Author: brett

The brutal, extreme culture of World Championship boxing, seen through the eyes of a woman. A Muslim Lebanese woman. Amateur boxer Bianca ‘Bam Bam’ Elmir, two time Australian Flyweight champion and Oceania champion, ‘Bam Bam’ aims to win gold at the World Championships.

But first Bianca must qualify at national level in a subjectively scored sport. Her outspoken nature, and propensity for public attention are a source of malcontent resulting in animosity from Boxing Australia. At her 2014 qualifying attempt she is unfairly judged, Boxing Australia seemingly determined not to allow her a pass to the World Championships. Her next opportunity is two years away.

Lebanon 1985, Bianca was kidnapped from her father, by her mother, Diana. They escape to Canberra, Australia. A difficult adolescence results in a tumultuous mother-daughter relationship, and a rebellious Bianca taking up boxing, hell-bent on a quest to prove herself. She meets her northern England larrikin coach, Garry. Not only coach and mentor, he is pseudo family.

Facing opposition on all fronts, from her conservative Islamic family, from the male dominated sport in which she fights and as a migrant in white Australia, ‘Bam Bam’ brazenly tackles opposition. She defies anyone who makes her conform, declaring, “boxing gives me an excuse not to be normal.”

Despite ongoing dissonance within her family, spirituality resonates for Bianca. Finding her own expression of Islam becomes a grounding force amidst the setbacks and barriers. Bianca, explores the shadows of who she is, her fears and loneliness. She reaches deep to focus upon the 2016 World Championships and she qualifies. She is set to represent Australia in Kazakhstan.

This is not Bianca’s first World Championships. In 2012, she qualified and was considered one of Australia’s best medal hopes. However, Bianca tested positive to a banned substance. She is dropped from the Australian team and stripped of her 3rd national title, resulting in a 12 month ban.

On returning to competition, ‘Bam Bam’ is targeted by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority. The testing forces her to take on excess liquid which, in a weight governed sport where boxers undergo severe dehydration to ‘make weight’, risks her not weighing in at her nominated division, and thus not competing. The process is gruelling on body and mind.

Surviving the setbacks, the rumours, the drug ban and the opposition, it is 2016 and Bianca is representing Australia at the World Championships. She is living her dream. But the dream is illusive. Careening face-to-face with her own shadow, ‘Bam Bam’ accepts her own self-worth – “I am me & I am enough”.

An ATOM Study Guide is available for download.

Curriculum Links

‘Bam Bam’ can be linked to the following subject areas in the Australian Curriculum as well as connecting with the General Capability of ‘Intercultural Understanding’:

– English: Years 9 – 10

– Health and Physical Education: Year 10

– Media Arts: Years 9 -10

The following Content Descriptions connect the text ‘Bam Bam’ with the Year 9 – 10 Health and Physical Education Curriculum:

Personal Social and Community Health

• Evaluate factors that shape identities and critically analyse how individuals impact the identities of others
• Investigate how empathy and ethical decision making contribute to respectful relationships
• Critique behaviours and contextual factors that influence health and wellbeing of diverse communities
• Critically analyse and apply health information from a range of sources to health decisions and situations

Movement and Physical Activity

• Examine the role physical activity, outdoor recreation and sport play in the lives of Australians and investigate how this has changed over time
• Reflect on how fair play and ethical behaviour can influence the outcomes of movement activities
• ••••••

‘Bam Bam’ can be used as an English text ‘Bam Bam’ and directly connected to the following Year 9 and 10 English Content Descriptions:

• Students engage with a variety of texts for enjoyment. They interpret, create, evaluate, discuss and perform a wide range of literary texts in which the primary purpose is aesthetic, as well as texts designed to inform and persuade. These include various types of media texts, including newspapers, film and digital texts, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, dramatic performances and multimodal texts, with themes and issues involving levels of abstraction, higher order reasoning and intertextual references.
• These texts explore themes of human experience and cultural significance, interpersonal relationships, and ethical and global dilemmas within real-world and fictional settings and represent a variety of perspectives
• Interpret and compare how representations of people and culture in literary texts are drawn from different historical, social and cultural contexts (ACELT1633 )
• Present an argument about a literary text based on initial impressions and subsequent analysis of the whole text

This documentary could also be used as part of students learning in Year 9 -10 Media Arts. ‘Bam Bam’ connects with the following Content Descriptions:

• draw on media arts from a range of cultures, times and locations as they experience media arts
• explore meaning and interpretation, forms and elements, and social, cultural and historical influences of media arts as they make and respond to media artworks
• consider the local, global, social and cultural contexts that shape purpose and processes in production of media artworks
• evaluate the social and ethical implications of media arts

*Content Warning* Teachers should be aware that this film contains strong language.

Purchase here.

Since the 1970s, Australia has asserted itself as a proudly multiracial and multicultural country with boundless plains to share. Decades after the first wave of non-European migrants settled at the end of the White Australia policy, what does Australia look like for their children who are at the crossroads of two identities – that of their parents’ homeland and Australia?

