Teaching VCE Australian History for the first time?

1. Teaching VCE Australian History for the first time? Jo Leech Carey B G S jo.leech@carey.com.au

2. What is the key to student success in VCE History? • To know and understand the requirements of the end of year exam

3. How do you find out about exam expectations • HTAV VCE conference at beginning of each year – listen to examiner’s report • VCAA website – has examiner report • Talk to other more experienced teachers • Apply to be an examiner with VCAA • http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/exams/examsassessreports.html#H2N40004B

4. Find an Australian History Mentor • Choose someone in the school who is currently or previously taught the subject • Choose someone from another school who has had success teaching the subject (check results in The Age – Dec) • Attend conferences – network • Attend network meetings held by HTAV • Contact HTAV for advice

5. The Study Design • Read the Study Design – check the requirements of the subject • Look carefully at the language being used – create glossary from here • Know and understand your Study Design (VCAA) • http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/studies/index.html • The exam questions come from the (key knowledge) dot points listed in the Study Design for each Area of Study and Outcome

6. Areas of Study Area of Study 3 : Unit 1 :Imagining Australia • A New Land: Port Phillip District :1830 – 1860 Area of Study 3 : Unit 2 : Imagining Australia • Nation, Race and Citizen : 1888- 1914 Area of Study 4 : Unit 1 • Testing the New Nation 1914-1950 Area of Study 4 : Unit 2 • Debating Australia’s future 1960 – 2000

7. Term Planner • BIG PICTURE - Work Backwards • Write in deadlines & extra days eg:athletics • Work out when SACs are to be done • Plan units of work which allow for some revision time • Vary lessons - eg: text based, creative • Student centred/ Teacher centred • Manage time – so that all relevant skills and content can be taught

8. Structuring the course • The time given to each Area of Study is important • In Australian – I allocate – 4 blocks of approx. 6 weeks – with 4 weeks at the end of the year (before the yr 12s leave) for revision • In the revision month – 1 week per topic and they sit a full exam in October

9. Organising Student Handouts • Keep in a spiral bound folder - a copy of each handout for any one unit of work • Always photocopy 5 or more spares as students will inevitably lose their sheet between classes - saves frustration • With multiple sheets - use varied colours, easier for identification -say red sheet for eg; instead of PPD settlement • The coding helps you at exam revision time

10. Teach to the Dot Points • Dot Points – Key Knowledge • This is where the exam questions are devised from • The exam panel may use exact words from the dot points or at least words that have the same meaning • Students need to be 100% familiar with these Dot Points

11. Teaching - structure • Teach one Dot Point at a time • Know the date points • Explain key terms (words) • Develop knowledge and source material for that dot point • Have a range of primary sources • Know the key historians and views • Show the students how this Dot Point translates into an exam question

12. The Assessment Guide • Read the assessment guide to work out the types of SACs which are suggested for each Area of Study • Take careful note of the structure suggested • Find out what style of question is on the exam for each area of study – match the SAC skills to it • Take careful note of the grade descriptors and clearly go through them prior to the SAC – try and match them with the exam grade descriptors

13. Notes and readings • It is good to have resources available for them • Colour code topics – helps them to organise notes and readings • Start with the standard middle of the range readings – then have some lower level ones and extension ones on hand to give to relevant students

14. Extending top students • Have extra reading and resources • Teach them how to write critically and what sophisticated writing in this exam context means • Teach them to write in a style which shows them thinking like an historian comparing a variety of sources to support their ideas

15. The class as a team! • Teaching history is not about the individual – you need to explain to the class the importance of them considering themselves as a team • They need to work to support each other and have their marks close together • You really don’t want your class grades spread too widely

16. SACs • Prepare the students for the SACs • Give them warning of time and dates prior • Teach them relevant skills – eg: interpreting a source [CCF] • Match SACs to their corresponding exam question • For eg: Australian History – Document is Section A or Section D – so do your Document Analysis SAC in this topic … • Allow them one page of hand written notes for the first one or two SACs – this is good for note taking – supports exam revision • Try and mark SACs with the class as a bunch with the top mark being 100% where possible – be very strict with the criteria as a model for the exam

17. SAC - Ranking • The rank order of your class is very important – you need to understand where you think they are going to end up in the final exam Indicative Grades • You want them to be no more than 2 grades away from what they end up getting (you need to know how they will perform in the exam)

18. SAC value vs Exam value • I would argue that the SACs are really only worth about 10% • They are important for the purpose of ranking the class however they don’t seem to hold a lot of weight towards the students’ final mark • The exam seems to be worth about 90% - it is the key to the students’ final mark

