Lesson summary
The full length documentary, The Last Daughter, is so powerful in part due to how it shows different aspects of Brenda Matthews’ families uniting in the face of traumas they experienced at the hands of government policies. In this lesson, students focus on each family’s path to healing. Students also consider what it means to be an ally to Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Learning intentions:
Students will...
- explore how Brenda Matthews’ experience is relevant to broader political movements
- reflect on each family’s path to healing
- explore strategies that are used to aid in reconciliation and healing.
Success criteria:
Students can...
- explain the link between Brenda Matthews’ experience and its relevance to broader political movements
- explain the similarities and differences between each family’s path to healing
- identify strategies they could personally use to aid in reconciliation and healing.
Lesson guides and printables
Lesson details
Curriculum mapping
Australian Curriculum (v9.0) content descriptions:
English:
Students learn to:
- analyse representations of individuals, groups and places and evaluate how they reflect their context in literary texts by First Nations Australian, and wide-ranging Australian and world authors (AC9E10LE01)
General capabilities: Literacy, Personal and Social Capability, Intercultural Understanding
Syllabus outcomes: EN5-8D
Cross-curriculum priority: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures.
Resources required
- Access to The Last Daughter
- Butcher’s paper or access to an online mindmapping tool like bubbl.us
- Device capable of presenting audio and video to the class
- Student laptops or access to schools’ devices (laptops, iPads etc)
- Student Worksheets - one copy per student.
- Writing materials
Skills
This lesson is designed to build students’ competencies in the following skills:
- communication
- cultural understanding
- community engagement
- empathy
- social skills
Additional info
Teachers wanting to watch The Last Daughter in the classroom with their students can register and purchase the film here.
The film is also available to view on Clickview.
Level of teacher scaffolding: Medium - facilitate class discussion and supervise student research.
Australians Together is a not-for-profit organisation that brings together non-Indigenous and First Nations staff, consultants and collaborators located across Australia. Their mission is to help non-Indigenous Australians listen and learn from First Nations people. Building a greater awareness of our shared history and its ongoing impact, gain a deeper respect for First Nations perspectives, and help pave the way for meaningful actions for an Australia together. You can learn more about Australians Together and their Learning Framework here.
Related professional learning
How to Teach Critical Thinking - Secondary
Quick summary: This course will help you to view the world with a more critical eye by introspectively exploring your own biases of thinking.
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