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Historical Inquiry : Case Study 5

Teaching Values and Attitudes in History: Multiculturalism in the Curriculum

by Jennifer Lawless

Why?

Primary HSIE:

Cultures Strand - CUS1.3, CUS2.3, CUS1.4, CUS2.4, CU3.4/
Social Systems and Structures Strand - SSS3.7, SSS2.8, SSS3.8.

Secondary History 7-10.

Stage 5 - Topic 6: Social and Political Issues from the 1970s-1990s.
Area of study: Multiculturalsm
Inquiry Questions:
- Why was the policy of multiculturalism introduced?
- How has multiculturalism influenced Australian society?
- What has been the impact of multiculturalism on Australian society?

What is multiculturalism?

'It is the recognition in public policy that a society is composed of varied elements, especially those based on language, nationality or religion. The policy of multiculturalism replaced the previous official policy of assimilation. It recognises the right of all Australians to enjoy their cultural heritage (including language and religion) and the right to equal treatment and opportunities for everyone regardless of their backgrounds. Multiculturalism also aims to ensure maximum use of the skills and talents of all Australians to assist economic efficiency.'

- Federal Race Discrimination Commissioner, 1997, Face the Facts.

How can we teach values and attitudes?

In dealing with controversial issues such as immigration history and policies, research has shown that teachers may ignore or neglect such issues if they are not confident of their own knowledge of the background causes and context. Another problem for teachers is how values and attitudes may be dealt with in the classroom.

1. Critically diagnosing information and evidence.

appreciating the complexity of an issue, rather than seeing it in simple black and white terms
sorting out the arguments of the various groups involved
differentiating between relevant and irrelevant information/fact and opinion
knowing where and how to locate information
recognising gaps and limitations in information
evaluating likely biases in sources of information
identifying agreement and disagreements in various accounts
comparing and contrasting evidence from both sides.

Questions to ask of people and information:

What motives could these people have for supporting this point of view?
How could they benefit from holding this point of view?
What is the purpose of the argument?
What relevant information had been omitted from their statements and why?
Why have they overlooked certain solutions to the issue?
What assumptions underlie their arguments?
What evidence is offered to support their point of view? How reliable is it?
What audience is the writer/speaker addressing? Why?
What impression is given by the argument?

Recognising the rhetoric:

Are there false analogies, emotive language or appeals to prejudice in their arguments?
How do they construct a particular history of the events to support their case?
Are they avoiding the issue or attacking the person rather than the arguments?

An underlying assumption is that in evaluating others' values, we have an understanding of the values we hold ourselves. The question needs to be asked: "How do I decide what values I believe are good and worth supporting and acting for?"

- adapted from Gilbert, R., Studying Society & Environments, 1996.

How might we teach a controversial issue such as multiculturalism?

provide the factual evidence such as statistics and government policies.
compile and discuss 'universal values' as a class. Do they exist?
check student understanding of terms and concepts - mix and match exercise.
conduct a diagnostic quiz to check on knowledge and understandings.
provide the historical context of migration policies and attitudes - create a migration timeline showing Aboriginal occupation.
examine the values held by students and evaluate them.
assess the evidence and arguments for bias, emotive language.
challenge stereotypes (substitute language or ethnic groups in documents, eg. substitute 'Anglo-celt' for 'Muslim' in the recent One Nation document criticising Islam).
personalise the experiences of migrants or refugees, eg. invite a guest speaker to speak of their experiences; read together personal life stories; conduct oral history research with migrants or refugees.
empathetic exercise, eg. What would you do in this situation?
Debate a range of varying views.

Multicultural Terms

*Assimilation*	Altering one culture's social characteristics to conform to those of another culture, usually the dominant one.
*Consultation*	The process of developing public policy by seeking the views of those likely to be affected.
*Cultures*	The social behaviour and systems of belief shared by groups of people which distinguish them from other groups.
*Ethnicity*	Social characteristics based on national, linguistic and/or religious backgrounds.
*Ethnic cleansing*	The displacement and exclusion, but not necessarily the murder, of a particular group of people.
*Genocide*	The intentional wiping out of an entire race of people.
*Migrant*	Someone born outside of Australia but now permanently living in Australia.
*Integration*	Fitting into mainstream society on an equitable basis without necessarily abandoning distinctive cultural traits.
*Interpreting*	The process of placing one spoken language into another accurately.
*Language maintenance*	The continued use and further development of a language other than that of the dominant culture.
*Multiculturalism*	The recognition in public policy that a society is composed of varied elements, especially those based on language, nationality or religion.
*NESB*	Non-English speaking background.
*Productive diversity*	The view that cultural diversity can have economic benefits nationally and internationally.
*Racial discrimination*	The practice of denying otherwise available benefits on the grounds of physical appearance, ethnic, national, linguistic or religious characteristics.
*Racism*	The belief that human beings are unequal because of their ethnic, linguistic or religious inheritance or physical appearance.
*Refugee*	Someone who has escaped from their own country and has a reasonable fear of persecution if they returned.
*Stereotype*	A 'mental picture' or image of a particular group of people based on a range of definable, though unjustifiable, characteristics.
*Subcultures*	Behavioural and belief systems which differ from but are enclosed within a broader culture.
*Translating*	The process of placing a written text from one language into another accurately.

*From:*	Jupp, J (1996) Understanding Australian Multiculturalism & Zelinka, A (1996) Understanding Racism in Australia.