Here at CCSC, through our study of history, we are always asking ‘what happened yesterday?’ As part of Stage 5 History this term, we are learning about human rights and the moral of treating others with equal respect and humanity regardless of culture, religion, ability or preferences. Being such an important part of our everyday lives, we have spent time this week exploring the history of the origins of the Declaration of Human Rights and have questioned whether we in Australia believe that our rights are being upheld.
Students have looked back across numerous ‘yesterdays’, in particular focusing on the mistreatment of Australia’s Aboriginal peoples after the arrival of the First Fleet back in 1788. At times a contentious issue, our students have negotiated the historical legal policies which affected Aboriginal peoples at the time in order to better understand why they were mistreated and why their human rights were often ignored.
Using their new knowledge, students were asked to create a response to the question, ‘What happened back in the day?’ explicitly referring to one of the government Aboriginal policies. In line with the saying ‘there is no such thing as a boring question, only a boring answer’, students were pushed to be creative and demonstrate their hidden talents. It was awesome! We were entertained with different performances – a rap, acting and role plays, a tree demonstration, protests and art works. What was great was the students ability to interpret historical information and create a unique response that demonstrated their understanding of the past, adding their individual twist of collaborative, artistic flair. Here is a glimpse inside our classroom and what we did…
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