Assessment 1: PART A - Using resources for teaching &

learning in HSE
Name: Megan Campbell

Seminar: Jens, Wednesday 10am

Weekly theme: Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders Histories and

Cultures.
Topic: Traditional Indigenous Games
Humanities
areas
Humanities and
Civics and
Citizenship (C&C)

Duration of
lesson:

60 mins

Group size:

25

Year level:

Lesson learning foci:

In the Australian Curriculum, Level 1, students will be focusing on: Civics and
Citizenship as well as the Humanities domains whilst undertaking this lesson.
Other domains briefly addressed are English, History and Personal Learning.
Cross curriculum priority: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and
cultures are also addressed.
- Students will begin to appreciate the similarities and differences between
individuals and groups, including cultural groups that make up the Australian
nation.
(AusVELS, C&C, Level 1)
- Students will engage in conversations and discussions, using active
listening behaviours, showing interest, and contributing ideas and questions.
They will also use skills such as turn- taking, contribution of others and
appropriate volume and pace.
(AusVELS, English, Level 1)
- Students explore differences and similarities between their daily lives,
including family traditions, leisure time and communications.
(AusVELS, History, Level 1)
- Students develop their awareness of spatial concepts (distance, region,
spatial change over time, movement and spatial interaction) they can
recognise their town and identify and name physical features.
(AusVELS, The Humanities, Level 1)
- Students will also reflect on their learning and their contributions and
understand that making mistakes is an important attribute of being a good
learner.
(AusVELS, Personal Learning, Level 1).
Rationale for teaching this topic:
Its important children are exposed to all different cultures but those
especially of the Indigenous Australians. In the younger years of school,
concepts may be difficult to fully understand and some students might find it
challenging to imagine themselves in an Aboriginal childs viewpoint and to
also create real-life meaning and connections from the information they are
taught.
This is why I decided to use a Traditional Indigenous game as it is engaging,
hands on and the learning isnt obvious. The content lets children freely to
understand it in their own way, unlike when given a comprehension
worksheet, the learning is clear, dull and straightforward.

Ken Edwards discusses in his article, Traditional games of a timeless land,

how in other parts of the world, such as Canada, communities are embracing
Indigenous games, however the same is not occurring in Australia which
creates many more challenges for this culture. These Indigenous games
reflect Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander cultural heritages and social
identities and help to understand methods used in Indigenous communities
such as hunting (2009 pp 33).
Teaching Australian children in schools, these traditional games is important
because, Indigenous children were taught special survival skills and stories
through the tribes and/or families by using acts of play and games. These
Indigenous children engaged in imitation activities, string games, mock
battles, tracking and collecting games whilst growing up and was very
common to be included in everyday life (Edwards K 2009, pp 34). I believe
this proves that Australian children in schools, should be taught in the same
way, passing down histories in a fun and memorable way.
Overall I have learnt throughout this assignment how younger years students
need to be engaged, it should be an entertaining learning experience whilst
not confusing them with all the facts and dates which they will discover later
on in their school life.
Resource:
The resource I chose to use is the Walbiri Memory Game which I found in
the Yulunga: Traditional Indigenous Games launched by the Australian Sports
Commission in 2008.
I chose this game in particular because I believe it suited the space and time
restrictions for the lesson. Although there are many Traditional Indigenous
Games to choose from, a lot of them require sports equipment and large,
outdoor spaces or gyms. This game in particular shows children how the
Indigenous once played fun, engaging games, with limited materials, as well
as learning about their familiar surroundings.
I think as a game overall it can be easily adapted to different groups of
children and the year levels they are in. It can be modified to be more
challenging and can be manipulated where teachers can use a more Western
style game, by making the objects more familiar to their students and their
communities.
Like stated in the Koori Mail Newspaper in 2010, an article supported the
newly released document of Indigenous games by explaining how Dr Ken
Edwards, the researcher behind each game, taught students at a state
school in Queensland how to play these sports using modern equipment to
replicate traditional items such as spears. The article also addresses how the
traditional games are very similar when comparing Indigenous games to the
modern day elements such as Keentan is much like Basketball. (The Koori
Mail, 2010 pp 50).
The
Lesson:
Intro

Time
* Prior students have been reading and learning about
different dreamtime stories *
Teacher first says to class
We acknowledge that we are on the traditional lands of
the Wurundijeri peoples and pay our respects to the
traditional custodians.
Children sit on the floor whilst the teacher, in front of
them, reads the Aboriginal story called The Echidna and
the Shade Tree, Told by Mona Green and Compiled by
Pamela Lofts.
- Teacher again, explains how this is another dreamtime
story based on stories told by the Jaru people in Western

