Living Locally The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (MCEETYA,

2008) explains that Australian school plays a vital role in developing students that are
able to make sense of their world around them. This can help children develop a
sense of Australian identity through their geological location and history of their
community or neighborhood. Therefore its important for this topic to be taught in
Australian schools. This is also supported by the Victorian curriculum which states
under geography that students need to know reasons why some places are special
and some places are important to people and how they can be looked after and
under history it states students need to identify the significance of a person and/or
place in the local community (VC, 2012). Unfortunately in the past students have
traditional been told what our identity rather than children exploring it themselves.
Hence using a local landmark such as the Warrnambool break water as a resource for
understanding the neighborhood as a useful resource. Its a land mark that majority of
students will know exists but wont know why. Therefore to get the students to
research its history will allow them to develop a greater understanding and
appreciation of it.

The benefits of this resource is that it allows students to have a greater understanding
of where the children are brought up. Gill also explains in her book Knowing Our
Place that understanding where they come from is important in developing a sense
of belong and identity (2009, p.140). It also allows students to learn how to work in
teams in order to complete the research poster. This importance is supported by the
Melbourne declaration which states children need to be able to collaborate, work in
teams and communicate ideas (MCEETYA, 2008). The limitations is that some
schools may not have the access to enough IPads or computer devices to allow the
class to work in small groups.

Living in Australia is continually becoming a more cultural diverse country every day. Therefore
Australia the current and next generation of children need to have learnt about a wide range of
cultures in order to understand and respect everyone. This is supported by the
Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians which explains
schools need to contribute to a socially cohesive society that respects and
appreciates cultural, social and religious diversity (MCEETYA, 2008). Its important to
teach this topic because the ideologies of what it means to be Australian is still
shaped by the white Anglo Saxon. Sarah cousins supports this explaining in her article
National Identity that what it means to be Australian is still shaped by societys
contemporary dominant ideologies. Unfortunately over time these social ideologies
has shaped the views on morality, character, race, values and religion which has led
to in many cases to active discrimination (2006, p.16).
The resource A day in the life of Lucy created by World Vision Australia, is an
engaging and eye opening resource that gets students to understand and compare
diversities through a video of a young girl called Lucy from Uganda. By getting the
students to cut out and draw their family and then compare them with each other by
creating a class Venn diagram it gets students to effectively understand theres even
diversity within their classroom. Which meets the Victorian Curriculum standards for
cultural practices which expects children from foundation to year two
Identify what is familiar and what is different in the ways culturally diverse individuals
and families live (2015). Hence this resource caters for all diverse groups because
 everyone has the opportunity to present their family. The only limitations for this
activity is if a student has come from or experienced something like whats in the
video. But as a professional teacher you should be able to make the right judgement
and pick another video if need be.

Sustainability In past century an emphasis on sustainability for the present and future has never
been so prominent in society. With increasing population and pollution the current
generation of children need to be educated on how to be sustainable human beings
now and for the future. This is supported by the Sustainability Curriculum
Framework which highlights the importance of education for sustainability. The
framework states that when teaching sustainability, learning should be both present
and future orientated. Meaning it needs to be designed and implemented for present
action, with the knowledge that the impact of these actions will be experienced in
the future (Australian Government, 2010). In order to develop children into
sustainable human beings goals need to be set and reached. These goals are
explained in the National Environmental Education Statement for Australian Schools.
An example of these goals include understand and value the interdependence of
social, cultural, economic and ecological dimensions at local, national and global
levels and appreciate and respect the intrinsic value of the whole environment and a
sense of the sacred (NEESAS, 2005).

Therefore resource 3 (Lake Pertobe) is a useful resource in teaching this unit because
the students will get to experience and appreciate that local environment. By gaining
this experience students will be able to link their knowledge and skills on
sustainability in class and relate it back to that local environment and the school
environment. Allowing students to think about the school and community action that
would allow for the caring of local places. The only limitations of this resource is that
it doesnt focus on a local sustainability issue. Lake Pertobe is an sustainable and
healthy environment which doesnt need much attention compared to other areas in
Warrnambool.
Overall this resource caters for a range of different learners as it includes hands on
and experienced learning for low level children and deep discussion learning for the
more advanced students.