For second-generation artists of non-European background, defining themselves – in their art and beyond – can be a difficult task. Third Culture Kids explores these questions through the stories of six Australian artists from non-European backgrounds by revisiting a childhood memory that explores growing up in two worlds and how that moment shaped and informed their arts practice.

Using a cross between narrative and factual storytelling, the visual style of Third Culture Kids is a montage that includes interviews, archive and recreations that enter the imagination of the artist to create a visual feast that seeks to reflect the melting pot that is contemporary Australia and what it means to belong.

An ATOM Study Guide is available for download.

CURRICULUM AND EDUCATIONAL SUITABILITY LINKS

Third Culture Kids is suitable for secondary students in Years 9 to 12. The series would also have application as part of tertiary arts courses. 

Teachers are advised that there is a reference to pornography in Episode 2. It is recommended that teachers view the artists’ websites and Instagram sites before sharing them with students.

General understandings addressed in the film:

•  Cultural identity
• Identity and belonging
• Artistic influence
• The impact of racism
• The creative process
• Islamophobia

Summary of links to the Australian Curriculum:

•  Visual Arts (Years 9–12)
• Media (Years 9–12)
• English (Years 10–12)
• Humanities/History (Year 10)
• Drama (Years 9–10)
• General capabilities

Curriculum Links:

Visual Arts

Years 9 and 10

• Conceptualise and develop representations of themes, concepts or subject matter to experiment with their developing personal style, reflecting on the styles of artists, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists (ACAVAM125)
• Manipulate materials, techniques, technologies and processes to develop and represent their own artistic intentions (ACAVAM126)
• Develop and refine techniques and processes to represent ideas and subject matter (ACAVAM127)
• Plan and design artworks that represent artistic intention (ACAVAM128)
• Analyse a range of visual artworks from contemporary and past times to explore differing viewpoints and enrich their visual art-making, starting with Australian artworks, including those of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and consider international artworks (ACAVAR131)

Years 11–12

Links to senior Visual Arts curriculum in different regions.

English

Year 10

Responding to literature

• Evaluate the social, moral and ethical positions represented in texts (ACELT1812)

Creating literature

• Create literary texts that reflect an emerging sense of personal style and evaluate the effectiveness of these texts (ACELT1814)

Interpreting, analysing and evaluating

• Identify and analyse implicit or explicit values, beliefs and assumptions in texts and how these are influenced by purposes and likely audiences (ACELY1752)

Creating texts

• Create sustained texts, including texts that combine specific digital or media content, for imaginative, informative, or persuasive purposes that reflect upon challenging and complex issues (ACELY1756)

Years 11–12

Links to English in Units 1–4 in terms of analysing argument and point of view oral presentations

Media Arts

Years 9 and 10

• Experiment with ideas and stories that manipulate media conventions and genres to construct new and alternative points of view through images, sounds and text (ACAMAM073)
• Manipulate media representations to identify and examine social and cultural values and beliefs, including those of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (ACAMAM074)
• Develop and refine media production skills to integrate and shape the technical and symbolic elements in images, sounds and text for a specific purpose, meaning and style (ACAMAM075)
• Plan and design media artworks for a range of purposes that challenge the expectations of specific audiences by particular use of production processes (ACAMAM076)
• Analyse a range of media artworks from contemporary and past times to explore differing viewpoints and enrich their media arts making, starting with Australian media artworks, including media artworks of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and international media artworks(ACAMAR079)

Years 11–12

Links to senior Media curriculum in different regions.

History

Year 10

Depth study – Migration experiences (1945–present)

• The impact of changing government policies on Australia’s migration patterns, including abolition of the White Australia Policy, ‘Populate or Perish’ (ACDSEH145)
• The contribution of migration to Australia’s changing identity as a nation and to its international relationships (ACDSEH147)

Drama

Years 9 and 10

• Improvise with the elements of drama and narrative structure to develop ideas, and explore subtext to shape devised and scripted drama (ACADRM047)
• Perform devised and scripted drama making deliberate artistic choices and shaping design elements to unify dramatic meaning for an audience (ACADRM051)
• Structure drama to engage an audience through manipulation of dramatic action, forms and performance styles and by using design elements (ACADRM050)

General capabilities

• Critical and creative thinking
• Personal and social capability
• Intercultural understanding
• Ethical understanding

1000 SPEECHES – 6 POLITICAL LEADERS – 50 YEARS

THE SCRIBE (2018) IS A FEATURE DOCUMENTARY WRITTEN, DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY RUTH CULLEN. GRAHAM FREUDENBERG IS AN AUSTRALIAN POLITICAL SPEECHWRITER. THE SCRIBE RECOUNTS HIS WORKING LIFE AND HIS ENDURING LEGACY.

Synopsis

Master speechwriter Graham Freudenberg is the quintessential political insider. Advisor, confidant, master crafter and repository, his influence extends way beyond speech writing.

Graham was an essential part of the formation and articulation of policies which redefined Australia. His powers of expression continue to inspire and transcend while capturing the very essence of why politics matter.

Good speech writers are ghost orators. Not only do they need to get inside the mind of the speaker, they also need to combine the high visions of policy with the brass knuckle realities of political expediency.

