Civics and citizenship / Year 8 / Civics and Citizenship Skills / Communication and reflection

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Curriculum content descriptions

Reflect on their role as a citizen in Australia’s democracy (ACHCS074)

Elaborations
  • considering how personal experiences and circumstances influence their identity as a citizen and how they relate to others
  • considering the factors that shape the way they meet their responsibilities as a citizen (for example, where they live)
General capabilities
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • Intercultural understanding Intercultural understanding
  • Personal and social capability Personal and social capability
  • Ethical understanding Ethical understanding
ScOT terms

Citizenship,  Social role

Online

Giving it: resources for secondary schools

This series of resources explores the concept of philanthropy and considers why and how active citizens participate in communities. Student worksheets examine the concept of civic responsibility and explore the values underpinning the act of giving. Research activities encourage students to explore different community groups ...

Interactive

Be the change

This is an interactive about becoming an effective agent of change through civic action in a local community. Users learn a number of practical ways to take democratic action on issues. The context is an abandoned block of land located in an area with a range of issues, such as youth unemployment and environment concerns. ...

Interactive

Discovering democracy: law

Interact with a slideshow of images and text to explore the struggles of Indigenous Australians for land rights. Look in particular at the early land rights petition of 1963 and the roles played by Vincent Lingiari and Eddie Mabo. Complete a related task.

Interactive

Discovering democracy: men and women in political life

Interact with a slideshow of images and text to explore some Australian men and women who have influenced the political landscape of Australia, both as elected representatives and as political leaders outside parliament. Complete a related task.

Interactive

Discovering democracy: human rights

Interact with a slideshow of images and text to explore the historical development of human rights and how they are upheld in Australia. Complete a related task.

Video

Get involved

Explore the ways ordinary Australians can get involved in the work of Parliament with this short video (6:25 min). Find out how you can get informed about the work of the Parliament, the role of petitioning and ways to participate in parliamentary inquiries.

Video

BTN: History of voting

Australia's first parliamentary election was in 1843. What was different about voting then? When and how did that change to resemble elections we have now? See if you can list the three significant dates in Australia’s history of voting and the changes that occurred on those dates.

Video

Tour of NSW Government House

This resource is a YouTube playlist containing a series of videos taken as a group of senior high school students are given a guided tour of NSW Government House in 2010. The tour covers primary sources such as architecture, furniture and images significant to the history of Australia and NSW.

Text

State, territory and Australian parliaments

This website is about the parliaments of the states and territories of Australia, as well as the Australian Parliament. It describes the different origins of the colonies and their movement to self-government during the 19th century, and subsequent federation into one nation in 1901. The resource describes the structures, ...

Online

What are my values? - unit of work

This is a unit consisting of two extended lessons about those values that young people feel strongly about and how they can and have been translated into action. The teaching and learning strategies centre on values identification, firstly by reading biographies of three Australians and secondly by students examining their ...

Online

Change for the good of all: sustainability and climate change - unit of work

This is a unit of work about climate change and about how understanding the 'common good' is an important part of developing possible solutions. Intended for lower and middle secondary students, the unit involves students in developing a concept map and definition of sustainability, considering what can be done to slow ...

Online

Evaluating strategies for change - unit of work

This is a unit of work of about four hours' duration that deals with the strategies employed by eight Australians who have been or are involved in political parties or social movements to bring about change. Four of the eight are from the 19th or 20th centuries and the other four are from the present day or relatively recent ...

Online

Examining the lives of historical figures to help us effect change - unit of work

This is a short unit of work about significant historical figures from Australia's past, the contributions they made and how their actions have affected Australia today. Intended for lower secondary students, the unit is organised around two activities. The first involves a study of Edith Cowan. It serves as a model for ...

Online

Australians as global citizens - unit of work

This is a unit of work about global citizenship and Australia. Intended for upper primary and lower secondary students, the unit is organised around three main topics: the values and attitudes of a good global citizen, the work of an aid organisation, and the help that Australia gives to countries and communities in its ...

Online

Citizenship: Let's talk recognition

This resource (an ‘education pack’) is a 28-page pdf about citizenship learning, how citizenship is shaped by social and cultural forces, and how it relates to Reconciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Beginning with a historical summary and ...

Video

The Flip Side of Bike Helmets

It's illegal to ride a bike without a helmet in Australia. Sue Abbott and Dr Jake Olivier differ on this issue. This video is designed for students presents both points of view as a stimulus for students to reach their own conclusions. The video discusses how laws are made and explores different points of view on whether ...

Online

Magna Carta: The story of our freedom

This is a resource about the Magna Carta (Great Charter) agreed between King John and his rebellious barons in 1215 and its influence on the development of human rights and democratic freedoms to the present day. The resource consists of: an animated infographic ‘Tell the story’ with hyperlinks to further information; an ...

Online

The 1967 referendum

This resource (an ‘education pack’) is a sequenced series of teaching/learning activities about the 1967 referendum to amend or repeal sections of the Australian Constitution that discriminated against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Intended for teachers, the 13-page pdf resource focuses mainly on the 40th ...

Interactive

Making a Nation: changing the Constitution

This interactive resource looks at the creation of the Australian Constitution and then explores the process used to change it - referendum. Information on several referendums is presented (1910, 1937, 1967, 1984) but, in a case study, students investigate the 1951 anti-communism referendum in more detail. The seven activities ...

Video

NSW Governor Marie Bashir – 2010 speech to students

This resource is a YouTube playlist containing a series of videos from a speech the NSW Governor Marie Bashir gave to senior high school students at Government House in 2010. She speaks on a range of topics, including the Australian system of government, the history of Australia and NSW, and her life. She also answers ...