 Some generic bushfire lesson plans and sequences: GTA NSW - Geography Alive - Bushfire Hazards in Australia Bushfire lesson plan - Australian Institute of Disaster Resilience Bushfire Education - Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority Preparing for an emergency - NSW Rural Fire Service Bushfires and grassfires - CFA, Victoria Learning about Bushfires - Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority
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Dates for consultation on the new draft syllabus for Senior Geography have recently been announced. To find about about the dates click to see the Geography and Geography Life Skills Stage 6 Draft Syllabus Consultation page.
There are several documents worth reviewing prior to consultation sessions: - The Geography and Geography Life Skills Stage 6 syllabus review (released 2018) - Geography and Geography Life Skills Stage 6 Draft Directions for Syllabus Development (released for the consultation period July-September 2018) - Feedback from GTANSW and ACT Draft Directions At this stage four different options for course structure have been provided by NESA for review and consultation. The new syllabus draft that will be released just prior to the consultation meetings (22 July) is likely to be based on one of these models. Preliminary course All Preliminary options provided included a topic on The Nature of Geography, a Geographical Investigation and a Global Transformations topic. This last topic may be drawn from the Australian Curriculum and can be found at the Australian Curriculum (Global Transformations) page. Two of the proposed course structure options included Natural and Ecological Hazards, likely drawn from the Australian Curriculum (Natural and Ecological Hazards) topic. One option included Biophysical Interactions, likely drawn from the existing Stage 6 syllabus. One option includes a topic Physical Environments and Natural Hazards, possibly a melding of the existing Biophysical Interactions topic and the Australian Curriculum Natural and Ecological Hazards. HSC course Sustainable Places looks certain to be included in the HSC course, being in each of the 4 proposed options. This is one of the Australian Curriculum topics and the national version of the topic can be found on the Australian Curriculum (Sustainable Places) site. The Ecosystems at Risk topic has been retained in all four options, but in Option 4 to a lesser extent. Until the draft syllabus is released we won't know how much of the actual topic is likely to be changed or retained. Population Change is a topic in two of the proposed course structure options. The topics Human and Ecological Change, People and Economic Integration and Landcover transformation are each found in one option. It is possible that these will draw on the Australian curriculum topic Australian Curriculum (Landcover Transformation), or the existing People and Economy Activity topic. Overview - What we know so far... Preliminary course 3 topics and an investigation: - Nature of Geography - Global Transformations - One topic still to be announced - possibly some combination of Biophysical Interactions and Ecological Hazards or one or the other. - Geographical Investigation HSC course 3 (possibly 4) topics: - Sustainable Places - Ecosystems at Risk (but may be a shorter version of the current topic) - One topic (or possibly two) still to be announced. There are a few different options as to what this topic will be. This is the first time there has been change in the Senior Geography syllabus in NSW for many years. It is important that as many people get involved in the consultation sessions as possible. Make sure you attend and have your say. ****************************************************************************** Later edit following release of Draft Syllabus: Preliminary topics are: - Earth's Natural Systems - Human Systems - Human-Environment Interactions - Geographical Investigation HSC topics are: - Planning for Sustainability - Urban and Rural Places - Ecosystems and Global Biodiversity In Designing a Liveable City - Part 1, students designed a town In Designing a Liveable City - Part 2, students completed a self-assessment of their town. In Designing a Liveable City - Part 3, students gave and received peer feedback on their towns and responded to the feedback. In Designing a Liveable City - Part 4, students developed their towns working in a larger group, by applying the 5Cs of community building. When students arrive in the class all group tasks have been attached together to make one large city. Some additional land/building spaces has also been added (additional pieces of paper). Students are still responsible for their own area and ensuring the liveability of their residents, but they will now have a say in how the whole city develops. Students will be provided with a number of development proposals that will go before a combined council meeting involving the whole class. They are provided with 5 minutes in their original group to determine which of the developments they might like in/near their original development area. They will also need to assess how each of the developments will impact on liveability of residents.