Graham has written speeches for Federal and State leaders from Arthur Calwell to Simon Crean. This group includes Gough Whitlam, Neville Wran, Bob Carr and Bob Hawke, who described him as the ‘chameleon’ of speech writers. Over fifty years he has adapted his voice to that of his masters and the times.

The Scribe interrogates the symbiotic relationship between the speechwriter and the orator as it explores the craft of political speech writing from the man who re-defined the role in Australia. In the process, it examines the changing language of the political environment from the introduction of TV to the arrival of Trump.

Graham has written over a thousand speeches and The Scribe takes some of these epic speeches and interrogates common themes, many of which are still relevant – war, equality and the changing nature of power in our parliamentary democracy. Whether we realise it or not, Graham’s words have shaped our views today.

It is Graham’s wonderful ability to combine the high visions of political aspiration with the realities of winning votes that make his insights so significant and relevant. In this time of widespread cynicism about politicians, it is time to step back and ask bigger questions. The Scribe transcends party politics to reflect on the contract between the people and their elected representatives and how that has changed.

CURRICULUM LINKS

The Scribe is suitable for secondary students in Years 10 – 12 studying Civics and Citizenship, English, History, and Media Arts.

Through the study of Civics and Citizenship, students can develop skills of inquiry, values and dispositions that enable them to be active and informed citizens. The Scribe provides opportunities for students to investigate the nature and exercise of political power and the formulation and implementation of domestic and foreign policy.

Learning outcomes:

• Students develop knowledge and understanding of the nature and exercise of political power;
• Students analyse political speeches and the impact of these political speeches;
• Students investigate past Australian domestic and foreign policy issues and consider the response of the Australian Government and Opposition to these issues.
• ••

One of the stated aims of The Australian Curriculum: English is to ensure that students become confident communicators, imaginative thinkers and informed citizens. Given this aim, The Scribe offers teachers the opportunity to develop students’ knowledge, understanding and skills within the strands of Language and Literacy.

Learning outcomes:

• Students learn that language is constantly evolving due to historical, social and cultural changes, and technological innovations;
• Students learn that the language used by individuals varies according to their social setting and the relationships between the participants;
• Students develop their knowledge and understanding of how language use can have inclusive and exclusive social effects, and can empower or disempower people;
• Students identify and explore the purposes and effects of different text structures and language features of spoken texts, and use this knowledge to create purposeful texts that inform, persuade and engage.
• ••

A knowledge and understanding of history is essential for informed and active participation in society and in creating rewarding personal and collective futures. The study of History promotes debate and encourages thinking about human values, including present and future challenges. The Scribe provides opportunities for students to develop historical knowledge and understanding.

Learning outcomes:

• Students identify and analyse the perspectives of people from the past;
• Students investigate significant world events and the impact of these events;
• Students investigate government policies and the impact of these policies;
• Students critically analyse and interpret primary and secondary sources.
• ••

In Media Arts, students learn to be critically aware of ways that the media are culturally used and negotiated, and are dynamic and central to the way they make sense of the world and of themselves. The Scribe allows students to explore and interpret human experience through representations in images, sounds and text.

Learning outcomes:

• Students develop knowledge and understanding of media languages used to tell stories;
• Students make informed critical judgements about the media artworks they see, hear, interact with and consume as audiences;
• Students identify ways audiences interact and engage with the media as a result of the growth of digital technologies across media forms.

Teachers are advised to consult the Australian Curriculum documentation for these learning areas online at http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/, as well as curriculum documents for these learning areas endorsed by their state or territory.

An ATOM Study Guide is available for download.

ON 6 APRIL 1966, IN THE MELBOURNE SUBURB OF WESTALL, ABOUT 200 STUDENTS, STAFF AND LOCAL RESIDENTS WATCHED AS A STRANGE OBJECT APPEARED OVERHEAD, LANDED BRIEFLY NEARBY, THEN TOOK TO THE SKY AND VANISHED. THE EVENT TOOK ABOUT TWENTY MINUTES.

Witnesses described the object as low flying, silver-grey and shiny, and shaped like a ‘cup turned upside down on a saucer’. There were five light aircraft apparently tracking or ‘shadowing’ it.

A mass of excited students surged out of school and ran after the object. Many reported seeing a circle of flattened grass on the ground where it had landed – one student even claimed to touch it as it took off. Photographs of the events were also taken by a teacher. Others soon observed men in uniforms cordoning off the ‘landing site’ and removing soil samples by the truckload. Some say they saw uniformed men burn the area a few hours later.

The incident was reported on the television news that night and in the local newspapers.

But despite the evidence that something had happened, the Westall principal called a special assembly at which he told students and staff that they had not seen a flying saucer – in fact, they hadn’t seen anything at all. And they were not to talk about it to anybody.

Afraid of being ridiculed or punished, many witnesses remained silent. Some are still angry about being told to lie. Others say the incident has affected their lives and continues to haunt them today.

More than forty years later, Shane Ryan is stirring up the past. Not a witness of the event, but motivated by a deep sense of injustice at how the students were treated, he’s tracking down former students and staff as well as searching for the authorities that presided over the day.

