History k-10 Syllabus 2012

Difference and diversity

History is well placed to develop students’ knowledge and understanding about the difference and diversity amongst peoples of the past and within Australian society. Students learn to identify and empathise with the varying perspectives of individuals and groups over time and attempt to understand the actions, values, attitudes and motives of people from the past. This focus on difference and diversity provides students with the opportunity to explore similarities and differences between today and the past. Such an approach enables students to investigate the circumstances of those whom society has marginalised because of their beliefs, gender, race and socio-economic status. Such inquiries would highlight the impact of colonisation and the struggles for rights and freedoms, revealing the ways diversity contributes to and enriches a deeper sense of community and national identity.

Work and enterprise

In History there are opportunities to investigate and examine the living and working conditions of the people of the past and their experience under changing social, economic and technological developments. Students are enabled to understand how their own rights and responsibilities in the contemporary workplace have been achieved in the context of earlier generations’ struggles for rights and freedoms from the early years of the Industrial Revolution, the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the convict system in British Australia.
Early Stage 1
Content for Early Stage 1
Personal and family histories
Personal and Family Histories provides students with the opportunity to learn about their own history and that of their family; this may include stories from a range of cultures and other parts of the world. As participants in their own history, students build on their knowledge and understanding of how the past is different from the present.
Overview of teaching and learning
Knowledge and understanding, concepts and skills are interrelated and should be taught in an integrated way to provide meaningful learning experiences for students. By engaging with the following content, students will have the opportunity to engage with historical content, concepts and skills.