Asian Studies Program

Chinese Australia

Teacher's guide

for In or Out? The Chinese in Australia
by Jill Wilson

Introduction

Use this Subject Sampler to help 9 -10 Social Studies students learn about the experiences of the Chinese prior to Federation. The goal is to get students thinking about the experiences of migrants, both historically and in contemporary times.

Overview

Main Topic: Chinese at Federation

Subtopics: Experiences on the goldfields, Experiences post goldfields, The White Australia Policy,

Grade Level: 7 - 9

Subject(s): Social Studies

Learning Goal: engaging in critical thinking

Vision and Reality

If the learning goal were achieved in the most ideal of perfect worlds it would look something like:

This Quest will hopefully work in a number of ways.

  1. It will help students to 'stand in the shoes' of specific Chinese as they faced the challenges of being in Australia of the 1900's.
  2. Encourage students to wrestle with the classis migrant dilemmas such as assimilation and whether to stay or go
  3. Help students see that the current narratives about migration to Australia have a deep reverberation in out history

However, what I anticipate probably looks more like:

Based on the Vision set for this activity, the actual reality is more likely to be that students may gain a simple understanding of the challenges facing specific groups of Chinese immigrants during this period (Federation).

The teacher can make a difference here by encouraging a depth of empathy and understanding of the compexities underlying their situation, both in Australia and China. The teacher can also work with the students in teasing out some contemporary links or connections.

The What - If Inventory

To give the activity its best chance at helping students learn, I assembled this list of possible resources:

  • Technology Resources
  • Internet Potential
  • Possible Collaborations
  • Special Events
  • General Resources
  • Standards

Conclusion

The Subject sampler presumes that there has been some classroom teaching about what the 'White Australia Policy' is.

Issues of migration almost inevitably are controversial so some care in discussion of the material is advised.