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Source 7.17. Classroom moiety system activity in Primary Social Studies sourcebook
year 5 (Department of Education, 1988a, p. 104)
In order to authenticate student learning about kinship and moiety structures, teachers are
advised to invite a representative from the local Indigenous community to inform students
about specific Indigenous customs used to maintain social order (the unit as a whole covers
the maintaining of social order through governance in some depth). The inclusion of an
Indigenous representative is legitimized for inclusion as the topic specifically covers
Indigenous themes. The broader perspective articulated in this bridging topic is that
Indigenous knowledges and cultures are valued in and of themselves, not mediated through an
understanding of other, namely ‘Western’ cultures.
Increasingly common, and one of the few topics that overlap between textbooks, are
discourses of kinship explained to students as a learning experience. In Living History
(Gurry, 1987), Investigation 7 presents a detailed description of the regular nuclear family
structure that the majority of students would be familiar with (even if their personal
experiences differ from this structure). The activity then builds on this knowledge by
presenting the complex structure of the kinship system, as depicted in Source 7.18.
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