Creating a unit of work for Mallacoota P-12

College
Sophie Reichelt

Context of the School:

Mallacoota P-12 College is a co-educational government school located in Far East
Gippsland. It has a school population of approximately 133 students enrolled
(MySchool Official Website accessed August 24th.) Mallacoota P-12 College mission
is to maintain a happy learning community where students from prep to year twelve
can achieve their full potential in a unique social and natural environment
(Mallacoota P-12 College Official Website, accessed August 24 th). As seen in the
image below, Mallacoota P-12 College is surrounded by the Croajingolong National
Park and has access to a range of outdoor environments such as estuaries and
lakes, coastal heathlands, warm temperate rainforest and low land forest
(Croajingolong National Park Management Plan 1996, accessed August 25 th).
Mallacoota P-12 College offers students Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE)
Outdoor and Environmental Studies (OES) both units 1 & 2 in year 11 and units 3 &
4 in year 12.

Google Maps: Mallacoota P-12 College, accessed August 24th, 2015. Retrieved From:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Mallacoota+P-12+College/@37.5468633,149.7677274,9248m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!
1s0x6b3bdeaecf846c45:0x3e054e272af9a286

Unit 4: Outdoor and Environmental Studies

AOS 2: Sustainable Outdoor Environments
Outcome 2:
On completion of this unit the student should be able to analyse conflicts of
interest over the use of outdoor environments, and evaluate practices and
strategies for sustaining outdoor environments, with reference to specific outdoor
experiences
(VCAA 2011, Outdoor and Environmental Studies: Victorian Certificate of
Education Study Design. Retrieved August 24 th, 2015, pg. 23.)

At

least two conflicts of interest between people involved in uses of outdoor

environments, including at least one from the following:
Marine national parks and sanctuaries (Victoria)
Franklin River campaign (Tasmania)
Grazing in the Alpine National Park (Victoria)
Desalination plant at Wonthaggi (Victoria)
(VCAA (2011). Outdoor and Environmental Studies: Victorian Certificate
of Education Study Design. Retrieved August 24 th, 2015 from
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/vce/outdoor/outdoorenviro-sd2012.pdf)

Working with the unit text:

Cross, M., Hughes, P., Mannion, A., Park, L. (2015). Nelson Outdoor and
Environmental Studies VCE Units 1-4. ISBN-13:9780170348034

Practical Fieldwork:
Students will be undertaking an overnight canoe paddle along the Genoa
River. The Genoa River runs into Mallacoota Inlet, and is located in
Croajingolong National Park. The Genoa River was selected because it could
be considered local and is easily accessible for the school, therefore providing
less travel time and more practical and in turn paddling time. This justification
in conjunction with the Genoa River being local and familiar to students which
will enhance their sense of place, therefore enhancing their learning.
The Genoa River is world heritage listed (Heritage Rivers Act 1992, Act No.
36/1992, accessed August 24th 2015) and has not been dammed, which can
be likened to the Franklin River, making the experience more relevant to the
key knowledge within the Outdoor and Environmental Studies (OES) course
currently being undertaken.
Students learning will be enhanced by the first hand experience with the
Bastion Point campaign. Students have witnessed the for and against and
the process for the implementation of the proposed option 3b (Save Bastion
Point Official Website, Accessed August 24 th, 2015.). This first hand
experience with conflict surrounding a natural environment will give students
the opportunity to liken this to the Franklin River campaign, and hypothetically
liken it if the Genoa River if it was to ever be dammed.
Mallacoota P-12 College has access to some outdoor gear and equipment
such as tents, hiking packs, canoes and kayaks, PFDs and sleeping mats.
There is a boat ramp at Genoa River campgrounds where the journey can
begin and an exit point at Gypsy point boat ramp as well as Karbeethong Jetty
if weather was to permit and the paddle could be extended to paddle home to
Mallacoota. There are no camping areas in the National Park along the
Genoa Rover, but some private property farms closer to Gypsy point the
school has a strong relationship with to camp overnight.

Key Knowledge Teaching Unit Plan:

Below is a summary of the classes, resources and assessment tasks. This plan is based on there being two double 50-minute
periods and one 50-minute period a week, being a total of 250-minutes of Outdoor Environmental Studies contact time per week.
We
Lesson
Methodology
ek
Content/
Resources
Subject Matter
What the students are
What the teacher is doing
doing
1

1 and 2

Conflict of interest between The

Wilderness Society (TWS) and
Tasmanian Government involved
in the uses of Franklin River
campaign outdoor environment.

Introduce term conflict

Introduce Franklin River
Introduce TWS and
Tasmanian Government
Timeline of key dates

Begin lesson with images of

the Franklin River taken by
Peter Dombrovskis and
Olegus Truchanas.

Have SMARTBOARD ready with

images.

Class discussion regarding

the emotion the images
provoked.

Have prompting questions such

as:
- What was TWS trying to
provoke?
- Do you think community
members and politicians
would believe the natural
beauty without seeing
images/ real life?
- Would it affect you?
- What is conflict?

Introduce TWS and

Tasmanian Government.
Discuss both parties
involved. Show videos on
each.

