Year 12 Unit Overview — Australian Curriculum: History and Social Sciences

Unit focus Unit title Focus Unit duration

Economic, Political and Sociocultural Post-war Economy, Politics and Socio-culture What are the main contributions of the 10 weeks
Effects of World War 2 in the 21st Century Second World War in today’s generation?

Unit Overview
The Second World War has left many countries devastated and influenced generations of life until today. Issues ranging from the creation of
conflicting ideologies such as Communism and Capitalism, collapsing borders in Europe and Asia-Oceania, the surge in refugee population
flows and the emergence of nuclear powers are all contributory to how we live life in the 21st century. Its effects on today’s global economy
and political relations have evolved our socio-cultural mentalities and interpersonal approaches in a global perspective.
This unit aims to further develop students’ understanding about how deep the war has influenced the three (3) main pillars of life in the 21st
century; the economy, politics and culture in societies. It aims to enable their critical analysis on war aftermath, how certain events during
the war have affected countries and the global population in general. Students will also be engaged to in-class presentation and debate
regarding ethical issues relating the pre- and post war era based on the 3 themes of focus. This will be conducted using various ICT tools of
their choice as platforms for their presentations, referencing and thesis paper documentation.
Successful completion of the unit will require students to participate in individual and group research activities with the application of
effective ICT tools in online class discussions, group collaboration, video blogging or Vlog, and other ICT resource materials to develop
students’ learning. The duration of the unit will include fortnightly online reflections (total of 5 in 10 weeks), mid-semester
presentation/debate and an end-of-semester ICT-based documentation to summarize students’ learning throughout the course (Video Blog –
minimum of 7 minutes and/or eportfolio only).

Unit achievement standards

On the completion of the unit, students should be able to:
 Learn and develop skills in critically analyzing relevant war events in relation to the 21st century economy and politics
 Effectively collaborate ICT tools in oral presentation and debate.
 Enhance collaborative learning and communication skills through virtual learning spaces.
 Identify the connections between the 3 pillars: Economy, Politics and Culture, both on the context of pre- and post-war era.
 Articulate historical relativity of war events to the present social settings particularly in Australia, through ICT-based presentations.
 Establish strong reasoning skills through argumentative documentation of sub-topics with the support of reliable sources and
references.
 Develop eloquent writing and oral skills.
 Innovatively utilize ICT tools in constructing and presenting documentations/portfolios.
Teaching Plan & Philosophy
Focus
 The Economy, Politics and Sociocultural settings
before, during and after the war
 Changes in the structures of world governments,
mainly those who are directly involved in the
conflict; the United States, USSR/Russia,
Germany, Great Britain and Japan.
 Effects of war crimes conducted by the Japanese
Imperial army in the South East and its long-term
impacts to the Sino-Japanese national relations.
 The creation of new geopolitical landscapes in
Europe and Asia
 Differentiated national and local ideologies, and
the ways in which different cultural and political
groups implement them
 The rise in human rights advocacies, the trend of
racism and women’s work rights.
 The domination of nuclear states, and how they
control the global market and world economy.
Learning methods and class engagement
Observing, questioning and planning
 Topics will be available for viewing after class
both in A/V and graphic form. To be posted on
the class website. (click here)
 Questions related to weekly topics can be
posted on our online interactive whiteboard
 Planning group assignments are required to be
done on the designated group discussion boards
on the website (password protected)
Research, Documentation and Presentation
 Collect and record historical information using
trusted sources and relevant references online
(Use of Google Scholar and university database
is highly recommended).
 Documentation must be heavily based on peer-
reviewed journals and publications.
Government articles are also required.
 Grading oral and written presentations will be
done by the teacher and a carefully chosen
panel of educators.
Interpreting, analysing and concluding
 Draw conclusions based on the relativity of
war-related events and the modern era, and
develop a strong thesis statement on greater
contributions of the past decades to the present
and future generations based on the 3 pillars of
focus.
Online communication
 Students are required to take part on the weekly
online discussions using the designated ICT
platform in the class website. (click here) .
Response and Reflections
 Reflections must be submitted on the
submission link provided in the website.
 Responding in class discussion board and
weekly posting reflections is very important, as
attendances will be included in the overall
grading system.
Cross-curriculum
Information and Media Literacy
The ability to discern, produce and apply authentic
information in assignment documentations and
presentations.
ICT capability
Use Scholarly search engines online such as Goggle
Scholar and university databases.
Ability to collaborate ICT tools and virtual learning
platforms in class participation, brainstorming
and assignment presentations.
Critical and creative thinking
Present thought-provoking queries and arguments to
trigger class debate and ethical reasoning.
Interpersonal and social capability
Discuss the economic, political and cultural effects
of World War 2 in the 21st century societies in
small groups
Historical and Social Sciences understanding
Compare how the people in different time
frames/eras view their general societies in terms
of the 3 pillars of focus.
Discuss the relevance of past global conflict(s) in the
21st century.
Political Science: International Relations
Connect today’s governments, how they are
founded, and how ideologies serve as their
backbones. Communism, Capitalism,
Federalism, Democracy, etc.
Analyse the impacts of war crimes on the
international relations of certain countries: Japan
and China, US and Russia; and the independence
of India and Pakistan.
_______________________________________
Sustainability
Propose actions on how countries can learn from the
experiences during the Second World War to
develop better international relations. Present it
as a thesis documentation.
 Lesson Plan
Week Topics ICT collaboration Task
The post-war Europe  Tiki-Toki timeline – Class will be Mobile App: ChatSauce – In
1&2  USSR decentralization and economic depression in presented a clip showing how the war groups of 3, brainstorm and
1947 gradually concluded, and its immediate discuss how the 21st century
 Decolonization of central Europe aftermath to European countries. Europe relates to its pre-war
 India and Pakistan’s independence  Interactive Whiteboard – for further status. (250 words)
 The defeated Germany after the fall of Adolf Hitler and questions, discussions and updates.
the Third Reich Due end of week 2, Sunday.

