Teaching Sequence

30 minutes	Part A: Background of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples' Struggle for Rights and Freedoms
40 minutes	Part B: Struggle for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples' Rights and Freedoms: Timeline
60 minutes	Part C: Understanding Experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
60 minutes	Part D: Charles Perkins and his Role in the Struggle for Rights and Freedoms
60 minutes	Part E: Apology to The Stolen Generations
30 minutes	Reflection

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

Introduction

Explain to students that due to the sensitive nature of some of the content in this lesson, setting classroom agreements before commencing this lesson is an important step in creating a safe space and helping develop mutual respect and understanding between the members of your classroom community.

Some agreements might include:

Own your contributions: Use “I think” rather than “you should”
Be respectful: each person has their own beliefs and values
Value diversity: each person has their own world views, experiences and opinions
Listen politely: each person has a right to contribute without pressure or intimidation
Act with honour and courage: be brave in sharing experiences, ideas and opinions
Appreciate privacy: each person has the right to uphold their privacy
Act responsibly: share feedback with thoughtful consideration and a positive attitude towards others

Valuing individual beliefs and values does not mean that discrimination should be tolerated. If a student says something that is racist, it is important to speak up and let them know that racism is unacceptable. The 'Racism. It Stops with Me' campaign has some suggestions for responding to racism. The teaching resources 'Take a stand against racism' and 'Tackling racism in Australia' also provide guidance for teachers as well as suggestions for learning activities.

Further guidance around fostering safe and respectful learning environments is available from Reconciliation Australia’s Narragunnawali: Reconciliation in Schools and Early Learning online platform. The following resources may be particularly helpful:

Part A: Background of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples' Struggle for Rights and Freedoms

Step 1. Introduce this part of the lesson by informing students that they will be exploring some of the background of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' struggles for rights and freedoms. Explain to the class that Australian history (indeed, any history) is diverse and intricate, and includes the experiences of countless individuals – thus the overview in this part of the lesson is an attempt to set the context, and is in no way representative of the breadth and depth of the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and other marginalised minority communities.

For this part of the lesson, students will use the 'Chalk-Talk' visible thinking routine to begin thinking about the background of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' struggle for rights and freedoms. This involves viewing a set of prompts, then having a silent discussion in writing around each prompt. Students should be encouraged to write down their observations, thoughts, questions and comments. They should also work to respond to each other’s contributions, in the same way that they would if they were speaking. This routine enables students to be thoughtful and considered in their contributions by encouraging a more deliberate approach to discussion.

Ask students to arrange themselves so that they are in groups of four to five people around a table. Place the Chalk-Talk prompts in the middle of the table, face-down.

Hot tip: Ensure that the size of the paper the prompts are printed on is large enough for all students to be able to see and write on while sitting around a table. This may involve enlarging the prompt and sticking it to a piece of butcher’s paper.

Step 2. Invite students to flip the first prompt over and allow enough time for students to become comfortable enough to contribute. You may need to prompt individuals to participate.

Step 3. Once students have contributed in writing, ask groups to briefly discuss what they have written around the prompt, and to circle three things that they would like to share with the class. Facilitate a class share, noting the main points for each group on the whiteboard.

Repeat this process for the remainder of the prompts.

Image source: Phil May, The Bulletin, 3 March 1888. National Library of Australia

Prompt 1: What is happening in this cartoon (above)?
Prompt 2: What do you think it means to be a ‘curiosity’ in your own country?
Prompt 3: What does the cartoon tell us about attitudes towards Aboriginal people in 1888?
Prompt 4: What comment do you think the cartoonist is trying to make?

Step 4. Summarise the activity by explaining that at the time of this cartoon, a segregation policy existed. This meant that individuals belonging to one group (in this case Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples) were separated from others, for instance at public facilities. Explain that segregation is a form of racial discrimination.

Connect this example with student’s prior knowledge by asking students for any other examples of segregation that they know of, such as segregation in the USA, apartheid in South Africa, or the segregation of Jewish people and other minorities in Germany.

Part B: Struggle for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples' Rights and Freedoms: Timeline

Note: Students will need access to web-enabled devices for this activity.

