Australia and the Vietnam War

Year 10 History – the Human Toll

Australian curriculum Learning objectives

  • ACDSEH146:[1]The impact of at least ONE world event or development and its significance for Australia such as The Vietnam War and Indochinese refugees
  • ACHHS187:[2]Identify the origin, purpose and context of primary and secondary sources.
  • ACHHS184:[3] Identify and select different kinds of questions about the past to inform historical inquiry.

Resources required

  • I Was Only 19[4] song & lyrics with photo montage plus projection facilities. Duration: 4:18.
  • Think/Pair/Share worksheet[5]x class set
  • Deconstructing Australian History: Vietnam War[6]captioned online video. Duration: 47 minutes.
  • Worksheet[7] x class set
  • Worksheet answers[8]
  • Feature article scaffold[9] x class set

Lesson outcome:students identify human/social impact of the Vietnam War on civilians and explain their analysis with reference to historical sources

Lesson outline:
  1. Ask students to write down any points/feelings they hear communicated in the I Was Only 19 song by Redgum
  2. THINK PAIR SHARE: Students answer the following discussion questions personally, then combine their views with a partner before a class discussion (on worksheet)
  3. What feelings are represented in the song?
  4. What do the images tell us about the war?
  5. What is the key message about the war communicated in the song? Explain your answer.
  6. Teacher centred: Teacher explains that Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War was controversial as Menzies had led a fear campaign against communism in Australia since the 1950s. Teacher also explains that different people regarded the war differently depending on their backgrounds and purpose.
  7. Introduce video Deconstructing Australian History: Vietnam War and explain/distribute documentary worksheet. Students are to fill in worksheet as they watch the first 5 chapters of the video. (Save the concluding chapters for a consolidation lesson as it sums up the main opinions concerning the war.)

Homework/extension

Students use information from the documentary and lyrics from I Was Only 19 to write a contemporary newspaper article (using the optional attached article scaffold) exploring the social impact of the Vietnam War for Australia and why it is considered significant for Australia’s history.

Opportunity for further activity

Teachers can organise a speaker from their local Vietnam Veterans Association to come and speak to their school. Students could collaboratively design sensitive interview questions, film the interview and caption their clip with Overstream[10] to create an accessible historical documentary of their own.

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