Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies 2009
Sample work program
July 2014
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies 2009
Sample work program
Compiled by the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority July 2014
This work program is reproduced with the permission of Harristown State High School.
The QCAA acknowledges the contribution of Tonia Chalk in the preparation of this document.
A work program is the school’s plan of a course of study based on the relevant syllabus. Work programs allow for the characteristics of a school and its students to be considered when implementing the syllabus. School work programs must demonstrate that syllabus dimensions and objectives inform student learning.
Work programs provide information about the school’s plan for course organisation, an outline of intended student learning and the assessment plan as outlined in the work program requirements for that syllabus.
1. Course organisation — Composite Year 11/12 class
Semester Time (weeks)
Themes Suggested inquiry topics Contexts
Balance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives
1 (3) 6 weeks Places and Spaces
• C&I
• P&ES
• TCC
Myths, stereotypes and white privilege (local area study) • Place — local, regional, national
• Time — historical and contemporary
• Relationships — political, sociocultural
6 weeks Connections to country • Place — local, regional, national,
international
• Relationships — spiritual, environmental, sociocultural 6 weeks Dreaming, spirituality, ceremony • Place — local, regional, national
• Relationships — spiritual, sociocultural
2 (4) 8 weeks Cultures and Identities
• P&S
• P&ES
• TCC
Stolen — government policy and practice: Then and now • Place — local, regional, national
• Time — historical and contemporary
• Relationships — political, spiritual, sociocultural
8 weeks Year 11
Indigenous literature — narratives (Year 11)
Year 12
Student-negotiated topic focusing on current Indigenous issues (Year 12)
Year 11
• Place — local, regional,
• national
Year 12
• Place — local, national
• Time —
Semester Time (weeks)
Themes Suggested inquiry topics Contexts
Balance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives
3 (1) 6 weeks Political and Economic Systems
• TCC
• P&S
• P&ES
Resilience and self-determination (local area study)
• Place — local, regional, national
• Time — historical and contemporary
6 weeks Law and lore • Time — historical and contemporary
• Relationships — political, spiritual, sociocultural
6 weeks Indigenous arts — dance, media/film, music, theatre, art • Place — local, regional, national
• Time — historical and contemporary 4 (2) 7 weeks Time, Continuity
and Change
• P&S
• P&ES
• C&I
Reconciliation • Place — national
• Time — contemporary
7 weeks Year 11
Language
Year 12
Student-negotiated topic focusing on current Indigenous issues
Year 11
• Place — local, regional, national
• Time — historical and contemporary
• Relationships
— political, spiritual, sociocultural
Year 12
• Place — local, national
• Time — contemporary
• Relationships
— negotiated
2. Outline of intended student learning
Inquiry topic: Myths, stereotypes and white privilege (local area study)
Time: 6 weeks Rationale
Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples are not a homogenous group in Australian society. They are a myriad of identities, cultures and spiritualities.
In this unit students will explore identity from both an historical and contemporary focus, and use the concepts of myths, stereotypes, and white privilege in order to frame the impact these concepts have had, and continue to have, on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identities. The purpose of this unit is to uncover an historical understanding of Indigenous identity through a process of consultation, discussion, and negotiation with the local community. Local warriors, pastoralists, writers, artists, political figures, ethnographers, archaeologists, educators, and linguists, for example, provide a starting point for an examination of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identities in the local community from both an historical and contemporary focus. Partnerships are the foundation for this unit and are reliant upon respectful and strong ties between school and community.
It is important to remember that Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples share an identity as Australia’s first peoples however it is their differences that make them unique. Clan, country, kin, spirituality, and culture shape their identity, and the land, sea and stars are their essence. In an acknowledgment of our shared history, non-Indigenous Australians have also weaved their identities into the Australian fabric in order to mend and strengthen the loose threads that break or rupture our community ties. These loose threads are the result of historical events, dispossession, disconnection from country and kin, mythmaking, stereotypes, and white privilege. For these reasons some Aboriginal identities and Torres Strait Islander identities have been denied, suppressed, repressed, and/or distorted — a shared history between coloniser and colonised.
