Click the icon to access an overview of readings In this section you can read the heritage views of Australians from varying age groups and backgrounds. ‘Picture Sydney: Landmarks of a New Generation’ was an opportunity for young Sydneysiders to capture the pulse of the city. Penny Benier of Elderslie High School photographed a building with a false front in the suburb of Mt Hunter. Benier commented: "I wanted to show all aspects of Sydney, not just the pretty things. I think people will be surprised by what they see, particularly the older generation. We see things in a very different way." (p. 5 domain, Sydney Morning Herald, 26.8.99) Click the icon to listen to various points of views Paul Ashton, Tracy Ireland, Jana Vytrhlik, Carol Liston and Geraldine O’Brien offered their views on heritage for the Teaching Heritage website. Some of the issues and dilemmas for public participation in preserving Australia’s heritage are highlighted in their viewpoints. You can also read the views of John Birmingham, Jennice Kersh and Merlinda Bobis – all interviewed by Sydney Morning Herald journalists in 1999. Birmingham focuses on the heritage of Sydney, Kersh on the heritage of Pyrmont (the suburb of her childhood), and Bobis gives a heritage perspective as a migrant who settled in regional Wollongong. We have also included excerpts from Graeme Davison’s discussion of the meanings of heritage in the Heritage Handbook (1991). The heritage views of older Sydneysiders are represented in the National Trust’s reflections article ‘Taking heritage to 2000’. James Elder talked to Australians – who between them lived in almost every decade of the 20th century – about their memories of heritage and their predictions for heritage in Australia in the 21st century. Teachers In building units of work for classroom use with these questions and resources, you may like to consult the NSW History and Geography Stages 4-5 syllabus outcomes: History Outcomes - Stage 4 History Outcomes - Stage 5 History Values and Attitudes Geography Outcomes - Stage 4 Geography Outcomes - Stage 5 Geography Values and Attitudes For help with designing classroom assessment activities to help gauge whether these outcomes are being achieved, you may like to consult the History Planning Assessment Guidelines History Course Performance Descriptors Geography Planning Assessment Guidelines Geography Draft Course Performance Descriptors Put simply, our heritage is all we inherit from previous generations. This inheritance goes towards forming our identities as people, communities and nations. "Heritage is the combination of all those things that make us, as individuals, the people we are and, on a larger scale, make us the nation we are," writes Geraldine O’Brien. "It can be as small as a baby’s rattle, passed down through generations, a family photograph, books, or a piece of furniture. Or it can be as large as Uluru, the Sydney Opera House or an old harbour ferry." Interspersed with heritage concepts are the assumptions, ideas and attitudes that shape the way we relate to others and interact with the natural and built environments. Paul Ashton reminds us that heritage is rich with positive and negative elements. John Birmingham confronted ‘darkness on the backstreets’ when writing Leviathan: An Unauthorised Biography of Sydney. In focusing on Sydney’s chequered past he attempted to: "…use the history to explain the city as it is now. You know you can trace a line back, if you choose, from the Cash for Comment radio scandal right back to the Rum Corps. It’s the same forces at work." Heritage, then, is far broader than the material objects that are preserved from the past. In practical terms, our heritage is all that we value and want to keep for future generations. For some, the positive aspects of our past are embellished for heritage purposes. In making value-based decisions about what is worth preserving for future generations, heritage practitioners are involved in a filtering process. With the approaching Federation celebrations in 2001, Tracy Ireland observes: "There has been a renewed focus on national heritage…It will be interesting to see how we redefine the culturally diverse nation and how difference, conflict and the unpleasant parts of our history are dealt with." A recurring question in formal approaches that identify local, state and national heritage is: Heritage choices reflecting whose identity? Navigation Site Index Front Page --------------- What is heritage? Australian heritage timelines Reading about heritage Teaching the outcomes Forming a nation Expressing national goals Building Australian identities Reshaping cultural values --------------- Heritage gallery Contact us NSW database ---------------