Agora (2026/Issue 1) – Place-based Learning

Agora is a journal of curated professional reading for History teachers. This digital download explores opportunities to teach in the same physical space as an historical event, from walking tours of the city and on Country to engaging with local museums and community groups.

By immersing themselves in the same physical space as an historical event, students can transform abstract concepts into tangible experiences that enable them to evaluate history far more successfully than through rote memorisation alone.

$10.00

About this item

Audience

teachers

Format

PDF

Contents

Reflection Elisa Litvin
Editorial | Guy Nolch

 

SUNGRAPHO | Research and analysis

Confronting Dispossession and Exclusion in the History of Modern Australia
Liam Byrne
New scholarship is giving voice to the Indigenous and migrant workers who were excluded from Australia’s early union movement.

 

THEMA|Reflections on the theme
History in Plain Sight: Exploring Melbourne’s Ghost Signs
Sean Reynolds
Ghost signs are place-based opportunities to recognise the continuity between the people who built a local community and those who inhabit it now.

The Value of Historic Site Visits
Katie Dunning
Placing themselves in the same physical space as an historical event can allow students to analyse, question and evaluate history far more successfully than by mere rote retention.

Teaching Monuments as History
Elisa Litvin
Statues along the St Kilda Road/Swanston Street corridor provide opportunities for students to develop their own historical judgements about who is being commemorated and why.

Opportunities for Place-based Learning in VCE Australian History
Tania Ragusa
A walking tour of Melbourne’s CBD provides opportunities for VCE Australian History students to encounter historical sites that inform their investigation of power and resistance.

Right Where It Happened: The Melbourne Anti-Conscription Protests of World War I
Alexandra Pierce
A free audio tour brings to life the locations of anti-conscription protests and events in Melbourne during World War I.

Connecting the Grand Narrative of World War I to Local Microhistories
Laura Rogers
Using one’s local context as a starting point for studying World War I can also bring Anzac history to life.

Bringing our Anzac Heritage to Life in the Classroom and Beyond
Nicole Scott
Relationships between schools and local RSL organisations can create History lessons that students will remember long after they have completed their studies.

Archiving School Records for Future Generations
Natasha Cantwell
Later this year the histories of Victoria’s government schools, dating back to 1850, will be discoverable through the archives of Public Record Office Victoria.

Anchoring History at the Port of Echuca
Rowena Morris
Echuca was home to Victoria’s second largest port. Its riverboat economy remains afloat within an educational precinct that brings to life the Murray River’s history.

Story, Site and Self: A Learning Journey Beyond the Classroom
Jacquie Bourtzis
Teaching of Australia’s rich history can be transformed through the lens of storytelling, immersive excursion experiences and activities that connect history with identity.

Teaching the Holocaust through Sites of Memory and Place-based Learning
Eleni Joseph
A Year 10 visit to the Melbourne Holocaust Museum can deepen historical understanding through inquiry, reflection and disciplinary thinking.

Learning about Country through Localised Historical Inquiries
Rebecca Cairns and Will King
First Nations sites on Country are an excellent resource to teach First Nations history as part of the primary curriculum.

Building Revolutionary Knowledge and Skills through a Better Understanding of Place
Jodie Smith
A teacher shares how place-based learning shapes their approach to teaching the American Revolution.

KRITIKOS | Reviews