Rationale

Apology to the Stolen Generations
By The Australian Parliament

The speech delivered by Premier Kevin Rudd, on the 13thof February 2008 is an active sample of the modern Australian community’s reaction to the injustice and alienation factors caused to the Aboriginal communities hundreds of years ago.

The structure of the speech is not a classical on but the main characteristics can still be observed: the persuasive language, the topic presented in the introduction and developed during the content of the speech, followed by several examples that explain the main topic and the conclusion. The introduction of the speech points out the importance of the Aboriginal communities in the history of a great nation, developing this contention through out the text. By presenting the influence on the past, present and the future of Aboriginal communities, the Parliament apologizes publicly for the actions taken.

The role of the rhetorical question included in the content of the speech is to draw attention to the injustice done to people for several generations. The examples presented by Kevin Rudd support the Parliament’s decision to apologize towards the Aboriginal community and support them throughout their suffering and grief.

The audience that the speech is targeting in not just the Aboriginal one but the entire Australian nation, as the examples set make readers aware of the hypocrisy the damage caused to people’s lives. The comparison between the Stolen generations and the Holocaust make more sense in the context of the example presented by the Prime Minister regarding the “elimination of the half-castes” or “the eradication of the native characteristics of he Australian Aborigine”. The image created by these two issues raised in the speech reminds us of the “pure species” claimed by Nazis during the Second World War and implemented in the concentration camps along Europe.

The language used in the context of the speech is meant to persuade readers and listeners to understand the blame falls on the previous Governments, laws and regulations but also on the Australian Government for not making a stand earlier and apologizing in the name of the present generations. The language used during the speech is simple and suggestive, at the same time as it addresses common people, educated people, and academic people, altogether, the Australian population.

The conclusion of the speech is that the future ahead of us has to be changed in order to make it better for the generations to come. It has to be a joint effort, a new chance to make our life enjoyable.

Instructions

General field building
Speech – “Apology to the Stolen Generations” by Kevin Rudd / Brainstorming the topic based on Australian experiences
Introducing a written and visual speech text
Identifying the main idea of the speech
Identifying the type of alienation

Deconstruction

/ Sequencing the speech
Identifying the characteristics of a speech
Analysing speech features
Analisying language features
Identifying differences between spoken and written speech

These lesson plans were built for a year 9 class Level 5 ESL students in order to support their understanding of the Speech text type but at the same time to make students aware of different concepts such as diversity, social justice and equity. The text selected for the lessons is the speech delivered by the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, “Apology to the Stolen Generation”. The text choice was based on the impact that the British colonisation had on the Aborigines and the effect of the colonisation on the young generation. The speech delivered by Premier Kevin Rudd, on the 13th of February 2008 is an active sample of the modern Australian community’s reaction to the injustice and alienation factors caused to the Aboriginal communities hundreds of years ago.

Lesson 1

Class / Time / Topic / Lesson description / Outcomes / Materials
Year 9
Stage 4 / 50 min / “Apology to the Stolen Generation”
Speech – text type / Students will demonstrate a sound understanding of the Speech text type and become aware of diversity and social justice within our society / 5.2 Considers how interpersonal and cultural contexts affect communication in English
5.6 Demonstrates awareness of how information is organized and presented in English texts
5.7 Interprets texts, cueing into key organizational and language features /  Identify when intonation, volume, stress, pacing and repetition in English support and convey meaning
 Identify the perspective of the story (through the storyteller’s voice, first person, third person)
 Identify key words and phrases relating to the theme of the text /  Australian experiences - mind map
 Comprehension questionnaire
 Youtube video