Step 1. Introduce this activity by explaining to students that viewing historical events chronologically in a timeline can help us to understand changes in society. In this activity, students will read and analyse secondary historical sources to gain a deeper understanding of the background to the struggle for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' rights and freedoms.

Step 2. Invite students to open their devices and access the National Museum of Australia Collaborating for Indigenous Rights website: https://indigenousrights.net.au/timeline. Ask students to work individually to identify one event or entry on the timeline to read about, then respond to the following questions (students should aim to each read about a different entry or event – they will need to communicate with each other to ensure that there is no overlap in research):

Summarise what you read about, including key events, dates and people.
Describe how the actions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples progressed their access to rights and freedoms.
Describe the origin, purpose and context of the source – summarise why the source exists and the historical story it is telling.

Step 3. Facilitate a class discussion wherein each student shares their summary. Inform students that by recounting events in in their own words, they are creating an historical narrative. If possible, coordinate sharing so that students do so in chronological order as a means of illustrating the flow-on effects of, and links between, each event.

Step 4. Summarise the activity by asking students to write a paragraph in response to the prompt:

What conclusion can be made from the source in relation to the rights and freedoms of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples before 1965?

Then, ask students to turn to the person next to them and share their response.

Part C: Understanding Experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples

Step 1. Ask students to form pairs and ensure that they have access to at least one device between them. Invite students to select one of the personal accounts listed below - each account is evidence of racial discrimination towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the 1950s and 1960s. The list is also available on the Student Worksheet.

These accounts are taken from the National Museum of Australia exhibition ‘From Little Things, Big Things Grow’. The online exhibition can be viewed here. Please be aware that this website includes images and names of deceased people that may cause sadness or distress to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Beulah Pickwick, on growing up and working on the New South Wales and Queensland border. Read the transcript for ‘Just going to the movies’.
Debai Baira, formerly of Badu Island, Torres Strait, now a resident in Sydney, on the limitations of moving around and working in the Torres Strait. Read the transcript for ‘Gotta ask permission’.
John Moriarty AM, on restrictive laws imposed on Aboriginal people in the 1950s and 1960s and the fight to overcome them. Read the transcript for ‘Dog tag’.

Step 2. Invite students to work together to interpret and analyse the account, using the following prompts to guide them:

Evaluate the historical source – is it a primary or secondary source? What is the purpose of the source?
Summarise, in writing, the restrictions faced by the person in the account they read.
Write down an evaluation of this person’s experiences in relation to their rights and freedoms.
If you were to experience the same effect on your rights and freedoms, how do you think you might feel….and how might you respond?

There is space for students to respond to each prompt on the Student Worksheet.

Step 3. Extend the analysis into a class discussion using the Snowball Discussion method. Students begin in pairs, responding to a discussion question only with a single partner. After each person has had a chance to share their ideas, the pair joins another pair, creating a group of four. Pairs share their ideas with the pair they just joined. Next, groups of four join to form groups of eight, and so on, until the whole class is joined up in one large discussion.

During the Snowball Discussion, write the prompt below on the whiteboard and encourage students to centre their discussion around it:

From the source you viewed and/or heard, what conclusions can you draw about the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in relation to their rights and freedoms?
Why is it so important to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices when we are studying this history?

Part D: Charles Perkins and his Role in the Struggle for Rights and Freedoms

Please be aware that the text in this section of the lesson contains an image and name of an Aboriginal person who has passed away.

Step 1. Ask students to move the classroom furniture so that they are seated in a large circle, with or without tables.

Explain to students that in this part of the lesson, they will find out more about Charles Perkins, an activist, soccer player and administrator. They will do so in a Socratic Seminar.

The Socratic Seminar strategy is based on close analysis of a text – in this case, an historical source. Students will read the Canberra Times newspaper article "Australia needs to be embarrassed, Perkins says" and draw conclusions about his methods and role in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' struggle for rights and freedoms. In a Socratic Seminar activity, students help each other understand the ideas, issues, and values reflected in an historical source through a group discussion. Students independently facilitate a group discussion around the ideas in the source. They should avoid using the discussion to assert their opinions or prove an argument. Through this type of discussion, students practice how to listen to one another, make meaning, and find common ground while participating in a conversation.