Have blank A3 paper along

the wall and have students

TWS videos.
Blockade and campaign

Rock Island
Bend:
pg. 279 Nelson
textbook
OR
http://nla.gov.au/n
la.pic-an6631500
Franklin River
Campaign:
24mins:
https://www.youtu
be.com/watch?
v=vE1-kuZzhjM
Bloackade:
10 minutes:
https://www.youtu
be.com/watch?
v=rGpy8_v3tmI

Assessme
nt of
student
learning
Give teacher
a stick-it note
with 1 thing
they learnt
from the
lesson.

create a timeline with all the

key dates for the Franklin
River conflict. Leave it there
permanently as a revision
resource.

reflections.

Campaign
Reflections:
9 minutes:
https://www.youtu
be.com/watch?
v=1JHvADKUCw
k
TWS:
4 part
information
pages.
http://www.wilder
ness.org.au/frankl
in-rivercampaign-part-1beginningsaustraliasenvironmentalmovement
Pg. 279 Nelson
OES:
2 simplified table
of both parties.

Conflict of interest between The

Wilderness Society (TWS) and
Tasmanian Government involved
in the uses of Franklin River
campaign outdoor environment.

Group quiz: recap dates, key

individuals, conflict.
Creative experiment: have a

Have experiment already set-

Informal
Assessment:
SoCrative
Quiz:
https://b.socr
ative.com/tea

4 and 5

Re-cap last lesson: quiz

Demo of the effects of
damming
Persuasion tools

Conflict of interest between The

Wilderness Society (TWS) and
Tasmanian Government involved
in the uses of Franklin River
campaign outdoor environment.

Can clearly understand

both parties rationale
behind their view on the
Franklin.

tub of sand, dig out a river,

pour water down the river.
Create dams along the river,
continue pouring water,
notice the lack of water at the
end of the tub. The effects of
the damming for
hydroelectricity.

out.

Persuasive tools used by the

Tasmanian Government and
TWS to get community
members on side.
eg. Petition, double spread in
the newspaper, taking
politicians down the Franklin,
public speakers and
community meetings. (NOTE:
no social media).

Review video dates, key

individuals: propaganda,
qualities of speakers.

2 teams: debate.
All group members need to
equally contribute. Time to
plan then debate will take
place second period.

cher/#myquizzes

Debate will
be assessed.
Criteria sheet
given first
period.

1 and 2

Conflict of interest between The

Wilderness Society (TWS) and
Tasmanian Government involved
in the uses of Franklin River
campaign outdoor environment.

Conflict of interest between The

Wilderness Society (TWS) and
Tasmanian Government involved
in the uses of Franklin River
campaign outdoor environment.

4 and 5

Plan an overnight canoe

camp along the Genoa
River.

Check students gear before

leaving on camp.

Written reflection using

images taken during the
overnight trip along the
Genoa River.

Reflection and
assessment

At least two conflict of interest

between people involved in the
uses of outdoor environments,
including the Franklin River
campaign and _____.

Canoe trip:
- Packing list- camera
(can hire from school)
- Food
- Camp spots
- Travel to and home
- Route plan
- Weather
- History of Genoa- being
heritage listed.

Create news interview

In groups, create a 1-minute

speech as an individual or
group body discussing your
belief on the Franklin River. 1
person will be the main
speaker however, work as a
team to write speech, needs
to be presented in a way to

2 conflicts for 2 outdoor

environments, eg. Franklin River
and ____ will be interviewed.

Parks Notes:
http://parkweb.vic
.gov.au/__data/as
sets/pdf_file/0019
/314551/ParknoteCroajingolongNational-Park.pdf

Students are
to take
photos and
journal
entries
during the
overnight trip
which will
form part of
their next
assessment
once
returning
home.
Ensure
criteria for
assessment
is given
before
beginning of
this class.

outlining your parties

point of view.

be shown on the news.

Teacher to upload these
videos to be used as a
revision resource.

Unit Plan Summary & Justification:

The unit plan has been constructed in a way that is inclusive of all learners
(Gardners Multiple Intelligences, cited in Breunig, Martin and Preist 2006) with
an array of learning activities, assessments and use of technology.
The main rationale behind the way this key knowledge point has been
presented is to ensure the learning is relevant and relatable to the students
lives. Given the context of the school, students can easily interact with the
natural environment as it could be described as being in their backyard, an
opportunity few

OES

students

have

in

metropolitan

schools.

