Celebrating Chinese Australians

Free education program for primary students promoting multiculturalism

Key Dates

March, 2023

Open for registrations from schools and families

From end of April, 2023

Instructions and resources emailed out

Beginning of term 2 or May 2023

Celebrating Chinese Australians challenge course launches in the Makers Empire app

Anytime during terms 2-3 or May – September, 2023

Students complete the program activities 

October, 2023

 Winners announced and exhibitions of designs 

What is Celebrating Chinese Australians?

This new challenge by Makers Empire celebrates the contributions and achievements of the Chinese community in Australia – both past and present – via a new, interactive Challenge Course in the Makers Empire 3D design app as well as a national competition with prizes for schools and students. 

What are the learning goals?

  • To promote multiculturalism and unity.
  • To encourage an awareness of the contributions and achievements of the Chinese community in Australia amongst primary students.
  • To provide representation for Chinese-Australian students by highlighting a variety of career paths undertaken by notable Chinese-Australians.
  • Specific curriculum learning goals are outlined below in the FAQ.

Who can take part? 

  • The Celebrating Chinese Australians Challenge Course and competition is open to all Australian school students in Years 3-6.
  • Teachers may register their class or groups of students for the program.
  • Individual students may also register to participate in the program.

How do my students complete the challenge? 

  • Students may complete the Challenge Course and competition anytime during  term 2 and 3.
  •  The Celebrating Chinese Australians Challenge Course is accessed through the Makers Empire App. Through purpose-made video content, students learn about the history of Chinese people in Australia and explore the contributions made by Chinese people in Australia. Students respond to the video content by participating in in-app quizzes and related design tutorials. The Challenge Course concludes with a design thinking project which asks students to create a design that celebrates multiculturalism.
  • The students’ designs constitute their entry into a national Design Thinking competition to be judged at the beginning of term 4. 
  • Winning designs will be exhibited in online and physical exhibitions.
  • Other activity ideas will be provided via teacher and parent guides.

How long will this challenge take?

  • The Challenge Course is expected to take 3-5 hours to complete.
  • Additional activities provided could take a further 3-10 hours.
  • Students may choose to spend longer on their designs before submitting them to the national competition.

Who are some of the Chinese-Australians included in this program? 

Notable Chinese-Australians featured in the in-app Celebrating Chinese Australians Challenge Course are: MasterChef Winner Adam Liaw; Senator The Hon. Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs; cookbook author and TV chef, Elizabeth Chong; pioneering heart surgeon, Victor Chang; fashion designer Jenny Kee; the first Chinese-Australian barrister, William Ah Ket; the first woman to incorporate a business in SA, Ms Gladys Sym Choon; and traditional Chinese medicine practitioner and herbalist, Kwong Sue Duk.

Other Chinese-Australians profiled in the teacher and parent guides include: author Alice Pung AO; former Mayor of Adelaide Alfred Huang AM; tech entrepreneur and Young Australian of the Year winner, Marita Cheng; writer and illustrator, Shaun Tan; former SBS News presenter, Lee Lin Chin; mathematician and Fields medal winner, Terence Tao; and pioneering journalist Helene Chung.

Prizes for Schools and Students

Prizes for Schools 

A total of 10 schools in Australia will be awarded a Makers Empire school subscription for 12 months ($1,999) plus a 3D printer package ($1,499). Prizes will be awarded to:

  • The school with the best design by a student in each Australian state and territory (selected by the judges).
  • The school (< 200 students) with the most designs
  • The school (> 200 students) with the most designs

     

Prizes for Winning Students

  • The student who submits the top design from each state and territory wins:

    • A $100 gift card
    • A 3D print of their winning 3D design, posted to their school
    • Their winning 3D design displayed in a physical exhibition in Adelaide, and an online exhibition on the Makers Empire website
    • In-app Makers Empire tokens
    • Makers Empire drink bottle
    • Makers Empire t-shirt
    • Makers Empire posters and stickers

Prizes for Runner Ups

  • 3 x runners-up in each state & territory will receive: 

    • Makers Empire in-app token packages
    • Makers Empire drink bottle
    • Makers Empire posters and stickers 

Competition Judges

Mandi Dimitriadis director of learning at Makers Empire

Mandi Dimitriadis, Director of Learning at Makers Empire

Mandi is an award-winning educator who works with schools to help teachers develop Design Thinking, embrace maker pedagogy and cover Design & Technology Curriculum. She is an international specialist on Design Thinking and the use of 3D design and 3D printing in education and has led rollouts of 3D technology to groups of 200+ schools in Australia, the USA and the UAE.

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Mark Wang, Chief Executive Officer, Museum of Chinese Australian History

Mark is a fifth-generation Chinese Australian and a co-founder of the Museum of Chinese Australian History. He has a degree in visual arts.

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Michelle Fulham, Manager, Education Programs, History Trust of SA

Michelle is an experienced educator who has taught in many school settings, both across Australia and internationally, spending six years as an assistant principal in NSW. She has worked as a primary school librarian, taught specialised classes of high potential and gifted students, and delivered digital technologies lessons across all primary school grades. 

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Latitia Chow, Program Manager, National Foundation for Australia-China Relations

Latitia Chow has spent the past 10 + years as an project manager and marketer working across education, government, consulting and FMCG sectors in Australia, China, and Hong Kong. Her mission is to facilitate the exchange and build people-to-people connections in the Australia-China space.

