Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Part A: Connecting To Key Ideas About White Privilege

20 minutes

Part B: White Privilege And Australian History

30 minutes

Part C: Feeling The Impacts

10 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 understand...

the hidden mechanisms of white privilege
the experiences of those who do not experience white privilege
that texts present both the spoken and unspoken values of authors.

Students can...

make connections between differing impacts of white privilege
identify the implicit values within a text
evaluate the positions held by a text.

Part A: Connecting to key ideas about white privilege

Step 1

Distribute the Students Worksheet to all students and draw their attention to these statements adapted from Peggy McIntosh’s ‘Invisible Knapsack’. Explain that these statements are about some of the privileges white people hold.

When I am told about our national heritage or about ‘civilisation’, I am shown that people of my race made it what it is.

I can swear, or dress in second hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, poverty or the illiteracy of my race.

I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.

I can remain oblivious to the language and customs of people from a race other than my own without feeling (in my culture) any penalty for such oblivion.

I can criticise our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behaviour without being seen as an outsider.

I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the ‘person in charge’, I will be talking to a person of my race.

Step 2

Have students discuss these impacts in small groups and jot down notes in this table on the Student Worksheet. Possible answers have been included in italics:

Statement about white privilege	Impact of holding this privilege	Impact of NOT holding this privilege
When I am told about our national heritage or about ‘civilisation’, I am shown that people of my race made it what it is.	Feeling proud of one's heritage Feeling the country ‘belongs’ to them Feeling like they fit in Being seen as a ‘natural’ fit for leadership roles	Feeling their people’s contributions are not valued Feeling not taught about their people’s contributions Feeling the country does not ‘belong’ to them Being seen as an outlier when they contribute to the nation
I can swear, or dress in second hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, poverty or the illiteracy of my race.	Not noticing that they have this privilege Believing that everyone has free will in their choices They can ‘rebel’	They are considered a ‘threat’ if they dress in a certain way They feel pressure to perform a certain way or risk negatively affecting the perceptions of their race Feeling unable to make personal choices without thinking of their impact upon others Being restricted in their personal choices
I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.	Not thinking of themselves as having a racial identity Owning their own opinions	Their racial identity feels constantly present Feeling pressured to have the ‘right answer’ Being singled out Being expected to be very knowledgeable about their culture
I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color who constitute the world's majority without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.	Feeling their culture is extremely important Missing out on the wealth of ideas, creativity and experiences of other people	Feeling like their culture is not valued Having to adopt the culture of others to ‘fit in’ or to get a job Having to learn to ‘code-switch’ (use a different speaking style, manner, etc.)
I can criticise our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behaviour without being seen as a cultural outsider.	Feeling free to say what they want Not worrying about minimising the impact of their words	Feeling pressure between showing they are an ‘insider’ and saying what they think Being locked out of conversations of political importance
I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the ‘person in charge’, I will be talking to a person of my race.	Feeling free to use their own language and style of expression to express themselves Feeling a sense of shared experience	Feeling concerned they may be racially profiled or abused Worrying about being spoken down to

Part B: White privilege and Australian history

Step 1

Explain to students that the documentary, The Final Quarter contains moments that highlight aspects of white privilege. Show students this clip from The Final Quarter that focuses on the film Utopia:

Utopia (https://vimeo.com/348324116/ae2f7a0ad5)

Step 2

Ask students to write down any experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia, that are mentioned in the clip, in the left-hand column of the table below. Possible answers are included in italics:

Experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples	How it relates to white privilege
Being treated as subhuman.	White people were the only ones considered ‘fully’ human.
Not being recognised in the Constitution.	The Constitution sought to discount Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights to land.
Being rounded up into ‘concentration camps’.	These ‘camps’ were created to make Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and peoples learn and adapt to white culture - the dominant and privileged culture.
Invasion of land.	The land was declared ‘terra nullius’ - a lie that tried to establish white ownership of Australia.
Fighting for constitutional recognition.	White people have the privilege of not needing to fight for their rights in terms of racial treatment.

Step 3

Discuss with students that these historical actions continue to be relevant and important because they shape national conversations and policies today. Ask students for any examples of how they affect today’s policies/constitution.

Suggested answers:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ continuing fight for a treaty and voice in parliament
Ongoing impacts of the Stolen Generation (caused by the belief that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were ‘subhuman’).

Explain that another piece of Australian history raised in The Final Quarter is Nicky Winmar’s stand against racism in sport.

Step 4

Show this clip from The Final Quarter:

Nicky Winmar (https://vimeo.com/378672446/21c9d2b4e1)

Ask students to consider what this clip shows about the experiences of racism that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have faced. They should add to their ‘experiences’ list.

Step 5

Ask students to consider how white privilege is related to some, or all, of these experiences and to complete the second columns on both tables. Additional possible answers are included in italics:

Experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples	How it relates to white privilege
Being told to ‘act white’.	Centralising of ‘whiteness’ as the accepted way of being.
Facing racial taunts and abuse for being proud of heritage.	Behaviour by people who are not white considered as ‘deviant’ or incorrect.
Standing up for their race.	White people have the privilege of not needing to fight for their rights in terms of racial treatment.

Part C: Feeling the impacts

Step 1

Tell students that the existence of white privilege impacts upon the lives of all Australians, including white people themselves, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, albeit in very different ways.

Step 2

Show students the clips below from The Final Quarter and ask them to fill out the table below in groups. Possible answers are included in italics.

Put Yourself in Aboriginal Shoes (https://vimeo.com/369740571/9dec6e3a7b)

We Boo Our Discomfort (https://vimeo.com/369740655/b1e4327be0)

Step 3

Assign students one of the texts below about the effects of white privilege and tell them to independently complete the table above for the ‘choice text’ row. Tell students that they will then be creating pairs with students who read the alternative text to discuss their individual findings.

Extension level text (challenging vocabulary):

The land we play on: equality doesn’t mean justice or PDF version

Step 4

Pair students, or have students select a partner who read a different text. Each student should spend 5-10 summarising the impacts of white privilege that they discovered in their texts.

Step 5

Students should discuss the questions below in their pairs:

What impacts of white privilege were commonly felt by the authors/speakers of the texts?
Did any of the impacts surprise you? If so, explain which ones and why?
What beliefs did the authors hold that you agreed with? What life experiences, knowledge, evidence or other influence has shaped your view?
Who do you think might disagree with the views held by the authors? What life experiences, knowledge, evidence or other influence might have shaped their view?

Reflection

Prompt students to reflect and free-write for 10 minutes on the following question:

What have you learnt today, or what do you still want to understand, about the impact of white privilege?

Differentiated Learning

Extension

An extension reading task has been offered in Part C, Step 3. You could also offer students the opportunity to seek out further research or texts about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experiences related to white privilege.
Students could be extended in Part C by writing an evaluative paragraph rather than following the question prompts specifically.

Provisions for Learning Support

In Part C, consider having students complete their table on an excerpt from one of the texts or have students highlight and annotate the text with their findings. To further scaffold students’ reflections, allow them to discuss the question in pairs and then write.

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 - The Impact Of White Privilege

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Students understand...

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Students can...

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