Lesson overview - rights for all Australians
This lesson is part of a Level 9 and 10 History and Civics and Citizenship unit on the 1967 Referendum. This lesson is History lesson focused on the rights and freedoms of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the 1950s and 1960s.
Victorian Curriculum - History
Levels 9 and 10
Analyse and corroborate sources and evaluate their accuracy, usefulness and reliability (VCHHC123).
Learning intention
We are analysing sources to learn about the experiences of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the 1950s and 1960s.
Success criteria
I can analyse and evaluate sources related to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experience during the 1950s and 1960s.
Extension ideas
Extend the success criteria (outcome): I can create texts that reflect the Aboriginal and Torres Islander experience during the 1950s and 1960s.
Lesson sequence
In this activity, students will consider the notion of citizens' rights drawing on their prior learning.
Students consider: 'The 1967 Referendum gave equal rights to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Rights we expect.' What human rights do we expect as Australians? (legal rights, political rights, civil rights, social rights)
Students discuss in pairs before reporting back to the class.
Extension ideas
Pair high-ability students together. Provide a provocative statement. For example: 'Human rights are only as good as the laws that protect them'. Discuss.
Indigenous rights - 1950s and 1960s
Provide students with six sources related to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experience in the 1950s and 1960s.
Students (in small groups) select three sources and complete a Source Analysis Table. Have students work in groups to analyse three or more of the sources ensuring that all are covered. Students should discuss and write down responses to the following:
- describe what this source is about
- identify what sorts of rights the source identifies
- explain what the sources tell us about the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the 1950s and 1960s
- identify the similarities and differences between sources
- explain how the sources inform us about the period
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evaluate which source is the most useful in understanding the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the 1950s and 1960s. Students should come up with a set of criteria that they use to evaluate each source's usefulness. Factors they could be encouraged to consider are:
- the perspective of the source if it contains factual detail, and
- if it is supported by other evidence.
Have groups report back on their source analysis. As a class, vote on which source was the most useful. Encourage students to justify their selection with specific evidence.
Extension ideas
High-ability students could:
- be grouped together for this task.
- locate their own relevant sources to be analysed.
- be asked to create a text that reflects the experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the 1950s and 1960s. This could be a play, a narrative, or a factual report.
Discussion
Discus with students:
- How do the pre-1967 rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples compare with the rights that students expect as Australian citizens today?
- Identify two changes to the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Explain the significance of these changes
- Are there groups in today's society that may feel disconnected from mainstream Australia?
- What role do we play as active citizens in uniting Australian society?
Acknowledgement
This lesson plan is adapted from the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority's unit '1967 referendum'.