HASS · Year 5

Active learning ideas

Other Federation Leaders

This topic asks students to confront uncomfortable truths about how our nation was built on exclusion. Active learning works here because it pushes students beyond abstract facts into real human experiences, making the impact of policies and laws tangible. When students analyze primary sources and personal stories, they connect emotionally to history in a way that passive listening simply cannot achieve.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9HASS5K01
• AC9HASS5K05

• 25–50 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Gallery Walk
• 40 min · Individual

Gallery Walk: The Dictation Test

Display examples of the 'Dictation Test' in different languages (e.g., a test in Gaelic given to an Italian migrant). Students try to 'pass' a 50-word test in a language they don't know, experiencing the unfairness of the policy.

Differentiate the contributions of various leaders to the Federation process.

Facilitation Tip

During the Gallery Walk, position yourself where students cannot avoid the test’s racist language so they confront its blunt exclusion directly.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'Imagine you are advising a new leader today. Based on the contributions of Barton and Spence, what are two key qualities a leader needs to unite people and create change?' Have students share their ideas, referencing specific actions of the historical figures.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 02

• Inquiry Circle
• 50 min · Small Groups

Inquiry Circle: Section 127

Groups look at the original wording of Section 127 of the Constitution (which said First Nations people wouldn't be counted). They research why this was included and how it was finally removed in the 1967 Referendum.

Assess the challenges faced by women like Catherine Helen Spence in influencing politics.

What to look for

Provide students with a Venn diagram. Ask them to label one circle 'Edmund Barton' and the other 'Catherine Helen Spence'. In the overlapping section, they should write similarities in their goals for Australia. In the separate sections, they should list unique contributions or challenges.

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

Activity 03

• Think-Pair-Share
• 25 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: Who is an Australian?

Students compare a 1901 'Federation' poster with a modern 'Harmony Day' poster. They discuss with a partner how the 'image' of an Australian has changed over the last 120 years.

Compare the leadership styles of different Federation advocates.

What to look for

On an index card, ask students to write one sentence explaining a challenge Catherine Helen Spence faced that Edmund Barton did not, and one sentence describing a specific contribution Edmund Barton made to the Constitution.

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

A few notes on teaching this unit

Approach this topic with honesty and clarity, avoiding euphemisms like ‘restrictive immigration’ when the policy was explicitly racist. Use the legal language of the Constitution and the Dictation Test to show students how exclusion was written into the nation’s foundation. Research shows that students grasp historical injustices better when they see primary texts alongside human stories, so pair each law with a case study of a family affected by it.

By the end of these activities, students will recognize that Federation was not a single moment of unity but a process that privileged some while actively harming others. They will be able to explain how laws like the Immigration Restriction Act and Section 127 worked in practice, not just in theory. Success looks like students using evidence to discuss why certain groups were excluded and how those exclusions shaped Australia’s identity.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Gallery Walk activity, watch for students who interpret the Immigration Restriction Act as a neutral border control measure.

  Redirect them by asking them to read aloud the actual test questions in the display and notice how they target specific languages and cultures, not just ‘undesirable’ people.

• During the Collaborative Investigation activity, listen for students who believe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were ignored because they were not part of the nation-building process.

  Have them read Section 127 aloud from the provided Constitution excerpt and highlight the clause that explicitly excludes them from the census, challenging the idea that their absence was accidental.

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Methods used in this brief

• Gallery Walk
• Inquiry Circle
• Think-Pair-Share