The 49-minute documentary film Westall ’66: a suburban UFO mystery (Rosie Jones, 2010) follows Ryan’s attempts to solve the mystery once and for all. This contemporary detective story is set against the backdrop of an Australian city, but it reflects on a fascinating and pivotal period in world history, a time when the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union was played out in a massive conventional and nuclear arms race, the space race and the Vietnam War.

With its undercurrent of cold war paranoia, secret US air bases and a strong military relationship between Australia and America, this story raises questions about the acceptability of cover-ups and untruths delivered by governments in the interests of national security.

An ATOM Study Guide is available.

CURRICULUM APPLICABILITY

Westall ’66: a suburban UFO mystery is an intriguing real-life mystery. It is an an excellent resource for introducing middle and upper secondary students to the problem of ‘truth’ and the issues surrounding how we know what we know.

It can be used in:

History / SOSE / HSIE: A case study exploring historical method and ‘What is history?’ in the National Curriculum for History

English: Narrative storytelling

Psychology: The phenomenon of group hysteria

Politics: The cold war

Media Studies: The nature of documentary film.

Narrated by Tony Barry, one of Australia’s most distinguished and highly respected actors, Rivers of Australia: A Journey Along the Murray is a unique feature-length documentary that follows two southern adventurers – James Livingstone and Albany Asher, along with their faithful canine companions, ‘Onyx’ and ‘Rocco’ – on an awe-inspiring kayaking journey along Australia’s longest river: the Murray.

The Murray River is the lifeblood of Australia. Spanning 2756 kilometres across three southern states of Australia, one would expect such a large river system to be one of the most well-known and visited locations in the land down under. But it isn’t quite so. The majesty of the Murray is unknown to the vast majority of the world’s population, and hence James and Albany endeavour to take the audience on an epic (and very authentic) journey to meet Australia’s longest river, revealing its beauty and its charms; to meet the salt-of-the-Earth river dwellers; to explore conservation projects and innovations that benefit the river; to learn of its history, the Indigenous culture, the wildlife, the science and engineering, the townships … to take the audience somewhere they have never been before.

From Bringenbrong Bridge in New South Wales to the Coorong in South Australia, Rivers of Australia: A Journey Along the Murray is an epic adventure of grandeur – two kayaks, two explorers, two cattle dogs, and one mighty Murray River!

Curriculum Links
Rivers of Australia: A Journey Along the Murray can be linked to the following subject areas within the Australian Curriculum:

• History
• Geography
• Economics and Business
• Science
• Health and Physical Education
• Media Arts
• Design and Technologies
• English
It also links with the Australian Curriculum’s cross-curricular priorities:
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
• Sustainability
It also supports the Australian Curriculum’s general capability:
• Ethical Understanding
The documentary could also be used within an Outdoor Education program (Years 5–10) or to support planning any school journey such as a day trip, expedition, overseas tour or similar (Years 5–10).

Curriculum Relevance

History (Years 9 and 10) content descriptions:

• Living and working conditions in Australia around the turn of the twentieth century (that is 1900) (ACDSEH090)
• The growth and influence of the environment movement within Australia and overseas, and developments in ideas about the environment including the concept of ‘sustainability’ (ACDSEH126)

Geography (Years 7–9) content descriptions:

• Classification of environmental resources and the forms that water takes as a resource (ACHGK037)
• The way that flows of water connects places as it moves through the environment and the way this affects places(ACHGK038)
• The quantity and variability of Australia’s water resources compared with other continents (ACHGK039)
• Economic, cultural, spiritual and aesthetic value of water for people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and peoples of the Asia region (ACHGK041)
• Spiritual, aesthetic and cultural value of landscapes and landforms for people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (ACHGK049)
• Human alteration of biomes to produce food, industrial materials and fibres, and the use of systems thinking to analyse the environmental effects of these alterations (ACHGK061)
• The effects of people’s travel, recreational, cultural or leisure choices on places, and the implications for the future of these places (ACHGK069)

Economics and Business (Year 7) content descriptions:

• Characteristics of entrepreneurs and successful businesses(ACHEK019)
• Why individuals work, types of work and how people derive an income (ACHEK020)

Science (Years 7–8) content descriptions:

• Classification helps organise the diverse group of organisms(ACSSU111)
• Interactions between organisms, including the effects of human activities can be represented by food chains and food webs (ACSSU112)
• Science knowledge can develop through collaboration across the disciplines of science and the contributions of people from a range of cultures (ACSHE223)
• Solutions to contemporary issues that are found using science and technology, may impact on other areas of society and may involve ethical considerations (ACSHE120)
• People use science understanding and skills in their occupations and these have influenced the development of practices in areas of human activity (ACSHE121)
• People use science understanding and skills in their occupations and these have influenced the development of practices in areas of human activity (ACSHE136)

Health and Physical Education (Years 5–10) content descriptions:

• Examine how identities are influenced by people and places(ACPPS051)
• Explore how participation in outdoor activities supports personal and community health and wellbeing and creates connections to natural and built environments (ACPPS059)
• Plan and implement strategies for connecting to natural and built environments to promote the health and wellbeing of their communities (ACPPS078)
• Plan and evaluate new and creative interventions that promote their own and others’ connection to community and natural and built environments (ACPPS097)

