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
Chinese communities, Federation and the early
Commonwealth
Unit title:
Chinese communities, Federation and the early Commonwealth
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:
Two to three 50 minute lessons
Description:
In 1901 Chinese communities around Australia held processions
and built archways to celebrate Australia's federation. At
the same time the soon to be federated Colonial governments
were developing the 'White Australia Policy'. Students contrast
these two developments and explore the impact of the 1901
Immigration Restriction Act on Chinese Australian people.
Student outcomes:
Students will:
- learn to search and use a database
- compare and analyse primary sources
- develop an awareness of the nature and extent of the Chinese
community's involvement in the Federation celebrations.
- develop their knowledge of late 19th and early 20th century
attitudes towards non-Europeans
- Consider the Immigration Restriction Act, 1901
- Develop an awareness of the challenges faced by the Chinese
community in the early federation years
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
A range of documents are investigated through the exploration
of the four themes below:
2. Class discussion
Use documents 1239 and 1621 in a class discussion. Conduct
a class reading of these two newspaper accounts or use selected
excerpts (students may not find them very 'reader friendly').
Address the following questions about the approaches taken
by the writers concerned to the class. Encourage students
to find examples in the text to support their responses.
- How is the Chinese contribution to the federation celebrations
viewed by the writers?
- To what extent are they impressed by the spectacle?
- Do they show particular attitudes towards the Chinese?
Document 1240 is essentially a list of the organisations
which prepared such addresses, but some aspects could be discussed
by students.
- How do they think the list has been arranged?
- Where do the 'Chinese residents of New South Wales' appear
on the list?
- What are some of the unusual placements ahead of the 'Chinese
residents'?
3. Group discussions
Divide the class into groups, depending on class size, to
examine the remaining three themes.
- What are these documents about?
- Why have your documents been grouped under that heading?
- What concerns for members of the Chinese community did they
raise?
- What do these documents indicate about government policy
in the early 1900s?
Each group should report back to the whole class. Draw a
table on the board summarising similarities and differences
in responses to the questions.
3. Homework
Ask students to write an individual piece of writing discussing:
'A new century, a new nation: Where did the Chinese community
fit into this?'
Extension activities: 1. Further discussion
Read the accounts in 'Establishing
the Commonwealth - Events: The First federation Parade'
on the ABC website which describes the Federation parade in
Sydney. Are any Chinese or other non-Europeans included in
the audience? Discuss this record of the events, and compare
the attitudes shown with the documents you have been studying.
Author:
Brendan Meehan
Summary of websites used in this lesson:
Chinese Heritage of Australian Federation website - http - Brief History of the Chinese in Australia
- education/history.htm
- Digitised Historic Documents database- docs_home.htm
