Connection to Country: Teaching Aboriginal Heritage to Students

This lesson plan focuses on teaching students about Australia's Aboriginal heritage and culture through the book 'We are Australians'. The plan includes explicit teaching activities, exploration, and consolidation. Students will engage in non-linear learning based on a set narrative and participate in group activities and oral test sessions. The lesson plan also involves self-reflection and homework to extend learning.

KLA: HSIE Stage 3 Class: Date: Time:
Syllabus outcomes (and literacy/numeracy progressions):
This lesson will help the children improve their critical thinking skills, help them identify
with native Australian culture and learn about the factors involved in making of a perfect
culture by connecting them to the Aboriginal heritage of Australia. The main tool which
will be used to achieve these outcomes will be the book titled “We are Australians” which
offers a new and unique outlook on Australia’s aboriginal heritage and traditional roots by
blending it with the contemporary cultural practices of the nation.
Syllabus content & elaboration
The main content of this syllabus comes from the short book titled “We
are Australians” which has been authored by Duncan Smith and Nicole
Godwin. This book is a tremendous instrument to make children
familiar with the aboriginal people who were the first owners of
Australia along with helping them gain important knowledge about
culture and societal frameworks. The book also has detailed pictorial
representations of high octane illustrations by “Jandamarra Cadd”
which will help children engage in non-linear learning based on a set
narrative.
The explicit teaching activities which will connect this content to the lesson
will involve the use of targeted feedback by making children participate in
group activities and oral test sessions based on the text book. High level of
teacher and student interaction will also be established using nonlinear
teaching methods built on a cultural narrative regarding Australia’s true
history involving Aboriginal pedagogy which will help student explore the
lost culture with help of imagery and symbolism in the class.
Teaching & learning actions
TIME ORIENTATION DIFFERENTIATION ASSESSMENT RESOURCES
30
minutes
1 hour
I will engage the learners in this task by informing them about the true
culture of Australia and involving them in the task of reading the book titled
“We are Australians” and first and foremost I will interact with the students
and inform them about the way that true Australian culture revolves around
Aboriginal people. This will help in undertaking aboriginal pedagogy by
establishing a nonlinear teaching narrative in the class.
I will focus the learners regarding this task by making the entire class
involved in reading the book and focusing on the opening lines of the
textbook where in the authors have used great examples to passionately
describe the plight of Australia’s true aboriginal history. This will help me in
I will make the students
that belong to the
Aboriginal community
and Torres Strait
Islanders to share their
personal stories with the
class to highlight their
diversity, bring
emotional value to the
lesson being taught and
account for diversity
I will assess what the
students are gauging
from the material
being taught to them
along with the way in
which they can self-
interpret the
knowledge imparted
to them regarding
Aboriginal and
Australian culture
I will need textbook
known as “We are
Australians” along
with blackboard and
visual aids for
presentation and
advanced learning

30 minutes
making them explore this topic in further detail by generating natural
interest. The pictures and colorful illustrations will also be used to garner
more interest and engagement with the topic being studied
I will access the background knowledge of the learners by making them read
some excerpts of the text from the book and ask them their definitions
regarding Australian culture and the term ‘country’. This will also help in
narrative teaching in the class and boost student engagement.
EXPLICIT TEACHING
I will teach explicitly using the Aboriginal pedagogy in which I make students
share their personal stories and opinions regarding the Aboriginal
community and then highlight their importance in the culture of Australia. I
will display the pictures in the book and the main ideas of the authors using
visual display to promote engagement and I will also collective brainstorming
with the class to make students apply their brains to the learned concepts.
The questions which will form the basis of this learning will include “what is
Australia’s true culture?”, “what do you understand by a sense of
community?” and “what is the role of aboriginal people in the culture of
Australia and its modern community?”
I will assess these
things by making
the students enroll
in the exercises
given in the book by
the authors which
are quite holistic
along with giving
them a homework
which will involve
writing an essay on
‘perfect community’
according to the
view of students in
light of the lessons
learned
The learners will need
their textbooks along
with the book titled
“We are Australians
and notes from the
lecture with tie deeply
to Australia’s culture
and their sense of
country
EXPLORATION
The activities which will allow the learners to grasp their own understanding
of the topic will include participating in quizzes, the activity of them picking
pictures related to their personal idea of an ideal community, brainstorming
and writing an essay on the topic of an “ideal culture’ which will help bring
out their personal opinions and biases related to the topic.
CONSOLIDATION

I will connect the lessons to extend learning by focusing on Aboriginal people
and Australian culture first and then focusing on setting emotional narratives
surrounding Australian culture and the community.
When it comes to the concept of self-reflection, a part of the homework
being given along with the essay writing in class on “perfect culture” will
include a section regarding self-reflection.