Some of the key concepts surrounding Aboriginal identities and Torres Strait Islander identities include:
• Language — words used to identify, define, describe and deride
• Kinship and family ties
• Country and place
• Spirituality — land, seas, waterways, constellations
• Power and fear
• Impact of colonisation — historical events, governments policies and practices
• Myths and stereotypes
• White privilege and racism
Themes Contexts
• Places and Spaces
• Cultures and Identities
• Time, Continuity and Change
• Political and Economic Systems
• Place — local area, regional, national
• Time — historical and contemporary
• Relationships — political, sociocultural
Key inquiry questions
• How do individuals acquire identity?
• How do individuals acquire cultural identity?
• Who is Aboriginal?
• Who is Torres Strait Islander?
• How has language been used historically (colonisation) from an authoritarian point of view in challenging Indigenous identities?
• What part does kinship and family ties play in terms of identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander?
• How do both connections to and disconnections from country impact on an individual’s identity?
• What is the interrelationship between protocols and identity?
• To what extent have the dominant culture constructions of Aboriginal identities and Torres Strait Islander identities contributed to the mythmaking processes and stereotypes surrounding Indigenous Australians?
• What is the role of the media in constructing and perpetuating stereotypes?
• How does spirituality inform one’s identity and place in Australian society?
• What impact has theories of white privilege, both historically and in contemporary times, had on Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples locally, regionally and nationally?
• How have writers’ attitudes/perspectives changed over time — historical texts in comparison to contemporary texts?
• How does knowledge of the local area impact on one’s identity?
• How does removal from your birthplace and/or country impact your identity?
• How have your beliefs about Aboriginal identity and Torres Strait Islander identity changed over time: primary school, secondary school, home, friends, and social groups?
Key ideas
• How identity is constructed — personal, family, cultural, historical, spiritual and political.
• Commonwealth definition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander — issues around ticking the box.
• Historical ways of defining and classifying Aboriginal identity and Torres Strait Islander identity.
• The diversity and complexity of Aboriginal identities and Torres Strait Islander identities.
• Kinship and family ties as a process of defining, redefining, and finding identity.
• Connections to country and belonging to the land, rather than it belonging to the individual.
• Spirituality as a process of discovering, informing and exploring identity.
• Relationships of power — relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians from both an historical and contemporary point of view.
• The fundamental relationship between language and identity.
• Government policies and practices and their impact on constructions of Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
• Myths and stereotypes perpetuated about Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples — media representations/misrepresentations.
• White privilege and its role in constructing concepts of ‘white’ and ‘black’/superior and inferior.
• Reflect on changes in own and others’ positions throughout the critical inquiry process.
• Justify conclusions, decisions, perspectives, and positions throughout the critical inquiry process.
• Review decision-making processes during the research inquiry.
Learning experiences
• Observing, managing, and documenting school, community, and Indigenous protocols while researching history of the local area.
• Invite a local community member to share their Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander identity, or loss of identity.
• Learning, acknowledging, and respecting Aboriginal protocols and Torres Strait Islander protocols, and their relationship to the inquiry topic.
• Consult, discuss and negotiate with local community members and groups about kinship, country, spirituality, culture, and language in defining identity. Protocols are to be managed and documented following the principles of ethical research in order to create, maintain and sustain community partnerships.
• Explore the key ideas in relation to Indigenous peoples in the local area.
• Interrogate constructions of identity in the local area from both an historical and contemporary viewpoint.
• Discuss the impact of white privilege (white supremacy groups and racism) on local Indigenous peoples.
•
3. Assessment plan
Semester Technique (refer 6.5 syllabus) Criteria Conditions
1 Multimodal presentation C1, C2, C3, C4 • Research-based presentation
• Local area study
• Negotiated genres
Additional format: Response to stimulus C1, C2, C3, C4 • Short response to a variety of stimulus on Inquiry Topics studied
• Exam conditions
2 Extended written response C1, C2, C3, C4 • Research based
• Length: 600–1000 words
• In class and own time
Learning log C1, C2, C3, C4 • Collection of a range of student responses to Inquiry
Topics studied
3 Multimodal presentation C1, C2, C3, C4 • Negotiated genres
• Documentation of research process Additional format: Response to stimulus C1, C2, C3 • Seen or unseen stimulus
• Exam conditions
Extended written response C1, C2, C3, C4 • Negotiated genres
• Local area study
• Length: 600–1000 words
• Documentation of research process
4 Learning log C1, C2, C3, C4 • Collection of student responses from semester
• Local area study (evidence) Verification