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Australia.
- The teacher then asks students the kinds of images
they saw throughout the story, eg animals, trees, spears,
water, sun and so on.
- Teacher then explains how these pictures can have
meanings and that they can represent places or
memories.
Draws a typical example, on board, which most children
should relate to, being the two, big, golden arches,
representing McDonalds Restaurants.
- Teacher explains that McDonalds is something that we
might see very often and consider as a landmark in our
community, they then asks thinking about the stories
weve read so far, what are some landmarks that the
Indigenous Australians may think of? Eg, animals,
nature, family homes.
Answers are recorded on the board as drawings, (so
children can understand if they struggle to read).
The teacher then shows a short 3 minute YouTube video
called Traditional Indigenous Games she asks students
to think of games and sports they know of and see if they
can compare after the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8BW8E2_lEE
Video gives names and backgrounds of games.
Questions are then asked:
- Did any of them look familiar to you? Have you played
them before?
- What equipment did the Indigenous use? What might
we use? Why?
- Are they individual or team games?
Body
The children have now been sitting for long enough so
the teacher introduces the Walbiri Memory Game that the
students will be playing, just like the Indigenous children
of the Walbiri community used to and possibly still play in
the Northern Territory today.
The teacher brings up the picture and instructions on
interactive whiteboard so children can follow along and
see how it is set up.
- Teacher firsts explains the purpose: helping children to
remember and identify the surrounding topography or
landmarks around their community or area.
- Then, what they used and what they might have
represented: sticks (trees), rocks (protection), leaves
(food), other natural things.
- How to play: A circle is drawn on the floor or ground,
objects (amount is up to teacher, usually 10-15) are
placed around it, each representing local landmarks in
the area. The children study the arrangement of objects
for a minute and then turn their back to the circle. Still
with their backs turned, the first child tries to call out
each object in order and does so until they are incorrect.
When that happens the next child tries. When a child
correctly calls each object in order they are then able to

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mix up the objects for the group to try again.

Before laying out the different Indigenous objects the
teacher will go through each one explaining what it is and
may mean to that community. Students may know some
chosen items already, such as the kangaroo picture, gum
leaves, sticks, Aboriginal flag and the boomerang.
However the teacher would need to discuss the
Indigenous dance, the hunting spears, Ayres Rock and
the Aboriginal artwork.
Once each object has been explained the teacher would
lay them out in a circle and give students a minute to try
and memorise the orders. The teacher would instruct
children to then turn around and start from the first child
to read out the order.
It would continue on until a child correctly said the order.
Conclusi
on

Bring students back into a group and talk about and

reflect on their learning and what they thought of the
game. Congratulate and students who could correctly
name all the objects and discuss ways that might have
helped them remember.
Eg. Seeing images before, listening to other students,
etc.
The teacher would encourage them to modify the game
and objects by using their own toys or symbolic items to
represent landmarks.
The teacher, if time, could read out how to play another
Indigenous games from the Yulunga document, inspiring
children to try and play it whilst on their recess or lunch.

Referen
ces:

Australian Sports Commission 2015, Yulunga: full

resource, date retrieved 7 September 2015,
<http://www.ausport.gov.au/participating/resources/indig
enous/full_resource>
Australian Sports Commission 2009, Yulunga Traditional
Indigenous Games, Australian Government, date
retrieved 7 September 2015,
<http://www.ausport.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/4
02191/SP_31864_TIG_resource_FINAL.pdf>
Author Unknown, 2010, Learning games the traditional
way, Koori Mail, Issue 471, pp 50, date retrieved 8
September
<http://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/docs/digitised_col
lections/the_koori_mail/471.pdf>
Edwards K 2009, Play cultures in Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander communities, Traditional games of a
timeless land, Vol. 2009 Issue 2, pp 32-43

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Green, M, Lofts, P 2004, The Echidna and the Shade Tree,

Scholastic Australia, Sydney
Traditional Indigenous Games 2013, YouTube, Katrina
Elyse, 1 May, retrieved 7 September 2015,
< https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8BW8E2_lEE >
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority 2015,
AusVELS Level 1, retrieved 8 September, <
http://ausvels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Level1>
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority 2015,
AusVELS Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories
and cultures, retrieved 8 September,
<
http://ausvels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/CrossCurriculumPriorities/A
boriginal-and-Torres-Strait-Islander-histories-and-cultures
>