WS01 - Perspectives on Australia’s national identity

[Student 1] I feel like I belong to the school the most because you're always thinking about school when you're at home and you've got school the next day. You always think about your subjects you've got. And in the holidays when school, when you're having a fun time, you got school. It's like, oh, we've got school. Like sometimes it's a disappointment, but you know..

[Student 2] I think that the people that, you know, create a very important environment in how you feel you belong, because if they're not inviting and if they're not cohesive to helping you out, then you can't really feel like you belong, because the people that you surround yourself with are always there. If it's family, then they're always there. You're always in the same house. If it's friends, you're always in the same classes or out in the playground together. So they're always kind of there. And you have to make sure that they're the right people for you. I feel like people are, really important to your sense of belonging because they're always there and they're always around. And the people that you surround yourself with can have a big impact on how you feel in an environment. And that's really what your sense of belonging is at school.

[Student 3] Teachers always enforcing like they tell us that the people we have, like groups in our school and even like teachers in the school, make an effort to make those groups such as like home rooms and all that. So if the school is like trying to do that, it means it's important.

[Student 4] Well, we're constantly choosing things together as a country. So become like one massive organisational family. Like we're constantly voting for things such as prime ministers. And we all work together. We're like a team against all the rest of the countries in the world. And I think that kind of makes us like one big family.

[Student 5] It really depends on, you know, who you're voting for and everything. So, you know, if you if you've got two parties, political parties, so, you know, same ideal or the same ideals and everything, then people aren't going to be as divided as if you've got, you know, far right, far left parties. And also it's, you know, it's also the temperament of the people in that country.

[Student 6] So what makes me feel Australian is like how I, you know, like we unite with each other. So like, no matter if you're Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, whatever you are, you can be accepted. And we're all kind of unique in each other's ways. We might have a sporting team that we like, or it's our religion or it's our state or our yeah. 

[Student 7] Yeah, quite what makes me feel Australian is kind of our beautiful diversity of food and people and, you know, everything. And we do so many different practices and we all respect everything about everyone else's different point of view. And, you know, the perspective they take on life. It's just we all respect that. And that's kind of that beautiful, diverse culture that not many countries are privileged enough to have. And I think that's what is really good about Australia and what makes me feel Australian.

[Student 8] It's like a unique feeling. You feel like when you go to like a stadium and like everyone else is supporting the same cause for your country. Everyone might be different in some way, like you might, I don't know, one person might like heavy metal or you might like classical music. We might all be divided in some way, but it's like the general sense of being in the one country and appreciating that one country, even though you're into different things, it makes you feel Australian. It's like that mutual respect for something, but you might be two very different people. Our diversity is what unifies us. So you don't really think of both like one word greater than the other. They both go hand in hand to help create that sense of the diverse being unified.