Asian Studies Program
La Trobe University
Victoria 3086
AUSTRALIA Tel: +61 3 9479 1315 Fax: +61 3 9479 1880 Email:cha@latrobe.edu.au
Asian Studies Program
Chinese Australia
The faces and lives in Little Bourke Street
(Middle)
Unit title:
The faces and lives in Little Bourke Street (Middle)
Year level:
Middle secondary
Key learning areas:
Studies of society and environment
Curriculum emphases:
From: Studies in Asia: A Statement for Australian Schools:
- Developing concepts of Asia
- World contributions by the peoples of Asia
Duration:
Three to four 50-minute lessons.
Description:
Chinatowns have developed in many countries around the world,
including Australia in cities such as Melbourne, Sydney and
Brisbane. Some of these Chinatowns have histories that go
back to the goldrush era, others have disappeared as the Chinese
population shifted and declined. Students use the 'Melbourne
Chinatown Streets Database 1900-1920' database, 'Digitised
Historical Documents Database' and the 'Federation stories'
on the Chinese Heritage of Australian Federation site to complete
an empathy/research exercise reflecting on the lives of those
working in a small section of Little Bourke Street. Students
consider some of the important events that shaped the lives
of the Chinese people living and working in Melbourne during
the early 20th century.
Teacher background material:
The following links provide an introduction and overview of
the topics covered in this unit:
- Brief
History of the Chinese in Australia on the Chinese Heritage
of Australian Federation website.
- For an understanding of names of Chinese people in the history
record. See Why
a Chinese person may have more than one name on the Chinese
Heritage of Australian Federation website. It would be useful
to either tell students of the issues raised in this article
or tell them as the need arises.
- Become familiar with the Chinese Heritage of Australian
Federation website, particularly the 'Stories'
section.
- Perhaps peruse 'The
changing face of Little Bourke Street (Junior)' lesson
plan on this website for a means of becoming familiar with
the search engine and databases on the Melbourne Chinatown
Streets database.
- Information on 'Melbourne's
Chinatown' in the background material provided on the
Chinese Heritage of Australian Federation website.
Student outcomes:
Students will:
- Be able to search a database
- Compare data from other sources and draw conclusions.
- Extend empathetic skills relating to the Chinese in the
early 20th century
- Develop writing/reporting skills
- Analyse primary source materials
- Develop an understanding of events which shaped the lives
of Chinese individuals
Materials required:
Computer/s with internet access. Alternatively could use a
cached version of the site or print the relevant pages and
copy onto overheads or handouts.
Procedure: 1. Introduction.
In order to help create the notion of testing the bases of
knowledge, ask students to consider and answer the following:
- Describe the lives of those working and living in Chinatown
in the early 1900s.
- What problems would they have encountered?
- What evidence would you look for to help you answer these
questions with more certainty?
- How would this street have changed over the years? Make
some guesses about what the street looked like, what work
took place, what types of shops and people were there etc…
- What evidence, knowledge, proof do you have that helped
you answer these questions?
2. Explain the task
Then explain that students will be using a database to gather
evidence on what type of street Little Bourke Street was at
the turn of the century and that they will use the Federation
stories to select the life of a person who lived there. Using
other historical digitised documents students will present
an oral presentation to help others imagine what life could
have been like for these individuals. Students will then listen
and take notes on the other presentations, and at the end,
review their initial hypotheses/beliefs. Students will need
to complete the research aspects of this task in a group of
between 4-5 people.
3. Either allocate or have students select one of the following
Federation stories at stories.htm.
- Leong Har: Successful Merchant (about a merchant with the
firm Hoong Cheong at 137 and 141 Little Bourke Street)
- Mrs Lup Mun: A Valued Member of the Community (about a Chinese
herbalist with the firm Suey Gee Chong in Celestial Avenue)
- Mrs Tong and Her Family: A Difficult Time to Raise a Family
(about a family living in Lacey Place).
Allow time for students to read the story and all links or
provide a photocopy to read for homework.
4. Students log on to chinatown.htm
and search for their Federation story character or business
and build up their information. They will need to note any
important evidence they found and explain why they feel it
is important and what it shows.
5. Students prepare a brief presentation to the class explaining/commenting
on the following key points:
- experience of Chinese Australian businesses/workers
- specific personal hurdles/challenges
- issues for comment/concern/interest.
- areas which need clarification
6. After the presentations, students will need to add to
their initial notes from the introduction to the lesson.
7. After points of clarification are explored, students complete
a reflection explaining how Chinese-Australians' lives were
effected by the Immigration Restriction Act, and if
this was the only thing that made their lives difficult. They
must list evidence to support their answer. Their answer could
be completed in the one of the following forms:
- a table (see below)
Effect
Evidence
Comment
- a short essay
- a concept map (with evidence provided in red for each effect)
- a collage of words, pictures, evidence
8. Finally a short verbal review discussing how their ideas
changed, were challenged or remained the same as a result
of the task.
Extension activities: 1. Role-play
Complete a role-play (or write and perform a short play)
based on the characters the students researched. Students
will need to think about the characters. They need to try
to imagine what they may have thought, felt etc. A mini-lesson
from an interested drama teacher may be of use here.
2. Debate
Read document
1251 in the Digitised Historic Documents database on the
Chinese Heritage of Australian Federation website and outline
the arguments Cheok Hong Cheong presents in his letter to
the editor. Using the related links found when the 'Background'
button on the document is clicked conduct a debate where the
arguments about this legislation are discussed.
3. Excursion
Organise an excursion to a Chinatown and/or a Chinese Museum.
Summary of websites used in this lesson:
Chinese Heritage of Australian Federation website - http - Brief History of the Chinese in Australia
- education/history.htm
- Why a Chinese person may have more than one name - education/names.htm
- 'The changing face of Little Bourke Street (Junior)' lesson
plan - education/lessons/lessonA01.htm - Background information - education/about.htm
- Stories - stories.htm
- Melbourne Chinatown Streets Database 1900-1920 - chinatown.htm
- Digitised Historic Documents database - docs_home.htm
