Teacher guide Forgotten heroes

TLF ID M021188

This resource (an ‘education pack’) is a 29-page PDF about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women who joined the Australian Armed Services during times of war. The education pack is introduced by background notes, and is organised in three main sections: Early Years; Primary Years; and Middle Years. Each section is a unit of work containing inquiry questions, curriculum links, detailed teaching suggestions and lists of resources. Inquiry themes common across the units include commemorating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander servicemen and women and taking action to promote Reconciliation by researching and sharing their stories of service. Source documents and proformas for student use are included in three appendices and a glossary is provided. The education pack places particular emphasis on South Australian servicemen and women.





Educational details

Educational value
  • This is an valuable resource for historical inquiry and Reconciliation action in the context of the curriculums for humanities and social sciences (HASS) in the early and primary years and history in years 9 and 10. It also provides an outstanding opportunity for incorporation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures cross-curriculum priority in the English curriculum.
  • The units of work in the resource are particularly relevant for both the Knowledge and understanding (History) strand and the Inquiry and skills strand in HASS. The commemoration theme in the early years unit is of considerable value for the content description in the Foundation year that refers to how important past events are commemorated. In addition, the war memorials aspect of the theme connects strongly with the geographical content description about the reasons why some places are special to people. The early years unit also supports skill development in Foundation through its value for the content description about drawing simple conclusions based on discussions, observations and information displayed in pictures and texts.
  • The four inquiry themes in the primary years unit also enhance student skill development in historical inquiry. They are highly relevant to year 3 content descriptions that refer to collecting information and data from different sources, sequencing information about people's lives and events, and presenting ideas, findings and conclusions in texts. One of the unit's inquiry questions - What special days, ceremonies, symbols and memorials help us remember? - has a strong connection to the year 3 content description about the days celebrated or commemorated in Australia and the importance of symbols and emblems. The middle years unit has considerable importance for content descriptions in years 9 and 10 history. They include those in the world wars case studies about the reasons why men enlisted to fight in the war, the places where they fought, and the commemoration of World War I (year 9) and the experiences of Australians during World War II (year 10). The unit's four themes of historical inquiry provide an excellent context for students to enhance their skills in relation to content descriptions that refer to using chronological sequencing to demonstrate the relationship between events and developments in different periods and places; identifying and locating relevant sources; and developing texts that use evidence from a range of sources.
  • All three units call upon students to read and discuss a range of literary texts, fictional, biographical and autobiographical, prose and poetry, and this provides an excellent example of how the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures cross-curriculum priority can enrich the English curriculum. The use of such texts exemplifies the priority's organising ideas that refer to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples demonstrating resilience in responding to historic impacts of colonisation and the significant contributions of Aboriginal Peoples and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the past being acknowledged locally and nationally.
Year level

F; 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10

Other details

Contributors
  • Contributor
  • Name: Education Services Australia
  • Organization: Education Services Australia
  • Description: Data manager
  • Address: VIC, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.esa.edu.au/
  • Copyright Holder
  • Name: Reconciliation South Australia
  • Organization: Reconciliation South Australia
  • URL: www.reconciliationsa.org.au
  • Publisher
  • Name: Reconciliation South Australia
  • Organization: Reconciliation South Australia
  • Description: Publisher
  • URL: www.reconciliationsa.org.au
  • Resource metadata contributed by
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organisation: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Address: AUSTRALIA
  • URL: www.esa.edu.au
Access profile
  • Unknown
Learning Resource Type
  • Online
Rights
  • © Reconciliation South Australia Inc, unless otherwise indicated. Unless otherwise indicated, this material may be used in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) licence www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0. Third-party material is explicitly excluded from the Creative Commons licence.