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Humanities Resource List

Texts (4) 1. Kindersley, D (2013) The Politics Book, DK Publishing: New York

This book provides a summary of more than 100 political ideas and theories

throughout history. The theories/ists cover all schools of thought and cover

Confucius, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbs, Benjamin Franklin, Rousseau,

Marx, Gandhi, Lennon, Nelson Mandela and Noam Chomsky. This book uses

infographics to present highly complex information and ideas in a simple way.

Teachers can provide students with small snippets of the book to introduce and

discuss political theory and ideas.

Subjects: Politics, Civics and Citizenship, History, Philosophy, Legal Studies

2. Orwell, George (1945) Animal Farm,

Animal farm is a fictional novel about the uprising of farm animals against their

human masters and the eventual decline of their society. The novel is an allegory

of the 1917 Russian Revolution and the era of Stalin rule in the Soviet Union. There

is a broad range of topics that can be discussed using the novel including:

How is political ideology different to politics in reality?

Why governments are overthrown?

What happens when societies deteriorate?

Who determines laws and for what benefit?

Students can study the events in the book, compare them to the actual events in Stalinist Russia and

then further build on this knowledge by looking at other examples through history. Literacy can also be

integrated into humanities using this novel as students can study the text and language features.

Subjects: Politics, History and English

3. Dr Seuss (1971) The Lorax,

The Lorax is a picture book warning against the dangers of excessive human consumption

and greed and destruction of the environment. This book is a great introduction to issues

of biodiversity and the human induced threats to biodiversity such as deforestation,

global warming and pollution. Students can study the issues raised in the text and

compare them to issues identified in the real world, for example cutting down trees to

make paper and wood products and the effects on animals. Students can also make links back to the

story when investigating real examples to solidify their knowledge and understanding.

Subjects: Geography

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4. Oxford Big Ideas Textbook series

This is a textbook series produced by Oxford University Press for year 7-10

humanities subjects. This is a valuable resource as the series is structured around

the key inquiry questions set out in the Australian Curriculum. The textbook is

also unique as it uses the Blooms Taxonomy approach to work through each

inquiry question. At the end of each section, a series of activities is given building

from remembering and understanding, to applying and analysising and finally

evaluating and creating.

Subjects: History and Geography

Professional organisations and providers of education services (5) 1. National Museum of Australia

http://www.nma.gov.au/education-kids

The National Museum of Australia (NMA) is an Australian Government organization dedicated to

collecting and telling the social history of Australia and Australian people. The NMA has a substantial

education department that creates resources for secondary schools including excursions, a mobile tele-

presence facility to connect with schools remotely, professional development opportunities for teachers

and a huge collection on online materials and resources for teachers to use in classroom lessons.

Subjects: History, Politics, Geography and Civics and Citizenship

2. National Geographic Society

http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/?ar_a=1

The National Geographic Society (NGS) was founded in 1888 to increase geographic knowledge and

educate people about the planet Earth. The NGS creates and hosts a large collection of online teaching

resources including lesson plans, activities, ideas and units. The NGS also offers self-guided professional

development resources for example Environmental Literacy Guides. Currently, the NGS is exploring the

educational use of technologies such as digital libraries, online communities and interactive mapping.

For example students can use an interactive map maker to look at geographical data such as climate,

land and water use, political systems, and pollution levels and energy use.

Subjects: History, Politics, Geography and Civics and Citizenship

3. The Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies

http://sustainability.ceres.org.au/program/student/

CERES is a not-for-profit organization, located in East Brunswick VIC, which was set up to deliver

environmental education services. All activities and work of the organization go towards achieving their

mission of addressing the causes of climate change, promoting social wellbeing and connectedness,

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building local and global equity and embracing and facilitating rapid

change. Taking students to visit the CERES building would make a great

geography and sustainability excursion as it was built on an old blue

stone quarry and hosts a range of sustainable displays and enterprises

such as organic markets, nursery and cafes. CERES also offers a range of

incursions, such as the Do More with Less Student Leadership Program, teaching resources and

professional development opportunities.

Subjects: Geography, Sustainability and Civics and Citizenship

4. History Teachers Association of Australia

http://www.historyteacher.org.au/

This is the professional organization for history teachers in Australia. HTAA provides support for teachers

and creates a network of practice to facilitate the exchange of information and ideas. HTAA is also a

great source of professional development opportunities as it hosts a number of conferences and

programs.

Subjects: History, Civics and Citizenship

5. Australian Federation of Societies for Studies of Society and Environment (AFSSSE)

http://www.afssse.asn.au/index.htm

AFSSSE is a consortium of four professional associations: the Australian Association for Environmental

Education (AAEE), the Australian Geography Teachers' Association (AGTA), Business Educators

Australasia (BEA) and the Social Educators Association of Australia (SEAA). The website provides links to

all four associations as well as a range of teaching resources such as units on business, the environment,

geography, culture and history. For example, there is a link to an online unit called Arab Gateways,

through which students investigate the history, culture, geography and economics of the Arab region.

This organization is most useful in providing links to other organisations and opportunities for

professional development.

