Trust Teacher Talks is a fortnightly online professional development series hosted by education experts from The National Trust of Australia (Victoria). The series explores challenging areas within the Victorian Curriculum and pedagogical approaches used to address them.
Term 3 Program
Teaching Cross-Cultural Perspectives to Landscape Change: Polly Woodside
Tuesday 25th July, 4:00 – 4:30 pm
In the first edition of Trust Teacher Talks, we will explore approaches to collaborative First Peoples teaching within and outside the classroom. Using the case study of our new collaborative program developed with the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation at the Polly Woodside, we will discuss topics including starting conversations about collaborative teaching, designing a program, and building different perspectives into teaching practice. The cultural program at Polly Woodside explores the physical and cultural landscape of the Birrarung through different lenses – Wurundjeri connection to Land and Sea Country, European sailing ships of the 1800s, and industrialisation of the landscape along the Birrarung through time.
Teaching Difficult Histories through place-based learning: Pentridge Prison
Tuesday 8th August, 4:00 – 4:30 pm
Place-based learning (PBL) is a powerful educational tool which offers students immersive experiences in interesting and, at times confronting, places. Difficult Histories – those histories dealing with oppression, violence and trauma – are ideally suited to this pedagogical approach. Here, we will explore the intersection between PBL and Difficult Histories through the unique case study of Pentridge Prison, Victoria’s primary remand centre for most of the 20th century. With a carefully curated collection of primary source audio and video materials from guards, inmates and lawyers, the experience at Pentridge shares the many truths from within the bluestone walls that remain unchanged, more than a century on.
National Science Week Special: Understanding Deep Time Australian stories – archaeological thinking in the science, geography and history classroom
Tuesday 15th August, 4:00 – 4:30 pm
In this special edition of Trust Teacher Talks, we will delve into Deep Time to explore our long Australian story through the multidisciplinary lens of archaeology. Archaeology – the excavation, analysis and interpretation of material culture from the past – plays an integral role in understanding our national story, of which only 0.4% is recorded using written sources. Utilising aspects of both science and humanities disciplines, come and learn how this exciting and engaging field can be used effectively within your classroom.
Literary Masterpieces – Picnic at Hanging Rock: Mulberry Hill
Tuesday 22nd August, 4:00 – 4:30 pm
Delve deep into the world of Australian literary icons, and understand the social contexts that inspired the creation of beloved and timeless classics. Through place-based learning, students can discover the world of different authors in a hands-on way. We will explore the case study of National trust property, Mulberry Hill, home to writer Joan Lindsay when she wrote her incredibly influential novel ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’. The property is a perfect example of how a wealth of object-based knowledge can be gathered and interpreted by secondary English and Literature students to understand the why and the how of writing this classic book.
Teaching design through time – the National Trust Costume Collection
Tuesday 5th September, 4:00 – 4:30 pm
History can teach us many lessons, even in sustainability and recycling! Bring the past into your design classroom through historic costumes. Discover the materials, techniques and technologies linked to fashion and design in the nineteenth century, engaging students in critical and creative thinking about the evolution of fashion. The National Trust Costume Collection melds the past and present, exploring what garments preserved for over a century teach us about the past, and how they inspire us to recycle and care for the environment through our fashion choices.
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