Media Arts (Years 5–8) content descriptions:

• Explain how the elements of media arts and story principles communicate meaning by comparing media artworks from different social, cultural and historical contexts, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander media artworks(ACAMAR065)
• Identify specific features and purposes of media artworks from contemporary and past times to explore viewpoints and enrich their media arts making, starting with Australian media artworks including of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander media artworks (ACAMAR072)

Design and Technologies (Years 7–8) content descriptions:

• Critique needs or opportunities for designing and investigate, analyse and select from a range of materials, components, tools, equipment and processes to develop design ideas (ACTDEP035)
• Independently develop criteria for success to evaluate design ideas, processes and solutions and their sustainability(ACTDEP038)

English (Years 7–9) content descriptions:

• Identify and explore ideas and viewpoints about events, issues and characters represented in texts drawn from different historical, social and cultural contexts (ACELT1619)
• Reflect on ideas and opinions about characters, settings and events in literary texts, identifying areas of agreement and difference with others and justifying a point of view(ACELT1620)
• Discuss aspects of texts, for example their aesthetic and social value, using relevant and appropriate metalanguage(ACELT1803)
• Recognise and analyse the ways that characterisation, events and settings are combined in narratives, and discuss the purposes and appeal of different approaches (ACELT1622)
• Analyse how the construction and interpretation of texts, including media texts, can be influenced by cultural perspectives and other texts (ACELY1739)
• Recognise and explain differing viewpoints about the world, cultures, individual people and concerns represented in texts(ACELT1807)
• Explore and reflect on personal understanding of the world and significant human experience gained from interpreting various representations of life matters in texts (ACELT1635)

An ATOM Study Guide is available for download.

Allan Turner is the father of Zaidee, a seven-year-old girl who in 2004 was the only child in Victoria that year to become an organ and tissue donor after she died suddenly from a brain aneurysm. Having learned that Australia lags behind similar countries on donor rates, Allan has devoted his life to finding a solution. He alerts us to the current state of play: 7 out of 10 Australians say they would donate – but fewer than 4 in 10 have actually registered to do so. Furthermore – if family members were not informed by the potential donor, more than half of donations will not proceed. Allan seeks remedies while we focus, with great emotion, on the Australians in need for whom time is running out…

Holly Ralph (41) has cystic fibrosis, an incurable genetic disorder afflicting her lungs and leaving them with just 16% functional capacity. Constantly coughing, she needs medication and oxygen to stay alive and relieve the fluid congestion she’s drowning in. Holly receives a double lung transplant, and her daughter River cares for her as Holly subsequently recovers, goes skiing, and wins a gold medal at the National Transplant Games. Holly longs to thank her donor family in person, something Australian privacy laws prevent – instead she writes a heartfelt letter which will be delivered anonymously.

When Holly is asked to speak at an organ donor event, she reveals she has just celebrated her one year ‘lungiversary’. 

Kate ‘Kitty’ Hansen (32) is a diabetic who has been awaiting a pancreas and double kidney transplant for six harrowing years, enduring exhausting dialysis to ‘wash’ her blood three times a week. Despite her illness, Kate wins a tattoo modelling contest… then sadly loses a toe to amputation. Experiencing three near-death experiences and constantly in pain, she struggles to keep hope alive for the sake of her parents and boyfriend – all while having dark thoughts of giving it up as she waits each day for ‘that call’.

Levi Walters (2) needs a kidney. Both his parents would like to donate as “living donors”, and we see them go through the process of determining who it will be – before learning that mother Alice is the better match. She lovingly gives life to Levi for the second time.

Tony Beret (65) has liver cancer. His only chance of survival is to receive the gift of life from a perfect stranger. His partner, Peter, waits anxiously as the difficult operation is performed. But before long, part of Tony’s new liver begins to die…

Henry Archoo (76) is an Indigenous Bardi man living on country in the Kimberley. Blind in one eye and virtually blind in the other, he awaits a corneal transplant. His wife Barbara cannot walk, and yells directions as Henry pushes her around in her wheelchair – she is his eyes and he is her feet. Henry receives his new cornea and, with a new outlook on life, is able to return to his favourite pastime of painting the landscapes around him.

Peter ‘Woody’ Wood (48) first experienced kidney failure at age eleven and now awaits his third transplant. After years of dialysis, he’s rapidly running out of usable veins for this life-saving treatment. Against all odds, Woody receives anotherdonor kidney, which threatens to reject within a year… but then miraculously recovers.

