Professional Documents
Culture Documents
possible conclusions/solutions that can be made about The Arab – Israeli Conflict
(Since 1948)
Length: 6 weeks (equivalent to 21 hours or 18 x 70 minute lessons)
Year Level: Year 12 (Semester 2)
Rationale:
The study of the Arab – Israeli conflict (since 1948) is indeed a beneficial depth study to
engage with alongside Year 12 students, in order to address the new 2019 senior Modern
History syllabus’ “Unit 4: International experiences in the Modern World” unit of work and,
within this said unit, in addressing Topic 9’s clear historical content focus on the, “struggle for
peace in the Middle East since 1948 (Arab Israel War begins),” (Queensland Curriculum &
Assessment Authority, 2017, p.73-83). However, more than just installing historical
knowledge in a class of year 12 students, this depth study, as outlined in the below 6 week
unit plan, is also a very effective pedagogical opportunity to install key critical historical skills,
or historical literacy in students, to improve all of my said student’s learning outcomes
exponentially. Which is important, considering that, “teaching that focuses primarily on
comprehension and memorisation,” or in other words, teaching students proficiency in
historical knowledge alone, “centres on lower-order thinking;” meaning instead, my unit plan
acknowledges that skills are , “interpretations constitut[ing] the basis for [...] knowledge,”
(Australian Council for Education Leaders, 2017, p.1-2). In effect, my unit is a blend of
teaching both historical knowledge and, more importantly, historical/critical thinking skills, as,
“without [these] skills, knowledge is mere words on a page, stripped of meaning;” making
such critical thinking not only beneficial/relevant to students not only in Senior History and
other school subjects, but also long after they leave school in the wider working world that is
filled with fake news that needs to be deconstructed with a critical eye (Australian Council for
Education Leaders, 2017, p.2-3).
In this aim, the study of the Arab - Israeli conflict throughout the below unit allows student to
craft a ‘historical literacy’ by learning/applying key historical skills/concepts, as outlined in the
2019 syllabus, such as: events/narratives of the past; research skills; historical concepts
(such as the motivations of people of the past); moral judgement of the past; source
analysis; contestability; historical empathy; etc. (Queensland Curriculum & Assessment
Authority, 2017, p.83). This skills-focused approach, in the below unit plan, seeks to relate all
the historical knowledge/events, historical perspectives and eventually, the historical/moral
judgements that students may come up with about the Arab – Israeli conflict, in a empathetic
way that is relatable to the lived experiences of these same 21 st century students’ lives
(which promotes favourable learning outcomes for almost all students as they see how much
the lives of people of the past relate to their own lives). Which is clear when one considers
that, when we as teachers, asks students to walk empathetically in the shoes of these
people of the past (as this unit plan asks students to do), we are asking students to, “[draw]
an emotional or affective connection with the past so that [they] can be appropriately moved
by historical events,” which, “in [doing so]…help[s] students to understand unfamiliar
perspectives in the present,” (Davison, 2010, p.82). After all, it is of this unit plan’s design
that year 12 students undertaking this unit, “come to [empathetically] realise that people in
the past acted in a way that made sense at the time [and that] a failure to understand this is
problematic,” for students to realise all the different historical perspectives/controversy that
continue to surround this conflict (in both the historical people involved and in historians),
even to this day (Davison, 2010, p.83).
Desired results at the end of this unit: Commented [JG1]: This self-devised Unit Plan for Year 12
Senior Modern History, (exploring the Arab-Israeli Conflict),
By the end of the unit students will be able to: through its overall learning outcomes, continued/sequenced
learning of historical content (week to week) and its
Comprehend and use key historical concepts, terms and issues in relation to Arab – development of key historical skills (History-themed critical
Israeli conflict such as: ‘two-state solution,’ ‘primary and secondary sources,’ thinking skills) in students, is a prime example of effective
‘Zionism,’ ‘contestability’ and ‘accord’ content selection and organisation.
Learning Experience 1: The context/causes behind the Arab – Israeli conflict (AIC) – (pre 1938)
Associated Press Archive. (1972, September 5). Munich Massacre - 1972 | Today In History | 5 Sept
17 [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKe294SqWPE
Australian Council for Education Leaders. (2017). Skills are more important than content
knowledge. e-Teaching, 28, 1-3.
CNN. (2012, September 5). Munich massacre remembered [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGTFn25clr4
CrashCourse. (2015, January 28). Conflict in Israel and Palestine: Crash Course World History
223 [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wo2TLlMhiw&t=657s
The Daily Telegraph. (1973, October 6). [Political cartoon on the 'Yom Kippur War']. Retrieved from
http://mideastcartoonhistory.com/1965to1976/1973/1973_15.jpg
Davison, M. (2010). The case for empathy in the history classroom. Curriculum Matters, 6, 82-98.
The Economist. (2017, November 3). The Balfour Declaration's impact, 100 years on | The
Economist [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbdvn8QHyX8
Firas Alkhateeb. (2013). [Maps of Palestine from 1920 to 1948's UN partition plan]. Retrieved from
http://lostislamichistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/2009-05-10_1947-UN-Partition-Plan-
For-Palestine.png
Geography Now. (2017, September 20). Geography Now! ISRAEL [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWKmazrRIwA
Gilbert, R. (2011). Can History Succeed at School? Problems of Knowledge in the Australian History
Curriculum. Australian Journal of Education, 55(3), 245-258. doi:10.1177/000494411105500306
The Guardian. (1967, June 6). Israel claims land and air successes as Britain and US declare
neutrality. The Guardian [Manchester]. Retrieved from
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/06/six-day-war-israel-air-successes-egypt-1967
Hirst, D. (2000). Proposed state [Political cartoon (The Guardian)]. Retrieved from
http://lawrenceofcyberia.blogs.com/news/2004/11/americas_verdic.html
Loughran, J. (2010). Translation. In What expert teachers do: Enhancing professional knowledge for
classroom practice (pp. 104-124). Crow’s Nest, Australia: Allen & Unwin.
Plante, B. (2003, May 20). Roadmap to Peace [Political cartoon (Chattanooga Times Free Press)].
Retrieved from http://aam.govst.edu/projects/fjordan/primary_sources.htm
Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority. (2017). Modern History General Senior Syllabus
2019. Brisbane, Australia: Author.
RT America. (2014, December 30). US, Australia deny Palestine statehood at the UN [Video file].
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryovxVI5zz0
Seixas, P. (1999). Beyond 'content' and 'pedagogy': In search of a way to talk about history
education. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 31(3), 317-337. doi:10.1080/002202799183151
Vox. (2016, September 26). Why Israeli settlements don't feel like a conflict zone | Settlements Part
II [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6L9mS9ti6o
War Archives. (2015, September 15). Suez Canal Crisis: Anglo-French Soldiers March In (1956) | War
Archives [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzu2R_yHDMs
Wilkinson, S. (2003, May 13). [Political cartoon highlighting the obstacles of Israeli settlements on
the literal Road map to Peace]. Retrieved from
http://www.cartoonistgroup.com/store/add.php?iid=3880