Assessment

2
Museum Artefact Reflection

Jamie Lee Jackson

S00154554

Museum Artefact Reflection Task

Annotated photo of the artefact

The letter
includes details
about the
environment she
lived in along
with the threat of
bushfires.





This is one page of a
handwritten letter by
Rebecca Greaves in
Melbourne to her uncle in
England, 1851. It is
displayed at the
Melbourne Museum.

Proof of attending the Immigration Museum

Rebecca describes her

life as a female migrant
living on a farm. It
discusses her roles and
responsibilities, along
with the roles of her
brothers and father who
work on the goldfields.

Assessment 2
Museum Artefact Reflection

Jamie Lee Jackson

S00154554

Relevance of artefact to the teaching and learning of Primary Humanities

Staats (2014) states that teachers need to understand the benefits of using
artefacts in the classroom, as they help students to contextualise the past and
facilitate historical thinking through historical imagination. Artefacts help prove
the past through authentic learning experiences which fuel students curiosity and
motivation to engage in critical thinking and wondering in a way that textbooks do
not (Staats, 2014; Pappas, 2006). Being hands on with artefacts helps students
connect to the past whilst bringing a sense of realism to something that is usually
disengaging (Staats, 2014; Guyver, 2012).

Therefore, the artefact I have chosen is a handwritten letter by Rebecca Sarah
Greaves, a migrant who came to Australia from England. In this letter she wrote to
her uncle who resided in England about her feelings and experiences of being a
migrant in Melbourne. The letter also explained the environment she lived in and
her role as a female migrant during the gold rushes (Museum Victoria Collections,
2016).

Artefacts such as letters are beneficial as they introduce students to primary
sources. Primary sources allow students to relate to the person who wrote it along
with developing understandings of the authors perspective (Pappas, 2006;
Guyver, 2012). Letters and journals also provide opportunities for students to
reach their own conclusions about historical events through reflection, discussion
and inquiry (Pappas, 2006 p. 26).

Relevance of artefact to Victorian Curriculum Humanities

This artefact can be linked to both the History and Geography learning areas of the
Victorian Curriculum within levels 3 4 and 5 6. As shown in the table below:

Learning
Level Content
Artefacts link to the Content
Area
Description
Descriptions
Identify
t
he
o
rigin
a
nd
History
3 4
Rebeccas letter is a primary
content features of
primary sources when
describing the
significance of people,

source making it a valuable

resource for students to practice
their investigation skills on.

Assessment 2
Museum Artefact Reflection

places and

Students can identify the origin,

events(VCHHC067)

content features and describe the

(Victorian Curriculum
and Assessment
Authority [VCAA], 2016).

History

5 6

Jamie Lee Jackson

S00154554

significance of the people, places

and events that Rebecca describes.

Identify the origin,

Students can use the letter as a

content features and the

primary source for investigation

purpose of historical
sources and describe the
context of these sources

by identifying the origins and

content features. It can also be

when explaining daily life

used as an example to explain why

in colonial Australia,

we use historical sources to find

reasons for migration

out more about migrants and their

and causes and effects of

Federation(VCHHC083)

reasons for coming to Australia.

(VCAA, 2016).

History

3 4

Describe perspectives of

The letter gives insight into a

people from the past

female migrants perspective of the

(VCHHC068) (VCAA,
2016).

time and the difficulties that

females faced in the 1800s. For
example, not being allowed to dig
on the goldfields.

History

5 6

Describe perspectives

Rebecca describes that as a female

and identify ideas, beliefs

she was unable to dig on the

and values of people and

groups in the past

goldfields with her father and

(VCHHC084)

brothers. Students can infer her

(VCAA, 2016).

beliefs and values about females

on the goldfields and their roles
and responsibilities.

History

5 6

The causes and the

Students will have a first hand

reasons why people

perspective of her experiences of

migrated to Australia
from Europe and Asia,

being a migrant and why her

and the perspectives,

family migrated to Australia.

experiences and

She discusses the roles of her

contributions of a

brothers and father on the

Assessment 2
Museum Artefact Reflection

Jamie Lee Jackson

S00154554

particular migrant group

goldfields, and her responsibilities

within a colony

as a female, giving students

(VCHHK091) (VCAA,
2016).

insights to the different

contributions of females and male
migrants within a colony.

