Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

60 minutes	Part A. Analysing text features of “Regenerating Australia”
30 minutes	Part B. Exploring regeneration
60 minutes	Part C. Creating a news report about regeneration
30 minutes	Reflection

Part A. Analysing Text Features Of “Regenerating Australia”

Step 1.

Inform students that they will be viewing the film “Regenerating Australia” in this lesson, considering the film's intended impact and the structural and visual choices that created that impact.

Ask students to position themselves so that they can see the screen and explain that this documentary explores what Australia could look like by 2030 if we simply listened to the needs of its people. Regenerating Australia is a 17-minute short film based on a four-month interview process with a diverse group of Australians who shared their hopes and dreams for the country's future. Emphasise that while the film is not ‘real’, the problems and people featured in it are real and the solutions identified could be reality!

Step 2.

Watch the film Regenerating Australia without interruption at least once. In order to view the film, you will need to book to host a screening for your class by filling in this form.

Step 3.

Play the "Interview with the director" video below and distribute the "Interview with the director Damon Gameau" handout. Inform students that the director of “Regenerating Australia” has shared a number of insights into the creation of the film and its intended impact. Invite students to annotate the interview transcript as the video plays with any questions or sections that pique their interest. Play the interview with Damon Gameau.

Step 5.

Support students to build their understanding of the film and the insights shared by the filmmaker through the questioning high-impact teaching strategy. Invite students to work through the questions on the Student Worksheet. If appropriate for your class, ask students to work in pairs to respond to the questions - this will allow them to work through their responses with another person to clarify their ideas.

Students are asked:

Literal questions about facts explicitly stated in the film:

What type of text is this? Note down the specific features of the text.
Who created the text? What do you know about them? (Consider age, gender, social position, company affiliations, etc.)
When was the text created?
What was happening at the time? (Consider significant events, including political, environmental, and health-related events).

Inferential questions

These require students to analyse and interpret specific parts of the text, read between the lines of what is explicitly stated and infer the purpose of the creation of the text. Encourage students to draw on their prior knowledge, practical experiences, and evidence from the text to support their responses.

Why did the director of the text produce it? (Consider whether it was to make money, influence people, tell their side of the story, etc.)
Who might have been the intended audience for the text? How do you think the director wanted the audience to respond? List evidence from the text and your knowledge about the director that led you to your conclusion.

Evaluative questions

These require students to use their knowledge, values, and experiences to decide whether they agree with the author's ideas or point of view expressed in the text. They need to determine if the text is reliable, credible, and valid.

Does the film show any bias? Is the director of the text trying to present only one of many perspectives? What words/phrases suggest bias?
Are there any parts of the film that seem to be inaccurate? Describe these and explain why you believe these parts are inaccurate.
Is there anything missing from the film? Has a data set been omitted? What impact does this have?
Does the text you are reading support, or contradict, another text you have read previously? What is this other text? In what ways do the texts contradict each other?

Step 6.

Invite students to form pairs to share their responses, then invite volunteers to share with the rest of the class.

Tell us a bit about yourself? (Include things like age, gender, social position, company affiliations, etc.)
When did you create “Regenerating Australia”? What was happening at the time? (Consider significant events that were occurring in society, including political, environmental, and health-related events)
Why did you produce the film? (Was it to make money, influence people, tell your side of the story, etc.)
Who was the intended audience/s for the film? How did you want the audience to respond?
What inspiration/s did you draw on when you created the film?
Did you work collaboratively with any of the groups represented in the film? How did this inform what you included in the film?
What influenced the decisions you made about how to represent the groups featured in the film? (e.g. ATSIP, young people, politicians, the general public)
Is there anything else that you wanted to share about “Regenerating Australia"?

Part B. Exploring regeneration

Step 1.

In this part of the lesson, students will dig deeper into the ideas presented in the film and begin to think about what regeneration might look like in their own community.

Distribute the Regeneration Factsheet to each member of the class. Read through it, asking students to follow along, circling words or phrases they aren’t sure about. Once you've finished reading the factsheet with the class, invite students to share what they remain unsure about - and other members of the class to share their understanding. There may be some concepts that require your input in order for students to understand them.

Step 2.

Ask students to summarise, in their own words, what they think REGENERATION is. There is space for them to do so on the Student Worksheet.

Step 3.