THE INTENSELY MOVING STORIES OF THESE SEVEN BRAVE AUSTRALIANS COMPEL US TO ASK: WHY CAN’T WE FIX SUCH A FIXABLE PROBLEM? IT DOESN’T SEEM TO BE BECAUSE WE DON’T CARE ABOUT ORGAN DONATION… IS IT SIMPLY BECAUSE WE DON’T REALISE THAT ALL WE NEED TO DO IS SPEND TWO MINUTES SIGNING THE ONLINE REGISTER, AND HAVING A CHAT WITH OUR FAMILIES AND MATES? DOING SO WILL SAVE BILLIONS IN HEALTH DOLLARS – BUT, MORE IMPORTANTLY – HUNDREDS OF LIVES EVERY YEAR. DYING TO LIVE ASKS ALL AUSTRALIANS TO SIGN UP, DONATE LIFE, AND BECOME PHYSICAL PHILANTHROPISTS…

Curriculum Links

This series can be linked to the following subjects in the Australian Curriculum:

•  Health and Physical Education
•  Science
•  English

And the General Capability of:

•  Ethical Understanding

Dying to Live can be directly connected to the following Years 9 and 10 Health and Physical Education content descriptors:

• Critically analyse and apply health information from a range of sources to health decisions and situations.
• Plan, implement and critique strategies to enhance health, safety and wellbeing of their communities.
• Critique behaviours and contextual factors that influence health and wellbeing of diverse communities.

The film can also be linked to the following content descriptors in the Year 10 Science curriculum:

• Transmission of heritable characteristics from one generation to the next involves DNA and genes.
• Scientific understanding, including models and theories, is contestable and is refined over time through a process of review by the scientific community.
• Advances in scientific understanding often rely on technological advances and are often linked to scientific discoveries.
• People use scientific knowledge to evaluate whether they accept claims, explanations or predictions, and advances in science can affect people’s lives, including generating new career opportunities.
• Values and needs of contemporary society can influence the focus of scientific research.

The film can be used as part of the English curriculum and connected to the following Years 9 and 10 English content descriptions:

• Students engage with a variety of texts for enjoyment. They interpret, create, evaluate, discuss and perform a wide range of literary texts in which the primary purpose is aesthetic, as well as texts designed to inform and persuade. These include various types of media texts, including newspapers, film and digital texts, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, dramatic performances and multimodal texts, with themes and issues involving levels of abstraction, higher order reasoning and intertextual references.
• These texts explore themes of human experience and cultural significance, interpersonal relationships, and ethical and global dilemmas within real-world and fictional settings and represent a variety of perspectives.

NB: Teachers should be aware that this film deals with highly sensitive issues around childhood illness and death, serious medical conditions and medical procedures; some of which are shown. Some of the vision and stories shown may be disturbing for some students.

An ATOM Study guide is available for download.

Papua New Guinea is Australia’s nearest neighbour, a place characterised by stunning but unforgiving landscape, immense cultural diversity – and a national passion for rugby league. According to human rights organisations, it is also one of the worst places in the world to be a woman.

Power Meri follows Papua New Guinea’s first national women’s rugby league team, the PNG Orchids, on their journey to the 2017 World Cup in Australia. Proud, strong and hopeful, the pioneering women in the PNG Orchids team have overcome more challenges than most to play their much-loved national sport. But after years at grassroots level, they have just three months to transform themselves into a competitive national team.

Power Meri takes audiences on a journey through rarely-seen corners of PNG and behind the scenes of women’s sport. It follows the Orchids through selection trials, arduous training with a fly-in-fly-out Australian coaching mentor, and diverse personal struggles as they face the world champion Australian Jillaroos and compete at the World Cup.

But their mission is greater than winning. In a country with appalling rates of domestic violence, sport is one of the few arenas in which PNG women can show their strength. If they can perform like men on the rugby field, can they change attitudes about the treatment and status of women back home?

CURRICULUM LINKS

Power Meri offers students an opportunity to:

• critique and challenge assumptions and stereotypes;
• consider the influence of sport on national and personal identity and on gender equality;
• examine the roles, status and representations of women in modern day society;
• weigh up the importance of winning vs participating;
• consider the different ways people can demonstrate resilience;
• evaluate the importance of community support to individuals and groups;
• discuss the relative socioeconomic differences between Australia and Papua New Guinea, and the relationship between the two countries.

This study guide is suitable for secondary students at all year levels. It provides information and suggestions for learning activities in Health and Physical Education, English and Media. It may also be used as a supplementary text in the teaching of Civics and Citizenship and the development of Australian Curriculum general capabilities: Personal and Social Capability, Ethical Understanding and Intercultural Understanding.

Links to the Health and Physical Education curriculum

In Health and Physical Education, students explore the importance of sport participation in the community, and the influence of traditions, norms and stereotypes in shaping cultures and identities. In this context, Power Meri relates to the following outcome areas:

Strand	Sub-strand
Personal, social and community health	• Being healthy, safe and active• Contributing to healthy and active communities
Movement and physical activity	• Understanding movement

Links to the English curriculum

In English, students are encouraged to study texts which explore themes of human experience and cultural significance, interpersonal relationships, and ethical and global dilemmas within real-world and fictional settings and represent a variety of perspectives.

