Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

20 minutes

Part A: Cultural Symbols Of Australia

40 minutes

Part B: Deconstructing Symbols Of Australia

20 minutes

Part C: Evaluating Alternatives

15 minutes

Reflection

Note: It is important that students have participated in The Final Quarter - What Is Privilege? - English - Year 10 before completing this lesson, as it provides substantial background to the concept of 'white privilege' and privilege more generally.

Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

Students will...

understand that privilege can hide within recognised institutions as well as individuals
understand the impact that symbols can have on those who don’t experience privilege
develop the capacity to analyse symbols of oppression and privilege in the world around them
consider opportunities for challenging privilege at the systemic/symbolic level

Students can...

identify how symbols, texts or events include and exclude different voices/perspectives
explain the impact of symbols, texts or events on audiences
collaborate to problem-solve and consider alternatives to the status quo

Part A: Cultural Symbols Of Australia

Step 1

Ask students to list popular symbols of Australia and Australian culture and write these on the board.

You might like to explain to the class that not all symbols are visual. Examples of national symbols can also be songs, flags, events, formalities, rituals and more.

Step 2

Put up an image of the Australian flag on the board. With students, deconstruct the Australian flag, using the questions:

Questions	Suggested Answers
Who is included and what views are centralised/emphasised?	Union Jack - symbol of British rule - includes white settlers Union Jack is a symbol of the colonisers Union Jack - encourages a sense of connection between Commonwealth countries, many of whom have the Union Jack on their flag Federation star - has seven points to represent six states plus one point to represent the territories Southern Cross - constellation visible from Southern hemisphere → represents Australia’s geography Blue, white and red - the same colours as the British flag
Who is excluded or not visible?	No recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories and cultures No recognition of boundaries pertaining to language, cultural and tribal groups/nations prior to states and territories No recognition of non-British migration/migrants since colonisation
What impact might this text, symbol or event have on these different groups?	Make white Australians feel a sense of belonging and pride in British heritage Creates sense of union with other Commonwealth countries Creates sense of belonging to Britain and the Crown May make Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples feel their histories and cultures are not recognised May offend/upset those Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who see the Union Jack as a constant reminder of the genocide and oppression of their people by the colonisers Makes some Australians feel that we are too reliant/connected to Britain and its history in Australia

Step 3

Tell students that today they will be examining Australian symbols with a critical lens, looking for how these symbols perpetuate certain views of Australia and exclude others. The two key symbols that will be focused on are Australia Day and the national anthem. Ask students which criticisms and defences of Australia Day they have heard. They should add them to the table below.

Criticisms of Australia Day	Defences of Australia Day

Step 4

Show students the following clip from The Final Quarter:

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

Have students add to their table the criticisms and defences of Australia Day that they hear in the text.

Step 5

With the class, select one or two Australian symbols to focus on for this activity (you might consider returning to your list created in Part A, Step 1 to find this symbol). Write ‘Elements of Australian symbols’ as a heading on one side of the board. Ask students to suggest elements of each symbol, listing them below the heading. Write 'Elements of white privilege' on the other side of the board. Then ask students to consider if and how each element relates to white privilege. Write their responses under the new heading. Some elements may relate to more than one on either side. Draw lines between them to form connections. Possible responses include:

Elements of Australian symbols	Elements of white privilege
Lack of recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sovereignty in flag	Erases Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sovereignty and custodianship of land
Seven-pointed star to represent six states with one extra point for the territories	Considers Australia a ‘white country’ → Reinforcement of coloniser’s division of lands
Union Jack on flag	Celebrates colonisation and erases the colonisers’ violent history towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
Celebrating the First Fleet’s arrival on Australia Day	Centres on white history of Australia and perpetuates 'terra nullius'
Calling 26th January a celebration, not Survival or Invasion Day	Discounts suffering of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

Part B: Deconstructing Symbols Of Australia

Step 1

Ask students to create small groups, choosing either the Australian national anthem, or Australia Day for their focus.

Step 2

Each group will need to research their chosen topic and prepare a presentation on it.
Their presentation should include answers to the below questions, with evidence from their research integrated. Suggest to students that they should divide areas of inquiry among their group. Tell students that their presentation should ultimately respond to the prompt:

Whose experiences, views and contributions do key Australian symbols reflect, celebrate or include?

