I planned this unit for students in or near the inner city in Sydney. They are ideally situated to learn about the city as their local area, being within walking distance of important sites as well as useful resources such as Mitchell Library and various archival deposits and museums.

A topic such as this, focussing on Sydney between 1850 and 1900, has great potential to utilise a variety of skills and intelligences. Depending on time constraints the focus could be broad or narrow, including any number of the following areas: cityscape, buildings, prominent people, art and music, literature, sport, publications, social life - so long as what is chosen directly relates to the immediate local area.

The unit is designed with a mixture of teacher-led lessons, personal research, student reports and site excursion, with a focus on students asking questions and then being encouraged to discover the answer and share it with the class.

Aims

Students will:
o learn about various aspects of their local area
o investigate topics of personal interest related to their local area
o develop their research skills
o develop skills across the multiple intelligences

 

Content

The unit has three distinct phases: a series of whole-class lessons is followed by an individual research assignment, then a cooperative group assignment.

Early Lessons (whole class)

Initial lessons would concentrate on general necessary information and background history, leading to specific people and events. These lessons are introductory to the students' embarking on a research and presentation project.

1. Look at a map of Sydney (eg that of 1854) and discuss the cityscape as a class. Questions to consider (and encourage students to try and answer):

o How does water shape a city's growth and development?
o Why is parkland so important?
o Where do the street names come from?
o How many buildings are still standing today?

Compare the early map with later maps, including a contemporary one.

2. o Read through some issues of the Sydney Morning Herald from the period.
o Look at the Bulletin and the impact it had on Sydney (despite its being known as the 'Bushman's Bible'). See how many names the students recognise, and what they know about them. Get some of the students to read or act out some of the poems and/or stories. Other students could provide illustrations or write their own poetry in the genre of the time.
o Look at the growing importance of Sydney as an international city. Use the Garden Palace and International Exhibition of 1879 as examples.
o Divergent thinking exercise: how might the Botanic Gardens be different if the Palace had survived?

3. Find several songs of the period (either composed or performed during the time). Perform them as a class.

4. Discuss some sounds and smells that may have been prevalent at the time that may not occur/be noticed today.

5. What sports were played in Sydney at the time? Discover some of the well-known sports identities and where they played.

6. Look at public transport of the time. What changes were occurring?

7. Go on a walking tour of Sydney seeing the sites of the later 19th century - Botanic Gardens, Government House, the Rocks, Macquarie Street, Hyde Park and surrounds, Millers Point, Town Hall and St Andrew's.

 

Discuss how the city has changed, remembering how some significant older buildings would once have dominated the skyline. Look at statues/memorials too.

8. Visit the museum of Sydney.

9. Look at the history of politics in Sydney, from the first parliament in 1856 through to Federation. How did parliament operate? Who were some of the influential people? How has parliament changed?

10. End-of-section fun - students create crossword and find-a-word puzzles to photocopy and hand around class for each other to complete.

 

Research Assignment (including lessons in Mitchell Library, City Library and School Library)

Each student researches a significant person, building or event, and discusses its impact on life in Sydney between 1850 and 1900. The project must include an oral presentation to the class (5-10 minutes) and one or more of the following:

o written assignment
o 'newspaper article'
o biography or obituary
o story (with factual basis)
o model
o advertising poster
o graph
o illustration.

Possible ideas for a significant person, building or event:

Famous people: W.C. Wentworth, J.F. Archibald, Henry Parkes, Ethel Turner, Cardinal Moran, Sir Patrick Jennings (Mayor), W.B. Dalley

Important public buildings: Australian Museum, St Mary's Cathedral, St Andrew's Cathedral, Town Hall, Synagogue, Lyon's Terrace, GPO

Significant events: Centenary (1888), Unveiling of Captain Cook Statue (1879) Visit of HRH Duke of Edinburgh (1868)

 

Cooperative Group Assignment

Following on from the topic of 19th-century Sydney I want the class to learn how exciting research can be, especially when digging for details provides clues and information not available in mainstream books. The previous research assignment should have demonstrated to students that some topics require more work to find information on than others - and when thorough searching leads to something the reward is self-achievement somewhat like a detective would feel.

For this third part of the unit, the whole class works together to present a classroom lesson/exhibition on William Bede Dalley. (On the walking tour of Sydney which I organised the students came across the statue of this great Australian in Hyde Park and as no one had heard of him I decided that he would be a most worthy subject of research.) In his time (1831-1888) he was an incredibly popular figure - a great orator, lawyer, judge, newspaper contributor, politician and patron of the arts - but today he is virtually unknown. Cooperative group work is almost a necessity here as the research required is huge. Varied sources need to be utilised but it is not an unrealistic task for a Year 10 class with teacher help.

