The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) History K-10 syllabus page contains useful information to assist with programming Years 7-10 history, including a guide to the syllabus, sample scope and sequences and sample units.
Each of the learning sequences below includes and assessment task and marking criteria designed to be adapted to suit your school context.
Depth study 1 – investigating the ancient past (DOCX 132KB) - this resource is a complete teaching and learning sequence with the ancient world overview embedded throughout the learning activities.
Each of the learning sequences below includes an assessment task and marking criteria designed to be adapted to suit the context of your school.
Depth study 3 (part 2) – Australians at war - World War 2 (DOCX 134KB) is a teaching and learning sequence that covers the World War 2 component of the core study Australians at war in Stage 5.
Depth study 5a – pop culture (DOCX 118KB) is a teaching and learning sequence exploring pop culture in Australia and globally post World War 2.
Explore the information below to learn more about the historical inquiry process and what it can look like for different stages of learning.
Process of historical inquiry using the history K-10 syllabus
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Question | Students are provided with research question/s OR may identify and develop their own questions to frame historical inquiry. Suitable instructional words may include: how, what, why, account for, compare, contrast, describe, discuss, explain, identify, outline and recount. |
| Research | Students identify and locate a range of primary and secondary sources, using teacher guidance as required. Teacher will provide some recommended source material. |
| Analyse | Students synthesise the collated historical information and align the sources to the key content in the question/s. Students identify meaning and context to determine the usefulness of the sources to the inquiry, taking into account the sources? origins, motivations, perspectives and interpretations, values and historical detail. Teachers need to provide guidance in how to determine which sources to include or exclude, as students construct an informed argument or opinion. |
| Evaluate | Students examine the reliability of the source material, considering authorship, to answer the question/s. |
| Communicate | Students present a text, organising and presenting their findings about the past, identifying and describing different perspectives relevant to the historical inquiry. Students use historical terms and concepts, identify evidence from sources and acknowledge the sources used. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Question | Students identify and develop their own questions OR may be provided with research question/s to frame historical inquiry. Suitable instructional words may include: how, what, why, account for, compare, contrast, explain, discuss, analyse, evaluate and justify. |
| Research | Students identify and locate a range of primary and secondary sources, using teacher guidance as required. Teachers may provide some recommended source material. |
| Analyse | Students synthesise the collated historical information and align the sources to the key content in the question/s. Students analyse sources to identify the relevance of the historical content to the question/s. Students determine the usefulness of the sources to the inquiry, taking into account the sources? origins, purposes, motivations, perspectives, values and historical detail. Teachers may need to provide guidance in how to determine which sources to include or exclude, as students construct an informed argument or opinion. |
| Evaluate | Students justify the reliability of the source material, considering authorship, to answer the question/s |
| Communicate | Students present a text, organising and presenting findings about the past, incorporating their own justifications and interpretations relevant to the historical inquiry. Students use historical terms and concepts, identify evidence from sources and acknowledge the sources used. |
Analyse: This step seems simple to teachers but is often a challenge for students. Source analysis in Step 3 requires students to ask these questions of a source:
It is at this step that students begin to use source material to develop an informed argument or opinion that addresses the historical inquiry question/s.
Evaluate: students determine the reliability of each of the sources to be used in answering the question/s. For each source students need to ask, "Is this source to be believed"
Students must take into account the origin, values, purpose and context of the source in order to answer the question/s.
Primary sources and secondary sources can both be considered reliable sources of information. A primary source may be reliable because it is produced by a credible witness to an historical event. A secondary source may be reliable because it is produced by an expert historian, or a trustworthy organisation, who has used quality primary materials to produce the source.
However, sources used will often have issues of reliability, such as bias within accounts of a witness or author. Such sources can still be utilised as long as students include reflections on the sources' bias, noting the way in which bias places limitations on the use of the sources as evidence.
Ancient India is an interactive site which provides a number of activities for students to cover depth study 3, the Asian world, including a suggested site study of Mohenjodaro.
Mystery at Rookwood is an interactive website in which students examine primary sources to determine the identity of the Chinese migrant as part of depth study 2a, making a nation.
Chinese question is a collaborative resource utilising Google Apps in which groups of students investigate Chinese migrants in early 20th century Australia as part of depth study 2a, making a nation.
Off to war and A soldier's war: Gallipoli are useful interactive World War I teaching resources that can be used to teach aspects of the mandatory depth study 3, Australians at war.
Tool for evaluating a teaching and learning program for history K-10 (DOCX 43KB) - use this scaffold to evaluate your history teaching and learning programs in a holistic way. Use this document to reflect on your programs as an individual or faculty, ensuring that they are compliant and fit for purpose
If you need further assistance with accessibility for any of these resources, please get in touch with us at SecondaryEducationUnit@det.nsw.edu.au