Context	When was this symbol introduced? Who introduced it and why? What is the stated purpose of this symbol?
Importance in Australian society	How is this symbol included in Australian society? What importance does it hold?
Content	What is this symbol presented as by official institutions in Australia?
Inclusion	Who is included in this symbol (implicitly and explicitly)? What views does it put forward?
Exclusion	Who is excluded by this symbol? What views does it discount or ignore?
Criticisms	How have people criticised this symbol? What are the common criticisms?
Defences	How have people defended this symbol? What are the common defences?
Alternatives	What alternatives have been suggested? Why?
Evaluation	In your view, what are the strengths and weaknesses of the defences and criticisms put forward? What is your view on the comparative strengths and weaknesses of the alternatives?
Conclusion	Summarise your findings and answer the question - Whose experiences, views and contributions do Australian symbols reflect, celebrate or include?

Provide students with the below list of resources:

Australia Day resources:

National Anthem Resources:

How Advance Australia Fair waltzed with Matilda and won (article by Tony Ward)
Is our national anthem for everyone? (video by Adam Briggs)
Australia's national anthem through the ages (video)
Is Advance Australia still Fair? Should Australia change the national anthem? (clip from Sunrise)

Note (added 11 October 2021): The Australian National Anthem lyric 'young and free' has recently been formally changed to 'one and free' in recognition of its exclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures prior to British colonisation.

Step 3

Students should present their findings to a group who chose the other symbol. They should make notes on the other group’s presentation.

Part C: Evaluating Alternatives

Step 1

How can people challenge symbols of white privilege? Ask students what ways of addressing privilege they saw in the texts they explored as a group or what ways they are aware of and write these on the board. They will be referred back to later, so students need a shared list.

Step 2

Show students this clip as an example of a response to white privilege by a young girl. Complete the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis below as a class on the effectiveness of this response:

Nine-year-old's anthem protest draws global attention | A Current Affair Australia 2018 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piEGpCGnFU0)

	Response 1: Seated protest of national anthem	Response 2:
Strengths of response:	- Anyone who witnesses the national anthem can do it - Non-violent, passive - Provides a platform for an individual or group to express their feelings - Easy - doesn’t cost money or require organisation
Weaknesses of response:	- Participant may not have a chance to explain reasons for sitting down - Doesn’t necessarily change any other people’s behaviour or thinking
Opportunities (ways you could build upon the response)	- Could post about it on social media to gain media attention - Could invite others to partake - Could wear signage explaining your choice to sit
Threats (ways the response may be impacted)	- Students could receive penalties or punishments for sitting down - May make people angry - Could be backlash against protestors or ideology

Step 3

Invite students to independently select another option that was listed on the board in the class discussion (during Part C: Step 1) and complete a SWOT analysis.

Step 4

Ask students to discuss on their tables:

How might the race of the person challenging white privilege affect their actions?
How might the race of the person challenging white privilege affect the reactions they experience from others?
Which options resonated with you? Why/why not?
Would you consider pursuing any of these options? Why/why not?

Reflection

Show students the following video:

Briggs on Indigenous Disadvantage and Racism on Social Media | Q&A (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgoEXC50HEI)

If you want to save time, you might like to skip to the parts where Adam Briggs is talking (2:36-5:22 and again at 6:14-end).

Draw students’ attention to the statement:

“Change doesn’t come when everybody’s comfortable”.

Ask students to reflect on this statement, using the following prompts:

When did you feel comfortable or uncomfortable in today’s class? Why?
What types of experiences make people uncomfortable?
What are some positive outcomes of discomfort?
Do you think there is value in leaning into discomfort?

Differentiated Learning

Extension

In Part B, students can seek out further information to present a more comprehensive response to the question in Step 2. Ask students to use academic referencing and to evaluate the credibility and bias in sources throughout their presentation.

Provisions for Learning Support

In Part B, suggest that students focus on only two resources and answer the questions based on these. Audiovisual clips may be easier for students to access than the written text options. Students could also present their information verbally through recording programs such as Adobe Spark.
For the SWOT analysis in Part C, have students work together rather than independently.

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 - Symbols Of Privilege

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