About the Commonwealth History Project > Good practice > Grant Schools 04-05 >

Deception Bay State High School and Mt St Michael's College

Title: Cultural Change in an Era of Protest

School Profile:

Name	Deception Bay State High School and Mt St Michael's College
Location	Deception Bay is located in the Caboolture Shire. It is a bay side area north of Brisbane in South East Queensland. Mt St Michael's College is located in Ashgrove which is approx 5km from the Brisbane CBD
Cultural mix	DBSHS - Co educational 78% Anglo Saxon, 22% Aboriginal, Torres Strait Is, Pacific Is and other. MSM - All Girls Catholic College which is predominantly Anglo Saxon.
Sector	Secondary
Size	DBSHS - 670 MSM - 750
Socioeconomic status	Low to Middle Middle to Upper

Program Coordinator:

Name	Tracey Cunningham Sally Flynn
Position/role in school	Acting HOD Social Sciences HOD Social Sciences

Project Overview:

Where did it fit in the school?	The project was designed as a Year 10 SOSE Unit
Why was this project chosen?	It provided an opportunity to look at youth culture through an historical perspective with a dual emphasis on Australian history and the Cold War period.
Which students were involved?	Year 10 students in both schools trialled the unit in the first semester of 2005.
How long did it run for?	In both cases the unit ran for 8-9 weeks.

Outcomes Addressed:

KLA	Strand	Outcome
SOSE	Time Continuity and Change	TCC 5.2, 5.4, 5.5, TCC 6.1, 6.2, 6.4, 6.5
SOSE	Culture and Identity	CI 4.3, 4.2 CI 5.5, 5.2, 5.3 CI 6.1, 6.2, 6.5

Project Outline:

What did you achieve?	The final product was a series of interconnecting units targeted towards Year 10. Each unit could be used alone or connected with others in the series depending on time constraints. Both schools found the units used were very popular with both students and their parents who enjoyed a trip down memory lane during dinnertime conversations.
How did you go about it?	To begin with we wanted to see if we could design and resource a unit of interest to us both, which would suit the students and teachers at two entirely different schools. After a few false starts, due to copyright problems, we decided to make the unit more general than originally planned and to leave the main resourcing off the website.
Any pitfalls or problems?	The deadline!!!!!! Our jobs! Finding the time to meet face to face was a problem due to the long hours we normally spend at our respective schools and the difficulty we had in finding a day here and there where we could be out of school on the same day. It was also difficult to know when to stop. We both had so many ideas about where we could go with the topic that it was difficult to stop adding to it.
What did it cost?	$2000.00 The grant money was spent on TRS so that we could work together from time to time and the rest was spent on the purchase of resources.
Extra materials	Unit- Youth Culture in an Era of Protest new window 117k Activity on the 1950s new window 48k Activity on 1960s new window 47k Activity on 'The Australian Dream' new window 44k Possible Assessment Idea new window 79k

Resources Used:

What CHP resources did you use and how?

Most of the Making History units can be used in conjunction with our project. Mt St Michael's College used parts of 'Red Menace', 'Friendly Games' and 'Dream Home' and Deception Bay used some of the above and 'Sunny Australia'.

What other resources did you use?

See unit plans for main resources.

A number of SOSE texts also include a section onAustralia post 1945.

Which Historical Literacies were addressed and how?

See unit plans for a detailed outline of how each historical literacy is integrated.

Evaluation:

Overall Outcomes	As a result of this project both schools have a fully resourced unit which serves as an introduction to Year 10 SOSE and Post WW2 Australia.
Reflection	It is important to keep the overall unit tight so that topics can be investigated in depth. It is very tempting to enthusiastically dip into many of the topics but this is not practical. Both schools will be refining the unit next year to really hit the topics we have chosen to go with.
Student Comments	The unit was very popular with students in both schools. They participated enthusiastically in all aspects which was very gratifying. The unit also proved popular with parents. It was especially noted by those with students at Mt St Michael s College and often became a point of discussion during the parent teacher interviews held not long after the end of the unit. A few were also moved to contribute resources and to send word through their students of up coming documentaries and other television programs which might contribute to the unit next year.
What help are you prepared to offer teachers who want to contact you?	We would love to hear from other teachers about their experiences and ideas in the areas our unit targets. Sally Flynn sflynn@msm.qld.edu.au Tracey Cunningham tcunn6@eq.edu.au

^ Top of page