IM Australian Too Essay

It is vital for teachers to recognise indigenous literacies and aboriginal English in all classrooms as it builds a sense of equality and a non-discriminating environment. As a future teacher I believe that it is my role to create a classroom that mirrors these key factors, as it will build the foundations for a nourishing learning environment. This type of learning environment will aid in linking the students parents and the surrounding community together that encourages an equal society.

It is your role to close the gap in current educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’ by:

By engaging collaboratively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members, educators, and Indigenous Education Consultative Bodies, ACARA has identified three key concepts; connection to country, diversity of culture and diversity of societies. These themes provide a broad framework on which educators and schools build and elaborate in applying this priority. The consultation process which ACARA undertook in establishing this priority is an identifiable strength of the National Curriculum. Another strength of ACARA framework is that it intended to be national - consistent across all educational institutions in Australia, such that “students now have access to the same content” (ACARA 2016d), irrespective of which school they

A. I can tell stories to make a point with my children, or to introduce to a lesson of personal values in class, or for fun in preschool, with prop and music. Or one day I can tell stories about my life as a motivational example.

A statement made by Marcia Langton (n.d), is “Most Australians do not know how to relate to Aboriginal people, they relate to stories told by former colonist”. Reading this marks a turning point for me, as I have questioned the validity of my own knowledge. This has inspired me to look further into the Aboriginal history past and present and learn to be non-judgmental from what stories have been told. Harrison (2011) emphasises the need to be aware of bias, and the importance of including Indigenous perspectives. It has also provided me with a better understanding of how I am able to teach and relate to the children in my classroom.

According to Harris and Sellwood (2016, p. 140), throughout history and “in all years of school, the average literacy levels for Indigenous students are far lower than the average levels for Australian students as a whole.” Moreover, the Closing the Gap campaign acknowledges the statistics from the NAPLAN tests that indicate that Indigenous students are falling behind in literacy skills compared to non-Indigenous pupils (Australian Government, 2017). Therefore, the campaign’s target is that by 2018 to halve the gap for Indigenous children in reading, writing and numeracy. There are many factors that contribute to the lower literacy skills of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Some of the factors

Additionally, it was informative to watch the SBS Broadcast, Awaken: Talking Country, highlighting Aboriginal people’s connection to country and their views of authority and responsibility of their own lives, culture and identity (AWAKEN: Talking Country, 2014). I realised culture is an important building block in Aboriginal child’s identity because it reflects and acknowledges who they are. As future educator, considering culture and identity is essential and should not be based on historical stereotypes casted upon Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as discussed by Mallard from Curtin University (Mallard, 2017). Also, reading about colonisation, I realised Indigenous Australian were marginalised, evident in the loss of language, beliefs and social structure and loss or dilution of culture (Harrison & Sellwood, 2016, p. 49). This knowledge is essential because I now understand cultural sensitive and inclusive teaching strategies must consider the local community and cultural setting, linguistic background and histories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

There are numerous diverse roles that language can participate on a child’s life and development, whether it be throughout the roles that persuade their growth and knowledge of language, the way they are able to establish the many dissimilar forms of language, their knowledge of diverse and standization of their own language as well as others and the impact culture has on a child. The countless roles that language may have on a child could be their understanding of the structural system of language, and they why this shapes their personal and social outcomes. We are able to determine the many different varieties and forms of is through both written and spoken words and having the ability to be able to understand Australians contextual language.

Supporting Aboriginal students for successful literacy outcomes is fundamental to reciprocal satisfaction in learning for both teachers and Aboriginal students, families and wider communities. Unfortunately, many Aboriginal students do not have the benefit of shared reading experiences at home prior to their formal school entry, which significantly disadvantages Aboriginal students as they try and negotiate one-way learning in the Australian education system (Bonney, 2015; Harrison, 2011, pp. 90 – 91; WA Department of Education [WADE], 2002). Providentially, there are a range of two-way Indigenous strategies and resources available to educators today that make literacy curriculum accessible, relevant and engaging for the heterogeneous student

People of other cultures can provide a wealth of knowledge and insight into another way of life. For example ‘Indigenous Australians think and learn differently to non-Indigenous people. Much of their teaching and learning occurs through story and art. Likewise, Indigenous peoples have a different concept of time and family to non-Indigenous Australians.’ (Learner Guide, module 4, 4.2.2, Cultural differences in service delivery to Indigenous clients, 2016) Knowing this and understanding these issues will help educators work more closely and respectfully with families from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds.

Australia was declared a multicultural society in 2011 by the Prime Minister who also stated that diversity needs to be embraced (Lawrence et al., 2012, p. 75). Balcock, (2010, p. 33, as cited in Higgins & Ventura, 2014, p. 1) explains that the best foundation for equality is for people from different cultures to learn from each other. Anglo-Celitic students are likely to have their identity challenged as they are exposed to Indigenous and international perspectives (Lawrence et al., 2012, p. 83). The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, (2014), gives an example of how Aboriginal perspectives may be incorporated into lessons. This is done when a teacher informs her class about an Indigenous Aboriginal practice called fire stick farming. Students later act out their new knowledge through a dramatic performance using props, costumes and music. Activities such as these assist educators in creating an awareness and appreciation of ideologies and practices from other cultures amongst children. Researching and then involving other specific ethnic groups values into lessons is also a way to help students from minority groups feel accepted and valued. Educators can create an environment that encourages students

That many classrooms in Australia are culturally and demographically diverse is simply a reflection of Australia’s multi-cultural society. This diversity is not reflected in school staffrooms (Reid et al., 2004, p. 306) and indicates a teaching profession based on the dominant white Anglo Celtic culture. This dominant culture has informed much of our educational discourse and it has marginalised students by creating deficit discourses not only for Indigenous Australians and students of different ethnic backgrounds but also those of different socio-economic backgrounds, disabilities, genders and religions (Duchesne, McMaugh, Bochner, & Krause, 2013, p. 381).

Books that children read are important sponsors of literacy. They help students learn how to read and understand their world. However, if a child is only introduced or given stories that can’t relate to, they will not identify themselves as somebody that could be part of that story. For example, Adichie describes the books she read as a child. As a Nigerian child she only read books about British children. She recalls in her

A fundamental role for teachers is to ensure students are engaged in the classroom. A students educational outcome can be positively influenced by a teacher who takes the time to get to know their fund of knowledge, particularly in regards to the student’s cultural background and use of language (Bremmer & Scull, 2016, p. 205). As Australian classrooms become increasingly multicultural (Williams, 2011, p.21), with approximately one-fifth of Australians speaking a language other than English at home (ABS, 2017, para. 7), so to do the Englishes used by students. Teachers may experience students arriving at school with limited knowledge of the Australian English language due to only speaking it as a second language, or sometimes not at all, in

Developing literacy through culturally relevant texts will not only expand my third graders' reading and writing skills, but will also help bridge the gap between their personal background and academic content being taught in school. I plan on utilizing most of these books in my shared reading and read aloud lesson plans. Some of the books