Discrimination

• Ask students to research the possible origins of cricket. They should develop ten fact cards that answer the following questions:

1. Where and when was the first recorded cricket match?
2. Who was involved in playing this early game?
3. How was the game played?
4. What were the rules?
5. How did the game develop after this time?
6. When and by whom were the first 'Laws of Cricket' established?
7. When and where was the first international game of cricket played?
8. Where is cricket played today?
9. Who are the most noted players today?
10. Describe the differences in the way women and men play the game.

• Ask students to create a KWL chart about the history of cricket. A KWL chart is a graphic organiser that enables students to classify information. It will help them to organise material as it is gathered during their research. The three basic areas of classification in the chart are:

1. What I Know
2. What I Want to know
3. What I Learned

• The following websites are a useful resource for this activity:

1. Cricket Australia, http://cricket.com.au
2. Melbourne Cricket Ground, www.mcg.org.au

Student Activity Sheet H2.1: KWL chart: history of cricket

• Ask students to discuss gender equality in sports played at their school. They could record their responses to the following questions on a poster in the classroom:

1. Are there teams for both girls and boys for every sport played at the school?
2. Does the school offer mixed teams for sports?
3. Do girls often try out for so-called 'boys' teams'?
4. Have gender roles changed in sports at schools in the last ten years?

• Divide the class into small groups. Each group should research, and present, a report on one of the following teams:

1. The Australian women's cricket team
2. The Australian women's basketball team
3. The Australian women's soccer team
4. The Australian women's baseball team
5. The Australian women's water polo team
6. The Australian women's netball team
7. The Australian women's volleyball team
8. The Australian women's hockey team
9. The Australian women's Rugby Union team
10. The Australian women's Rugby League team

• Ask students to view the clip on Screen Australia digital learning, Women and sport in Australia, http://dl.screenaustralia.gov.au/module/1494/#about
• There is a range other information on the topic on The Australian Women's Register, http://www.womenaustralia.info

• Student Activity Sheet H2.3 contains a Spider Map, which has headings that will assist students to organise their responses to the video clip.

Student Activity Sheet H2.3: Australian women in sport

• Ask students to consider how the game of cricket became so popular and widespread in Australia, where many believe that Australian cricket is the best in the world. Have students develop a questionnaire about the popularity of cricket, which they can then put to other students, teachers and parents. Ask them to collate the results and prepare a report on popular opinion in their community about cricket in Australia.
• Divide the class into small groups, assign them an era in Australian history, eg 1851–1910 or 1911–1939, and ask them to research the contribution of Indigenous cricketers during this period. Each group could produce a poster with images of the cricketers and information about their achievements.

• Ask students to research an aspect of Australian cricket. For example, they might write a report about their favourite team, player or coach. This information can be presented in a digital slideshow format or as a poster. Alternatively, ask the students to create an advertisement for publicising the wonders of Australian cricket to the rest of the world. The advertisement could be for a magazine or for television.

Student Activity Sheet H2.2: Indigenous Australian cricketers

• When Danielle isn't permitted to play cricket with the boys' team, she says she is 'fully discriminated'. Ask students to discuss:

1. what Danielle means (and what she should have said)
2. the definition of the word 'discrimination' and its meaning in the context of this story.

• Examine students' responses and have them think about and share other situations where this kind of discrimination occurs.
• As a class, discuss reasons why girls might not be allowed to play a so-called 'boys' sport. Use questions such as: Should boys be allowed to play 'girls' sports? Why or why not? Ask students to research the rules of mixed sport for the most popular sports in their school, for example, football, cricket, netball, softball or rounders, and Newcomb or volleyball. What do students think of these rules? Are they fair? Why? Why not?

• Having discussed whether boys and girls should be permitted to play each others' sports, ask students to prepare to debate their position by writing an argument 'for' or 'against' the proposition. They should include reasons to support their arguments.

Student Activity Sheet E2.1: Discrimination in sport

• This short clip gives the audience a considerable amount of information about Mohammed and his family. Have students note down as much as they can remember about all the people in Mohammed's family.
• Students can discuss their notes and then make a list of the main characters. Have them consider how the filmmaker conveys information about the characters to the audience, for example, by their clothes, their way of speaking, what they say, and how they relate to each other.
• Emma, Mohammed's mother, tells Mrs Benson they will play their music softly.

1. What does this say about her as a person?
2. What do Emma's clothes, including her headscarf, indicate to the audience?
3. The whole family plays cricket with their landlord, Michaelis. What does this tell us?

• Discuss what the neighbour Mrs Benson might think about the family. Have students write a letter from Mrs Benson to a member of her own family describing the new neighbours and what she thinks of them. For example, what is Mrs Benson's opinion of Emma wearing a headscarf?
• Next, ask students to consider a different point of view. Have them write a letter from either Mohammed's mother, Emma, or his father, Omar, to a relative or friend, describing their new home, the neighbourhood and the people they have met so far.

Student Activity Sheet E2.2: Family and neighbours

• Focus students' attention on the character Michaelis. Discuss his role in this clip, what sort of person he appears to be and how they know this. Read the script from this clip, looking closely at the exchange between Mohammed's father, Omar, and Michaelis as they move the furniture into the house.
• Ask students what Omar means when he says 'Wogs play soccer'. Discuss the term 'wog' and what it means in this context. Why does Michaelis argue that 'wogs' play cricket? What do students think this tells the audience about attitudes in Australia? Discuss the term 'multiculturalism' and have students find and write down the dictionary definition.
• Explain that the character Michaelis provides a strong narrative link across multiple episodes of the television series My Place, connecting many decades in the house. To follow the story of Michaelis, screen and discuss the following: Episode 6: 1958: Michaelis; Episode 5: 1968: Sofia; 'The Tippy' from Episode 4: 1978: Mike; and 'Food and chores' from Episode 3: 1988: Lily.

• Have students write a brief report on multiculturalism in Australia, based on the life of Michaelis. Focus on contributions made by immigrants in the areas of language, food, sport and culture.

Student Activity Sheet E2.3: Multiculturalism