Virtually there – a visit to the Australian War Memorial for Secondary students

This free 32-minute film focuses on the First and Second World Wars. Memorial educators will guide you through the galleries to see collection items and hear personal stories. Themes include Gallipoli, the Western Front, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service, the Treaty of Versailles, women in war, the Holocaust, and commemoration. Students and teachers can engage with discussion questions, hear insights about primary and secondary sources from the Memorial’s Head of Military History, and hear perspectives from a Vietnam veteran.

Resources

Download the accompanying resources and transcript of the film here:

Downloads

Recommended year level

While this resource is strongly aligned with the Australian Curriculum for years 9 to 10, it is also suitable more broadly for years 7 to 12.

How to use this resource

Throughout the film, a number of questions are posed. These moments are opportunities for teachers to pause the film and facilitate class discussion. Teachers can also break up the resource into a series of shorter segments to allow for further discussions and classwork.

Links to the Australian Curriculum

This resource links to the History and Visual Arts areas of the curriculum, with a strong focus on the development of skills in historiography.

A summary of the curriculum links is shown below:

Skills

Virtually there encourages students to critically analyse a range of source material and to acknowledge a variety of perspectives to establish theories based on evidence.

Knowledge

History

This resource explores how the First and Second World Wars have shaped the modern world, including the impact of the wars on Australians.

Students will hear about some of the places where Australians have served, including Gallipoli, the Western Front, and the Asia–Pacific region. Through the Memorial’s collection, students can further their understanding of events such as the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the two world wars, and the Holocaust. The program also shares personal perspectives on the prisoner of war experience, and explores the roles of women.

Students are encouraged to reflect on the impact of war, and the ways in which wartime service is commemorated.

Visual arts

Works of art are included in this resource to explore the advantages and disadvantages of using art as a source when forming historical arguments.

Cross-curriculum priorities

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures

OI.2: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities maintain a special connection to and responsibility for Country/Place.

OI.6: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples live in Australia as first peoples of Country or Place and demonstrate resilience in responding to historic and contemporary impacts of colonisation.

OI.9: The significant contributions of Aboriginal Peoples and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the present and past are acknowledged locally, nationally and globally.