5 - 6

The different

Rebecca gives her insight of her

experiences and

daily experiences of living as a

perspectives of
Australian democracy

migrant female, along with her

and citizenship, including

fathers and brothers experiences

the status and rights of

living and working on the

Aboriginal and Torres

goldfields as male migrants. This

Strait Islander peoples,

will allow students to compare and

migrants, women, and

children(VCHHK094)
(VCAA, 2016).

contrast the different

responsibilities and rights between
females and males in 1851.

Geography

3 4

Similarities and

Rebecca describes the farm she

differences between

lived on its surroundings in detail.

places in terms of their

type of settlement,

This will help students visualise

demographic

her surroundings, so that they can

characteristics and the

at a later date compare and

lives of the people who

contrast her description to other

live there

settlements that they research.

(VCGGK084)
(VCAA, 2016).

Students can also compare what

Rebecca described of Melbourne in
1851, to Melbourne of today.

Geography

5 6

Impacts of bushfires or

Rebecca briefly describes a bush

floods on environments

fire and its impact. Students can

and communities, and

how people can respond
(VCGGK095)
(VCAA, 2016).

compare it to the bush fires that

have now. Students can also see
how factors can influence and
shape places.

Assessment 2
Museum Artefact Reflection

Jamie Lee Jackson

S00154554

Questions to pose to students about the artefact to engage them and

encourage critical inquiry and higher order thinking

Question lead discussions allow for critical inquiry and higher order thinking
through reflection and the meaningful exchange of ideas (Whitehouse, 2008).
Teachers should establish the broad essential questions, which create a context
and reflect the humanities curriculum (Pappas, 2006). This should be done
through open-ended questions as they fuel curiosity, critical thinking and cater to a
diversity of learners (Pappas, 2006). They enable collaboration through an inquiry
approach where students can take ownership of their learning through
engagement, which prompts them to ask their own questions (Pappas, 2006;
Whitehouse, 2008). By having students devise questions teachers are creating an
authentic context for learning as students are engaged in research in a manner
similar to that of a historian (Pappas, 2006 p. 24).

The questions bellow either link to the content descriptions in question 3, or are
open questions that students can build upon to create their own conclusions from
levels 3 to 6. They encourage critical inquiry and higher order thinking through
prompting students to ask their own questions.

Before reading:
What questions would you use to figure out what this artefact is?
What is the artefact in front of you? How do you know?
What period of time do you think it is from? Why?
Why would you write a letter?
Were there any other ways of contacting people in this time?

After reading:
Where and when does it originate from? (VCHHC067) (VCHHC083)
Who wrote the letter? What does she tell you about? (VCHHC067) (VCHHC083)
How does she describe her surroundings? Do they sound similar to our own?
(VCGGK084)
How did the bushfire impact the community? Do bushfires still affect us today?
(VCGGK095)

Assessment 2
Museum Artefact Reflection

Jamie Lee Jackson

S00154554

Why do you think she migrated? (VCHHK091)

What was Rebeccas role? (VCHHK094) (VCHHC068)
How did she feel about migrating and having these roles and responsibilities? How
might she have felt about migrating? (VCHHK094) (VCHHC084) (VCHHC068)
I wonder why people migrate? (VCHHC068)
Why is this letter significant? (VCHHC083)

Word Count: 889

Assessment 2
Museum Artefact Reflection

Jamie Lee Jackson

S00154554

Reference List:

Guyver, R. (2012). Teaching Historical Thinking through Contextualised Sites,
Archives and Artefacts. Agora, 3(47), 52 57.

Museum Victoria Collections. (2016). Item HT 8270 Letter Rebecca Sarah Greaves,
Plenty River, Victoria, 25 Nov 1851. Retrieved from
http://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/1116482

Pappas, L, M. (2006). Primary Sources and Inquiry Learning. School Library Media
Activities Monthly, 1(23), 23 26.

Staats, J. (2014). In Touch With the Past? Researching Haptic History: A
Multidisciplinary Approach Teaching History through Objects and Artefacts.
Teaching History, 48(4), 4 7.

Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA). (2016). The Humanities.
Retrieved from: http://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/the-
humanities/introduction/about-the-humanities
Whitehouse, A, J. (2008). Talking Humanities: Questions and Co-operative learning.
The Social Educator, 1(26), 32 36.