Before I get started writing today's post…
Happy NAIDOC week!
And can I just say how excited I am for Linda Burney, being the FIRST Aboriginal woman to be elected into the House of Reps. :)
And can I just say how excited I am for Linda Burney, being the FIRST Aboriginal woman to be elected into the House of Reps. :)
Now with saying that, I've been doing a fair bit of research lately about the ATSI Perspective in my teaching. As I was searching the net I found this amazing article which really got me thinking. I'll attach it HERE for you to read. It's entitled 'Bringing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in the classroom: Why and how?' and it's written by Cara Shipp from Wanniassa School, ACT. It's not for the faint hearted. Shipp is pretty ruthless actually. She encourages teachers to get rid of the term tokenism and to stop making excuses for why they aren't teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives… ‘Oh, I’d like to incorporate Indigenous perspectives
but I’m scared of doing it in a tokenistic way [so I just don’t do it].’
I felt so inspired after reading this article that it got me thinking about our curriculum. The new NSW syllabus' have now included 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures' in their cross-curriculum priorities. That means that they've already outlined HOW to incorporate the ATSI perspective in all Key Learning Areas.
When you read through any NSW syllabus, you may see a little hand print (
) pictured next to a content descriptor within an outcome. This symbol means that the content listed includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and or cultures.
I decided that I'd check out the English and Mathematics syllabus' in particular, and see exactly what is covered within the content. I then created the following documents which I've attached for you to download (see below).
In these documents, I have recorded every outcome that has Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content for ES1 through to Stage 3. You can download the English document HERE and the Mathematics document HERE. I thought it was a great way to see what exactly is covered. I must admit… I'm a little shocked. I'm impressed at how much is in Early Stage 1 but slightly disappointed at how much it drops off by Stage 3.
While I was at it, I checked out the 'Australian Professional Standard for Teachers'. There were two main standards that addressed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and histories- Standard 1 (Know students and how they learn) and Standard 2 (Know content and how to teach it). I thought it was interesting how it makes it clear that we teach the ATSI perspective not only to the benefit of the Indigenous students present in our classes, but for all of our students.
I felt so inspired after reading this article that it got me thinking about our curriculum. The new NSW syllabus' have now included 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures' in their cross-curriculum priorities. That means that they've already outlined HOW to incorporate the ATSI perspective in all Key Learning Areas.
When you read through any NSW syllabus, you may see a little hand print (
) pictured next to a content descriptor within an outcome. This symbol means that the content listed includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and or cultures. I decided that I'd check out the English and Mathematics syllabus' in particular, and see exactly what is covered within the content. I then created the following documents which I've attached for you to download (see below).
Regardless, there is content and we (as teachers) need to cover it.
While I was at it, I checked out the 'Australian Professional Standard for Teachers'. There were two main standards that addressed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and histories- Standard 1 (Know students and how they learn) and Standard 2 (Know content and how to teach it). I thought it was interesting how it makes it clear that we teach the ATSI perspective not only to the benefit of the Indigenous students present in our classes, but for all of our students.
So now what?
I thought it would be cool to share some of the amazing lessons we've all been doing in our classes! Feel free to comment below about what you've been doing… or email me at rach.sellen@gmail.com
I'd love to feature some of your amazing ideas/ lessons and celebrate what you've been doing with you classes. No need to be shy people… SHARING IS CARING!
