Documentary Australia Foundation

10 Portraits: An Active Citizenship Learning Resource

About the film

Oxfam Australia works in 24 countries around the world, supporting individuals and communities to realise their basic rights. We do this by supporting community based development projects, responding to emergencies and campaigning to address the root causes of poverty and injustice.

Oxfam Australia is committed to strengthening Active Citizenship in Australia. Active Citizenship has two important dimensions: empowerment and engagement. The former requires skills and knowledge to influence decision makers and the community around us and the later, is having the commitment and belief that our efforts will make a positive impact.

Young people are a key force in creating positive social, economic, political, and environmental change. Not only do young people make up half of the world's population, they are also a great influence on the other half and can motivate them to act.

Oxfam Australia's school based project, RE:act, aims to work with the next generation of secondary school teachers as advocates of active citizenship. By creating active citizenship focused resources, teachers can build students capacity to foster active citizenship.

This proposal for the production of a film based learning tool sits within will profile Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people who are active in their communities and are creating a positive impact. The profiles will be presented in a multimedia format and will be accompanied by teacher notes, lesson plans and worksheets.

Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait communities in Australia have experienced incredible injustices and prejudices. With such a young population and a changing social environment, it is an important time for young people to get involved in social justice issues. The profile subjects are proof that change is possible regardless of circumstance. They are committed to using all the resources and skills they have to create a positive impact and their stories are inspiring.

The existing funding secured by Oxfam will only cover the profiles of 3-4 Sydney based young people. We are seeking additional funds to increase the number of profiles to 10 and expand on the project's geographic reach to show that change can come in many forms. Our ability to expand the project will enable us to showcase urban, regional and remote communities, enriching the project and increase its impact.

This project has received the support of the NSW Department of Education, who will assist in aligning the material within curriculum frameworks and distribute amongst all NSW teachers.

Total Project Budget

AUD $95,000

Length of Production

50 (10 x 5) ebedded within an interactive online learning tool. minutes

Stage of Production

Development

How does the project meet the aims of a philanthropic foundation?

This educational resource will equip many teachers with a powerful tool to encourage students to be active citizens. It will showcase what positive change can look like and inspire young people to think about their own personal impact.

It will not only raise public awareness of the challenges facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth but it will do so through their own story telling, in their own voice.

It will also showcase some of the many positive stories coming out of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. It is important to tell the stories of people who are doing amazing things in their communities to balance the many negative Aboriginal and Torres Strait stories picked up in mainstream media.

What outcomes do you hope to achieve by making this film and how will you measure its impact?

This project aims to:
- Create a compelling, useful set of curriculum content for teachers seeking to educate their students in areas of active citizenship and social justice;
- Have the content integrated successfully into current curriculum frameworks;
- Create a scalable resource which can have content added at a later date;
- Tell inspirational stories of active citizenship in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities which positively influence secondary students' beliefs and opinions.

Key indicators that will become a measure of success are:
- Quantitative data - website statistics for the number of visits / visitors to the resource site / content and
- Qualitative data - comments from students in the class and teachers who have used the resource. We have confirmation from the Department of Education and Training NSW that they will support this process

What is your education and outreach strategy

Oxfam has been working with the NSW Department of Education on the concept of these materials. They are highly supportive of the project and while they are not able to contribute funds, they have offered to lend their expertise in regards to ensuring that the materials fits within the curriculum frameworks and will have maximum appeal to teachers.

The content development aims to be flexible in nature in order to suit a broad range of subject areas such as science, design technology or maths, where active citizenship contact is less prevalent.

The NSW Department of Education will distribute the resource to teachers and schools across the state. Material will also be posted on Oxfam Australia's website and available on DVD.

The materials will also be marketed to other state Departments of Education in the hope that they too will distribute the DVDs amongst their schools.

Who are the filmmakers responsible for the project?

Oxfam Australia will be working with Deepend – Design Strategy and Creative Solutions. Deepend have extensive experience with multimedia film and have worked with Nickelodeon, Bigpond, Accenture, Nokia. Deepend are also working with Oxfam Australia on the development and implementation of our youth based online communication strategy which will focus on the use of social networks.

This project will be managed by Oxfam Australia and produced by Kimberley Lipschus from Deepend.

Deepend
Paramount House
Level 1 / 53-55 Brisbane St
PO Box 146
Surry Hills 2010
www.deepend.com.au