CITIZENSHIP LEARNING THROUGH AUSTRALIAN HISTORY

Hello again parents/carers,

Our upcoming lessons will be focussing on Civics and Citizenship Education (CCE) and its connection to our local history of the Launceston Female Factory, which is now Launceston College. Integrating CCE and History allows students to make real world connections, whilst strengthening their comprehension skills (Gilbert & Hoepper). The following table includes the curriculum links that will connect with what the students will be exploring.

Table 1: Curriculum links

Students will be introduced to the book Convict Lives: The Launceston Female Factory (Frost & Hodgson, 2013). A few selected chapters will be read to the students in relation to the female prisoners that were held there during the 19th century, including the children. This book also contains illustrations, plans, and portraits that can engage and stimulate students for further learning (Lenz, Wells & Kingston, 2015).

Figure 2: Convict Lives: The Launceston Female Factory (Frost & Hodgson, 2013)

After the chapters have been read, students in their small groups (4 groups of 5 students) will consider if the prisoners and children were treated fairly and compare the rights of prisoners in the female factory to the prisoners rights from the Hobart Community Legal Service Inc.. Students will also need to consider how they would feel if they were a prisoner in the 19th century, as well as how they would feel if they were a child in the factory. These questions are to develop students' empathy, which is essential for historical perspective (Cooper, 2011), as it is important for students to make personal connections with the unfamiliar past, resulting in a more comprehensive view of the present (Davison, 2010).

Students, with your help, will take a trip to Launceston College and experience/observe the changes that have been made to the former female factory. Students will use their imagination based on the information they learned from the book to try to visualise how Launceston College would have looked during the 19th century. Students will split into groups to create their own dramatic performance of their understanding of the living and working conditions of the factory, in which the parent volunteers can assist. This form of active and collaborative learning offers many advantages by emphasising key historical ideas for improved memory retention, promoting deeper understanding, increasing student participation and enhancing communication among students (Crosling, Heagney & Thomas, 2009; Kennedy, 2007).

Grade 6 will continue by researching and exploring the current rights of children prisoners in Australia. Students will write a persuasive text informing readers of the issues and concerns of current prisoners and the changes that need to be implemented for improvement. This will encourage students to become active citizens and have ethical considerations for children prisoners, as they are also children themselves. This will also encourage students to think about the environmental influences of the children prisoners and what opportunities they feel they should get for a better and brighter future in society.

Asking your child about what they learned and how they feel would greatly support them in encouraging them to think empathetically and reflecting on what they experience/know and what they learned.

Word Count: 499

References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2014). HASS.Retrieved from Australian Curriculum: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/humanities-and-social-sciences/hass/?year=12102&strand=Inquiry+and+skills&strand=Knowledge+and+Understanding&capability=ignore&capability=Literacy&capability=Numeracy&capability=Information+and+Commu

Cooper, B. (2011). Empathy in education: Engagement, values and achievement. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Crosling, G., Heagney, M., & Thomas, L. (2009). Improving Student Retention in Higher Education. Australian Universities Reviews, 9-18.

Frost, L., & Hodgson, A. M. (2013). Convict Lives: The Lauceston Female Factory.Hobart: Convict Women's Press.

Gilbert, R., & Hoepper, B. (2014) Teaching Humanities and Social Sciences: History, Geography, Economics and Citizenship in the Australian Curriculum (5th Ed.). South Melbourne, VIC: Cengage Learning.

Kennedy, R. (2007). In-class Debates: Fertile Ground for Active Learning and the Cultivation of Critical Thinking and Oral Communicatino Skills. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 183-190.

Lenz, B., Wells, J., & Kingston, S. (2015). Transforming Schools Using Project-Based Learning, Performance Assessment, and Common Core Standards. San Francisco, CA:  Jossey-Bass.