Partners & Supporters

Thank you to the the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations (NFACR) for funding this project

The National Foundation for Australia-China Relations is a national platform working across government, business and community to promote mutual understanding and practical cooperation with China, and promote the contributions of Chinese-Australians to Australia. It demonstrates the Australian Government’s commitment to a mutually respectful relationship with China, one that is shaped by a strong sense of Australia’s values and national interests, as well as mutual benefit. The Foundation runs an annual grants program supporting Australian individuals and organisations to develop, promote and strengthen understanding and engagement between Australia and China, including at the business and community level.

Thank you to the Chinese Museum and The History Trust of SA for providing expert consultation and access to their collections

The Museum of Chinese Australian History (Chinese Museum) is located in Melbourne’s Chinatown, within the oldest surviving Chinatown streetscape in the Western World. A historic building of five floors shows the national history, heritage and identity of Chinese Australians past and present as part of Australia’s contemporary multicultural society – with the first Chinese migrant arriving in 1818 growing to today’s population of 1.4 million or 5% of Australia’s population.

 

The History Trust of South Australia is exactly what our name implies. We carry the community’s trust to keep safe our state’s stories and memory collections so that they will not be lost. Our Act of Parliament safeguards South Australia’s material cultural heritage, encourages research, and enables the public presentation of South Australian history, to better understand our past and present, and keep our history safe for future generations too.

Frequently Asked Questions

Celebrating Chinese Australians is a non-political education program that aims to promote multiculturalism and unity. This program celebrates the contributions and achievements of the Chinese community in Australia – both past and present. It does this via a new, interactive Challenge Course in the Makers Empire 3D design app, a national competition with prizes for schools and students and accompanying learning resources for teachers and families. 

The challenge has been designed for grades 3-6 students. 

Yes, absolutely! The Celebrating Chinese Australians Challenge Course and competition is open to all school students in Years 3-6. Teachers may register their class or groups of students for the program. Individual students may also register to participate, regardless of whether their school is registered to take part.

Students who participate in this challenge will:

  • Develop their 3D design skills. 
  • Use their design skills to communicate ideas and create awareness.
  • Gain an understanding of the achievements and contributions of the Chinese diaspora in Australia. 
  • Have the opportunity to win fantastic prizes for their schools and themselves. 
  • Brand new Celebrating Chinese Australians challenge course within the Makers Empire 3D app comprising videos, quizzes, design tutorials and Design Thinking challenges.
  • Teacher Guide and Parent Guide (available end term 1, 2023). These will include: 
    • Getting started guide for those new to Makers Empire
    • Profiles of notable Chinese-Australians living in Australia 
    • Further suggested reading/viewing/listening with lists of suggested books, TV shows, podcasts and articles to continue the learning.
    • Anti-racism teaching resources 
  • Classroom Decoration pack (available end term 1, 2023)
  • Student Worksheets + Certificates (available end term 1, 2023
  • Official graphics for sharing on social media (end term 1, 2023)

This program is funded by The National Foundation for Australia-China Relations, a national platform working across government, business and community to promote mutual understanding and practical cooperation with China, and promote the contributions of Chinese-Australians to Australia. Makers Empire has partnered with the Chinese Museum and the History Trust of SA to deliver this program. 

Yes. It aligns with these specific Curriculum Learning Outcomes:

  1. Students investigate the diversity of cultures, values, beliefs, histories and environments that exists between and within the countries of the Asia region, and how this diversity influences the way people interact with each other, the places where they live and the social, economic, political and cultural systems of the region as a whole. (Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia)
  2. Students investigate the reasons behind both internal migration in the Asia region and from Asia to Australia, and so develop understanding of the experiences of the people of Asian heritage who are now Australian citizens. (Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia)
  3. Students learn about the shared history and the environmental, social and economic interdependence of Australia and the Asia region. In a changing globalised world, the nature of interdependence between Asian regions and Australia continues to change. (Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia)
  4. Students understand that the peoples and countries of Asia have contributed and continue to contribute to world history and human endeavour. Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia (0I1)
  5. Students understand the arts and literature of Asia influence aesthetic and creative pursuits within Australia, the region and globally. Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia (0I2)
  6. Students are able to design accurate, innovative 3D models to scale using Makers Empire 3D modelling software. (ACTDEP016, ACTDEP026 – v8.4) (AC9TDE4P03, AC9TDE6P03 -v9)
  7. Students investigate and analyse factors that impact on their designs, including social, ethical, and sustainability considerations. (ACTDEK010, ACTDEK019 – v8.4) (AC9TDE4K01, AC9TDE6K01 -v9)
  8. Students critique opportunities to use design as a tool for representing and celebrating the contributions of Chinese people in Australia. (ACTDEP014, ACTDEP024 – v8.4) (AC9TDE4P01, AC9TDE6P01 – v9)
  9. Students develop, modify and communicate design ideas to accurately represent their chosen theme (ACTDEP015, ACTDEP025 – v8.4) (AC9TDE4P02, AC9TDE6P02 – v9)
  10. Students create prototypes of their design ideas, develop tests to assess the suitability of their project ideas. (ACTDEP016, ACTDEP026 – v8.4) (AC9TDE4P03, AC9TDE6P03 – v9)
  11. Students evaluate their designs against design brief criteria and respond to feedback from peers, teachers, and community members (ACTDEP017, ACTDEP027 – v8.4) (AC9TDE4P04, AC9TDE6P04 – v9)
  12. Students work collaboratively to develop project plans and design solutions that meet the provided design briefs. (ACTDEP018, ACTDEP028 – v8.4) (AC9TDE4P05, AC9TDE6P05 – v9)

Register now for Celebrating Chinese Australians to be sent login details and resources for this free challenge for primary and middle school students.

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