ATSI histories Unfortunately the true understanding of Aboriginal culture and histories is still
& cultures unknown for the majority of westernized Australian people. Therefore to reduce and
remove racism within the society, the effective teaching of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander history and culture holds a significant importance. To achieve this rich
and authentic teaching resources of national and local content need to be
implemented in order for students to respect and appreciate Aboriginal Culture. The
Victorian Curriculum states under the humanities area of geography, that foundation
to 2 students need to understand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Country/Place
on which the school is located and why Country/Place is important to Aboriginal and
 Torres Strait Islander peoples, and the ways in which they maintain special
connections to particular Country/Place (2016). Under this strand it elaborates that
students need to be able to describe the connections of Aboriginal peoples with land,
sea, sky and animals of their Country/Place (VC 2016).

Resource 3 (The Rainbow Serpent YouTube clip) is a useful resource for exploring
Aboriginal dream time stories such as the Rainbow Serpent. By using a projector or a
smartboard to display this clip will be both engaging and entertaining for students.
For Aboriginal people, storytelling is an important part of this culture and history as
they are used to pass on cultural knowledge, values and beliefs. Rob Gilbert supports
the importance of teaching dream of who explains that story telling is a key part of
Indigenous culture, and has an important role in to play in teaching and learning
(2014, p.350). Describing the true role of a story teller is to teach cultural values and
passing on cultural knowledge and belief systems, experiencing the importance of
these stories (Gilbert, 2014).

The limitations of this resource is that it doesnt focus on local Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander history and culture. Its more of a general and broad approach to
teaching this topic where instead these stories need to be more relevant and unique
to local Aboriginal people. Never the less the resource does tell the story of a
significant dream time story along with exposing students to Aboriginal music, which
is played during the clip.

Global & Asia I think it clear and simple why its important to learn this topic. All you have to do is
take into account how many Asian born people where around ten years ago
compared to now. The Australian Bureau of Statistics explains that the percentage of
Australian residents born overseas has increased each year for the last 15 years
(2014). It also mentions that the number of Australian residents born in India has
almost tripled over the last 10 years and residents born in China have more than
doubled in this time. (2014). Therefore the population of Asian students within
schools is going to increase. To provide these students with a sense of belonging,
school curriculum needs to have links to Asian culture and history in order for other
students to respect and appreciate their fellow Asian classmate and their heritage.
This is supported by Welch who states Intercultural understanding is attitudinal and
behavioural in essence, and ought to mean in practice that all students feel they
belong in the school, Australian society and beyond and can see themselves in the
curriculum. (2011)
I believe the Asian chatterbox and the global education website to be useful and
engaging resources for teaching Asian perspectives. The benefits of using the global
education resource is that it allows students to connect with how Asian people live
and their homes through the images presented. Along with the support of classroom
discussion and mind maps students will be able to identify the diversity in homes
compared to their own. The only limitations of this resource is that the students might
not be able to truly understand the living conditions some people live in by just
looking at a photo. Instead a short video/ documentary on a child or family living in
Asia could be more beneficial for students to gain a greater understanding of their
way of life.
Worldviews & Teaching the topic of world views and religions is important to teach in schools to
Religions develop children into worldly and global capable individuals. The importance of
teaching this topic in schools is supported by the Victorian Curriculum who states It
enables students to be more informed and engaged at both a local and global level,
supporting an understanding of the perspectives of diverse local communities and the
beliefs and practices of diverse traditions. (2014). Through learning a range of diverse
cultures and communities around the world children will be less likely to discriminate
and more likely to be accepting of people from any corner of the globe. Mainly
because they will see them as human beings and not a negative stereotype of people
or events linked to their culture.

Thus I believe the YouTube resource called Kids speaking out on religion is a useful
resource to acknowledge the similarities of childrens views on religion from all
around the globe. Especially for children who are located in country Australia, as they
experiences and exposure to other cultures will be very limited.
Benefits of this resource is that it challenges the misconceptions of what white
westerners can have of foreign religions from places such as Asia and the middle east.
After watching the video the students will be able to see the similarities in their
opinions on religion. The importance of having these experience is mentioned in the
Reynolds book Teaching Humanities and Social Sciences in the Primary School which
states Students need a perspective on areas and groups in our world that we may not
be currently involved with or maybe have poor relations with (2014, p.226). The
improvements for this resource would be to know where each of children are from, as
all you can do is guess where theyre from by the religion they mention.