The Humanities tell each unique story at CRC Caroline Springs - this is how parents can help
While it may not be every student's favourite subject, the undoubted beauty of studying the Humanities is that it tells the story of every student at CRC Caroline Springs in one way or another; it explores the conflation of political, economic, social and geographic factors that is responsible for each member of our community getting to be where they are now, why their current world is the way it is and what their future might hold.
As our Year 10 History: Civil Rights students recently discovered, studying the Humanities gives context to the media young people consume on a daily basis - certainly, no one has ever won a Grammy with a song about Pythagoras' Theorum - which we know from our own experience is so influential to our individual identities. Indeed, this is why they're called the Humanities; we study what it is to be human.
At CRC Caroline Springs, our incredibly diverse community means we are uniquely positioned to explore all of these factors from an array of perspectives. War, political and economic crises and natural disasters have touched every continent on the planet, and every family at our College.
Parents often express a perceived powerlessness in supporting their children at home when it comes to the Humanities. On the contrary, parents and guardians are best place to expose the key concepts of the subject area simply by sharing their own personal narratives.
When adults share their own perspectives, their culture and traditions, students see the reasons why people make the difficult decision to migrate to a far away land, and why people decide to start their own businesses alongside the challenges faced when doing so. Young people have their eyes opened to how the geographic features of a place influence the economy, diet and rituals of a culture and how natural disasters can cause bigger problems than the obvious physical harm. When parents open the discussion about their political views and why they hold those views, students start to form their own moral compasses and gain an appreciation for their civic rights and responsibilities as the fortunate citizens of a democracy.
The student body at CRC Caroline Springs is filled with curiosity and a hunger for a knowledge that informs their world view. It can be easy, at times, to assume that our students are too young to tackle some of the big issues, or to give into the temptation to shield them out of an abundance of care, but anecdotal evidence suggests they have the maturity and critical capability to be presented with real life information and process it in a healthy way. I did it, and so did you.
Moreover, while consuming the news can feel like a negative experience in the modern world, news bulletins are a live-action play of how concepts studied in the Humanities have real-world, tangible outcomes to people's lives and present a brilliant opportunity to discuss modern day issues, explore family connections to a story and consider moral positions on an issue. Engaging in conversation about what is in the news is a simple yet effective manner students learning in the Humanities classroom can be complimented and extended outside of school hours.
Parents and guardians need not panic if they feel as if can't share their family narrative with the requisite vocabulary or in a way suitable for an assessment task, or even if they're not 100% sure of all the facts - leave that to us, that's our job. Studying the Humanities is about more than passing a test anyways, it's about becoming active leaders in the multitude of communities CRC Caroline Springs touches and inspiring everyone to live a little more fully and act a little more justly.