For Teachers
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Enrich young Australians’ experience of History, and Civics and Citizenship with these practical classroom resources, developed for Years 6 – 10 students, written and designed to meet the specific requirements of compulsory areas of the National Curriculum.
History - Captain James Cook
Captain James Cook: Brilliant navigator and intrepid traveller, or destructive coloniser?
This evidenced based unit of work includes the introduction to some early explorers preceding Cook and international rivalry of the day. It explores original excerpts from Cook’s diaries to analyse his insights and reflections.
It includes information on values and attitudes of the day that were included in the law as legal and proper behaviour in international relations, and considers the modern term Terra Nullius for students to ultimately consider: was Cook a brilliant navigator and intrepid traveller, or a destructive coloniser?
This unit provides approximately eight to ten sessions of approximately 50 minutes duration each suitable for Years 9-10.
Contents Included:
1 x Teacher reference detailed lesson plans inclusive of Learning Intentions and links to the Australian National Curriculum v9
1 x power point
1x 6minute video
9 x worksheets plus 2 teacher reference answer sheets
Links to Australian National Curriculum 9
Making and transforming the Australian nation (1750-1914)
Knowledge and Understanding
- AC9HH9K04 “significant events, ideas, people, groups and movements in the development of Australian society”
- AC9HH9K01 “the causes and effects of European imperial expansion and the movement of peoples in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and the different responses to colonisation and migration”
Skills
- AC9HH9S02 “locate, identify and compare primary and secondary sources to use in historical inquiry”
- AC9HH9S04 explain the usefulness of primary and secondary sources, and the reliability of the information as evidence
- AC9HH9S06 “compare perspectives in sources and explain how these are influenced by significant events, ideas, locations, beliefs and values”
- AC9HH9S07 “analyse different and contested historical interpretations”
- AC9HH9S01 develop and modify a range of historical questions about the past to inform historical inquiry
- AC9HH9S05 analyse cause and effect, and evaluate patterns of continuity and change
Communicating
- AC9HH9S08 create descriptions, explanations and historical arguments, using historical knowledge, concepts and terms that incorporate and acknowledge evidence from sources
Is Western Civilisation part of your life today?
In this unit, students will develop an understanding and appreciation of the civic characteristics of the Australian society in which they live, to understand that these features did not just appear, but have historical origins, dating back at least to Greek and Roman times, but in particular to the development of Britain from the time of Magna Carta.
This unit is suitable for Years 7-10 Civics and Citizenship and Years 7-10 History.
In Civics and Citizenship, teachers can use this resource to enrich students’ understanding of the origin and nature of many of the key civic values and institutions Australia has inherited from its Western Civilisation heritage, via Britain, and which have developed locally over time.
In History, teachers can use this resource to complement the themes students are exploring within various Depth Studies, by showing them how they can still be seen in their own communities today.
Year 7 History
The Ancient World. Students examine one of:
- Egypt, Greece, Rome; and
- India, China
Year 8 History
Ancient to the Modern World. Students examine one of:
- Ottoman Empire, Renaissance Italy, Vikings, Medieval Europe;
- Angkor/Khmer Empire, Shogun Japan, Polynesian expansion across the Pacific; and
- Mongol expansion, Black Death, Spanish conquest of Americas [Aztecs, Incas], Indigenous-Colonist contact (NSW only)
Year 9 History
The Making of the Modern World. Students examine one of:
- Industrial Revolution, Progressive ideas and movements, Movement of peoples;
- Asia and the world [China, India, Japan], Making a nation [C19th Australia]; and
- World War 1
Year 10 History
The Modern World and Australia. Students examine one of:
- World War 2;
- Rights and Freedoms 1945-present; and
- Popular Culture, Migration experiences, Environment movement
Years 7-10 Civics and Citizenship
Three strands:
- Government and democracy
- Law and citizens
- Citizenship, diversity and identity
Eureka: Protest, Riot, Rebellion or Revolution?
