Bringing big national ideas into local classrooms is the key driver in a number of innovative new teaching techniques at Glen Innes High School according to History and Indigenous Studies teacher Adele Chapman-Burgess.
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As three significant dates circulated through public and private schools across the state last week, Ms Chapman Burgess said local students responded particularly well to the multi-media and technology based teaching methods, allowing significant national events to be translated on a local level.
Beginning on Monday, May 26, Ms Chapman-Burgess said she was particularly pleased to co-ordinate with a number of local teachers across the faculties in commemorating National Sorry Day.
Presenting students across numerous classrooms with a video-clip of Kevin Rudd’s 2008 apology to indigenous children attached to the Stolen Generation, produced by popular music icon Will-i-am, Ms Chapman-Burgess said the clip was useful in translating the ideas and national issues that surround indigenous culture and to open conversation in local classrooms.
As Reconciliation Week drew in major political and historical events including the 1967 referendum to include indigenous Australians in the census on May 27, approaching its 50th anniversary in 2017, and the 1992 Mabo case to recognise Native Title in Australia, Ms Chapman-Burgess said she was pleased to see students already well-versed in the themes and issues surrounding the events resulting in quality dialogue and conversation in the classroom.
As GIHS moves into the age of technology, combining traditional teaching methods with advanced and multi-plat formed technological resources, students were able to gain access to a wide variety of sources, including documentaries and interviews, as well as harnessing social media to share resources.
Recognising the anniversary of the Myall Creek Massacre on Monday, June 16, Years 8 and 11 students travelled to Myall Creek on Friday, June 13, with direct descendants of both the perpetrators, Ian and Bula Adams, and those who escaped, Suzie Blacklock, for a tour of the site in conjunction with a case study students have undertaken as part of their history course.
With educational resources coming from a variety of technological and practical platforms, Ms Chapman-Burgess said the innovative teaching methods are targeted at reaching more students and promoting an awareness of the effects of national issues on the local scale.
