Year 7 IDU: Identity

What, in scientific terms, are the tools and organisms used for farming and how has each one affected my identity?

How does psychology and drama shape your identity?

How has being from different nationalities affected my identity?

How does technology shape our identity and help us become a better society?

These are just some of the inquiries that came from the Year 7 Interdisciplinary Unit on Identities and Journeys in Term 3.

For two weeks, students embarked on a challenging journey to inquire, research and explore an aspect of identity that interested them. While some focused on the past to investigate their family history, others looked to the future and the endless ways which technology can impact our personal and collective identity. Regardless of which angle students took, they had to find connections to two of the following disciplines: Individuals & Societies, Language & Literature, Language Acquisition, Physical & Health Education and Drama. Too often do we regard school subjects as silos, operating alone and independently from everything else. The IDU project encouraged students and teachers alike to blend multiple disciplines, to find commonalities between different subjects, and to remember that everything is connected in this world.

Similar to the Personal Project (Year 10) and the Extended Essay (DP), students learned to cite and evaluate both primary and secondary sources for their project. Thanks to a couple of workshops with Emily Nancarrow, the Year 7s learned the importance of giving credit to their sources and using APA referencing to refer to them in their process journal and bibliography. Much like the research projects they will take on in Years 10-12, students had to organise their own two-week schedule, piecing together non-IDU classwork and independent project time like a complex puzzle. Anthony Cavagna introduced the students to the Gantt chart, a tool to break down tasks into manageable chunks and allocate them to different days. Some students even reflected at the end of the unit that they would utilise this chart again in the future.

On behalf of the Year 7 IDU team, I would like to congratulate all the students for their resilience during the two-week unit. Engaging in a big project across two weeks at the end of a challenging term was no easy feat, but this cohort tried their best and produced amazing work. The students gave us some honest and insightful feedback at the end of the term and this will guide us to provide a better experience for students in the future. Thank you to the parents and families who supported the students with their projects at home.

Thank you also to Natalie Kunst for leading and supporting the unit and to teachers Anthony Cavagna, Ashleigh Greaves, Emily Nancarrow, Kat Girbau, Kate Ellis, Kavita Mathai, Joan Morgan and Matt Barker for mentoring the students each week and helping them to complete their project.

A platform showcasing each student’s project will be made available soon.

by Phuong Tran

Year 7 Coordinator, Teacher of French and Language & Literature

phuong.tran@preshil.vic.edu.au