Each group needs to have the various tasks outlined so the students know what is expected. Then by letting them list preferences, and name people they would like to work with, groups of two to five students can be decided on. If groups of friends naturally form and request a task that others do not want I would not disallow it, but I like to encourage students to get to know others in the class and utilise or develop skills they may normally let go unchallenged.

As groups will be relatively small (2-5 depending on tasks) the roles should be fairly equally shared. However groups may want to appoint a scribe or information holder or spokesperson or the like. Different tasks within the group will also need to be shared as the research develops and new leads become apparent.

 

Group Tasks:

o Biography project. Group (3-5 people) needs to determine what sort of short biography to produce (eg an entry in National Dictionary of Biography, a newspaper obituary, a funeral speech) and how to find the information.

o Timeline. Group (2-3 people) works with above group to seek information, the work to select main events in his life and plot it on a timeline. They might choose different colours to depict the different professional areas.

o Map work/diorama. Group (2-3 people) plots all the significant locations of Dalley's life on a map of Sydney (eg where he lived and worked), perhaps also making a model of inner Sydney or of one or more of his homes. This group could also plan a walking tour of the sites.

o Case Studies. Group (3-5 people) chooses several other significant people or events and gives detailed reports of them and how they influenced Dalley's life, for example:

people: Sir James Martin (brother-in-law), Archbishop Polding (teacher), Henry Parkes (close friend and political opponent), Frank Gardiner (bushranger and old school friend whom Dalley later defended in court);

events: sending troops to the Sudan, Mount Rennie rape case, attempted assassination of HRH Duke of Edinburgh by H.J. O'Farrel), Dalley's early political career or his Catholic faith.

o Role Play. Group (3-4 people) acts out one of above or another situation, or presents one or more of Dalley's speeches. One of his cases as a lawyer could be turned into a courtroom trial, or they could debate whether his decision to commit troops to the Sudan was the right one.

o Song. For the musically inclined a group (2-3 people) could perform a song on the life of Dalley. They could either compose their own or use ideas from various odes and poems about him published in the Bulletin and other papers.

o Portrait/Bust. By studying pictures and statues this group (2-3 people) could design and produce a portrait or bust (eg papier mache) or the like to display in the classroom (Dalley was renowned for his unique dress sense). Perhaps the group could dress a mannequin or group member.

o Concluding activity. After all groups have presented their work and shared resources the students could decorate the classroom and discuss aspects of Dalley's life. An important question which could form part of the discussion is: 'Why, given his popularity at the time, is Dalley now virtually unknown whereas contemporaries such as Parkes and Wentworth have not been forgotten?'

 

Potential problems

I envisage problems with the students finding material (or thinking they can't find it!) but this can be minimised by the teacher having a clear guide to possible resources and having a lesson at the start about various research techniques and sources. Any personality clashes within the groups will have to be dealt with as with any classroom situation, ie with fairness, patience and firmness. Constant encouragement and affirmation of students is necessary as they hunt for clues, as is shared excitement when they find them! Encourage groups to see the project as a whole-class one with competition discouraged and sharing of information and ideas applauded.

As this is a difficult task at first glance the students need a helping hand when they appear to be floundering. Pointing them in the direction of the CDRom, relevant newspaper and article/journal references, correspondence or ephemera or clippings files at the right time will lift their spirits and help them see how historians really work. Already copied articles can also be handed out when needed.

 

Assessment

Close teacher supervision throughout the whole project is essential, to monitor student progress and give much-needed help as appropriate. The finished products and oral presentations should give clear feedback on how successful the project was. The students should also be encouraged to write a journal detailing the problems faced, how they were solved and whether they enjoyed or disliked the whole experience.

An audience to share their final product would be fitting. The students could also celebrate their hard work by an excursion (the city walking tour) or a picnic lunch under the statue in Hyde Park.

Students should feel a great sense of achievement at the conclusion of this project. Out of nothing they will have created a well-rounded image of a man whose life deserves to be remembered as was hoped when his statue was erected in April 1897.

 

[Clare Dorey is an external student at UNE studying for her Graduate Diploma in Education. She designed this unit for classes at St Andrews Cathedral School in Sydney, where she completed a practicum and has done some casual teaching.]

©TalentEd is located at the School of Curriculum Studies, University of New England, Armidale, Australia.

This page updated: 23 January 2006 Webmaker: Howard Smith. hsmith4@une.edu.au