Procedures

Time / Organization / Teaching/Learning activities
min / Whole class / Teacher marks the roll and identifies the absent students
7 min / Group activity (Speaking) /  Teacher separates students into mixed groups based on their nationality and provides them with a copy of W1 per group
 Students have to draw on their background knowledge (History) and identify different Australian experiences
e.g. British colonization, Stolen Generation, Sydney Olympics, national flags, dreamtime
 Students share opinions and complete the mind map
 Teacher asks one member of each group to report back on their work
 Teacher introduces the topic of the lesson: Stolen Generation. Teacher provides the background for the topic deconstructing the reasons behind it.
 Teacher asks several concept checking questions about experiences in different countries in order to establish comprehension of the topic
e.g. Have people from your country been
10 min / Individual activity followed by peer activity (Listening, Speaking) /  Teacher informs students that they are going to watch a speech given by Kevin Rudd as an apology to the Stolen Generation
 Teacher asks several questions in order to establish the comprehension of the topic
e.g. Why were they named the Stolen Generation?
Who stole them and why?
 Teacher also leads in the next part of the lesson by asking predicting questions
e.g. Why do you think the Premier gave the speech?
How do you think Aborigines received the message?
 Students provide answers for the questions and demonstrate basic knowledge of the topic
 Teachers asks students to listen to the speech and individually create a list of key words that they find in the text
 Teacher asks students to match the list with a partner of their choice at the end of the listening and report back to the class
15 min / Group activity
(Speaking) /  Teacher provides each student with a copy of the comprehension questionnaire and ask them to complete it (W2)
 Students watch the speech and provide answers for the questions
 Teacher sets mixed ability groups and asks students to share opinions related to the questions and determine a group leader who will report back to the class
3 min / Whole class (Speaking) / Teacher leaves the last three questions to be developed as a short debate allowing the students to offers examples and arguments to support their ideas
e.g. Q 6 yes/no arguments
Q 7 the government did not care about the past/the Aborigines were not considered an important issue
Q 8 different ways of apologizing; remembering people that have lost their families, etc.
13 min / Group activity
(Speaking and writing) / Teacher asks students imagine that they are Aborigines present to the speech. By drawing back on the key words identified in the text and their opinion related to the event, students have to create a banner that expresses their feelings regarding the apologies offered to the Stolen Generation
2 min / Homework / Write a letter to apologise to a friend and persuade her/him to forgive you.

Lesson 2

Class / Time / Topic / Lesson description / Outcomes / Materials
Year 9
Stage 4 / 50 min / “Apology to the Stolen Generation”
Speech – text type / Students will demonstrate a sound understanding of the Speech text type and become aware of diversity and social justice within our society / 5.2 Considers how interpersonal and cultural contexts affect communication in English
5.6 Demonstrates awareness of how information is organized and presented in English texts
5.7 Interprets texts, cueing into key organizational and language features /  Identify when intonation, volume, stress, pacing and repetition in English support and convey meaning
 Identify the perspective of the story (through the storyteller’s voice, first person, third person)
 Identify key words and phrases relating to the theme of the text /  list of words (word bank)
 Apology to the Stolen Generation – speech text
 characteristics of a speech
 matching strips
 role-play cards