Strand	Sub-strand
Language	• Language variation and change• Purpose, audience and structures of different types of texts• Text cohesion• Visual language
Literature	• Literature and context• Personal responses to ideas, characters and viewpoints in texts
Literacy	• Texts and contexts in which they are used• Listening and speaking interactions• Purpose and audience• Analysing and evaluating texts

Links to the Arts (Media) curriculum

In Media Arts, students refine and extend their understanding of structure, intent, character, settings, points of view, genre and conventions through opportunities to reflect on, analyse, interpret and evaluate a range of media texts. Specifically, students:

• Analyse how technical and symbolic elements are used in media artworks to create representations influenced by story, genre, values and points of view of particular audiences
• Evaluate how technical and symbolic elements are manipulated in media artworks to create and challenge representations framed by media conventions, social beliefs and values for a range of audiences (ACAMAR078)
• Identify specific features and purposes of media artworks from contemporary and past times to explore viewpoints and enrich their media arts making (ACAMAR072)
• Analyse a range of media artworks from contemporary and past times to explore differing viewpoints and enrich their media arts making (ACAMAR079)

Teachers are advised to consult the Australian Curriculum online at http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/ and curriculum outlines relevant to their state or territory for further information.

An ATOM Study Guide is available for download.Documentary Feature, Study Guides

In 1984, Midnight Oil release their iconic record Red Sails in the Sunset. They embark on a relentless tour around the nation performing raw and electrifying music that reignites the imagination of young Australians. That same year, their lead singer Peter Garrett commits to run for a Senate seat in New South Wales for the Nuclear Disarmament Party (NDP).

Midnight Oil had been building a strong following since 1977. Their live performances were legendary. Their popularity gave a voice to the feelings of a young generation concerned about nuclear power, Indigenous affairs, environmentalism and US dominance of Australian culture. With the full support of the band, Garrett launches himself and his fellow band mates into a strenuous and demanding alliance between rock music and politics.

The NDP campaign resonated powerfully with young people concerned about nuclear weapons and war. A demographic previously alienated from politics was suddenly energised and ready to vote Garrett into the Senate. Working from makeshift offices with few resources and aided by NDP Campaign Manager Mark Dodshon, Garrett darts from schools to rallies, talking to the media and spreading the message of the campaign. As the NDP starts to poll strongly politicians from all sides go on the attack.

Meanwhile the pressure of performing on both the live stage and the political stage takes its toll on the band. With their lead singer campaigning throughout the day and performing at night it becomes an anxious and conflicted time for the band. The added adrenaline and excitement surrounding Garrett’s Senate campaign draws a lot of media attention and their profile goes from the back pages of the entertainment section to the front pages of the news.

Thirty years in the making and featuring never seen before footage of the band on and off the stage, Midnight Oil: 1984 is the untold story of the year Australia’s most iconic rock band inspired the nation to believe in the power of music to change the world.

CURRICULUM LINKS

Midnight Oil: 1984 is suitable for secondary students in Years 10 – 12 undertaking:

• Australian and Global Politics
• Australian History
• English
• Media
• Music

In Australian and Global Politics, Midnight Oil: 1984 offers students the opportunity to engage in discussions about key political and social issues, and to reflect on the importance of being informed citizens, voters and participants in their local, national and international communities. Activities have been designed to prompt awareness of the nature of power and policy formulation through a discussion of the role and influence of individuals, interest groups and minor political parties in Australian politics.

In Australian History, Midnight Oil: 1984 allows students to discuss, interpret and evaluate how Midnight Oil as a band and the music of Midnight Oil have contributed to Australian society and culture. The film is a relevant resource to teach the Year 10 Australian Curriculum elective: Popular Culture.

In English, Midnight Oil: 1984 expands and enriches students’ understanding of human experiences. Activities have been designed to allow students to discuss, interpret and evaluate the film, including its ideas, characters, themes, contexts and cultural significance; and to identify, analyse and evaluate the way the film uses structures, features and conventions to construct meaning.

In Music, Midnight Oil: 1984 develops students’ knowledge of musical genres, styles and cultures and their understanding of artistic processes. Activities have been designed to allow students to discuss, interpret and evaluate the music of Midnight Oil and the band members’ careers as musicians; and to observe, research and critically discuss the stylistic, technical, expressive and aesthetic features of music within a particular style and period.

In Media, students can use Midnight Oil: 1984 to describe, analyse and interpret a professional media product in terms of how it communicates ideas to a specific audience. Activities have been designed to allow students to describe and discuss ways that a documentary depicts events, people, places and themes.

Teachers are advised to consult the Australian Curriculum online at https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/ and curriculum outlines relevant to their state or territory for further information.

The study guide activities promote student engagement and active participation via individual reflection, class discussions, and small group and team work. Multiple activities are provided to allow teachers to select those which will best suit the demands of the subject and the needs of the students.

If you do not own copies of Midnight Oil’s music, you can listen online by accessing Midnight Oil’s artist profile on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/artist/72KyoXzp0NOQij6OcmZUxk. Watch music videos of Midnight Oil’s songs online at https://www.midnightoil.com/videos/.

It is recommended that teachers preview Midnight Oil: 1984.

Midnight Oil: 1984 ATOM Study Guide is available here.

‘The Show Must Go On’ is the first film to tell the story of the mental health of the 42,000 people working in the Australian arts and entertainment industry. While ‘show business’ is often seen as glamorous, fun, exciting, and well paid, recent and alarming world first research from Entertainment Assist and Victoria University paints a darker picture for entertainment workers. Anxiety symptoms are 10 times higher, sleep disorders are 7 times higher and symptoms of depression are 5 times higher than the national average. Suicide attempts in the industry are double the national average.