Developments:
Highway A new highway has been built along the edge of the city. Parts of the city which are connected to the highway will have greater access to other parts of the city, other cities and regional areas. However, people around the area of the off-ramp will also be negatively affected by construction and possibly some demolition to make way for new roads. You will need to decide where the off-ramps for the highway will be located. You are allowed to have three off-ramps in total. (Off ramps - minimum 8 cm long) Resort Complex A large multination corporation wants to build a resort complex and marina. It will include several large hotels, a golf course, and specially designed harbour with moorings for yachts and pleasure craft (boats). It needs to be located on the coastline to take advantage of beach locations and provide an appropriate location for the marina. It also needs to be accessible by road. Choose an appropriate location. (Marina - 8cx8cm, resort complex 10cmx10cm). Recreational Complex The Federal government is going to provide substantial funding for a recreation and lifestyle complex and regional park. It will include a number of tennis courts, basketball/netball courts, soccer fields, football fields, as well as some open parkland with bike paths and foot paths. The complex will contribute positively to the quality of life of your residents. Choose an appropriate location. (Recreation complex 12 cmx12cm). National Park Lobbyists have proposed the creation of a national park. The park will protect environmental quality, provide opportunities for recreation (e.g. bushwalking, mountain climbing or snorkelling), and provide opportunities for tourism activities. Choose an appropriate location for the national park (12 cmx12cm). Technology hub A giant technology firm wants to set up a Tech Hub which will include a number of start-up businesses (new, small businesses) as well as several large technology businesses all in the one space. This will provide opportunities for employment in the city. (Tech Hub – 10cmx10cm) Assessing impact As individuals, students need to consider how each of these proposals will impact on liveability for residents, by determining the pros and cons of each proposal. Proposing a site In their original groups, students need to choose the proposal they are most interested in, propose an appropriate site and explain the impact on liveability. Council meeting As a whole class, the students will need to make decisions by consensus, debating and assessing the developments for Liveability. They will need to determine which developments will go ahead, and the best locations for each development proposal. In Designing a Liveable City - Part 1, students designed a town In Designing a Liveable City - Part 2, students completed a self-assessment of their town. In Designing a Liveable City - Part 3, students gave and received peer feedback on their towns and responded to the feedback. When students arrive for this lesson, their towns have changed. The work of two groups has been joined together, so that two towns are now stuck together with some blank space in between. After working together with the one group for a while, at first students may be a little reluctant to work with others in a bigger group, but before long you will find that they will get on board knowing that they have more space to expand their town. Begin the lesson by revising content about Community and the characteristics that influence community identity. Discuss different suburbs or towns close to the school and how each of them have different identities and why. Discuss the culture of different places, and how the culture is expressed through public events and architecture. Revise the role of transport, technology, open spaces, meeting places and employment in building community. Read: The 5 "Cs" of community planning The students will be able to use the 5 "Cs" to guide the way they continue to develop their towns. Students move to their new, combined town and begin working with a larger group. They need to begin by explaining the different aspects of their initial town with the other half of the group and vice versa. Next they need to join the two towns together with roads and public transport and negotiate on how the land between the two towns will be used. Give them a set period of time (5-10 minutes depending on how much is left of the lesson) to work on each of the 5 'Cs'. At the end of the lesson they need to do a quick reassessment of the liveability of their new town based on the criteria provided in the previous lesson.  In Designing a Liveable City - Part 1, students designed a town. In Designing a Liveable City - Part 2, students completed a self-assessment of their town. Peer feedback provides an opportunity for students to assess liveability in a practical way, and also allows students to reflect on the feedback of others to make improvement in liveability. Hints on providing feedback. It is important to provide some guidance to students on how to provide effective feedback to their peers. If feedback is too harsh or personal it will not have the desired effect on progress. Provide the students with a brief criteria to base their judgements on, and go through the items listed to ensure the students know what all of the terms mean and the purpose of the task. In this case the criteria is a list of items that contribute to liveability. Students might just make simple suggestions such as "You need to build a high school" or "You need to build a hospital", but hopefully they will provide more detailed responses that indicate more knowledge of course content. In this lesson there were 6 groups of students, and each group rotated around to comment on the town plans of each other group. They were given "Peer Pointer Postcards" to write their comments on. They then returned to their own town map and had to reflect on the feedback given and consider changes to make to their plan. It is worth asking students to hand in their peer feedback to the teacher so you can check the comments that are made. This can then enable the teacher to ask the student to review any comments that are too personal or not detailed enough. Hints on receiving feedback Students who aren't used to peer feedback, may initially become defensive or upset about negative feedback. As the teacher it is important to prepare the students so they are ready and willing to accept ideas from others. A few tips for students:
 In Designing a Liveable City - Part 1, students designed a city. Once students have planned their city, they need to undertake a self assessment of their work. As a group they can sit and talk about the different aspects of their city and how they have addressed liveability. Provide them with a criteria to refer to. This might also be a good opportunity to provide students with a summary of the content that has been covered in class in relation to liveability, so that they can make connections between the activity they have been undertaking and course content.
The aim of this series of lessons is to allow students to apply their understanding of Liveability to a city design task. Students work in groups of 2-3 to design a small town, as the activity progresses they will reflect on what they have learnt in the Place and Liveability topic and apply it to their town. Phase 1: Design your town The first phase of this task involves designing the layout of the town. This will involve the initial road layout, agricultural land uses, some initial commercial land uses, power supply, and water storage. Provide some student choices so that you can provide a few variations in the first round of feedback. Provide students with a base page ( it may or may not have some geographical features on it such as mountains, coastline, rivers, etc). Also provide students with some blank, coloured pieces of paper, or you can copy the templates onto coloured paper - green (agricultural land), blue (water storage), pink (commercial), red (power supply), grey (roads). 
Design feedback This is an opportunity to provide some initial feedback to ensure the students get the basics right. Design the feedback so that it refers to the students as though they are members of the local council. For example, “The roads in your town don’t meet the requirements set out by the state government. You have been asked to resurface and redesign your roads. You need to complete this job before anyone moves into your town.”
