History is challenging for learners as it concerns something that no longer exists – the past. Yet, as Christopher Portal reminds us, ‘in another sense, of course, the past is not dead at all; it exists through the ways in which we understand the past, and in the personal, cultural and intellectual inheritance we each have’. Our connections with the past can vary from engaging with family members’ recollections, photographs and memorabilia to viewing historical dramas on television and mobile devices. Reading historical fiction, visiting museums or observing a public commemoration such as an Anzac Day march or a National Sorry Day event can also prompt interest in finding out more about the past. This chapter draws from research to consider how teaching and learning in History in the sub-strand of the Australian Curriculum: HASS F–6 v9.0 can enable young people to investigate the traces of the past in authentic and meaningful ways. Making sense of the past, and learning how to think critically about it, empowers young people to relate history to their lives in the 21st century and better prepares them to be informed, confident and active citizens.

Building sustainable futures through education requires us to understand the world through a transdisciplinary curriculum that addresses pressing global concerns in a consumerist society. The most important challenge for educating for sustainability (EfS) in schools and the community is having its transdisciplinary nature understood and valued. This chapter starts by describing the need for humans to shift the way they live towards greater sustainability, followed by an overview of why it is important to connect learners to the natural world, and particularly the place where they live. We use a set of guiding principles informed by a transdisciplinary approach in science education where EfS has strong connections to the cross-curriculum priorities of Sustainability and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures. The chapter concludes by sharing practical suggestions for preservice and early career educators.

Assessment is a fundamental part of the design process of teaching and learning. Educators knowing and understanding their own beliefs and values about the professional work they do in assessment is crucial to learner success and progress. Being able and willing to write quality assessment tasks, to collect the evidence of student learning and to moderate this evidence with colleagues are all part of the science and art of being a professional in education. Assessment enables the educator to understand what students have learnt and determine what they will learn next. It allows educators to set goals for improvement, design the learning program in collaboration with learners beginning with the end in mind, and monitor progress. Educators are continually assessing and this chapter endeavours to make sense of this important professional skill, which impacts on teaching and learning. To illustrate these ideas and skills in relation to Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS), examples from the Australian Curriculum: HASS will be used.

The Asia region (including the Indo-Pacific region) is critically important for Australia’s long-term future as people-to-people links through education and cultural exchange, migration, business, trade, defence and tourism continue to expand and Australia’s relationship with the countries of the region evolves. Referred to as the ‘Asia priority’, the Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia cross-curriculum priority provides opportunities for learners to investigate, understand and recognise the diversity within and between the peoples and countries of the Asia region as well as the diversity within communities in Australia. Referred to as ‘Asia literacy’, and more recently as ‘Asia capability’, this combination of knowledge, understanding and skills prepares learners for the challenges of living, studying and working in the region and in global contexts. This chapter offers strategies for teaching and learning about and from the diverse peoples and cultures of the region in ways that go beyond the instrumentalism of national economic and security interests in Asia. Learners can be encouraged to recognise commonalities and differences as well as appreciate and empathise with the lived experiences of diverse peoples and local communities in Asia and in Australia.

This chapter argues that much of the complexity and rigour of Geography revolves around the sophisticated conceptualisation that is involved in thinking geographically, something that begins to develop in preschool. It is not so much what the geographer studies but the way they look at the human or physical phenomena they are exploring that makes the study of Geography what it is. This leads some to say that everything can be studied geographically or everything is geography! Going back to the discussion on the ‘grammar’ of a subject, we can again highlight that what many people perceive as geography is purely the vocabulary of the subject and what makes geography is the grammar of the subject; that is, it is the implicit conceptual thinking involved when exploring and trying to make sense of the world in which we live.

The richness and importance of the HASS learning area pivots on the exploration and understanding of how we are human, our interactions with others and our journey as humans in the world. We are the authors and actors in the story of our past, present and future, captured in the published and unpublished texts that inform our learning in HASS. Writings, drawings, maps, data, images, reports, laws, journals, plays, poetry and ephemera are available as physical and online items because they have been collected, organised, preserved, curated and shared by libraries and librarians, and their colleagues in associated institutions in physical and digital spaces.

Young children are developing and learning within an increasingly complex world where competing ideas are being contested and enacted in ways that impact on their daily experiences. The ethical nature of many of the decisions and beliefs that children encounter in their lives often requires complex reasoning and decision-making in which many children may not be supported. The development of ethically reasonable citizens within a society concerned for the emotional wellbeing of its members needs to begin early in life. Parents and families are primary socialisers for young children’s moral and ethical development; however, early learning centres and schools have a responsibility for providing children with opportunities for social emotional learning intended to foster ethical reasoning and empathic concern for others. This chapter introduces educators to some of the key aspects of dialogic pedagogies (namely, an empathic pedagogy that incorporates community of inquiry approaches) and sets out an argument for their use within the HASS learning area to support children’s ethical understanding. The ways in which ethical understanding are described in early years and primary curricula are explored, and suggestions provided for activities that can foster learners’ ethical understanding.