This film follows former ‘Home and Away’ actor and debut documentary filmmaker Ben Steel on a soul-searching investigation into why are there so many arts and entertainment workers developing and struggling with mental well-being issues. Ben shares his intimate experiences living with depression and anxiety for the past few years, and along the way, we are witness to his intimate conversations with key creatives and crew, actors, dancers, musicians, performers- many of them household names – who have likewise struggled and how they have survived.

While this film may not reach and save every life, we hope it will have enough impact to at least save one, and that it will spark much needed conversations about mental health.

CURRICULUM LINKS:

‘The Show Must Go On’ can be linked to the following subject areas within the Australian Curriculum: 

• English
• Health and Physical Education
• The General Capabilities of ‘Ethical Understanding’ and ‘Personal and Social Capability’

‘The Show Must Go On’ can also be used as a supplementary text for the following senior school subjects: 

• Ethics
• Health and Human Development
• Media Arts
• Music
• Performing Arts
• Psychology

Teacher discretion and sensitivity is advised when approaching a study of this documentary, as some students may have direct personal experience with depression and other mental health issues. 

Relevant Content Descriptions for Year 9 and 10 English:

• Explore and reflect on personal understanding of the world and significant human experience gained from interpreting various representations of life matters in texts (ACELT1635)
• Compare and evaluate a range of representations of individuals and groups in different historical, social and cultural contexts (ACELT1639)
• Create sustained texts, including texts that combine specific digital or media content, for imaginative, informative, or persuasive purposes that reflect upon challenging and complex issues (ACELY1756)

Relevant Content Descriptions for Year 9 and 10 Health and Physical Education: 

• Evaluate factors that shape identities and critically analyse how individuals impact the identities of others (ACPPS089)
• Plan, implement and critique strategies to enhance health, safety and wellbeing of their communities (ACPPS096)
• Critique behaviours and contextual factors that influence health and wellbeing of diverse communities (ACPPS098)

An ATOM Study Guide is available here.

Storm in a Teacup is an intimate portrait of Western Australian artist Leon Pericles as he embarks on his biggest challenge yet: an exhibition of his life’s works at a time when he has the least support. His wife Moira played a huge part in Leon’s success as his creative counsel and business manager. But now Moira has Alzheimer’s and Leon must juggle his role as artist, husband and carer.

Told through the eyes of their daughter Nia, Storm in a Teacup is an uplifting, raw and emotionally engaging documentary that explores love, life and loss.

CURRICULUM LINKS

This study guide is mainly aimed at mid to senior secondary school levels, with general relevance within the class activities to, and interconnecting between, English, the Arts (Media Arts, Visual Art, Fine Arts), Health, Family and Community, Society and Culture. Key general topics arising from the film are: dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease) and its life-changing effects on the individual, those in the immediate family sphere, and the community at large; what it is like to pursue the life vocation and responsibilities of an artist; the historical, memorial, social and cultural importance of archival family records and artefacts such as film, video and photographs; and the connections of memory and knowledge across the generations.

Storm in a Teacup can be linked to the following subject areas within the Australian National Curriculum:

• English
• The Arts: Media Arts; Visual Arts
• Health and Physical Education

Storm in a Teacup is also recommended as a supplementary text for studying the following senior school subjects:

• Media
• Health and Human Development
• Philosophy

Storm in a Teacup may also be linked to the Australian National Curriculum general capabilities of: Personal and Social Capability; Critical and Creative Thinking; and Ethical Understanding.

English curriculum content descriptions relevant to Storm in a Teacup (Year 10):

• Create literary texts with a sustained ‘voice’, selecting and adapting appropriate text structures, literary devices, language, auditory and visual structures and features for a specific purpose and intended audience (ACELT1815)
• Identify and explore the purposes and effects of different text structures and language features of spoken texts, and use this knowledge to create purposeful texts that inform, persuade and engage (ACELY1750)

Media Arts curriculum content descriptions relevant to Storm in a Teacup (Years 9 and 10):

• Manipulate media representations to identify and examine social and cultural values and beliefs (ACAMAM074)
• Evaluate how technical and symbolic elements are manipulated in media artworks to create and challenge representations framed by media conventions, social beliefs and values for a range of audiences (ACAMAR078)

Visual Arts curriculum content descriptions relevant to Storm in a Teacup (Years 9 and 10):

• Conceptualise and develop representations of themes, concepts or subject matter to experiment with their developing personal style, reflecting on the styles of artists (ACAVAM125)
• Plan and design artworks that represent artistic intention (ACAVAM128)

Health and Physical Education curriculum content descriptions relevant to Storm in a Teacup (Year 9 and 10):

• Personal, Social and Community Health: Investigate how empathy and ethical decision making contribute to respectful relationships (ACPPS093) 
• Evaluate situations and propose appropriate emotional responses and then reflect on possible outcomes of different responses (ACPPS094)

An ATOM Study Guide is available for Storm in a Teacup.