
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While there was no formal evaluation of the project, a qualitative evaluation
was conducted by informal discussions with staff and students. As with any
project involving a large number of students of varying abilities and interest
there was range of responses. A small proportion of students appeared to find
the task challenging both in terms of the higher order skills involved in
researching and synthesising significant amounts of material and
hypothesizing about the future.
However, significant numbers of students clearly demonstrated that they not
only clearly understood many of the issues facing marginalized groups in the
past but made insightful recommendations for the future. A number of
students commented that they had gained a much better understanding of the
experiences of marginalized groups through face to face or phone interviews.
Teachers were in no doubt that it was the direct engagement of students with
their subjects which had enabled them to develop a deep knowledge and
understanding of citizenship issues and an enduring desire to ensure that
Australia remained truly a just and fair society.
Best practice in civics and citizenship
NSW Discovering Democracy professional development
http://www.abc.net.au/civics/democracy/default.htm