19. Making Links • Refer back to the exam throughout the year • While teaching the course – make reference and comments to what aspects will be useful or relevant to the exam • Make everything transparent – you are ultimately teaching towards an exam

20. Review previous exams • The course is in a 5 year cycle • Have a look at the previous exams for patterns in the asking of questions • VCAA - http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/exams/examsassessreports.html • You can download/print as a PDF file

21. On-going revision • Have revision activities at the end of each dot point and Area of Study • This way the students are constantly revising the content needed for the exam • Give student practice essays using the source material taught for each dot point at the end of each Area of Study

22. Practice Exams • Have practice exams throughout the year • In a practice exam model the timing for each question and the relevant skill • Have the criteria as the exam would • You may just practice one area of study randomly in a lesson in the relevant time – so that students can get used to the exam format

23. What NOT to do in the Exam • Don’t give a narrative (eg: don’t tell a story) • Don’t give a general account of participation in the period in general • Don’t use evidence that doesn’t relate • Don’t write in point form

24. What the exam wants • The exam is designed for students to show their knowledge from the year • The aim is to utilise sources to support their argument • Most questions require a direct response – which shows 2 sides of the argument

25. Exam questions • The majority of the questions are going to ask the students, either: • How far do you agree … • To what extent do you agree … • It’s forcing students to show all sides of the argument – using sources to do this • Students should NEVER agree or disagree

26. Exam Questions • Where a question asks a student to; refer to their study or what they have studied this year – then – it is asking them to focus on the dot points (key ideas) and support the answer with sources. • At NO time is a narrative required – and in almost EVERY question sources are required to support their answer.

27. Direct Preparation • Leading up to the exam students should have prepared their summary sheets. • They then need to practice writing and answering questions in allocated times. • For example by the start of Term 4 they should be able to complete one section in 30 minutes (this is for Australian) • Note – adapt the timing practice to your exam’s requirements – Australian is 4 sections of half an hour each

28. Keeping Spirits High • Keep students positive – and believing in themselves • Be realistic – but know that if they can site sources and answer questions then they will get more than a C+ • The examiners aim to reward students for what they know

29. Motivating Students • Read the students – ebbs and flows • Be flexible – firm but realistic • Have rewards and vary activities – teacher centred, student centred – group, pair, individual work • Reading, videos, songs, Power Points, quizzes, spot tests, guest speakers and lectures • Positive reinforcement • Incentives for eg; food • Stamps, stickers

30. Underperforming students • Ask them…”What do you want to see on the piece of paper when you open the envelope in December?” • Then work with them based on their response to that question • Be available – have one on one sessions

31. VCAA - website • Refer to the website for examiners comments from the previous years (even though the exam has change in 2005) • Try and use her suggestions to help you refine your teaching • The website should have previous exams on it and other advice for both teachers and students • Pauline Rule – Australian History Representative at VCAA

32. HTAV • Ring the HTAV for advice • They can help you with resource material • They can put you in contact with experienced teachers • They run PD and lectures for teachers • They run lectures for students – 3x a year

33. Unit 3 – Area of Study One • A New Land – Port Phillip District • 1830 – 1860 • 3 Dot points • Settlement – push /pull • Contact with Aborigines • Gold – change in society • Aim for approx. 2 weeks on each topic

34. Dot Point 1Reasons for Migration Who Came? PUSH PULL Van Dieman’s Land (VDL) NSW English Irish Scottish Welsh Other

35. Who came and why? Push Factors • Rural poverty • Population explosion • Despair at factory • Working class shift – new view of colonies • Working class press Pull Factors • Labour shortage • A ‘bellyful’ place • Letters home • Gold discovery • Headlong rush

36. Charles Neverby William Strutt Charles Never – is an example of someone who assimilated. He became a tailor in Collingwood. Other examples of those who assimilated included Gellibrand , Derrimut and the Native Police.

37. Web search – Dot Point 2:- The Impact of Settlement on Aboriginal People • KEY IDEA:The impact of European contact and colonisation on Aboriginal communities • Internet Search Activity • http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/ed-online/encounters/index.htm • →This website provides primary source material on the impact of the British invasion and colonisation of Australia on Aboriginal people in Victoria. • Journeys - http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/ed-online/encounters/Journeys/index.htm • The focus here is on two individuals, Gellibrand and Robinson. • Trace their journeys throughout Victoria. • http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/ed-online/encounters/Journeys/Gellibrand/index.htm • http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/ed-online/encounters/Journeys/Robinson/index.htm • For each man – write a brief summary of where they went, what they saw, their impressions and the aims of their missions.

