Week 4 - The promotion of a sense of global awareness and concern.





Year 6 - The promotion of a sense of global awareness and concern. 


Year 6 is about to embark on a unit looking at the obligations we have beyond our national boarders as active and informed citizens and growing our global awareness of human rights, specifically how this relates to refugees (Education Services Australia, 2008). In this unit, the students will be seeking answers to a number of questions. These questions will give us background knowledge and will also enable us to ask the big question of why should the issue of refugees concern us?. Some questions your students will be investigating include;
As well as these questions, we will be reading and listening to refugee stories and exploring if and how we can help. Additionally, we will be looking at and familiarising ourselves with international treaties such as the 1954 Convention of the Stateless Person, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This unit has direct alignment with the Australian Curriculum, please see the image below for further details.





This topic will be taught in an inquiry style of teaching in which students are viewed as constructors of their own knowledge and learning rather than simply as a passive recipient of someone else’s (Touhill, 2012). I will also be ensuring prior knowledge is built on, encouraging the students to pose, investigate and answer questions, promoting student ‘voice’ (to have their say) and facilitating learning in both individual and group contexts meaning students can learn with and from each other (Lutheran Education Queensland, n.d.). I have also secured a guest who will talk to and answer student questions about their experience as a refugee. The final task for this unit will be students writing a letter detailing their opinion on the refugee crisis and how they think Australia as a nation could help. 

The refugee crisis is among one of the most complicated and controversial issues before the world’s community today (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2018). It is however, a very important topic for students to explore and the classroom provides the perfect platform for students to practice skills for dealing with topics of controversial nature (Council of Europe, 2015). This unit is also important to help students become responsible, active and informed citizens and to involve students in working towards a more just society (Dyer, 2014).


Research shows that parent involvement does positively impact student learning (Emerson, Fear, Fox & Sanders, 2012), therefore as parents, it would be fantastic if you could speak to your children about this topic, especially if you or someone you know has been a refugee and inquire about your child has or is discovering while undertaking this unit.  





Reference List:
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2018a). Australian Curriculum. F-10 Curriculum. Humanities and social sciences. Retrieved from: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/humanities-and-social-sciences/hass/
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2018b). Australian Curriculum. F-10 Curriculum. General Capabilities: Intercultural Understanding. Retrieved from: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/general-capabilities/intercultural-understanding/
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2018c). Australian Curriculum. F-10 Curriculum. General Capabilities: Ethical Understanding. Retrieved from: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/general-capabilities/ethical-understanding/
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2018c). Australian Curriculum. F-10 Curriculum. General Capabilities: Literacy. Retrieved from: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/general-capabilities/literacy/
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2018e). Australian Curriculum. F-10 Curriculum. General Capabilities: Critical and Creative Thinking. Retrieved from: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/general-capabilities/critical-and-creative-thinking/
Council of Europe. (2015). Teaching controversial issues: Professional development pack for the effective teaching of controversial issues developed with the participation of Cyprus, Ireland, Montenegro, Spain and the United Kingdom and the support of Albania, Austria, France and Sweden. Retrieved from: https://rm.coe.int/16806948b6
Crick, B. (1998). Education for citizenship and the teaching of democracy in schools. Retrieved from: http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/4385/1/crickreport1998.pdf
Dyer, J. (2014). Teaching for human rights, social justice and peace. In Gilbert, R., & Hoepper, B. (Eds.). Teaching Humanities and Social Sciences: History, Geography, Economics and Citizenship (5th ed.). Southbank, Vic: Cengage Learning
Education Services Australia. (2008). Global perspectives: A framework for global education in Australia. Retrieved from: http://www.globaleducation.edu.au/verve/_resources/GPS_web.pdf
Emerson, L., Fear. J., Fox, S., and Sanders, E. (2012). Parental engagement in learning and schooling: Lessons from research. A report by the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY) for the Family-School and Community Partnerships Bureau: Canberra. Retrieved from: https://www.aracy.org.au/publications-resources/command/download_file/id/7/filename/Parental_engagement_in_learning_and_schooling_Lessons_from_research_BUREAU_ARACY_August_2012.pdf
Lutheran Education Queensland. (n.d.). Approaches to learning: Inquiry based learning. Retrieved from: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/media/1360/lutheran-education-queensland-inquiry-based-learning.pdf
Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs [MCEETYA]. (2008). Melbourne declaration on educational goals for young Australians. Retrieved from http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/National_Declaration_on_the_Educational_Goals_for_Young_Australians.pdf 
Touhill, L. (2012). Inquiry based learning. Retrieved from:  http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/nqsplp/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/NQS_PLP_E-Newsletter_No45.pdf


Comments

  1. Nicola17 April 2018 at 03:05

    Hi Kate,
    This sounds like an interesting unit for students. Here’s a few suggestions from me 😊
    First paragraph :looking at the obligations citizens may have beyond their national boarders… I think the word may in this does not make this opening paragraph very strong, I would get rid of it.
    Sometimes you refer to the students as ‘us’ eg These questions will give us background knowledge... I would change ‘us’ to ‘students’ as this blog is designed for parents about their children, so should be referred to as what they are, - in my opinion!!
    Re paragraph starting - This topic will be taught in an inquiry style of teaching and learning – in a inquiry style of teaching sounds a bit funny, maybe: this topic will be taught using an inquiry method or something…
    Another sentence you state that students will be encouraged to pose, investigate and answer questions, - Can you offer some examples of what type of questions students will be posing, investigating and answering? Can you discuss about how this encourages and develops their critical thinking, explain why you are getting them to do this? To help save on word count, Ive added examples of questions they may develop as a picture.
    What is Tibbitts model of human rights? Can you add a picture of this so parents can see what you are referring to and how it will be drawn upon?
    Last paragraph – parental involvement – sounds funny, I would change this to parent involvement.
    I really like your big question, it will be very thought provoking. Again, I’m not sure if you may want to discuss students critical thinking in this second paragraph and reference it – just a thought –
    Another idea is that you could get a guest speaker in from the immigration department in Hobart?
    Thanks
    Nicola

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  2. Caroline19 April 2018 at 03:06

    Hi Kate
    Once again congratulations on a clear and well written blog.
    I think your choice of topic for global awareness is perfect. I do wonder if students in Year 6 will understand the difference between asylum seekers and refugees. With all the media regarding these issues, it might be of value to incorporate the understanding and difference between the two of them.
    I do feel the "how" is still lacking in regard to describe actual activities. You do make mention on not being passive, but I didnt quite understand how the students will be "active" except through discussion and listening. Is there something else you could describe here?
    Your incorporation of parents is great (again) but maybe steer away from inviting them into the classroom again. Perhaps this is the opportunity to invite someone else to your class, which may have the added benefit for students who have been refugees themselves.
    Overall it is obvious that your classroom will have a deep sense of empathy and humanity based on the topics you have chosen thus far, which is wonderful.

    ReplyDelete

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