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Teaching Ashoka

9/4/2016

Ashoka appears in several of the HSIE syllabuses. There are ungoing debates about the place of India in History syllabuses. Discussions on the new draft Modern History syllabus have addressed the exclusion of some important topics and events related to modern India. This is despite the push with the 7-10 Australian Curriculum and new NSW syllabuses to include the Cross Curriculum Priority of Asia and Australia's Engagement with Asia. In terms of ancient India, Ashoka, an important personality in ancient India is actually included in three separate syllabuses: 7 History, Studies of Religion and Ancient History (new draft syllabuses). Most of the resources below have been designed for Studies of Religion, but you may like to modify them for a History class.

History - Stage 4 - The Ancient World - The Asian World Depth Study - India
The role of a significant individual in the ancient Asian world, for example ... Ashoka.
Students:

using a range of sources, including ICT, investigate the role of a significant individual in the ancient Asian world.
assess the role and importance of the individual chosen.

Studies of Religion - Stage 6 (HSC) - Buddhism
Significant People and Ideas

Explain the contribution to Buddhism of ONE significant person or school of thought other than the Buddha drawn from (a list including...).Asoka
Analyse the effect of that person OR school of thought on Buddhism

Ancient History (Draft syllabus) - Stage 6 (Prelim) - Investigating Ancient History - Case Studies
Students investigate:

representations of Ashoka - ancient and/or modern
an historical overview of the Mauryan Empire and Chandragupta Maurya
features of the physical environment: topography and resources
features of the administration, economy and religion in the empire
the nature of sources and evidence - written sources,... and archaeological sources.
family background, early life and career, problems with succession
early reign, expansion of the empire
the Battle of Kalinga: aims, outcomes and impact on Ashoka, interpretations of his personality and behaviour before and after the battle
extent and impact of Ashoka's pacificism
trade and spread of Buddhism
assessment of his life and reign: approached to religion; administration
use of Buddhist sources and the Edicts of Ashoka in reconstructing his life and the question of whether Ashoka converted to Buddhism

For Studies of Religion, students could complete a research activitiy in pairs or groups on Ashoka. Each pair or group investigates one of: his pilgrimages, his missionary activities, monuments and stupas built by Ashoka, and his life as a model Buddhist. Students can then present their findings to the class (try to make sure there aren't too many groups or this kind of activity can become a bit drawn out).

ashoka_research_activity.doc
File Size:	28 kb
File Type:	doc

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The file below is a (very long) cloze passage on Ashoka. I know some people have issues with cloze passages, but they are a good way to ensure students are actually reading the texts provided, it is a change from the usual reading and answering questions, it provides a summary they can later read through, and it builds some basic literacy skills. Also, my theory is, providing a bit of variety is a good thing. Obviously don't use cloze passgaes all the time, but one here and there just means they aren't doing the same type of activity over and over again.

ashoka_cloze_passage.doc
File Size:	29 kb
File Type:	doc

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The Ashoka cut and paste activity is a good activity to help students organise their learning about Ashoka's impact on Buddhism in a hands on way.

ashoka_cut_and_paste_activity.doc
File Size:	31 kb
File Type:	doc

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Essay scaffolds may be useful for training students to organise their writing into structured paragraphs. These may be useful for a first draft of an essay. Obviously they don't provide enough space for the students to write a complete essay, but they may need them to write the key points that they will then expand on.