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Arab-Australian: What's in a name?
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This lesson uses Hot Words from Making Multicultural Australia to generate student discussion. Student activities include finding the definitions, discussing them and then developing texts that could lead to more extended discussion. It is intended to explore the meanings of the words ‘Arab’, ‘Arabic’ and ‘Australian’, as well as the issues that may arise from different interpretations and understandings. In English the focus would be critical literacy, while in Geography issues of cultural identity would be more the focus. It could be a single lesson or extended into a series of lessons using the extension activities.
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Aussie Food
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This idea for two lessons uses a document and photograph from Making Multicultural Australia to investigate what ‘Aussie food’ is and how it is evolving. It also touches on many deeper aspects of our richly diverse Australian population. Worksheets are included to support classroom and homework activities.
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Australian Identity: Who is an Australian?
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This topic starts with a fun introductory activity in which students can learn some facts whilst getting to know their classmates better. A Worksheet provides a focus to extract and summarise material relating to cultural identity.
Video literacy is an important skill in both English and Drama. This lesson uses video excerpts from the Making Multicultural Australia library which are short and lend themselves to be played repeatedly to give the students an opportunity to extract the relevant information. Each video excerpt gives another angle to Australian identity. A Worksheet is provided to support this activity.
This activity is designed for two or more lessons.
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Before the Modern Australian Nation
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The areas in which people choose to live and settle are greatly affected by the type and abundance of resources in close proximity. This lesson serves as a basis for learning about the locations of different Aboriginal regions and the resources clans in those regions may have used. It can then be built upon by a discussion about environments and vegetation patterns in Australia. Information in the form of a map encourages students to use geographical skills such as direction. By using the climatic/vegetation map from the Bureau of Meteorology, students synthesise information from two sources, a higher order thinking skill. Also, by examining a photograph, students are engaged in an interpretation task whilst practicing geography skills. A Worksheet is included to support the classroom activities.
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Chinese History of Australia – Harvest of Endurance
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The purpose of these lessons is to discover more about the Chinese community in Australia. These lessons provide students with an opportunity to investigate the history of the Chinese community in Australia from the perspective of a Chinese art work. The "Harvest of Endurance" is the Australian Museum's 50-metre long scroll of Chinese-Australian History and was a gift for Australia’s bicentenary. The associated questions require students to interpret the visual information in terms of perceived relationship to being in Australia, historical period of Australian history and historical implications. They encourage students to consider alternative perspectives on Australian history as well as address the question of the contribution of the Chinese community to Australian history and culture.
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Food Needs - Halal
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This lesson uses two photographs from Making Multicultural Australia as a stimulus for investigating foods for special needs. In this case the focus is on Islamic dietary requirements and the implications for Muslims wanting to shop for Halal food in Australia. |
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Letters to the Editor
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This lesson provides students with an opportunity to explore ideas and opinions around multicultural topics as they appear in the letters section of daily newspapers. As they are short texts and often in less formal language, letters can be more accessible to students and in this case can be used to identify the ‘hot’ topics of the day. These can then be correlated to the ‘Hotwords’ on Making Multicultural Australia.
Students are either given a hard copy of the newspapers or they can access the websites listed below and go to the letters page. The worksheet then allows recording and classifying the information collected. For example, on the 20/4/04 there were a number of letters discussing the events in the Middle East where the words ‘terrorist’, ‘terrorism’ and ‘Arab/Islamic’ were used. These are all included as ‘Hotwords’ on Making Multicultural Australia. Students can use the information available to unpack these words and consider how they are being used in the letters. They can also analyse the meanings and ideas that are created by the use of such words and the impact they may be expected to have on the reader of such a letter.
This analysis may then be extended to issues of culture and identity and how such words influence our thinking about these. Suitable as a single lesson or as part of other work like a unit on newspapers or mass media. |
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My Journey
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This lesson looks at artworks to develop an awareness of their structure, such as the variety of placement and juxtapositioning techniques, and the range of colours, textures and sizes for the artist to manipulate to develop meaning in their own artwork. Students make artworks using the medium of collage and use a range of strategies to convey subjective narrative and/or cultural observation in their artwork. A worksheet is included to support classroom activities.
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Racism – An introduction
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This lesson provides an introduction to racism. It begins by examining what the term ‘racism’ means and associated legislation. A cartoon task enables students to creatively depict their idea of what can be done to combat racism at school. This can then provide a springboard into another lesson on legislation, the consequences and extent of racism today. The acrostic poem is another creative medium. A worksheet is included to support classroom activities. Ideas are included for extension activities.
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Raising the Issue of Racism
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This lesson raises the issue of racism. It begins with a definition, considers the ways it affects Australian society and examines ways of dealing with racism. It draws on legislation like the Racial Discrimination Act (1975) and considers reports like the National Inquiry into Racist Violence (1991). Students have the opportunity to explore how they as a group consider this phenomenon and challenges them to consider ways of countering racism. The idea of the lesson is also to draw attention to the resources at the Racism. No Way! website and to place the issue in an historical context. This lesson idea can be used for a single lesson or a number of lessons.
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Shaping Multicultural Australia
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The topic begins by exploring the diversity of cultural backgrounds of the students in the class. Students then examine a range of cultural influences, explore what the term ‘multiculturalism’ means and how it has been interpreted in Australian Government policy.
The Making Multicultural Australia website has a comprehensive timeline of historical events. Each section develops the theme of multiculturalism from a number of perspectives. This lesson idea uses resources from this site as an entry point for understanding key events in the development of a multicultural identity for Australia.
This lesson idea is best conducted over several lessons, depending on the depth to which the teacher wishes to explore this subject. Three worksheets are included to support classroom activities.
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We Hear You
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Australia has a multilingual population. This means that businesses must tailor their products accordingly. Bilingual and multilingual speakers are a great asset for businesses establishing themselves in or expanding into overseas markets. This lesson uses case studies from Making Multicultural Australia to explore this theme. A worksheet is included to support classroom activities. |
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