Post your group response in

the website submission link.

3&4 Human Rights  Tiki-Toki timeline – Defeat of the Assessment 1: Vlog

 Establishment of the United Nations (UN) and the Japanese Imperial army In your group, make a
International Criminal Court (ICC)  Website: YouTube clips – The current YouTube video in a form of a
 Racism after the war: the German and American Sino-Japanese international affairs, Video-blog/Vlog presenting
perspective. economic bond and political modifications. your brainstormed reflections
 Inclusion of women in the workforce  Video blog – for Assessment 1 on how the aftermath of the
 The Geneva Convention, modern biological war war benefited and/or impacted
weapons and Japan’s article 9 international relations among
 Germany’s humanitarian reparations for the war involved countries, such as US
 Paris peace treaties and Russia, and, China and
 Trial for war crimes: persecutions of Jews, the rape of Japan – in line with the
Nanking, and the POWs sustainability of international
relations and stability.
Group 1 – Economic
Group 2 – Political
Group 3 – Cultural

Due end of week 4, Sunday

5&6 Economic Power and global domination  Tiki-Toki timeline – Class will be PowerPoint: Create an
presented a video clip depicting how individual presentation with a
 Shift of power and market control: from Europe to
different ideologies reshaped nations in minimum of 3 slides showing
United States and the Soviet Russia your understanding of the
terms of their economic, political and
significant events during
 New Information on Soviet Forced Labor cultural status. World War 2 to the economic
 Withdrawn borders after the Treaty of Versailles  Interactive Whiteboard – for further surge of Allied Nations and
questions, discussions and updates. other Western forces.
 Birth of new geopolitical landscapes
 Google Maps – will be used to identify the
 Communism, Capitalism and the Federal states withdrawn borders during and after the Due end of week 6, Sunday
 Division of Eastern and Western Europe, and, North war, and how many countries developed
economically through open trading brought
and South in the Korean peninsula.
by new geographic landscapes.
 Rise of the Allied nations and their global stock
domination, absolute control
 Post-World War 2 economic expansions in the West
 English domination

7&8 Political stability, international relations and the new threat  YouTube and EDpuzzle – will be shown Use an ICT tool of own choice
of war in class a video of the aftermath of war to develop a draft for planning
focusing on its effects on the relationships your final thesis
 The nuclear age after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima
of nations. documentation (2500-3000
and Nagasaki in Japan  Interactive Whiteboard – for further words).
 Soviet versus Western Forces: an open-ended war? questions, discussions and updates. Students must include an
 Clickmeeting – recorded sessions will be audio-video based ICT tool in
 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
posted on Clickmeeting (link will be recording interviews and oral
 Terrorism in Europe and South-East Asia posted on the website). presentations in a form of an
 The Yalta Conference argumentative debate.
 Indonesian National Revolution
Focus:
 Kuril Islands dispute  Sustainability in terms
 West Germany under construction: politics, society, of reducing conflicts
and culture in the Adenauer era and preventing a Third
World War.

Due week 9, Sunday

9 & 10 Society and Culture in the West, Europe and Asia  Prezi – a 10-minute graphic presentation Assessment 3:
 Mass deportations of ‘enemies of the state’ from the on the cultural and social impacts of the WordPress/Blog or website
war.
neutral Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania Based on your plan that you
 Tiki-Toki timeline – showing the gradual
 Post-war refugee population flows and the transformation of cultures globally. have developed during weeks
reinforcement of international multiculturalism  Google Scholar – suggested for peer 7, 8 and 9; create a
reviewed journals and supplementary
 The Making of a Neo Colony, London blog/website showing your
related articles for students’ final
 The American dream and the surging immigration rate assignment. interdisciplinary understanding
in the industrialized West  Email – for submission of final assignment of the effects and possible
 The film industry: before and after consequences of the war in the
 Modernization and de-militarization of Japan 21st century. Establish a thesis
 Americanization in the South-East statement and analyze the
interconnections between the
economic, political and
cultural aspects of
revolutionary changes after the
war.

Submit your draft thru the

website safe assign before the
start of week 10. Include your
unfinished website/blogsite
link on the draft.

Finalized assignment to be
submitted via Email.