Phase 2: Moving in... In the second phase of the task, students design the residential layout and density of the town. By placing a relatively small limit on the number of dwellings students have to focus on the layout of the town in the initial phases. 
Town plan scenarios Provide students with some scenarios that will allow them to start to think about the liveability of their towns. By this stage some of the groups' conversations will have already addressed aspects of liveability, but they may not have actually considered in much depth. Students are required to write a brief description of how they addressed each scenario.
Phase 3: Enhancing liveability Students will need to respond to the scenarios above, and should have started to consider some of the additional needs of a community. As a class discuss the content related to liveability that you have already covered in class, and then provide students with time to make changes to their town plan.  Next... refer to Designing a Liveable City - Part 2.
When I was a kid in the late 80s I remember colouring in a scared koala in a tree with the words “We want forests not wood chips”, that we then sent into parliamentarians. We now live in a world where koalas are more endangered than ever, with land clearing wiping out vast amounts of koala habitat (things are actually worse now than they were then). This is typical of a range of environmental issues globally.
Child and student activism is not a new thing, but we live in a world where students are connected in unprecedented ways. They are connected because of those mobile phones that we all complain about. Yes they’re posting rubbish about their makeup and favourite pop stars, but they also use them to connect about more serious issues too like the environment, mental health, dealing with bullying, etc. Those phones and social media is actually used for positive things, not just negative. Let’s be clear: this is not about teachers or schools. This is not organised by schools, and because most of the education sector are directly employed by the State government we are not allowed to publicly support it or to support it in the school setting. Many parents, however provide permission to students to leave school. This has been organised by children. The same children that we hear the media complain about being lazy, self-centred, illiterate, etc. This is what they can do without adults. They have access to more information and more research in a few simple clicks, then we would have had access to in a lifetime a couple of generations ago. These guys will be working and voting in the not too distant future. We had better sit up and take notice. The Australian ran an article today by Barry Maley titled "Public education fiasco can be fixed by restoring power to parents".
Maley discusses the apparent lack of power and authority that parents have in public schools, particularly emphasising their lack of control of learning. Maley claims that, “…parents are powerless to influence what their children are being taught”. The reality is that NSW public schools teach the syllabus developed by NESA. The Australian Curriculum was developed and received sign-off from state government Education Ministers before being modified to meet the needs for NSW (inclusion of outcomes, etc). All schools (public/private) are required to teach a syllabus – not just public schools. Teachers don’t just make it up on the day, they have to follow a fairly lengthy document that specifies what they teach and when. Parents don't determine what is taught in public schools, but they can't do it in private schools either. In terms of parental involvement, Malley does school P&Cs a disservice by failing to recognise their importance in driving key initiatives and improvements through applying for grants, making decisions about the types of resources P&C funds will be spent on and shaping the directions of the school through ongoing consultative processes. There are many processes and opportunities for parents to be involved in public schools, and many parents give much of their time to having a say and shaping their child's education. A great deal of this article made false claims about public education. Maley makes several statements regarding public schools underperforming or “lagging behind”. However, eight of the top ten ranked schools for HSC performance in 2018 were public schools – James Ruse High School, North Sydney Boys High School, Sydney Girls High School, Baulkham Hills High School, North Sydney Girls, Sydney Boys High School, Hornsby Girls High School and Northern Beaches Secondary, Manly Campus. Read: 2018 High School Rankings He also claims that, “Despite more and more money for schools….student achievement shows “little improvement”…”. This fails to take into account that as the Australian Education Union reports 85% of private schools get more public funding than public schools. Public schools also manage many more complex cases in terms of students with behavioural needs (private schools ”ask them to leave”), learning and support needs and disability (many private schools choose not to enrol these students or claim not to have the right facilities). Public schools are at the "coal face" of dealing with students in need (issues of domestic violence, homelessness, family breakdown, mental health issues). Public schools receive less money and are expected to do more with it. Malley uses a range of emotive phrases to make implications about the morality of public education and its teachers and students. He clearly has little understanding of what really happens in a public school. Examples of his phrases include public education’s “moral failure”, its apparent absence of “respectful and responsible conduct”, and discussion about whether public education should be “value free” (with the implication that it already is). The public education system is driven by a set of values which guide student welfare and discipline. The public schools that I have taught at have been underpinned by three core values. Focusing on three values makes it easy for students to remember and becomes like a motto or mantra when discussing behaviour. The values have varied from school to school, but they have generally been concepts like respect, responsibility, engagement, care, etc. The "discipline" structure (more commonly known as a behaviour management system these days) is based on PBL - Positive Behaviour for Learning. PBL provides consistent language to explicitly teach students about values and expectations. Public education is anything but value free. We do "social justice" and "service" every day of the week. That's our job. A bit of advice for the next social commentator who wants to tell us all what we are doing wrong - try stepping inside a school. Try finding out what actually happens on a day-to-day basis. Find out about the complexities, the achievements and the struggles. In other words, do your homework. |
Louise SwansonDeputy Principal at a Sydney high school. Coordinating author of the new Geoactive book series. Archives
March 2021
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