Open Your Heart to Country
Open Your Heart to Country
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A lyrical invitation to listen to, learn from and build a respectful relationship with Country through words, images and attentive observation.
Creator: Jasmine Seymour
📘 For teachers: classroom and curriculum guide
Suggested level: Foundation-Year 5
Learning areas: English; Humanities and Social Sciences; The Arts
Cross-curriculum priorities: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures, with connections to Country/Place and Culture through listening to, learning from and building respectful relationships with Country. Sustainability, through interdependence, care, responsibility and learning on, with and from healthy Country.
🧠Suggested Australian Curriculum V9 content descriptions:
AC9E3LE01: discuss characters, events and settings in different contexts in literature by First Nations Australian and other authors and illustrators
AC9HS3K04: the ways First Nations Australians in different parts of Australia are interconnected with Country/Place
These are suggested starting points. Teachers should confirm the selected year-level content descriptions against their local program and student needs.
Learning focus: Country, sensory language, observation, belonging and poetic response.
Practical lesson sequence
- Before: Introduce the learning focus and essential vocabulary. Invite prior knowledge without requiring students to disclose personal or family experiences.
- During and after: Read outdoors or after a quiet observation walk where appropriate, collect sensory words without claiming cultural knowledge, then compose a short place-based response acknowledging the Country on which learning occurs.
- Evidence of learning: A sensory poem or artwork with an explanation of respectful observation.
Curriculum reference: Use the suggested connections to select the most appropriate content descriptions for your year level and local program. See the Australian Curriculum Version 9.0 and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures cross-curriculum priority.
🌱 For early years educators: Early Years Learning Framework V2.0
Suggested EYLF V2.0 outcome elements:
2.4: Show social responsibility and respect for the environment
4.1: Develop positive dispositions for learning
5.4: Express ideas and make meaning using a range of media
View ACECQA's EYLF V2.0 to Australian Curriculum mapping.
Respectful teaching
Preview the text for your learners and local context. Present Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, cultures and knowledges as living and diverse. Do not expect Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander students to speak for others. Where local knowledge is involved, seek guidance from local rights holders and approved Community sources.
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