Year 7 History and the Inquiry Learning Journey - part 1

For my final assignment in the Queensland University of Technology's Master of Education (Teacher-librarianship) I need to analyse an example curriculum document using a range of theories and concepts as covered in the Inquiry Learning subject I am now completing. In this entry I will endeavour to describe the Inquiry Learning Activity I have chosen and explain its' context, what students are expected to do and its intended learning outcomes and assessment.

The focus of my inquiry into Inquiry Learning Activities present within the curriculum currently being taught at my school is Year 7 History. 

photo credit: Pharoah Khufu's Great Pyramid at 
Giza, Egypt via photopin (license)

Year 7 History is taught over one semester as a unit within the Humanities subject. It begins with a focus on teaching historical skills through Indigenous culture and moves onto an in depth study of the Egyptians before finishing with a focus on Ancient Indian and Chinese cultures. Using the skills acquired through the studies of Indigenous Australian and Egyptian cultures, students set off into an Independent inquiry into the Indian and Chinese cultures, this inquiry constitutes their formative assessment. Oxford Big Ideas History 7 (Saldais, Taylor &Young, 2014) compliments this unit of inquiry providing key inquiry questions, the “big ideas”, and core skills and concepts. 

Due to a recent shake up of curriculum delivery at the college, this unit is presented in an online format (interactive website) where supplementary documents and information are generally embedded directly into the lesson sequences for easy 24/7 access. As these curriculum sites exist on a closed school network and are not available publicly on the web, as yet, I am unable to share much in the way of screenshots of content or links. I will however endeavour to describe these lesson sequences in depth and to the best of my ability.

Condensed view of lesson sequence - Year 7 History Site.
Permission granted for use by author P.Owens, 2015.

Following the model used by the school across all learning areas, each of the lesson sequences listed in the image to the left contain Learning Intentions, Stimulus for learning and Activities. Each sequence can last for several lessons if required and is differentiated with a selection of activities based on Lev Vygotsky's zone of proximal development and Jerome Bruner's subsequent idea of scaffolding.

Throughout the unit students are expected to :

• examine the seven key historical concepts (Evidence, Continuity and Change, Cause and Effect, Contestability, Significance, Perspectives and Empathy) 
• look at the characteristics of society 
• understand the role of groups, beliefs and practises
• examine why societies change
• study past perspectives and interpretations

This is punctuated with formative assessments such as:

• a group presentation of one of the key historical concepts in the form of a poster to be displayed in class.
• a multimedia presentation that introduces the importance of history for future Year 7 Classes
• creation of major events timelines
• writing an imaginative letter to a friend adopting the persona of a person living in ancient Egypt
• biographical recount of the life of a chosen famous Egyptian
• evaluation of theories related to the construction of the pyramids
• explanation of the difference between primary and secondary sources

The focus on Egyptian life ends with the Historical Inquiry question "How did the defining characteristics of Ancient Egypt contribute to its organisation, law and order?" which the students are expected to address via the medium of an informative poster. For this inquiry students are required to follow the STRAP strategy (as set out below) to collate and organise information to help answer the inquiry question. Before beginning the inquiry process students are also asked to write a short hypothesis that aims to answer the question.

The following STRAP statement should inform the style of writing required Subject - Ancient Egyptian society Text type -  Written explanations / descriptions/ illustrations and diagrams. Role - An expert in Ancient Egyptian Society Audience - Readers of an Ancient Egyptian text book Purpose - To inform anyone interested about organisation, law and order during Ancient Egypt

In terms of this unit the above task is still considered formative as students go on to replicate the above strategies on their own in a summative Independent Historical Inquiry where students are required to formulate their own inquiry question about an ancient civilisation (India, or China). After writing an hypothesis, they then collate and organise information in order to answer their inquiry question.