In this practical classroom decision-maker and evidence-based unit, students will explore the circumstances that led to the Eureka Stockade at Ballarat in December 1854, through a series of four distinct activities.
This unit is suitable for Year 9 Australian History.
Year 9 Australian History
Progressive Ideas and Movements (1750-1918), including capitalism, Chartism, nationalism and egalitarianism.
Making a Nation:
- Key people, events and ideas in the development of Australian self-government and democracy, including, the role of founders, key features of constitutional development, the importance of British and Western influences in the formation of Australia’s system of government and women's voting rights (ACDSEH091)
Australia 1788: How ‘Convict’ was it and how ‘free’?
In this unit, students will explore how the British legal system – part of Australia’s British and Western Civilisation heritage – was established in Australia, through five distinct investigations based on a key inquiry question.
This unit is suitable for both Year 8 Civics and Citizenship and Year 9 Australian History.
Year 8 Civics and Citizenship
Laws and Citizens:
- How laws are made in Australia through parliaments (statutory law) and through the courts (common law) (ACHCK063)
- The types of law in Australia, including criminal law and civil law, and the place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customary law (ACHCK064)
Year 9 Australian History
Making a Nation:
- Key people, events and ideas in the development of Australian self-government and democracy, including, the role of founders, key features of constitutional development, the importance of British and Western influences in the formation of Australia’s system of government and women's voting rights (ACDSEH091)
Magna Carta, is it part of your life today?
In this unit, students explore the way the British legal system, part of Australia’s British and Western Civilisation heritage, was established in Australia. It also shows how key concepts, values and principles that are a fundamental part of young people’s lives today can be traced back to their British origins.
This unit is suitable for Year 6 Civics and Citizenship and Year 6 History.
Year 6 Civics and Citizenship
The key institutions of Australia’s democratic system of government and how it is based on the Westminster system (ACHASSK143)
Year 6 History
Key figures, events and ideas that led to Australia’s Federation and Constitution (ACHASSK134)
One And Free - How Australia was made
One and Free: How Australia was Made is a short guide to the ten most significant events and achievements that make us proud to be Australian.
Australia has always been stronger when we as a community are united around our shared values of freedom, democracy, and egalitarianism. It is these values which have bound us together in times of hardship, enabled us to overcome division, and which have attracted millions to our fair and tolerant society.
This guide complements any History and Civics and Citizenship classroom, with accessible language that makes it a valuable resource for students.
40 Valuable Books for Children and Teenagers
This compilation of 40 Valuable Books for Children and Teenagers – including works by many Australian authors – exposes children to our rich cultural literary heritage both in Australia and abroad, as well as meet their literary and social developmental needs.
From the endearing and mischievous Peter Rabbit to the Fires of Mordor, these books will ignite the imaginations of your children with wholesome and enriching content. It will introduce them to characters who possess both virtue and vice, and explore the nature of the individual through themes of friendship, family, suffering, temptation, greed, bravery and more.
It also exposes our children to our cultural literary heritage both in Australia and abroad, as well as meeting their literary and social developmental needs.
Engage with us today
Teachers, you are on the front line. And so, we would love to hear from you. Please follow the link to write to us today to share with us your experiences, questions, concerns and most importantly, your ideas!
We look forward to engaging with you.
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How Can You Help?
Class Action is a new education program calling all teachers, parents and concerned Australians who value the future of Australia to rebuild education for our children, and by doing so, contribute to a flourishing future of Australian society that knows its roots, and can humbly acknowledge its imperfections without erasing its proud achievements.
You can join us in reclaiming education by:
Step 1 -
Drawing on our series of practical classroom resources in your own classroom and encouraging others to do so. Click here to download (or click the button below) these four units developed by the IPA.Step 2 -
You can stay informed by joining our mailing list for regular updates on the Class Action program and related IPA research activities and how you can help us work towards restoring Australian education.Step 3 -
Share Class Action with teachers and parents who want to reclaim education.