Step 2. Before beginning the discussion, develop a set of classroom agreements around conduct during the discussion. These seminars have procedures that may not apply to other forms of discussion, so before beginning, it is important that everyone is aware of the protocols. Below are typical agreements that can be used to structure a Socratic Seminar activity. The needs of the whole class should be taken into consideration when setting these agreements.

Talk to each other, not just to the teacher.
Refer to evidence from the text to support your ideas.
Ask questions if you do not understand what someone has said, or you can paraphrase what another student has said for clarification (“I think you said this; is that right?”).
There’s no need to raise your hand to speak, but please be aware of how much you have spoken in relation to other students.
Avoid interrupting each other.
Don’t “put down” the ideas of another student. Instead, state your alternate interpretation or ask a follow-up question to help probe or clarify an idea.

Remind students that the purpose of the seminar is not to debate or prove a point but to more deeply understand what can be interpreted from the historical source.

Step 3. Distribute the historical text (newspaper article "Australia needs to be embarrassed, Perkins says") and give students time to independently prepare ideas before beginning the seminar component of this activity. Students should have an opportunity to read and annotate the source with their own interpretations and ideas before the start of the class discussion.

Step 4. Begin the seminar with the discussion leader, a student or the teacher, asking the following open-ended question:

What is this source saying about Charles Perkins’ role in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' struggle for rights and freedoms?

Common statements or questions that can be used to facilitate discussion in a Socratic Seminar include:

Where does that idea come from in the source?
What does this word or phrase mean?
Can you say that in another way?
Who was the audience for this text? How does that shape our interpretation of these words?
Who was the author of this text? What do we know about him/her? How does that shape our understanding of these words?

Hot tip: While the seminar should run for between 15-30 minutes, it may take a few minutes for students to warm up - silence is normal and should be permitted, if not embraced! If students are feeling challenged by the Socratic Seminar activity, adapt the approach to a Fishbowl activity, with some students participating in the discussion in the centre of the room and the rest of the class acting as observers. Students can swap in and out of the middle as they feel their confidence grow.

Step 5. After the Socratic Seminar activity, give students the opportunity to conduct a general evaluation of the process and a specific analysis of their own performance. This will encourage students to consider how their ability to participate in future discussions can be improved. Ask students to respond to the following on the Student Worksheet:

At any point, did the seminar revert to something other than a shared conversation? If so, how did the group handle this?
What evidence did you see of people actively listening and building on others' ideas?
How has your understanding of this source been affected by the ideas explored in this seminar?
What parts of the discussion did you find most interesting? In what parts were you least engaged?
What would you like to do differently as a participant the next time you are in a seminar?

Hot tip: Click here to find out more about the Socratic Seminar teaching strategy from Facing History.

Step 6. Once the Socratic Seminar discussion is completed, ask students to work independently to find out more about Charles Perkins and his methods to achieve change for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. On the Student Worksheet, they are prompted with the following:

What has the discussion made you curious about?

Develop an understanding of different perspectives of historical events by using two or more of the suggested sources below (as well as any others that you can find) to research Charles Perkins and his approach to achieving change in the realisation of rights and freedoms for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Structure your research by posing questions, locating and analysing sources then using evidence to develop an informed explanation about the historical and contemporary struggle for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' rights and freedoms.

Collaborating for Indigenous Rights - Charles Perkins (National Museum Australia)
Charles Perkins (Australian Biography)
Charles Perkins (Koori Web)
Commemorating the Freedom Ride (Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies [AIATSIS])
Explainer: What was Australia's Freedom Ride? (National Indigenous Television [NITV])
Collaborating for Indigenous Rights - Freedom Ride, 1965 (National Museum Australia)

There is space on the Student Worksheet for students to note their questions, their sources and their analysis.

Part E: Apology to The Stolen Generations

Note: Students will need access to web-enabled devices for this activity.

The Australian Human Rights Commission has developed resources to support teaching and learning about the Stolen Generations. You can access these resources on the Bringing them Home website https://bth.humanrights.gov.au/.

Step 1. Ask students to move their chairs so that they are seated facing a screen. Inform students that the learning intention for this part of the lesson is to find out more about the National Apology to the Stolen Generations, and how it relates to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' struggle for rights and freedoms.

Step 2. Introduce the video below by explaining that in 2008, the Prime Minister of Australia made an apology to the Stolen Generations: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were forcibly removed from their families as children. This video, created by Reconciliation Australia, features a summary of the apology, background details around the apology and the effects of the apology.

