Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Part A: Australian Celebrations

30 minutes

Part B: What About Australia Day?

15 minutes

Part C: Ideate Australia Day

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

Students understand...

there is a range of Australian celebrations and there are values associated with each
why Australia Day is a contentious event
that multiple perspectives need to be considered to help build an informed opinion.

Students can...

work in groups to list Australian celebrations and the values associated with each
explain why Australia Day is a contentious event
analyse a range of contemporary representations to understand multiple perspectives
work in groups to ideate possible solutions and/or changes to make Australia Day a more inclusive celebration.
provide feedback to peers, including strengths and weaknesses of ideas.

Part A: Australian celebrations

Step 1

Introduce the lesson by explaining to students that they will be exploring Australian celebrations and events that are uniquely Australian. To do this, students will need to think of as many different Australian celebrations and events as they can.

To form groups, walk around the room and give each student a month of the year making sure that there are two or three students in each group.

Step 2

Provide each group with a poster paper with their month at the top. Invite students to list as many important Australian celebrations as they can think of that fall in that month.

Explain to students that they only have 30 seconds to list their dates before their month poster page will be passed on to the next group.

You can use a classroom timer to give a visual reminder to students as to how much time they have to complete each month.

Step 3

Continue to pass each poster page every 30 seconds until each group has had an opportunity to write their ideas on each month. Encourage students to think about all parts of Australia and all people who see themselves as Australian. A list of annual celebrations can be found at https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/australia/.

Step 4

When groups have received their original poster back, invite students to stick them on the board at the front of the room in month order.

Read through the suggested celebrations and mark or highlight the events that students felt were the most important to celebrate in Australia.

Encourage students to explain why a specific date is important or not important to celebrate, remembering that there is not a set number of celebrations to agree upon.

Step 5

Once students have worked through the suggested important Australian celebrations, invite students to select three celebrations and list the values that are reflected in or associated with each. For example, ANZAC day could be associated with mateship, courage, freedom, respect, sacrifice.

Part B: What about Australia Day?

Step 1

Invite students to share the three celebrations that they selected, and the values associated with each event with the class. Highlight the similarities and differences in student responses to help explain the diversity of what people value and the celebrations they believe to be important.

Step 2

Once students have shared their responses, survey the class to establish who felt Australia Day was an important day to celebrate. Ask students to share the values that they associate with Australia Day and write them on the board (if this was not one of the three already selected).

Note: Some students may want to debate or justify their response at this time, however, explain to them that they will be given an opportunity to explore the issue of celebrating Australia Day in detail soon.

Step 3

Explain to students that celebrating Australia Day is a contentious issue for some Australians due to the date on which it is held each year. The 26th January marks the arrival of the First Fleet in Kamay (Botany Bay) in 1788. It also marks the beginning of loss of lands, people and cultures that occurred at the hands of the Europeans against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Australia Day has only been officially held on this date since 1994 and yet, since 1938 it has been recognised as a Day of Mourning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (Source). Some people maintain that this date is an important one in the history of Australia, as we know it today, and Australia Day should remain as is. However, it is viewed, by many, as insensitive to hold a national celebration on what is a very sad day for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (Source).

Remind students that there are many different opinions about Australia Day and its celebrations, and it is important to consider multiple perspectives to have an informed opinion.

Note: It may be appropriate at this time to review the guidelines for respectful conversations:

Own your ideas by using ‘I think’ rather than ‘you should’.
Respect each other by remembering that each person has their own beliefs and values and their own world-views, experiences and opinions.
Each person has a right to contribute their ideas so listen politely.
Be brave in sharing your ideas, experiences and opinions.
Consider the privacy of your classmates and appreciate that everyone has the right to uphold their privacy; this might mean they don’t want to share their ideas or experiences on an issue.
Share feedback in a way that is considerate and positive: remember to be kind, helpful and specific when providing feedback.

Step 4

Invite students to watch the following clip from the documentary The Final Quarter, which includes an interview in 2014 with the newly awarded Australian of the Year, Adam Goodes. Adam Goodes is an Adnyamathanha and Narungga man, and in this interview he is asked about his views on celebrating Australia Day. Play the clip:

Australian of the Year (https://vimeo.com/348323005/e1ffd13736)

Step 5.

After watching the clip, facilitate a brief class discussion focusing on Adam’s response.

What emotions does Adam use to explain how many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples feel about Australia Day?
Why do you think he may have changed his perception of Australia Day? How does he explain his position?

