1. AusVELS History Primary Pat Hincks 20 August 2013

2. Primary History: Common questions
Is there a mandated time?
Does it have to be taught for a whole year?
What is the status of the elaborations?
What about multi-age/ composite classes?
Can we ‘integrate’ history with other subjects?
How can we fit it into a ‘crowded curriculum’?

3. History and time allocation
There is no time allocation which is mandated for AusVELS History. However:
History F – 2 was written for 20 hours a year
History 3 – 6 was written for 40 hours a year
History 7 – 10 was written for 50 hours a year
Source: Curriculum Design Paper, ACARA,

4. Humanities and Social Sciences Curriculum
History
Geography
Civics and Citizenship
Economics and Business
F-2
20 hours per year
NIL
3-4
40 hours per year
5-6
7-8
50 hours per year
9-10

5. ‘Integrating’ content
We are not re-creating SOSE!
Curriculum content can be meaningfully put together based on a particular context or theme.
Eg: Obvious links with geography – local history and geography
Eg: text selection in English e.g. The Rabbits might lead to history of settlement of Australia.

7. History: Structure AusVELS History Explanations Level Descriptions
a) Overview of the Level Content
b) Key concepts of history understanding
c) Key inquiry questions
a) What will be taught in that level
b) Continuity and change, cause and effect, perspectives, empathy and significances, Sources
c) Inquiry questions frame teaching and learning for that year
Content Descriptions
a) Historical knowledge and understanding
b) Historical skills
Knowledge and understanding strands are year by year
Historical skills strands are in a three level band from F – 2 and then in two level bands
Achievement Standards
Focus on understanding and skills
Describe what students know and can do at each level

8. Historical sequence Level Level F Personal and Family Histories
Present and Past Family Life
Level 2
The Past in the Present
Content
The Foundation curriculum provides a study of personal and family histories. Students learn about their own history and that of their family
The Level 1 curriculum provides a study of present and past family life within the context of the students’ own world.
The Level 2 curriculum provides a study of local history.
Concepts of historical understanding
continuity and change, cause and effect, perspectives, empathy and significance
Key questions
What is my history and how do I know?
What stories do other people tell about the past?
How can stories of the past be told and shared?
How has family life changed or remained the same over time?
How can we show that the present is different from or similar to the past?
How do we describe the sequence of time?
What aspects of the past can you see today? What do they tell us?
What remains of the past are important to the local community? Why?
How have changes in technology shaped our daily life?

9. Level
Level 3
Community and Remembrance
Level 4
First Contacts
Content
The Level 3 curriculum provides a study of identity and diversity in both a local and broader context…. students explore the historical features and diversity of their community as represented in symbols and emblems of significance, and celebrations and commemorations…
The Level 4 curriculum introduces world history and the movement of peoples. Beginning with the history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, students examine European exploration and colonisation in Australia and throughout the world up to the early 1800s.
Concepts of historical understanding
sources, continuity and change, cause and effect, perspectives, empathy and significance.
Key questions
Who lived here first and how do we know?
How has our community changed? What features have been lost and what features have been retained?
What is the nature of the contribution made by different groups and individuals in the community?
How and why do people choose to remember significant events of the past?
Why did the great journeys of exploration occur?
What was life like for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples before the arrival of the Europeans?
Why did the Europeans settle in Australia?
What was the nature and consequence of contact between Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples and early traders, explorers and settlers?

10. Level
Level 5
The Australian Colonies
Level 6
Australia as a nation
Content
Level 5 curriculum provides a study of colonial Australia in the 1800s. Students look at the founding of British colonies and the development of a colony.
Level 6 [covers] the development of Australia as a nation, particularly after Students explore the factors that led to Federation and experiences of democracy and citizenship over time…. Students learn about the way of life of people who migrated to Australia and their contributions….
Concepts of historical understanding
sources, continuity and change, cause and effect, perspectives, empathy and significance.
Key questions
What do we know about the lives of people in Australia’s colonial past and how do we know?
How did an Australian colony develop over time and why?
How did colonial settlement change the environment?
What were the significant events and who were the significant people that shaped Australian colonies?
Why and how did Australia become a nation?
How did Australian society change throughout the twentieth century?
Who were the people who came to Australia? Why did they come?
What contribution have significant individuals and groups made to the development of Australian society?

11. Historical understanding
Continuity and change: aspects of the past that remained the same over certain periods of time and aspects that are different
Cause and effect used by historians to identify chains of events and developments over time and includes understanding of motivation and consequences
Perspectives: understanding the different social, cultural and intellectual contexts that shaped people’s lives and actions in the past and the various viewpoints on past events.

