Teacher instructions

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune in: Four square reflection

20 minutes

Find out: Nan Brenda's story

25 minutes

Take action: The Last Daughter as a reclamation of power

5 minutes

Reflection: Reclaiming power

Tune in: Four Square Reflection

Step 1. Ask students to close their eyes and think about a time where they lacked autonomy. You may like to provide a definition for students and have them write it down.

(Personal) Autonomy: refers to a person's sense of self-determination, of being able to make choices regarding the direction of her or his own actions, including the freedom to pursue those choices.

In other words, autonomy refers to having the right and ability to make decisions over one's life.

Autonomy, when put in context could refer to something serious like medical interventions - people often argue that people should have the right to choose what happens to their individual body. It is also relevant when we refer to the forcible removal of children from their families. In this instance, the government did not allow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples the right to make decisions about themselves or their families.

Step 2: Ask students to think of one time in their life when they have not been allowed to make decisions over their own lives (It might be useful to explain that until children come of age, parents and caregivers are able to make decisions over their lives and so it is a little different). Simple examples may be used as prompts here:

They may have a curfew
They may not be able to 'accessorise' how they want to (think: tattoos, piercings, haircuts, fashion!)
They may be given tasks/duties they do not want to do
They may not be able to use their personal devices how they'd like to (parental controls etc)

Step 3. Invite students to dig deeper by completing the Four Square Reflection on the Student Worksheet. Move around the classroom during this activity to provide support and guidance to students where necessary. Questions include:

What happened?
What did I feel? How did my body respond?
How did I react to the situation?
How did I/could I have overcome the situation?

Step 4. Once students have completed their reflection, explain to them that this lesson will focus on the experiences and treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples during the 1970s in Australia. This was a period that can be defined as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples lacking personal autonomy as individuals, and lacking self-determination as a group.

Provide students with a definition for self determination, as relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples:

Self Determination: The ongoing 'process of choice' to ensure that Indigenous communities are able to meet their social, cultural and economic needs.

In other words, a self determining group of people have the right to make decisions over their lives - it is a political term that refers to a group of people, rather than an individual.

Source: Aboriginal Self Determination - The Victorian Public Sector Commission

Find out: Nan Brenda's story

Step 1. Explain that the following clips focus on the perspective of Nan Brenda, an Aboriginal woman who had seven of her children forcibly removed from her.

Step 2. Explain the Find Out activity on their Student Worksheet. Students will watch the following clips and work through the table in effort to gain a stronger understanding of how the government exercised power over Nan Brenda and her family and how this led to her family's subsequent disempowerment. Below is an example of how the table should be filled out.

	Who had power? Who was disempowered?	How was power exercised over the disempowered?	Words, phrases and actions from the clip that express disempowerment
Clip 1	The welfare officer had power. Nan Brenda, Gary and her children were disempowered.	The welfare officer did not explain why he was removing the children, nor did they tell Nan where the children were being taken to. They did not accommodate Nan's request for her husband to be present.	'I didn't know what to say or do' 'I begged them' 'Just wait for my husband to come home' 'I didn't know where they went to'

Step 3. Have students watch the following clip. After viewing, ask students to fill out the Clip 1 section of the table in their Student Worksheet (only if you haven't already shown them the example above!) You may like to work through this together with students.

The Last Daughter: 'There was a knock on the door one day' (https://player.vimeo.com/video/814180505?h=db36cc1499)

Step 4. Have students watch the following clip. After viewing, ask students to fill out the Clip 2 section of the table in their Student Worksheet. You may like to work through this together with students.

The Last Daughter: Nan on the day at the court house (https://player.vimeo.com/video/814186931?h=375d6de7b6)

Step 5. Have students watch the following clip. After viewing, ask students to fill out the Clip 3 section of the table in their Student Worksheet. You may like to work through this together with students.

The Last Daughter: Nan on welfare checks (https://player.vimeo.com/video/814164292?h=7716792a1d)

Step 6: Have students watch the following clip. After viewing, ask students to fill out the Clip 4 section of the table in their Student Worksheet. You may like to work through this together with students.

The Last Daughter: Brenda's family discovers the 'justification' for the removal of the children (https://player.vimeo.com/video/816783824?h=84ff341410)

Take action: The Last Daughter as a reclamation of power

Step 1. Explain to students that in some cases, when people are disempowered, as Brenda's family had been, there are various ways to reclaim power - even if just for themselves.

Step 2. Working in small groups, have students watch the following clips. Have students list the ways in which Brenda's family were able to reclaim power after being disempowered by government policies. They may complete this activity in their Student Worksheet. Note: the following clips are to be used more as a prompt, rather than as overt discussion points.

The Last Daughter: The true history of this country has not been told (https://player.vimeo.com/video/814116358?h=6490c9fd2e)

These italicised notes exist to help you facilitate conversations with your students.

People can begin to reclaim their power by finding others that had the same or similar experiences. Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's apology to the Stolen Generations and the compensation provided also may have led to some reclamation of power as their trauma has been acknowledged and legitimised by the Australian Government. It may help to consider the impact of governments past not acknowledging the Stolen Generations on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The Last Daughter: Nan and Brenda on how they felt about finding Connie and Mac (https://player.vimeo.com/video/814159014?h=194d259011)

People can reclaim their power by showing tremendous courage and compassion, as Nan Brenda and Brenda have in facing their traumatic past. It would have taken incredible trust, strength and care to face their past together in the way they did. Consider: what might be the impact of refusing to face problems?

The Last Daughter: Brenda, Mark and Nan investigate the documents regarding Brenda's removal from family (https://player.vimeo.com/video/816786247?h=c02cc933f0)

Often, people find that their power can be reclaimed through gaining knowledge of a situation. Uncovering the truth of Brenda's story has been difficult and painful for her family, but it has also led to powerful healing - especially in terms of how Brenda's family understand themselves now as individuals, as family members and as members of their communities.

Step 3. Ask students to share their responses with the class.

Reflection: Reclaiming power

Step 1: Ask students to return to the essential question of the lesson: 'How can The Last Daughter be seen as a film about reclaiming power?'

They may write a short response in their Student Worksheet.

Differentiated Learning

We trust that teachers are the best equipped to know how to cater to the diversity in their classes. At Cool Australia, we incorporate a variety of differentiation strategies into each lesson. Firstly, each lesson in this unit appeals to an array of different learning preferences. Learning activities can be completed in a number of different ways - if a student feels more comfortable speaking rather than writing, there are opportunities to accommodate this. In lessons that feature group work or learning stations, we trust that teachers will use their discretion in knowing how to best organise their students in accordance to positive working relationships and ability. Graphic organisers and scaffolds are often included so students can ‘visually think’ and keep a record of their work. While our lessons are designed to be 55 - 60 minutes in length, we trust that teachers will manipulate lesson and segment times according to the needs of their students.

The Last Daughter - Power And Control

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