Australian Boat People Saga - lesson ideas

[Barbara Braxton <barbara@AUSTARMETRO.COM.AU>]

Dear Folks
This may seem to be off-topic for this list, but I don't believe it is.

Australia is apparently in your news bulletins because of the situation that
arose last week when a Norwegian ship rescued about 450 people from a
sinking boat in Indonesian waters, and after they threatened him with
violence, the captain felt compelled to change course and sail towards
Australia.

From the news excerpts that have been screened here about world reaction to
Australia's refusal to let these illegal immigrants land. it would appear
that we are being depicted as racist, unfeeling and a whole lot of
not-so-nice adjectives.

It would seem to me that this would provide a really good opportunity for
your students to investigate "can you believe all you read/ see on
television?" and in particular, the concepts of bias, selected editing, how
things fit into the big picture and all those critical literacies that we
try to encourage to help them be independent users and interpreters of
information so they can make their own informed opinions and decisions.

Given the nature of news bulletins and editorial influence wielded by the
media owners, and the need to 'sell' the news bulletin because of the
advertisers you cannot possibly get the full and true story but with
investigation, your students could.  And it is a perfect example of using
the Internet for research, not only to access our newspapers but also the
latest statistics on our immigration, refugee numbers, and so forth as well
as the requirements that Australia has for legal entry to this country.

Some useful websites that you might use would be
http://www.news.com.au/ which gives you access to most of the major daily
newspapers
http://www.smh.com.au/ - The Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.theage.com.au/ The Age  - Melbourne's main daily
http://www.f2.com.au/ - home page of the Fairfax group which is the other
main media empire
http://ninemsn.com.au/news/ - one of four major TV networks
http://i7.com.au/Home - the second major channel
http://www.abc.net.au - the government television channel
(trying not to show any bias here)

http://www.abs.gov.au - the Australian Bureau of Statistics
http://www.immi.gov.au/ - the Department of Immigration
http://www.dfat.gov.au/media/tampa.html the Department of Foreign Affairs
and Trade

From there you could springboard off to investigate your own country's
requirements and intake numbers and compare them to Australia's.  And after
all that was done, you might like to debate "Is this was happening in  _____
(and I know there are 62 countries on this list) how would you expect our
government to respond?"  And because the kids have done the research, they
could back their stance with information not emotions, hearsay and the need
for sensationalism.

Kia ora
Barbara

Barbara Braxton
Teacher Librarian
Palmerston District Primary School
PALMERSTON ACT 2913
AUSTRALIA

T. 02 6205 7241
F. 02 6205 7242
E. barbara@austarmetro.com.au
W. http://www.palmdps.act.edu.au

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