Tera Nullies
Terra Nullius? The Very Early Years
An integrated unit for Stage 2
Context
The unit from which this is derived was first developed by Stage 2 teachers using a range of learning activities previously devised and trialled by an ESL lecturer working with students and teachers in the classroom. It was originally designed to encourage and promote discussion among students and development of their language skills. Students are presented with a range of problem-solving situations that reflect the significant events of the colonisation of Australia. Through discussion, students make choices which they must then justify. The teacher assesses students by listening to how they articulate their choices, how they answer questions about the reason that events happened the way they did, and the historical consequences of those events.
This unit attempts to increase students’ understanding of how it is possible for history to be presented from different points of view.
Another feature of the unit is the use of visuals. Conceptualising the past is difficult for Stage 2 students; visuals enable them to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the past. Visuals are also a mechanism for promoting classroom discussion which is both descriptive and critical.
The five learning sequences within this unit are both broad and detailed, and are intended to be taught over a two-year stage. Teachers could choose to begin at any of the learning sequences, depending on the students’ prior knowledge and experience. As another way of helping to present the range of perspectives addressed in this topic, teachers might consider supplementing an existing unit with one or more discrete learning sequences from this new unit on Invasion and Colonisation.
The selection of the initial sequence of historical events has been designed to enable students to make comparisons between the cultures, and to appreciate their similarities as well as the differences between them
An integrated unit for Stage 2
Context
The unit from which this is derived was first developed by Stage 2 teachers using a range of learning activities previously devised and trialled by an ESL lecturer working with students and teachers in the classroom. It was originally designed to encourage and promote discussion among students and development of their language skills. Students are presented with a range of problem-solving situations that reflect the significant events of the colonisation of Australia. Through discussion, students make choices which they must then justify. The teacher assesses students by listening to how they articulate their choices, how they answer questions about the reason that events happened the way they did, and the historical consequences of those events.
This unit attempts to increase students’ understanding of how it is possible for history to be presented from different points of view.
Another feature of the unit is the use of visuals. Conceptualising the past is difficult for Stage 2 students; visuals enable them to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the past. Visuals are also a mechanism for promoting classroom discussion which is both descriptive and critical.
The five learning sequences within this unit are both broad and detailed, and are intended to be taught over a two-year stage. Teachers could choose to begin at any of the learning sequences, depending on the students’ prior knowledge and experience. As another way of helping to present the range of perspectives addressed in this topic, teachers might consider supplementing an existing unit with one or more discrete learning sequences from this new unit on Invasion and Colonisation.
The selection of the initial sequence of historical events has been designed to enable students to make comparisons between the cultures, and to appreciate their similarities as well as the differences between them
References: |A gentleman passed us by, |(1997) Thomas Nelson Australia. | |I could see she was bent on some mischief | |