Inform students that in Regenerating Australia, several examples of regeneration were featured - they could be grouped into the following categories (also listed on the Student Worksheet):

Regenerating democracy through community empowerment, greater transparency, and recognising First Nations sovereignty
Regenerating our future and values by embracing First Nations knowledge and wisdom through listening, learning, and establishing First Nations learning centres
Regenerating our transport to run off renewable energy
Regenerating our approach to the creation of energy (such as electricity) through renewable and resilient options
Adopting a regenerative approach to food and farming
Sequestering the carbon that has entered the atmosphere through regenerative means such as reforestation
Regenerating our approach to waste management, by building up the circular economy.

Invite students to think about their local community (including their school) and the examples of regenerative practices that they have seen or heard about. They could refer to the categories above for inspiration, or detail a separate example. Ask students to describe their example in writing in the space provided on the Student Worksheet. They are prompted with:

What is an example of regeneration in your own community? If you can’t think of an actual example, you could describe an imagined example of regeneration that you would like to see in your community.
Where is it (or would it) be?
Why is it regenerative (how does it move beyond sustainability)?
Who directed/coordinated/implemented (or would) the example you’re thinking of?
When did (could) it start/was it built/established?
How is (would) it impact your local community?

Part C. Creating a news report about regeneration

Step 1.

Inform students that in this part of the lesson, they will be tying in their new understanding of the concept of regeneration with what they now know about the news report text type. In order to demonstrate new knowledge and skills, they will create a news report about the real or imagined example of regeneration that they detailed in Part B of the lesson.

If appropriate, invite students to form pairs or groups of three for this task, and encourage students to choose one or two of the examples of regeneration to showcase in their news report, similar to how examples were showcased in “Regenerating Australia”.

Step 2.

Distribute the Tips for creating a news report handout to students and ask them to use this as a guide. While students are working, mindfully circulate the classroom, inviting students to share their ideas and plans, and support students to refine what they are working on. Students may need some extra support and guiding questions such as:

Will there be interviews presented in your report?
Whom might you consider interviewing?
Will you be able to access this person?
Will you create a hypothetical character?

Try to capitalise on any excitement they may feel about this prospect, and support them to contact any potential interviewees via email or another appropriate method.

The planning template on the Student Worksheet encourages students to think about any pictures and clips that they will need to capture to ‘tell the story’ of regeneration in their community. They will need to make a plan about how they might get those images. Ensure students consider various options:

Do they need to go to different locations to take photos and videos?
Can they source images online or through other means, such as from people who could send them clips or images?

The planning template also prompts students to write a script for the news story, (which can be delivered by a reporter) or recorded as a voice-over.

If required, re-watch a short section of “Regenerating Australia” to illustrate the different elements of the news-story text type so that students can plan their own news story accordingly.

Step 3.

Once students have made their plans and set up any interviews, distribute recording devices to each group (or allow them to use their own devices). Give students an opportunity to go out and film their news stories, then allocate some time for them to edit and finalise their work. If students need guidance with editing, you can access tips and videos by signing up for the free 'What's Your 2040?' Storytelling course and navigating to the 'EDIT Your Story' section.

Step 4.

Showcase student news stories by viewing each as a class.

Step 5.

You may choose to share your collated videos with Regen Studios - the creative team behind Regenerating Australia. The team would love to see (and potentially share) the stories of regeneration created by students. To get in contact with Regen Studios and share your student's work, please email emma@regenstudios.com.

Reflection

Invite students to reflect on the impact that their own personal views and experiences had on the news report that they created by responding to the following questions:

Describe yourself (Include things like age, gender, social position, company affiliations, etc.)
What was happening when you created the news report? (Consider significant events that were occurring in society, including political, environmental, and health-related events)
Why did you produce the film? (Besides being a school assignment!! Did you want to influence people, tell your side of the story, etc.?)
Who was the intended audience/s for the news story? How did you want the audience to respond?
Did you work collaboratively with any of the groups represented in the film? How did this inform what you included in the film?
Is there anything else that you wanted to share about your news report?
And finally, do you believe that news reportage is a valuable way to share information? Why/why not?

Differentiated Learning

Extension

Encourage students to seek interviews with more than one person/group to gain deeper insights into the example of regeneration that will feature in their news story. Prompt students to create backdrop imagery and scenes, use props, and gather outfits from home if needed.

Provisions for Learning Support

Consider pre-allocating students into groups before they commence Parts B and C of the lesson.

Hold short teacher/student conferences to support and guide students while they are planning, filming and editing their news stories.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching practice today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

Regenerating Australia - Film And Production Analysis

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