12. Historical understanding
Empathy is an understanding of the past from the point of view of a particular individual or group, including an appreciation of the circumstances they faced, and the motivations, values and attitudes behind their actions
Significance the importance that is assigned to particular aspects of the past, eg events, developments, movements and historical sites. Why do we remember some parts of the past and not others?
Sources – evidence of the past including artefacts, photos, artworks, letters etc (Commonly primary and secondary)

13. Elaborations

14. Skills F - 2 3 - 4 5 - 6 Chronology, terms and concepts
Sequence familiar objects and events
Distinguish between the past, present and future
Sequence historical people and events
Use historical terms
Use historical terms and concepts
Historical questions and research
Pose questions about the past using sources provided
Pose a range of questions about the past
Identify questions to inform an historical inquiry
Identify and locate a range of relevant sources
Analysis and use of sources
Explore a range of sources about the past
Identify and compare features of objects from the past and present
Locate relevant information from sources provided
Locate information related to inquiry questions in a range of sources
Compare information from a range of sources
Perspectives and interpretations
Explore a point of view
Identify different points of view
Identify points of view in the past and present
Explanation and communication
Develop a narrative about the past
Use a range of communication forms (oral, graphic, written, role play) and digital technologies
Develop historical texts, particularly narratives
Use a range of communication forms (oral, graphic, written) and digital technologies
Develop historical texts, particularly narratives and descriptions, which incorporate source material

15. Achievement standards
Level by level
Two paragraphs 1) understanding 2) skills
Designed to answer the question: What do I want students to know and be able to do at this level?
Used with the content descriptions to plan curriculum. The Knowledge and understanding and Skills strands provide the content that allows students to reach the standards.

16. Historical Knowledge and Understanding Level 5
The Australian Colonies
Reasons (economic, political and social) for the establishment of British colonies in Australia after (ACHHK093)
The nature of convict or colonial presence, including the factors that influenced patterns of development, aspects of the daily life of the inhabitants (including Aboriginal Peoples and Torres Strait Islander Peoples) and how the environment changed. (ACHHK094)
The impact of a significant development or event on a colony; for example, frontier conflict, the gold rushes, the Eureka Stockade, internal exploration, the advent of rail, the expansion of farming, drought. (ACHHK095)
The reasons people migrated to Australia from Europe and Asia, and the experiences and contributions of a particular migrant group within a colony. (ACHHK096)
The role that a significant individual or group played in shaping a colony; for example, explorers, farmers, entrepreneurs, artists, writers, humanitarians, religious and political leaders, and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples. (ACHHK097)

17. Historical Skills Level 5
Chronology, terms and concepts
Sequence historical people and events (ACHHS098)
Use historical terms and concepts (ACHHS099)
Historical questions and research
Identify questions to inform an historical inquiry (ACHHS100)
Identify and locate a range of relevant sources (ACHHS101)
Analysis and use of sources
Locate information related to inquiry questions in a range of sources (ACHHS102)
Compare information from a range of sources (ACHHS103)
Perspectives and interpretations
Identify points of view in the past and present (ACHHS104)
Explanation and communication
Develop texts, particularly narratives and descriptions, which incorporate source materials (ACHHS105)
Use a range of communication forms (oral, graphic, written) and digital technologies (ACHHS106)

18. Level 5 Achievement Standard
By the end of Level 5, students identify the causes and effects of change on particular communities, and describe aspects of the past that remained the same. They describe the different experiences of people in the past. They describe the significance of people and events in bringing about change.
Students sequence events and people (their lifetime) in chronological order, using timelines. When researching, students develop questions to frame an historical inquiry. They identify a range of sources and locate and record information related to this inquiry. They examine sources to identify points of view. Students develop, organise and present their texts, particularly narratives and descriptions, using historical terms and concepts.

19. AusVELS Resources and Support
Under History menu
Summaries of differences between AusVELS and VELS
Planning templates
Progression Points

20. Progression point examples
Assist teachers in the assessment and reporting of student achievement.
In AusVELS, the progression point examples are provided in 0.5 increments.
Progression point examples are designed to:
Progression point examples are NOT designed to:
illustrate how a student might show evidence of progression
be used in conjunction with other tools such as annotated student work samples
be modified by schools so that the examples reflect the curriculum structure and timing of when knowledge and skills are taught and assessed
replace standards
be used as a definitive or mandated set of progression measures for student assessment
be the only resource used by teachers to assign progression points on student reports

21. Select aspect of content descriptions
Develop assessment tasks that will allow students to demonstrate aspects of achievement standards

22. Further resources Scootle: www.scootle.edu.au
Can search on year levels and each dot point in the Knowledge and understanding and Skills strand.
Contains interactive resources/images/ collections/film clips/education packs/TL resources
History Teachers’ Association of Australia:

23. Primary History: Common questions
Is there a mandated time?
Does it have to be taught for a whole year?
What is the status of the elaborations?
What about multi-age/ composite classes?
Can we ‘integrate’ history with other subjects?
How can we fit it into a ‘crowded curriculum’?

24. Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA)
Pat Hincks
Humanities and Social Sciences Curriculum Manager