Humanities

Awareness of history is an essential characteristic of any society, and historical knowledge is fundamental to understanding ourselves and others. This semester length unit has two depth studies: The Holocaust & Genocide Prevention in one term and Indigenous Rights and Freedoms in the next term.

Content/Skills

Students will investigate:

▶ Why genocides happen: With a focus on The Holocaust, students explore the ideas of bias, prejudice, and hate and how these can develop into dangerous ideologies that lead to genocide. This study also looks at other genocides in history and present day and asks students to consider what they might do to help prevent them in the future.

▶ Struggles for human rights: This includes how rights and freedoms of indigenous peoples have been ignored, demanded, or achieved in Australia and in the broader world context. Students are asked to consider the methods different Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander activists have used while considering what issues they would consider becoming activists for in their own lives.

Students will develop skills in:

▶ The use of chronological sequencing to demonstrate the relationship between events and developments in different sessions and places

▶ Analysis and the critical evaluation of historical documents

▶ Text development, particularly descriptions and discussions, that use evidence from a range of sources.

Learning activities students will undertake:

▶ Analysing documents

▶ Discussing historical issues

▶ Watching films

▶ Creating maps

▶ Taking notes

▶ Reading

▶ Answering questions