This chapter provides educators with a new way of looking at how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been represented within the Australian Curriculum. We commence with an open discussion about the structure and potential shortcomings of the cross-curriculum priorities as evident in content descriptions across the Australian Curriculum. Use of a systematic method will help educators aim to engage learners in moral, historical and epistemic questions of Indigenous connectedness to Country/Place and their custodianship of it and the nature of Indigenous agency, resistance and national reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. We will also look at cross-curriculum content structure; provide a pedagogic model for culturally responsive teaching; advise on establishing authentic school and community engagement; and suggest a framework for the development of rich, contextually situated and holistic programs for teaching the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cross-curriculum content across the primary years of schooling.

What does it mean to live a good life? Philosophers through the ages such as Aristotle, Plato, Immanuel Kant and Friedrich Nietzsche have wrestled with what it means to be a good citizen and live a good life. More recently, Howard Gardner applied his thinking to the skills that future generations need to synthesise and communicate complex ideas, respect human differences and fulfil the responsibilities of work, life and citizenship. He identified ‘five minds for the future’, one of which is the ethical mind. To be ethically minded calls upon citizens to know their rights and responsibilities, actively contribute to the good of society and foster citizenship within and between communities. Communities encompass the family, educational setting, workplace, nation and global community. It is through contributing to others as active and informed citizens that meaning is acquired.

Educators within contemporary Australian educational settings are increasingly being called on to enact their pedagogy in multicultural classrooms, yet pedagogies remain oriented towards a narrow learner cohort. Meaningful inclusion of culturally and religiously diverse learners not only focuses on what is being taught or what knowledge is privileged, but is concerned with how it is taught and from whose perspective. Importantly, it prioritises what learners bring to educational settings – their diverse knowledge(s), languages, values and beliefs; all of which are embedded in their ways of knowing, being and doing informed by their cultural and religious traditions. This chapter aims to support educators in enacting culturally responsive pedagogy, including consideration of learners’ world views, knowledge(s) and ways of knowing, as well as respect for identities and backgrounds as meaningful sources for optimal learning, while simultaneously holding high expectations of them all. Educators will be challenged to examine epistemological and pedagogical diversity in HASS teaching and learning, to further develop learners’ knowledge, values and beliefs towards engaged and informed citizenship.

For early career educators, it can be challenging to navigate and orient themselves within the field of early childhood education. Increasing demands on, and accountability for, early childhood educators around the provision of a high-quality curriculum and clear learning outcomes for children are significant in their own right; however, for early career educators the lack of clarity around ‘how we know’ children are learning can be uncomfortable. In Australia, the Early Years Learning Framework supports early childhood educators to shape their pedagogy, providing a high-quality early childhood curriculum in a holistic way that outlines what children’s learning could look like, and not what it will look like. This is an important distinction, as it reinforces that early childhood education must focus on context and not content; learning opportunities are influenced by the learner, and early childhood educators need to be aware of the role they adopt in supporting learning.

Upon entering the teaching profession, new educators can become overwhelmed by the diversity of teaching demands, not least finding time and space to navigate an ever-evolving curriculum. The HASS learning area is complex, yet it provides scope to explore a rich and diverse range of concepts through time, place and space on a global scale. Through studying HASS, learners develop the ability to question, think critically, solve problems, communicate effectively, make decisions and adapt to change. This chapter aims to provide early career educators with practical steps to success for implementing effective and engaging HASS learning experiences in educational contexts for primary and middle years learners.

Learning in HASS subjects is usually characterised by inquiry-based learning; collecting, organising, analysing and synthesising information, and research. By their nature, these forms of learning involve and depend on reliable, useful and relevant data and information sources. Effective educators know how to select and help their learners access age-appropriate and suitable resources to support their inquiries, investigations and research. Rather than being provided with ready-made information, inquiry and research-based learning involves learners actively seeking, locating, interpreting, analysing, synthesising, representing and communicating information, evidence and data to inform a HASS inquiry, answer a research question or examine a topic from a range of perspectives. Resourceful educators and learners can capitalise on a wealth of resources available in their local communities to enrich their learning. Most communities feature museums and other collections, significant cultural, heritage and natural sites, as well as groups and individuals with extensive knowledge, stories and experiences that represent valuable learning resources for learners of all ages.

National educational goals describe the responsibility of governments, schools and curriculum to ensure learners develop into effective citizens who can participate in society and employment in a globalised economy. This was initially outlined in the vision of the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (Melbourne Declaration) and later in the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration. In promoting values such as social justice, peace, sustainability and democracy, the HASS educational discipline provides the perfect vehicle to achieve this vision. While the rationale and aims are different for each sub-strand within the HASS Australian Curriculum learning area (History, Geography, Civics and Citizenship, and Economics and Business), the overarching theme involves stimulating curiosity, imagination and wonder about the world we live in, ‘and how people can participate as active and informed citizens with high-level skills needed now and in the future’. In reflecting on your own education, were you encouraged to have such curiosity and interest in the world around you?