Cub bloggers Dawn and Ange reporting in with another story from Acton.
It’s important to be inclusive, right? And to live in a place that’s cohesive, yes? These are important values to Australians that are celebrated every year on March 21st. Harmony Day seeks to speak, loud and proud, the key message, ‘Everyone Belongs’.
These values are a pretty natural fit with the National Museum of Australia, and as the day is celebrated in schools across Australia, it seemed like a good idea for the Education gang at the NMA to join in those celebrations. We were lucky enough to work with about 150 students from Yass Public School (NSW), Bradfordville Public School, Goulburn (NSW) and Majura Primary School (ACT) on the day.
What we wanted to do was help students engage with the stories of Harmony found in the Museum. The program began with a guest speaker telling their own personal migration story. The speakers brought with them a special object which related to their story. The students were fascinated by the tiny seahorse that Delia Osika’s had been given by her father when she was a little girl in England. The other guest speakers were Ayumi Sakamoto, Catalina Parish, Grace Onang and Laster Khumato who are all hosts at the National Museum. A real person telling their own personal is a powerful way of engaging people, student or otherwise. It helps students connect with the business of the museum- in this case, telling the stories of Australian people.
We also wanted the students to creatively express their understandings of these contributions and be part of the storytelling process that happens in our/their Museum.
We used object investigation and exploration of the Australian Journeys Gallery, which tells many yarns of people who have contributed to the development of a contemporary Australian values and culture.
Students in groups were asked to ponder:
- Who came to Australia?
- Where did they come from?
- Why did they come to Australia?
- What have they contributed to Australia?
It didn’t end with pondering! Next the students (still in their groups) worked to create panels for banners that now proudly hang outside our education rooms at the National Museum of Australia. It feels really right that the end result of Harmony Day at the NMA is that student understanding of Australian history is displayed for all visitors to the Museum to see. We might never give them back!
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