Reconciliation Australia – the apology to the stolen generations (https://youtu.be/_Dild-xAzJ0)

Step 3. After viewing, invite students to complete a 'See-Think-Wonder' visible thinking routine to explore what they observed and interpreted in the video. Distribute three sticky-notes to each student. Stick three pieces of butcher’s paper in a visible position, or draw a three-columned table on the whiteboard. Write each of the 'See-Think-Wonder' questions (below) on its own sheet of paper (or column).

What did you SEE/HEAR in the video?
What did it make you THINK?
What did it make you WONDER?

Ask students to respond to each question in writing on a separate sticky-note.

Step 4. Invite students to attach their sticky-notes to each column, and while they are doing so, to observe what their classmates have contributed.

Step 5. Ask students to then choose something they are wondering about the National Apology to the Stolen Generations that they would like to investigate. They do not have to choose what they wrote on their own 'wonder' sticky note. Invite students with common interests to form research groups – students should work in groups of 2-3. Once they have formed groups, invite them to sit around a table together with a web-enabled device.

Step 6. Ask groups to use their 'wonder' sticky note to help them pose some secondary questions. Students could use the 5Ws + 1H to help them pose questions:

Who?
What?
When?
Where?
Why?
How?

Step 7. Invite students to open their web-enabled devices and conduct group research into their wonderment. The could use the websites listed below (and on the Student Worksheet) as a starting point:

Australia – A National Overview (excerpt from the RightsED: Bringing them home teaching resource)
Bringing them Home (Australian Human Rights Commission)
Apology to Australia's Indigenous peoples (Australian Government)
The Apology to the Stolen Generations (Reconciliation Australia)
Bringing them Home report (1997) (Australian Human Rights Commission)
Bringing them home (State Library of Queensland)
Stolen Generations (Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies)

Step 8. Once students have had enough time to locate, read and summarise information about the wonderment, invite the class to arrange themselves in a large circle formation. Explain that each group will have the opportunity to inform the rest of the class about what they found. Facilitate the class discussion so that each group has a chance to share what they have found out – this may mean working around the circle, or inviting volunteers to share when they are ready to do so.

Hot tip: Remind students about the sensitivities that surround the focus of the activity, and encourage the use of inclusive language throughout the discussion.

Step 9. Students can further extend their understanding of the significance of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations by developing an extended text in response to the prompt below:

What is the significance of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' struggle for rights and freedoms?

Guide students to:

Approach the question critically – they could investigate whether the struggle for rights and freedoms has progressed since the apology, and if so how.
Encourage students to also consider: if the struggle has not progressed, why is that?
Identify and select different kinds of questions that will guide students in their research.
Include descriptions and discussions that are supported by referenced evidence from a range of sources.
Reference evidence from primary and secondary sources, incorporating a range of perspectives.

Some sources for research include:

Apology to Australia's Indigenous peoples (Australian Government)
The Apology to the Stolen Generations (Reconciliation Australia)
Bringing Them Home report (1997) (Australian Human Rights Commission)
Bringing Them Home (State Library of Queensland)
10 things you should know about the National Apology (NITV)

Reflection

Ask students to write a paragraph in response to the prompt below:

What responsibilities do you have in ensuring that rights and freedoms are enjoyed by everyone?

Differentiated Learning

Extension: Invite students to research another key person in the struggle for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' rights and freedoms, and share what they find with their classmates.

Students may choose from the list below, or select someone else that they would like to learn more about:

Faith Bandler
Ray Jackson
Vincent Lingiari
Gough Whitlam
Eddie Mabo
Oodgeroo Noonuccal
Gary Foley

They could organise their research into the following categories:

Who are you finding out about?
Where are they from? Where is their Country/Place?
What specifically did the person do in the struggle for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' rights and freedoms?
How did this person fight for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' rights and freedoms?
Did the person have support from others?
What was the influence of the person’s actions, both historically and in contemporary society?

Provisions for Learning Support: Ensure that students groups are of diverse abilities. Students may benefit from printed versions of the information and websites linked throughout the lesson to read and annotate.

Story of Our Rights and Freedoms - The Struggle for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Rights and Freedoms

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