Connecting to Learning in the DP: History and Film
History
As the pens came down in the final DP History exam, the current Year 11 class formed a guard of honour at the bottom of the Kalimna steps and the baton was symbolically passed from one cohort to the next. Finn and Jakob emerged from the exam room to a round of applause, both relieved and excited to have made it past the final hurdle, putting a full stop on their DP History journey.
Over the past two years, our Year 12s have examined what feels like every ideological thread that shaped the Twentieth Century: each major example of tension and conflict; examples of diplomacy both failed and successful - mostly failed - and the effects of these conflicts on individuals, societies and the world as a whole. Over two days of exams, Finn and Jakob analysed sources relating to the Nazi-Soviet Pact between Russia and Germany on the eve of World War II as part of their ‘Move to Global War’ unit. They also analysed the outbreak of World War I and developments in the inter-war years in Spain and Weimar Germany, before examining the nature of authoritarian states across the Twentieth Century, from Mussolini to Castro.
As Year 12 comes to an end, the Year 11s are stepping up towards their own exams. Our keen historians have been examining the rise of militarism and nationalism in Japan over the late-nineteenth and early twentieth century as the nation rapidly modernised and set its sights on Manchuria. This would be the first major test for the newly established League of Nations and set a familiar precedent of a failure to act and policy of appeasement - defining characteristics of the 1930s. Students have been piecing together the puzzle of how this became one of the first dominos to fall in the lead-up to World War II through a close analysis of historical sources from the time. They have also been consolidating their work throughout the year on authoritarian regimes in Europe, writing some incredibly in-depth and insightful comparisons of how fascism emerged in Italy and Germany throughout this period.
On a final note, I would like to wish our newly graduated senior historians, Finn and Jakob, all the best in their future studies. They have been an excellent ‘History Squad’ to work with over these past two years - their enthusiasm and curiosity has set the tone for future groups!
Chris McDuff
teacher of DP History
christopher.mcduff@preshil.vic.edu.au
Film
DP Film Year 1 students have focused on producing a draft of their Comparative Study multimedia presentation which will be submitted at the start of 2022.
For this task students self-select two films from either different geographic or time period Cultural Contexts to explore a chosen topic that focuses on either Film Movements, Film Genre and Style or Film Theory. For example, students could compare Superman (1978) to Iron Man (2008) to investigate how the superhero genre reflects the change in American policy during and after the Cold War in relation to the emergent War on Terror after September 11.
Students then select sequences from each film to compare and make use of video editing software to produce their multimedia file with narration, no longer than 10 minutes in duration. They need to make use of academic citations to support their comparison with an APA list of sources and use film terminology throughout.
Matt Barker
teacher of DP Film