Australian Identity and the Bush

Active learning works well for this topic because the bush is not just a backdrop but a dynamic character in Australia’s story. Having students analyze, debate, and discuss texts about the land transforms abstract ideas into personal and critical engagement with the material.

• Year 11
• English
• 3 activities
• 20 min–45 min

Learning Objectives

1. Analyze how colonial and First Nations texts represent the Australian landscape differently, identifying key literary devices used.
2. Compare the evolution of the 'bush' as a symbol of national identity from the 19th century to the present day.
3. Evaluate how personification of the land in Australian literature shapes a reader's sense of belonging.
4. Explain how cultural perspectives transform the Australian landscape from a site of threat to one of sanctuary in literary works.

Inquiry Circle

⏱ 45 min·Small Groups

Inquiry Circle: Landscape Through Time

Groups are given three texts: a 19th-century colonial poem, a mid-20th-century 'bush' ballad, and a contemporary Indigenous short story. They must create a Venn diagram comparing how the land is personified in each.

Prepare & details

Analyze how the literary depiction of the Australian outback has evolved to reflect changing national values.

Facilitation Tip: During Collaborative Investigation: Landscape Through Time, assign small groups to track how descriptions of the bush change across three historical periods, using color-coded annotations on provided excerpts.

Setup: Groups at tables with access to source materials

Materials: Source material collection, Inquiry cycle worksheet, Question generation protocol, Findings presentation template

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Self-Awareness

Formal Debate

⏱ 40 min·Whole Class

Formal Debate: Threat or Sanctuary?

Divide the class into two sides. One side must argue that the Australian landscape is primarily depicted as a hostile force in literature, while the other argues it is depicted as a place of belonging. Students must use specific textual evidence.

Prepare & details

Explain in what ways different cultural perspectives transform the landscape from a threat to a sanctuary.

Facilitation Tip: During Structured Debate: Threat or Sanctuary?, provide clear roles and time limits to ensure all students contribute and stay focused on evidence from the texts.

Setup: Two teams facing each other, audience seating for the rest

Materials: Debate proposition card, Research brief for each side, Judging rubric for audience, Timer

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Decision-Making

Think-Pair-Share

⏱ 20 min·Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: The Meaning of 'Country'

Students watch a short clip of an Indigenous elder explaining the concept of 'Country.' In pairs, they discuss how this differs from the Western concept of 'land ownership' and share how this might change their reading of a landscape-focused text.

Prepare & details

Evaluate how the personification of the land impacts the reader's understanding of belonging.

Facilitation Tip: During Think-Pair-Share: The Meaning of 'Country', circulate and listen for students to move from personal reactions to deeper textual analysis, gently prompting with questions like 'What specific words create that feeling?'.

Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor

Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Teaching This Topic

Teachers should balance the emotional weight of Indigenous texts with historical context to avoid reducing First Nations perspectives to a single narrative. Use a mix of short excerpts and longer extracts to build stamina and nuance. Research shows that when students engage with both colonial and Indigenous texts side-by-side, they more clearly see how language constructs meaning and identity.

What to Expect

Successful learning looks like students confidently distinguishing colonial depictions of the bush from Indigenous understandings of Country. They should articulate how language choices shape meaning and connect these ideas to broader cultural and historical contexts.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

During Collaborative Investigation: Landscape Through Time, watch for students describing the bush as a simple setting rather than a culturally constructed idea.

What to Teach Instead

Redirect by asking groups to highlight words like 'alien,' 'hostile,' or 'pristine' and discuss what these reveal about the writer’s cultural perspective, linking back to the myth of Terra Nullius.

Common Misconception

During Think-Pair-Share: The Meaning of 'Country', watch for students using 'Country' as a universal term without recognizing its specific cultural meanings.

What to Teach Instead

Prompt students to name the Nation whose Country they are discussing and explain how the text reflects that Nation’s unique connection to the land.

Assessment Ideas

Discussion Prompt

After Collaborative Investigation: Landscape Through Time, pose the question: 'How does the language used to describe the Australian landscape in colonial texts differ from that used in contemporary First Nations texts?' Ask students to identify specific adjectives, verbs, and metaphors in provided excerpts and explain the underlying cultural assumptions.

Quick Check

During Structured Debate: Threat or Sanctuary?, provide students with two short passages, one colonial and one contemporary First Nations, describing a similar Australian landscape. Ask them to write three bullet points comparing how each passage portrays the land's relationship with people, focusing on themes of threat or sanctuary.

Exit Ticket

During Think-Pair-Share: The Meaning of 'Country', students write a short paragraph (3-4 sentences) explaining how the personification of the Australian land in a text they have studied impacts the reader's understanding of what it means to belong in Australia.

Extensions & Scaffolding

• Challenge students to write a short creative piece from the perspective of the bush in a First Nations story, using at least three elements of personification.
• Scaffolding: Provide sentence starters for Think-Pair-Share, such as 'I think Country means... because...'.
• Deeper: Invite a local Indigenous elder or knowledge keeper to share stories about their relationship to Country, followed by a reflective writing task connecting the experience to the texts studied.

Key Vocabulary

The Outback	A vast, remote, and arid or semi-arid interior of Australia, often depicted as a challenging but iconic landscape in literature.
Country	In First Nations Australian cultures, this term refers to the land, its waters, and its living things, imbued with spiritual significance and deep connection.
Terra Nullius	Latin for 'nobody's land,' a legal principle used by colonial powers to claim land without treaty or purchase, often disregarding Indigenous inhabitants.
Pastoralism	The practice of raising large numbers of livestock, particularly sheep and cattle, on vast tracts of land, a significant element in the historical and literary depiction of the Australian bush.
Belonging	A sense of connection, acceptance, and place within a community or landscape, often explored through literary representations of the Australian environment.