Procedures

Time / Organization / Teaching/Learning activities
1 min / Whole class / Teacher marks the roll and identifies the absent students
7 min / Group activity
(Writing) / Teacher separates students in equal groups providing each group with a short list of words extracted from the previous text and asks them to use all the words in a short written text.
A blank piece of paper is moved from one group to the other in a previously established order and folded at the end of the transcription activity in order not to provide the following group with the possibility to read the content. Once all groups have finished transcribing their short text the whole story is read out loud by the teacher.
The text does not have to be related to the topic of the Stolen Generation allowing the students the possibility to use their creativity.
2 min / Whole class /  Teacher asks revision questions to bring the students back to the topic
e.g. Who was giving the speech we listened to?
What was the reason behind the speech?
Who was the speech addressed to?
 Students answer the questions and express their opinions related to the topic
7 min / Group work (reading and speaking) /  Teacher informs students that they are going to read the speech they have listened to the previous class and in groups they will have to answer questions related to the structure of the speech
 Teacher leads in the reading by asking students to predict the main characteristics of the speech by looking at the title
e.g. What person do you think is used in the speech?
What is the main key word in the speech?
What kind of words are used in the speech?
 Students offers possible answers to the questions
 Students read the text and in groups provide answers to the questions, reporting back to the class through their own designated speaker
5 min / Whole class (Speaking) / Each question is discussed as a class activity allowing each group to share opinions.
Teacher acts as a moderator and records answers on the board, providing students with the opportunity to take notes.
E.g. targeted audience: Aborigines
Purpose: to appologise
language: emotive language, persuasive language, repetition, evidence, inclusive language, rethorical question
attitude: humble
12 min / Group activity
(Reading and speaking) /  Teacher will provide a short explanation for all the characteristics and will ask students to take note as they will come in handy for the following activity
e.g. The main characteristics of a speech are: purpose, audience and language. The purpose of this speech is to apologise for the injustice caused by the British colonists. The audience targeted consists of all the aborigines who were alienated from their families and did not have a chance to get their lives back.
Focusing on the language used in the speech we can identify different persuasive language techniques: inclusive language, emotive language, repetitions or evidence provided by the speaker in order to support his point of view. By using inclusive language the speaker addresses the reader directly using personal pronouns like “we” or “I”. The use of emotive language is correlated to appealing to people’s feelings in order to determine the acceptance of a personal opinion. As an example, the affirmation made by the Premier that “all Australians” are “equal partners, with equal opportunities” supports the emotive language used.
Repeating several times how sorry our generation is for the lack of injustice Kevin Rudd accentuates his apologies. Even more, he uses evidence to demonstrate the liaison between our generation and the old Aboriginal generation.
 Teacher separates students into mixed ability groups and provides each group with a set of examples extracted from the text and the appropriate language technique
 Students have to match the examples with the technique and report back
 the first group to finish and have all the correct answers wins the competition
14 min / Group activity
(Speaking) / Role play: use persuasive language in different situations
 Teacher divides students into groups and provides each group with role-play cards
 Students have to work out a short dialogue using persuasive techniques and perform it in front of the class
2 min / Homework / Imagine you are a member of the Aboriginal community. How would you answer to the speech given by the Prime Minister? Write a short list of ideas that could be used in a letter or a speech.

Kevin Rudd's sorry speech

February 13, 2008

The text of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's speech to Parliament

I move:

Introduction

That today we honour the indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.

We reflect on their past mistreatment.

We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were stolen generations - this blemished chapter in our nation's history.

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.

Pararaph 1 : Apologies

We apologise for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.

For the pain, suffering and hurt of these stolen generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.

And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.

We the parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.

Paragraph 2: The future

For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.

A future where this parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.

A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, indigenous and non-indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.

A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.

A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.

A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.

Paragraph 3: Time passing

There comes a time in the history of nations when their peoples must become fully reconciled to their past if they are to go forward with confidence to embrace their future.

Our nation, Australia, has reached such a time.

That is why the parliament is today here assembled: to deal with this unfinished business of the nation, to remove a great stain from the nations soul and, in a true spirit of reconciliation, to open a new chapter in the history of this great land, Australia.

Last year I made a commitment to the Australian people that if we formed the next government of the Commonwealth we would in parliament say sorry to the stolen generations.

Today I honour that commitment.

I said we would do so early in the life of the new parliament.

Again, today I honour that commitment by doing so at the commencement of this the 42nd parliament of the Commonwealth.

Because the time has come, well and truly come, for all peoples of our great country, for all citizens of our great commonwealth, for all Australians - those who are indigenous and those who are not - to come together to reconcile and together build a new future for our nation.

Paragraph 4: Stolen generation

Some have asked, Why apologise?

Let me begin to answer by telling the parliament just a little of one person's story - an elegant, eloquent and wonderful woman in her 80s, full of life, full of funny stories, despite what has happened in her life's journey, a woman who has travelled a long way to be with us today, a member of the stolen generation who shared some of her story with me when I called around to see her just a few days ago.

Nanna Nungala Fejo, as she prefers to be called, was born in the late 1920s.

She remembers her earliest childhood days living with her family and her community in a bush camp just outside Tennant Creek.

She remembers the love and the warmth and the kinship of those days long ago, including traditional dancing around the camp fire at night.

She loved the dancing. She remembers once getting into strife when, as a four-year-old girl, she insisted on dancing with the male tribal elders rather than just sitting and watching the men, as the girls were supposed to do.