Re: Australian Boat People Saga - lesson ideas

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

Dear Jenny
The topic of the post was not offered as a discussion point- it was offered
as a suggestion for an in-context, real-life way of helping senior students
develop their critical literacy skills so that they can find out the facts
and make an informed opinion based on them.

And given the bias that some administrators seem to have toward using the
Internet as a research tool as the first port of call, I offered the
suggestions and the websites as an excellent way of demonstrating that the
Internet has a very valid place in information-gathering in these sorts of
circumstances.

It is not often that such ready-made situations arise for us to explore like
this with easy access to both sides of how the story is being reported in
various countries and the facts and figures behind it.  Let's use them when
we get them, I believe!

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

-----Original Message-----
From: School Library Media & Network Communications
[mailto:LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU]On Behalf Of Jenny Campbell
Sent: Saturday, 1 September 2001 2:56 PM
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: Australian Boat People Saga - lesson ideas


Dear Barbara,
You are getting in to dangerous waters bringing this up as an off topic
discussion.
I think you might examine your own bias in this message.
Jenny

Barbara Braxton wrote:

>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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--
Cheers,
Jenny Campbell, unemployed teacher librarian
Melbourne,
Australia
http://www.knowledgecollegetutors.com
gaffcam@mira.net

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