- You are here:
- Home
- Teaching and Learning Activities
- Teaching and Learning Activities for CCE
- Women in government - Introduction
Women in government - Introduction
Key learning area: Studies of Society and Environment
Year level: Lower Secondary
Lesson duration: 300 minutes (5 lessons)
Unit topic: Gender perspectives in Australian politics
Lesson topic: Women in government
Aim of the lession
- Investigate individuals who have campaigned for expanded human rights (specifically women’s rights) and democracy
- Compare democracies such as Australia’s to countries with other forms of government.
Curriculum Links
Links to the Australian Curriculum
Student learning outcomes
Knowledge:
- Increase students’ knowledge of notable women in Australian politics and their contribution to public life.
- Consider Australia’s record of women in power from a historical and contemporary perspective.
Skills
- Research skills
- Collaborative skills (working in groups)
- Analytical skills
Values
- A fair go
- Equality
Resources:
- The internet
- A3 sheet of paper to create ‘fact sheets’
- Rules for debating
- A woman who is in the local council or state or federal parliament to speak to the class
Note to teachers
The notable women students are asked to research are:
- Ms Vida Goldstein - First woman to nominate for election to a national parliament (1903)
- Ms Edith Cowan OBE - First woman elected to an Australian parliament (1921)
- Hon. Dame Enid Lyons DBE - First female member of the House of Representatives (1943)
- Ms Dorothy Tangney - First woman Senator, WA (1943)
- Dame Margaret Guilfoyle DBE - First woman to be a member of a Federal Cabinet (1976)
- Hon. Joan Child AO - First female Speaker of the House of Representatives (1986)
- Hon. Julia Gillard - First female Deputy Prime Minister, first female Acting Prime Minister,(2007) first female Prime Minister (2010)
- Ms Janine Haines - First woman to lead a political party (1986)
- Ms Pauline Hanson - First woman to form an Australian political party (1997)
- Hon. Rosemary Follett - First female head of government in Australia, Chief Minister of the ACT (1989)
- Hon. Dr Carmen Lawrence - First female Premier of a state, WA (1990)
- Hon. Joan Kirner AM - First female Premier of Victoria (1990)
- Hon. Anna Bligh - First female Premier of Queensland (2007)
- Cr. Lilian Fowler - First female mayor, NSW (1938)