Tag Archives: australian aboriginal children

Module 4: Post 4 – Teaching Students About Australian Aboriginals Rights and the Stolen Generations

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The Australian Government has a wealth of unit and lesson plans available to teachers to utilize when teaching students about Australian Aboriginals Rights and the Stolen Generations. These plans directly relate to curriculum strands and learning outcomes of various Australian states.

The units cover topics such as: the Stolen Generations, Sally Morgan, Aboriginal values, beliefs and relationships with others and the environment, Indigenous issues on local and national levels, and self-governance. Units largely are created for English, Social Studies/History and the arts disciplines.

One unit that I found particularly interesting began with students taking a field trip to the city of Ballarat. The main goal of the day, which involved visiting museums and learning about the impact of Europeans on Aborigines, was for students to evaluate the accuracy of recorded history. I find this an interesting/progressive topic for students. I appreciate  curriculum that asks students to question the essence of the discipline.

Module 2: Post 4 – Apology by the Prime Minister to the Stolen Generations

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In February, 2008, Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia, apologized to the Aboriginal peoples of Australia for the government’s policy of removing children from their homes and putting them into care in an effort of assimilate the Aboriginal children into the dominant culture. This apology was one part of the healing process for the thousands of people who had been affected by this policy that existed for nearly 100 years.

On the occasion of the Prime Minister’s apology, Lola Edwards, one of the Stolen Generations, shares her memories of being taken from her family at the age of 4 and then reunited with her mother decades later when she was an adult. Edwards has an interesting statement near the end of the interview where she does not seem concerned with the reaction of Australia to the apology, rather she is more concerned that all citizens are aware of the Stolen Generations – that they know this part of Australia’s history. She notes that she could feel ‘bitter and twisted’ because of what happened, but that she doesn’t. She goes on to say, “This is the history of Australia. This is the real history of Australia. This is what happened in Australia.”

Module 1: Post 3 – Australian Aboriginal Children – The Stolen Generations

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Each year in the Middle School where I work, students read the novel Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington and learn about the tragic practice by the Australian Government of removing aboriginal children from their home without evidence of abuse or neglect and forcing them to live in state run facilities.  The novel recounts the story of three young girls who were taken from their home and moved to a facility 1, 600 km away. The girls escape and walk home simply by following the rabbit proof fence that ran north to south in Western Australia. The novel, and film, captivates students’. They are as astonished that a government could have such a policy as they are that children their age and younger could walk that far.

This practice by the Australian government is all too similar to Canada’s residential schools. It is not surprising that more than one country had a similar practice of removing children they deemed to be raised in an unsatisfactory setting and putting them in state run schools/facilities. Not surprising, and not right. It is tragic that these children are then subjected to abuse at the hands of those who are meant to be caring for them.  As the article “For residential school kids, a legacy of sex abuse” suggests, the abuse suffered by children at the residential schools impacts future generations. Many of my Indigenous friends are affected by the suffering their parents and grandparents endured at residential schools.

The belief that a government can single out the children of one group of people and forcibly remove them from their home and subject them to live their childhood in a state run facility is barbaric. That this practice happened for so long in so many countries is sad. I am hopeful that we are now learning from the mistakes of the past and realizing the long lasting impacts decisions can have on individuals and their families. I am hopeful that in learning from these mistakes future groups of people are respected and their traditions are valued and honored, not systematically destroyed.