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Reflections

Theme: Culture, language and identity
Key Learning Area: English - Health and Physical Education (HPE) - Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE)
Age Group: Secondary Lower (13-14) - Secondary Middle (15-16) Resource Type: Audio-visual Stimulus Name: Reflections

Outcomes

Students engage with ideas, themes and issues to identify ways in which education, religion and culture influence the viewpoints people have about their own identity in Australia.

Introduction

People from a range of cultural backgrounds are interviewed. Their insights on group identity and cultural understandings provide stimulus material for discussion on the theme of Australian identity.

Worksheets to download
Stimulus Sheets (rtf File)
Reflections Video (quicktime format - 2MB) (video File)

Resources Needed
Copies of stimulus worksheets (Download)

Suggested Activities

Tell students:

"You are about to view the video Reflections- What makes you Australian? in which you will see interviews with people from a range of cultural backgrounds. Extracts from the video have been given to you. Your task is to use these to identify the different understandings and perceptions of the term Australian."
Give out stimulus worksheets on issues from the video:

  1. Who are you?
  2. What makes you an Australian?
  3. What do you think is happening?
  4. How would you like it to be?

Tell groups to discuss the views expressed on stimulus sheets and contribute their own thoughts to the group discussion. Ask groups to elect a spokesperson for the group to feedback to other groups.
Groups report back on:

Additional Strategies

  1. Class debate- Multiculturalism-there's no alternative
  2. Individuals map the range of groups to which they belong eg cultural heritage/s, school, sporting, food preference, age etc. Class looks at where these groups intersect to bring out the notion that we all belong to many groups.
  3. Link to a WebQuest What does it mean to be Australian?
Related Resources

Kids of the Melting Pot [videorecording} SBS Educational Videos


Copyright Acknowledgement
Identity, culture and conflict [videorecording]
NSW Department of Education and Training 2001


Date: 28 April 2001