Teacher information

In the main, the activities outlined in this module work towards student demonstration of the following outcomes:

• TCC 5.2 Students represent situations before and after a period of rapid change.

• TCC 5.4 Students explain the consequences of Australia’s international relations on the development of a cohesive society.

• TCC 5.5 Students identify values inherent in historical sources to reveal who benefits or is disadvantaged by particular heritages.

• TCC 6.1 Students evaluate evidence from the past to demonstrate how such accounts reflect the culture in which they were constructed.

• TCC 6.5 Students develop criteria based judgments about the ethical behaviour of people in the past.

• CI 5.4 Students describe how governments have caused changes to particular groups.

• CI 5.5 Students express how dominant and marginalized identities are constructed by media and other influences.

• CI 6.1 Students analyse the ways in which various societies inhibit or promote cultural diversity.

• CI 6.4 Students describe instances of cultural change resulting from government legislation or policies that have impacted on cultural groups.

Integration into a classroom teaching module

In addition to working towards outcomes from the Time, Continuity and Change and Culture and Identity strands of the SOSE syllabus, The Crocodile Creek Uprising is well suited to classroom modules based on some of the ‘conceptual organizers’ of the Systems, Resources and Power Strand. The significant role of the goldfields in the lead up to the development of the White Australia Policy can be used as a case study in modules based on the conceptual organizers of Citizenship and Government and Access to Power.

For example, students can investigate attitudes towards and actions against the Chinese on the goldfield, the limited response of the authorities in defense of these peoples and the anti-Chinese position taken by both the state and national press and government which led to the design and implementation of the White Australia Policy.

Similarly, students can work towards the demonstration of the SRP 5.4 and SRP 6.4 by analyzing the legal and political background of these events and the disparities between the rights of white and Chinese miners. Using the Crocodile Creek Uprising as a case study, this can also be extended to SRP 5.5 and 6.5, where students develop understandings of social justice and democratic process.

Overview

The acceptance of minority cultures and their uniqueness has been a challenge for Australians since settlement began.

The Chinese in Australia have often felt the full weight of discrimination because of their marked differences from the dominant culture. They spoke a different language, they dressed differently, they wore their hair differently, they worshipped different gods in peculiar ways and they even smelled different. Today, some of those differences remain, but they are viewed through the eyes of a new generation, one for whom variety and difference are not always suspect.

This unit seeks to understand the decisions and actions of the people of our past.

Students will be offered the opportunity to explore this history and its implications by :

• developing a list of push and pull factors that led the Chinese to travel to the Australian goldfields
• creating a model of living conditions on the goldfield
• creating a table/poster illustrating the similarities and differences between the ‘white’ miners and the Chinese miners
• role playing the Crocodile Creek Uprising to gain an insight into the passions that led to the rioting
• listing other activities undertaken/services provided by the Chinese on the gold field, (eg: market gardens, stores, public houses)
• discussing/debating the roll of the media in inflaming anti-Chinese sentiment
• creating a timeline of events surrounding the Chinese in Australia
• writing a persuasive essay demonstrating the links between anti-Chinese sentiment on the goldfields and the eventual adoption of the White Australia Policy.

In keeping with the ideal of the Lifelong Learner, Learning Logs should be maintained throughout the unit so that students can track the development of their own perceptions, understandings and views. For templates and ideas regarding the setting up of Learning Logs see Curriculum Futures: Preferred Practices.