Teacher brainstorm on the development of classroom activities

• Examine the images and text information relating to Yiu Ming Temple and Dundullimal Homestead. What can the buildings, artefacts and relics tell us about the past? Look for evidence of pastoralism, religion, ethnic influences, migration and Aboriginal occupation.
• Read the oral accounts of people associated with Yiu Ming Temple and the views expressed about Dundullimal Homestead.
  History M5.4
• List the cultural practices and symbols included in these accounts. What do the accounts tell us about community attitudes to places considered an important part of cultural tradition?
• Consider the rituals connected to these places. What do these convey about community attitudes?
• Identify the elements and symbols that help to thread a culture together over time. What can Yiu Ming Temple and Dundullimal Homestead tell as about the experience of cultural preservation in Australia?
  History M5.19
• Talk to a friend or family member to gain their views on important aspects of culture that are worth preserving. How do we decide what to keep?

• Read the account of the opening ceremony to the 1958 Olympic Games in Melbourne. Which aspects of Australian culture were included?
• Speculate on the cultural aspects included in the opening of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. What might an Australian opening to the 2020 Games look like?
• Focus on views of heritage held by people in your locality.
  Identify cultural influences represented in the community and conduct interviews with people from diverse backgrounds. You will need to decide on the key themes of the interview.
• Identify the aspects of culture that people would like to preserve and any threats they identify to losing cultural traditions. What do the interviewees consider most important about their cultural heritage? How would they decide which cultural practices to preserve?
• Compare responses to tradition across cultures. Think about the place of tradition and cultural continuity in your own life. Can you identify any common elements in the practice of cultural traditions for people from diverse backgrounds?
• Use interview findings – collated across the class group – to develop ways that the school can contribute to continuing cultures, perhaps multilingual signs, recognition of important ethnic celebrations, imagery in the school that celebrates diversity.
  
• Values and Attitudes — develops an appreciation of cultural identity and the shared heritage of Australians
• Prepare articles for the local press – including the ethnic press – which convey the school’s approach to cultural preservation.

• Start a file of cultural preservation issues in your community. You can review this on a regular basis and respond through the local press to issues you believe are important to cultural richness in your community.
• Reflect on your assumptions and attitudes in contributing to this discussion. What do they reflect about your own views of heritage? Do they tell you anything about why some of the past is preserved and some is lost?