The Bombing of Darwin: A History through pictures

1
The Bombing of Darwin A History through pictures

• A look at the role of Indigenous Australians and
  the Asian Community.

2
Introduction

• How does this project inform us as teachers,
  educators, etc.
• What were the intended outcomes of this project?
• What was the initial focus, how did it change
  over time?
• What were some of the strengths and weaknesses of
  working on a project like this?
• How did the method develop over time?
• Who were the people involved in this?
• Can this assignment be a benefit to the changing
  environment of education?
• How can this be a benefit to teachers and
  students?

3
How does this project inform us as Teachers,
Educators, etc.

• The project that we undertook was designed around
  the outcomes as set out in the Northern Territory
  Curriculum Framework.
• By looking at this era of history, we were able
  to identify key areas within the NTCF.
• The project focuses particularly around Society
  and Env. 3.1, 3.2 and 3.4 Time, Continuity and
  Change, Indigenous Studies and Values, Beliefs
  and Cultural Diversity.

4
Soc 3.1 Time Continuity and Change.

• The focus of this project will allow students
  and teachers to explore the past events and how
  this can impact on the present.
• These events not only influence individuals, it
  also influences the wider community in general.
• It investigates the involvement, perspectives
  and contributions of individuals and groups in
  the Northern Territory and the Australian
  heritage. (www.deet.nt.gov.au/education/ntcf/inde
  x.shtml)

5
Soc 3.2, Indigenous Studies.

• The project examines the role that the Indigenous
  community, played in the defence of Northern
  Australia.
• We have tried to look at the issues faced by the
  Indigenous Australians during the context of the
  Bombing of Darwin.
• We have also found that there was a certain
  prejudice by white Australians towards the
  Indigenous population and the role that they
  played in protecting Australia from invasion.

6
Soc 3.4, Values, Beliefs and Cultural Diversity.

• By looking at many resources for this project, we
  have discovered that the Indigenous community
  have not always received the recognition that
  they have deserved.
• We have also tried to explore the issues facing
  the Asian community in Darwin, during this
  volatile time in Australias history.
• By focusing on this project, it has become
  obvious that the government and the Defence
  forces at the time, did not value the
  contributions of the wider Non-European
  community.
• During that time the government and the armed
  forces as a whole, did not have a tremendous
  respect for the cultural differences of the
  Indigenous and Asian communities.

7
Intended Outcomes of the project.

• The intended outcome for this project, has been
  the development and process of these resources,
  that can be used for SOSE classes, but can also
  allow students to venture in other areas of study
  such as I.T.
• At the beginning of the project, we decided to
  look at an area of Australian history that would
  not normally be presented in an education
  context.
• Initially, the main focus of the project was to
  look at a series of photgraphs which were based
  around the bombing of Darwin in 1942.
• At the start of the project, we had just involved
  ourselves with the National Archives of Darwin,
  East Point Military Museum, Rebecca Rogers,
  Mohammed Esmail, Jennifer Ure, the Chung-Wah
  Museum and the Northern Territory Government
  Library.
• In the project, we intended to include
  information about the involvement of Indigenous
  Australians and also the role that the Asian
  community played in the defence of Australia.

8
Cont.

• After a few weeks, we changed the basis of the
  project and decided to develop the idea of a
  resource and make a workbook, which students
  could be given the opportunity to progress
  through at their own pace, in order to give them
  a good grounding in the basics of the Air war
  over Darwin during 1942.
• At the start of the project, the intended
  outcomes were to develop an exercise which
  students could use to compare photographs in a
  before and after sequence.
• Over the semester, the project has become a
  resource, which can be used by Junior and Senior
  Secondary students in order to develop their
  knowledge about this era of history.

9
What were some of the strengths and weaknesses of
working on a project like this?

• At the start of the project, we didnt really
  have much clue as to the study load that both of
  us had and this sometimes got to be confusing.
• We found that by working with a timeline, in
  mind, we could go about the planning process of
  the resource, during the various stages in
  development.
• By working with two people, it allowed us to
  divide up the number of tasks accordingly, in
  order to lighten the overall workload and share
  the responsibilities.
• At times we found that there was various pieces
  of information, which we didnt know, so the
  project has allowed us to develop our own
  knowledge about this era in Australian history.
• However, working with only two people was also a
  weakness as the work became a bit overbearing at
  times and we could have used a third person in
  the development stages.
• The project could easily have become bigger and
  so another weakness was the lack of people in
  being able to develop it further.