With

Croajingolong National Park surrounding the school, it provides students the

access to an array of natural environments; including estuaries and lakes,
coastal heathlands, warm temperate rainforest and low land forest
(Croajingolong National Park Management Plan 1996, accessed August 25 th).
This provides the opportunity for students to engage with places the students
may have a sense of place with. This practical engagement occurs in the unit
plan with the overnight canoe paddle along the Genoa River. This river was
selected because it is close to Mallacoota P-12 College and therefore saves
time whilst working through the VCE OES study design as Doreen Massey
(1994, as cited in Wattchow and Brown 2011) defines the phenomenon in
society today as a time-space compression. Most importantly it could be
generalized all students have some sense of place with the Croajingolong
National Park, but in ranging degrees. This forms part of the deciphering
factor for engaging with a local natural environment to assist students learning
throughout the OES study design. Alternatively, travelling to unknown and
perhaps meaningless environments that schools are increasingly opting to
use (Wattchow and Brown 2011) can decontextualize the sense and meaning
of placed based education (Gruenewald 2003 as cited in Greenwood 2013).
Beames, Higgins and Nichol (2012) reiterate the concept of engaging with
places you have a connection with and believe when a connection is built with
a place it is also formed within the community, therefore authenticating the
learning as it is relevant to students real lives.
Wattchow and Brown (2011) highlight that outdoor and experiential education
may be silencing or denying the experience of place for participants (p.51) .

However, if students have a strong sense of place, their opportunity for

experiential education and therefore learning possibilities may instead be
enhanced. John Dewey (1997) was one of the first to introduce experiential
education and stress the importance of experience as a meaningful form of
education. This concept may assist to explain why outdoor education is a
subject that is detached from the rest of students formal education
(Wattchow and Brown 2011).
Breunig, Martin and Preist (2006) discuss Kolbs experiential learning cycle
and the four phases to maximize the learning process including: concrete
experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active
experimentation. The students will go through these phases, where the
assessment aspect of the experience comes in the form of the reflective
observation and abstract conceptualization. Students will be required to write
a reflection of the trip in a romanticist style. Brown and Richards (2003, as
cited in Wattchow and Brown 2011) highlight this romanticized view of outdoor
education as slowly being replaced by and reconstructed with nature being
viewed in an adventure sense for example as a gymnasium. The style Aldo
Leopold (1949) uses in his, A Sand County Almanac, could be an example
students can utilize for their written assessment. As seen in Part A of this
piece, assessment plays one of the larger roles in VCE and is redefining
education from teaching for learning to teaching of learning. However, when
relating this back to Mallacoota P-12 College schools motto, teaching for
learning (Mallacoota P-12 College official school website, accessed August
24th) we need to keep the reason for educating clear and not solely focus on
assessments and examinations. Ultimately, assessment is not the sole
purpose of education.

List of References:
Beames, S. Higgins, P., and Nichol, R. (2012). Learning Outside the
Classroom: Theory and Guidelines for Practice.
Routledge. (Clayton bookshop)
Breunig, M., Cashel, C., Martin, B., Wagstaff, M. (2006). Outdoor Leadership:
Theory and Practice. Lower Mitcham, South
Australia: Human Kinetics.
Croajingolong National Park Management Plan (1996). National Parks
Service; Department of Natural Resources and Environment Victoria.
Accessed August 25th. Retrieved From:
http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/313263/Croajing
olong-National-Park-Plan-.pdf)
Cross, M., Hughes, P., Mannion, A., Park, L. (2015). Nelson Outdoor and
Environmental Studies VCE Units 1-4. ISBN-13:9780170348034
Dewey, J. (1997). Experience and education. Touchstone
Greenwood, D. (2013). What is Outside of Outdoor Education? Becoming
Responsive to Other Places. Educational Studies: A Journal of the
American Educational Studies Association. 49(5)451-464. Retrieved
From:
http://www.tandfonline.com.ezproxy.lib.monash.edu.au/doi/full/10.1080/
00131946.2013.825261#abstract
Google Maps: Mallacoota P-12 College, accessed August 24 th, 2015.
Retrieved From: https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Mallacoota+P12+College/@-37.5468633,149.7677274,9248m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!
3m1!1s0x6b3bdeaecf846c45:0x3e054e272af9a286
Heritage Rivers Act 1992, Act No. 36/1992, accessed August 24 th 2015.
Retrieved From:
http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/Domino/Web_Notes/LDMS/LTObject_
Store/LTObjSt2.nsf/DDE300B846EED9C7CA257616000A3571/9D303
534F572E0B0CA25776100205E14/$FILE/92-36a001.pdf
Leopold, A (1949). A Sand County Almanac. New York: Oxford University
Press.
Mallacoota P-12 College Official School Website. Accessed August 24 th, 2015.
Retrieved From: http://www.mallp12.vic.edu.au/
MySchool Official Website. Accessed August 24th, 2015. Retrieved From:
http://www.myschool.edu.au/SchoolProfile/Index/85977/MallacootaP12
College/44613/2014

Olden, T. Accessed August 24th. Outdoor and Environmental Studies Units 3

and 4. Retrieved From: http://oeswitholden.weebly.com/421---conflictsof-interest-between-people-involved-in-uses-of-outdoorenvironments.html
Save Bastion Point Official Website, Accessed August 24 th, 2015. Retrieved
From: http://savebastionpoint.org/proposed-development/currentproposal/
VCAA, (2011). Outdoor and Environmental Studies: Victorian Certificate of
Education Study Design. Retrieved Aug 24, 2015 from
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/vce/outdoor/outdoorenviro-sd2012.pdf
Wattchow, B and Brown, M. (2011). A Pedagogy of Place: Outdoor Education
for a Changing World. Monash Publishing.