Alexandra Blake S00152997

HIST WORKSHOP

AUSVELS is being retired and the Australian Curriculum is replacing it so

that there is a national understanding of the content being taught in
schools and how to assess this content.
To know your students means to know their cultural background and how
that can be embedded into the class content to make it relevant and
engaging.
The learning needs of students should not be isolated from their cultural,
economic, social and schooling histories.
As teachers we need to look at what we are going to teach and how it
aligns to the curriculum and be aware of the misconceptions that could
develop from the student and the educators.
Two approaches to teaching Australian history:
o Discrete content in class. Eg. Teaching about indigenous studies.
o Normalise the content throughout all areas of the curriculum. Eg. If
we were to explore how the world began we could explore the
Aboriginal Peoples point of view on this idea as well. There is no
right answer but instead various views on the topic from different
cultures.
For early childhood, you could incorporate an Indigenous language into the
lesson keeping in mind the cultures in the classroom and the location of
the centre (traditional land owners) Eg. Head shoulders knees and toes
can be taught in an Aboriginal language therefore learning the names for
each body part in that language. You could also incorporate other
languages (Chinese, Italian, etc) depending on the group of children in the
room.
o This establishes for the children that there are many different local
languages other than English.
o Often used in reconciliation week as it allows students to engage
with Aboriginal words and thus creating a local connection for future
ideas to be extended.
We need to be aware of our own cultural biases to avoid misinterpretations
and disrespect.
As a teacher you must ensure that you are continuously keeping up to
date with all the present understandings of Indigenous education and
culture.
Create a go-to pack for Indigenous education/students so that you are
always building on to your resources that are relevant to the students in
your classroom and they are always accessible.
There will be some parts of the content that you would not teach in the
classroom but you need to be aware of why you would not teach the
certain idea. It may not be appropriate for your group of children for many
reasons.
Use newspapers to find how local historical information is presented. In a
sequence of lessons you could get the students to develop their own
newspaper front page. (year 7 level)
o Find an article and rewrite it from an Indigenous point of view. The
tone could be changed and the perspective could be flipped.

Alexandra Blake S00152997