Step 6

Invite students to form six groups where they will investigate different perspectives of celebrating on January 26th using the following resources:

If you would like to differentiate this activity, consider how you form the groups and which resources to provide to which students, e.g. some students may prefer to work with shorter articles or video material; others may prefer to explore more complex viewpoints.

Step 7

Once each group has been allocated a resource, explain to students that each group must work together to analyse their resource using the questions in the Evaluation Table on the Student Worksheet (also below).

Resource name and link:	E.g. Band AB Original on their song January 26
Who is being represented in the resource?
What is their perspective of celebrating Australia Day? Provide examples to support your interpretation.
What are the strengths of the resource?
What are the weaknesses of the resource?
Things that you found interesting and important.
What does this resource make you feel and think?

Each group could add their response to a class shared document so all students have access to all five completed tables.

Step 8

Invite each group to briefly summarise and explain their resource using the information in the Evaluation Table. Students may benefit from the articles and video being projected on the board while each group presents their findings.

Part C: Ideate Australia Day

Step 1

Invite students to think about the key ideas and information that they now have about celebrating Australia Day by asking the following questions:

What are some of the problems with celebrating Australia Day on January 26?
What could be gained by celebrating Australia Day on January 26?

Step 2

Allow students some quiet thinking time to ensure they have an opportunity to work through their own understanding before being presented with ideas from their peers. Encourage them to write down their thoughts in the first column of the Think-Pair-Share table on the Student Worksheet.

Step 3

Invite students to share their responses with the person next to them and write any further ideas in the second column of the table.

Step 4

Using the responses from the first two columns of the table, invite students to sum up in a sentence what they think the problem is with celebrating Australia Day on January 26 but also what can be gained from the celebration in the final column. Once complete, encourage students to share their sentences with the class.

From student responses, highlight the importance of everyone being included, accepted and understood. Ensure that students recognise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples want and need non-Indigenous Australians to understand the truths of the past and the importance that understanding that past plays in Australia’s future.

Step 5

Explain to students that they will now complete a group ideation activity to come up with as many ideas as they can to improve Australia Day so that all Australians can be included. The aim of the brainstorm is to come up with 50 ideas in five minutes. The ideas can be as abstract and off the wall as they like, as there will be an opportunity for groups to develop and refine the ideas into realistic solutions to promote inclusivity.

Step 6

Provide each group with a piece of butcher’s paper and each student a marker pen or coloured pencil. Students should stand around the tables rather than sit in their chairs as this encourages more creative thinking.

Explain to students that they should:

Write everything down as fast as possible on the butcher's paper.
Work fast because they only have five minutes and they need 50 ideas.
Be inspired by what their peers are writing – this is a collaborative brainstorm!
Do not discuss the ideas at this stage – just get them recorded.
Do not censor or say ‘no’ to anything during this process.

Step 7

Start the timer, allowing for five minutes, calling out “ready, set, go!”.

You could project a countdown of five minutes using this classroom timer or similar.

Give time markers as students progress: “Three minutes left! Two minutes! One minute left!”.
Call out “STOP!” once the timer reaches zero.
Make sure all students put their markers down as soon as the five minutes is finished.

Step 8

At the end of the five minutes, allow students a few minutes to clarify or explain any ideas further with their groups.

Then, invite each student to read and rate the ideas by drawing a smiley face next to the ideas they like best and a tick next to the ideas that help promote inclusivity when celebrating Australia Day.

Step 9

Using the ideas rated as the best and the ones that promote inclusivity, encourage students to work as a group to come up with one possible improvement to Australia Day celebrations and/or a solution to the problems associated with celebrating Australia Day on January 26.

Remind students that they do not have to put their idea into action, but rather use their understanding of the issues associated with Australia Day to work towards a more inclusive celebration.

Step 10

Provide each group with an opportunity to share their ideas with the class and provide feedback through a class discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of each group’s idea.

Reflection

Invite students to write a 150-word reflection in the space provided on the Student Worksheet explaining how they feel about celebrating Australia Day on January 26 and any ideas for making Australia Day more inclusive. Encourage students to have some thinking time before they start writing to ensure their response is succinct and their limited words make their point clearly.

Differentiated Learning

Extension - In Part C, students can continue to develop and refine their ideas by creating an action plan and enacting their plans to help make Australia Day more inclusive.

Provisions for Learning Support - In Part B, allocate resources that reflect the literacy level of group members and/or provide audiovisual options for students that may struggle to read large amounts of text.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

The Final Quarter - Rethinking Australia Day

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Summary

Learning intentions:

Students understand...

Success criteria:

Students can...

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