10
Cont.

• At times, we got involved in very heated
  arguments and this sometimes distracted us from
  the main focus of the project, however these
  distractions allowed us to work together and to
  build upon our team work skills.
• One of the main developments, which has occurred
  through this project was that we have been able
  to improve upon our research skills, which will
  be a big help, when working with teachers and
  students.
• Another strength is that by looking at an area of
  history, about which there is not a great deal of
  information, we hope to have been able to
  contribute to the notion that teachers are an
  Agent of Change.

11
Methodology The various stages of development.

• At the start of the project, we had to decide on
  what area of education our resource would be
  focused on.
• We struggled with the idea of creating another
  dull resource and trying to see if we could
  develop something which was new and original,
  which would give teachers and students a
  different view of history.
• After an initial consultation, we decided to
  combine both of our areas of expertise and to
  develop a model, which could combine both of our
  interests.
• During the course of the project, we developed a
  timeline which allowed us to plan the process of
  the resource.

12
Cont.

• After continued consultations, with Iolanthe, we
  decided to explore various areas of interest
  within history and photography.
• At this stage, we spoke to Mohammed, in regards
  to what form the project should take and how we
  could relate it to I.T.
• At the same time, we both went to the National
  Archives in Millner and decided to expand our
  knowledge on the history of the bombing of
  Darwin.
• We also decided to see what photographs they had
  and how we could incorporate these into the
  development of a teaching resource.
• During this time, we encountered a problem with
  the National Archives, whereby their system shut
  down and we were unable to obtain the images, but
  were actually lucky to find these images in
  different sources.
• We contacted Jennifer Ure, (Asia in Schools
  Project Officer) to explain our idea to her and
  to see if we could involve her in some way.

13
Cont.

• After speaking with Jennifer, she advised us to
  go to the Chung-Wah Museum, the Northern
  Territory Government Library and the East Point
  military museum, to see what displays they had
  and to increase our general knowledge.
• The E.P museum allowed us to see how images and
  materials can enhance peoples understanding of
  history and we discovered that our project could
  be an improvement on peoples interpretation of
  history.
• After looking at different areas within the
  community, we had come to an actual development
  of the project and putting our resource together
  into a workbook.
• We managed to pool together our resources and it
  was at this stage that we began developing the
  idea of a resource, which would allow teachers to
  have the opportunity to use as a model for
  exam/test questions and to explore the wider
  issues, which were relevant for World War 2.
• We worked together to decide what photographs
  would be included in the resource and in the end,
  it turned out that we had too many images and
  that we could be selective as to what was
  included and what wasnt.
• The resource ended up being around 30 pages in
  length, which made both of us happy as it meant
  that our efforts had been justified.

14
Beneifts to participants/communities.

• The resource will broaden the students, teachers
  and the wider communities with an analytical view
  as to the outlook of Darwins history during the
  Second World War.
• When schools are given the resource, they will be
  able to develop an outcomes based learning which
  will enable students to develop a thorough
  knowledge of the events surrounding the later
  period of the war, in 1942-45.
• Hopefully, this resource will allow different
  teachers to expand their involvement with other
  people, within different professions.

15
The changing role of Education in our society.

• Hopefully the project will bring a transformation
  to an area of history, within schools resources.
  It allows students to gain an understanding of
  how the war was fought within our own region and
  how it affected the community around us.
• By exploring one area of education, we have
  managed to prove that learning is not stagnant
  and that it is continually evolving.
• It is because of this, that teachers are becoming
  Agents of Change and as this resource has looked
  at the Asian and Indigenous communities, it is
  hoped that people will view history from the
  Non-European perspective.
• The reason for studying Asia in Schools is
  because it plays an important role in the
  Australian society, with Asia being part of
  Australias history and because Australia is
  connected to the Asia-Pacific region.
• As Australia is a multicultural country, which is
  immersed in the diversity of different cultures,
  it is necessary to engage students understanding
  of different cultures and how it has affected our
  history.

16
Conclusion.

• When we started this project, we were looking at
  an idea to design a teaching resource, which
  would focus upon the bombing of Darwin and the
  changes that have been made from the past to the
  present.
• After doing this resource, we have been able to
  gain a greater understanding of Australian
  history, through the use of pictures.
• We hope that this resource can be useful to
  students, teachers and the wider community in
  general and if anyone would like a copy we can
  get some made up on cd-rom.