Subjects: Economics, Geography, Sustainability, History, Civics and Citizenship

Digital resources (5) 1. Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

While Wikipedia doesn’t carry much weight in the academic sphere, I believe it is a useful digital

resource for high school students. Students can use Wikipedia to develop a basic understanding an issue

and its key terms and concepts at the first stage of commencing research. Wikipedia also provides

students with the opportunity to create, critique and edit content, which further develops their skills for

critical and analytical thinking. A really fun way to use Wikipedia is to play the Wikipedia game: give the

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student two seemingly unrelated words/concepts and ask students to navigate from one word to the

other by clicking through the links of Wikipedia. Ask students to reflect on the connecting

words/concepts.

Subjects: All subjects

2. The United Nations Cyber School Bus

http://cyberschoolbus.un.org/cyberschoolbus/index.shtml

This website was developed by the United Nations in 1996 through the Global Teaching and Learning

Project. The aim of the website is to provide accessible, low cost, high quality educational resources on

international affairs and bring together diverse communities of students and teachers from across the

globe. Issues covered include poverty, human rights, Indigenous peoples and discrimination.

Subjects: Economics, Geography, Sustainability, History, Civics and Citizenship

3. Parliamentary Education Office of the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia

http://www.peo.gov.au/teachers/index.html

The Parliamentary Education Office (PEO) provides a range of educational resources and services for

teachers and students. The PEO offers free lesson plans and resources for teachers to use in their own

classroom, primarily using role-play to provide students with an authentic experience. I used one lesson

plan from this site during my placement where the students formed their own political parties and it

was a great success.

Subject: Politics, Civics and Citizenship

4. Edmodo

https://www.edmodo.com/home

Edmodo is one of the best online communication resources I have found. It has so many features to

support teachers to manage the work of a class including:

Creating virtual classrooms to post information to students

Posting and submitting assignments online

Developing and administering quizzes and polls with instant feedback

Issuing student badges and rewards

Edmodo also functions as an online network of practice, connecting you to teachers, information and

resources across the globe. The only drawback of this website is that students must create their own

login, which can take time to manage particularly if the website is not regularly used.

Subject: all subjects

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5. ABC website

http://www.abc.net.au/

The ABC website provides a huge range of information and resources for teachers to draw on for

lessons. Some of the facilities include:

Streaming educational TV shows and documentaries

Online newspaper and articles for students to read and research

Splash education portal providing resources and lesson for teachers, with a specific page on history

covering Australian culture and identity, civil rights, global perspectives and environmental issues.

ABC factcheck, which is a series of

articles examining and determining

the accuracy of claims made by

public figures about current issues

The ABC is also a good information

resource and media outlet for students to know about as an alternative to commercial news and media.

Subjects: All subjects

Films and/or documentaries (4)

1. First Australians (2008)

First Australians is a seven part series looking at the colonization and birth of

Australia from the perspective of Aboriginal Australians. The true stories of key

individuals are retold using a variety of primary and secondary sources,

photographs, journal entries, letters and a cast of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal

academics, historians and public figures. One of the most important features of

this series is that it was written, produced and directed by Aboriginal filmmakers.

Subject: History, Civics and Citizenship, Geography

2. Life is Beautiful (1997)

Set in Italy during World War Two, this comedy follows the experience of one man

and his family during the occupation of the German Forces. In an attempt to hold his

family together and help his son survive the horrors of a Jewish Concentration Camp,

the man imagines that the Holocaust is a game and that the grand prize for winning

is a tank. This movie provides an alternative perspective to view and discuss the war

and the Holocaust and the impact it had outside of the Jewish population and

Germany. The movie is very engaging and will capture the interest of students, while

still highlighting and giving opportunity to discuss the events and issues of WW2.

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Subject: History

3. The Castle (1997)

This light-hearted comedy is set in suburban Australia and depicts the story of the working class Kerrigan

family, who live a simple, happy life right next door to an airport until they receive a notice to vacate

because the airport wants to expand. This film raises a range of issues for classroom discussion including

a citizens rights within Australian law, urban growth and expansion, livability, social class and Australian

identity.

Subject: Politics, Legal Studies, Civics and Citizenship, Geography

4. Once upon a time in Cabramatta (2012)

This is a three-part documentary series looking at how Vietnamese refugees fleeing the Vietnam War

and subsequent migrants have found their place within a multicultural Australia. The series looks at the

political environment and policy decisions of successive governments, racism, the development of street

gangs and drug culture, and the challenges of Vietnamese people to find their democratic voice and turn

their community around. The series can be supplemented by investigating past and current

demographics of Cabramatta and other suburbs, the migration and settlement experiences of different

people, urban decline, intergenerational disadvantage and grassroots community action.

Subject: Civics and Citizenship, Geography, History

Simulation game (2)

1. Go back to where you came from

http://www.sbs.com.au/goback/schools

Go back to where you came from is based on the ABC mini-series of the same name. Through this game,

students take an interactive journey through the asylum seeker process by trying to escape a war-torn

Australia with no money, passport or family. This is a very engaging game and is accompanied by a very

comprehensive set of lesson plans, activities and discussion guides.

Subjects: History, Politics, Geography, Economics, Civics and Citizenship

2. Evoke

http://www.urgentevoke.com/

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Evoke is a free 10-week online simulation game developed by

the World Bank. The game uses a series of missions and

quests to teach students about social issues and encourage

them to come up with innovative and creative solutions. This

games covers topics such as food security, energy and water

use, poverty, women’s rights and Indigenous cultures. The

game uses the form of a graphic novel to provide information

and set the scene for the students.

Subjects: Geography, Economics, Civics and Citizenship