38. Web search – Dot Point 2:- The Impact of Settlement on Aboriginal People • If possible include a brief quote which sums up their opinion of the Aboriginal people they encountered. (Explain how it does.) • Were their experiences different? Explain your answer using examples from the site. • Robinson’s journal extracts provide information (from the time) about the relationships developed between the settlers and the Aboriginals. • From reading these various encounters, (using specific examples) list the Aboriginal views of the settlers • and the settlers’ views of the Aboriginals. • http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/ed-online/encounters/Journeys/Robinson/index.htm • Aboriginal views of the settlers • Positive / Negative Specific example from text… • Settlers’ views of the Aboriginals • Positive / Negative Specific example from text

39. A New Land – Port Phillip District1830 – 1860 • Texts and resource material • Need primary sources • Newspapers, diary entries, • S.T. Gill – visuals on the National Library website www.nla.gov.au/apps/picturescatalogue? • Talk to the HTAV

40. Port Phillip District - Books • G. Blainey – The Triumph of the Nomads : a History of Australia • R. Broome – The Victorians: Arriving • R. Broome and A. Frost – Colonial Society • M. Cannon – Old Melbourne Town – before the Gold Rush • T. Flannery – The Birth of Melbourne • B. Nance – Level of Violence -Europeans and Aborigines in the Port Phillip District – (1981) • A.G.L. Shaw – The Port Phillip District – Victoria before Separation • State Library Victoria – Social Conditions and Political Life The Colonial Experience, The Port Phillip District, Education Centre, 1999

41. Analysing Visual Representations CCF • Content • Argument? • Literal and Symbolic elements? • Who or what is omitted?

42. Analysing Visual Representations CCF • Context • Date produced? – significance? • Whose view? Who is it for? • Representing what? • What’s going on?

43. Analysing Visual Representations CCF • Function • Eg: Middle class “white” Australia _________________________________ • Link and write paragraphs using key terms • Move from the general to the specific • Develop – linking visual to broader issues

44. Gold – Books • M. G. Blanden – Australia – All our Yesterdays • M. Cannon – Melbourne after the Gold Rush • Grant and Searle – The Melbourne Scene 1803 – 1956 • J.R.J. Grigsby – The Turbulent Years 1770 - 1980 • T. Gurry – The European Occupation • G. Weller & J. Clarke – Gold • G. Searle – The Golden Age • G. Searle – The Gold Generation

45. Unit 3 – Area of Study Two - Books • R. Darlington – Unity & Diversity Australia since 1850 • Hirst, J – The Sentimental Nation. The Making of the Australian Commonwealth, Oxford Uni Press, Australia, 2000 • Kingston, B – The Oxford History of Australia ,Vol. 3, 1860 – 1900, Oxford Uni. Press, 1988 • White, R - Inventing Australia Images and Identity 1688 – 1980, Allen and Unwin, Australia, 1984

46. Unit 3 – Area of Study Two - Books • Ward, Russel – The Australian Legend – Oxford Press 1958 • Hoban, Mary – Exploring Asian Histories – HTAV 1993 • Tudball, Libby – Australian Perspectives • Gibb, D.M. – National Identity and Consciousness – Thomas Nelson Australia 1983 • Cantwell, John & Sinclair, Kathryn (Eds) – Readings: Images of a Nation – HTAV 1997 • Gurry, Tim – An Emerging Identity – Heinemann Educational Australia 1988

47. Unit 4 – Area of Study One • Choose one of WWI, Depression, WWII • Need to be able to resource it • Need to have student interest in the topic • This is best done as the research – therefore need to have access to resources

48. Debating Australia’s Future Attitudes to the Vietnam War1965 and 1970 1965 • Australian advisers increased to 100 • 1st American combat troops • Menzies announced 29th April service 1970 April – Prime Minister Gorton – reduction of Australian troops 1970 & 1971 • Australia reached peak with large moratorium rallies

49. Unit 4 – Area of Study Two • Choose one of the issues; • Need to be able to resource it • You need to have an interest – need to be able to teach it quickly • Need to have student interest in the topic

50. Source Analysis • Overall Aim: Respond to a primary source image, document, song, newspaper, cartoon, painting, diary entry etc… • (Something that can photocopy well in black and white) • Response • Evidence • Conclusion • Spend 5 minutes looking at it • Written, in 30 minutes as a mini-essay • Begin: Generic statement re: actual things • For eg: • Main Body: Don’t miss a thing – squeeze the visual for everything, literal and symbolic. • What it tells you about the time period • Values • Principles • Ideals