Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

developed for NFSA digital learning

Classroom Activities

1. Who created 'Waltzing Matilda’ and when?
2. What was the origin of the music?
3. What is the political meaning and message behind the lyrics?
4. How did Banjo Paterson come to write the lyrics for the song?
5. What interpretation does Warren Brown give of the possible meanings for the lyrics?
6. A matilda is a ‘swag’. What other Australian colloquialisms appear in the song?

National anthems

1. Many people have suggested that 'Waltzing Matilda’ should be Australia’s national anthem. Do you think these words are suitable for an anthem? Explain your reasons.
2. How many students have heard of 'Waltzing Matilda’ and who can recall when they last heard or sang it? Investigate the meanings of 'Waltzing Matilda’ by reading the words, singing the song, listening to a range of versions, reading the background to the author or by briefly placing the writing of the song in historical context.
3. Consider the other contenders for Australia’s national anthem, including 'God Save the Queen’ and 'Advance Australia Fair’. Discuss their words, meanings, values, melody.
4. Look at words of other popular anthems, particularly those of the USA, Britain and France. What are the messages or meanings of those words? Do you think they are appropriate for anthems? Explain your views.
5. Look at the anthems of newer nations such as South Africa and East Timor. What are these words trying to achieve?
6. Imagine that you have been asked to write the words for a new national anthem. It could be for Australia, or for another country. What meanings and messages do you want to put across? What attitudes and values do you want to convey? How do you encapsulate the essential and unique elements of the nation? Write your anthem. You might work with music students to think about what style of music would be most appropriate for your anthem.
7. Examine the role of icons and symbols – for example, national anthems, flags, visual representations – in the creation of a national identity. What forms do they take? How are they created? Who or what creates them? Can icons and symbols become out-dated? What is currently the most famous Australian icon, symbol or celebration?
8. Ask students to investigate one icon, symbol, celebration or commemoration – its origin, creator, apparent values/beliefs underpinning it, when it is used, and the extent of its current popularity. Some students might investigate another country’s national anthem.
9. Ask students to reflect on the degree of importance of national identity symbols to them in the context of a diverse multicultural society.

Further activities

1. Share 'Waltzing Matilda’ song sheets and sing the song. Song sheets are available from a variety of sources.
2. Read some other examples of Australian poetry of the period written by Banjo Paterson, Henry Lawson and John Shaw Neilson.
3. How is the song sheet presented in the documentary? Discuss the narrator’s style, the production style and interview.
4. Work in groups to create a visual text based on 'Waltzing Matilda’: a storyboard for a film, a TV commercial, a web page, a poster etc. You could act out the storyboard as a drama project or film using a digital camera.
5. Write a poem based on an Australian outback theme or icon.