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“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures” 2017, Australiancurriculum.edu.au, from <https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/cross-curriculum-priorities/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-histories-and-cultures/>.

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Shay, M, & Oliver, R (eds) 2021, Indigenous Education in Australia: Learning and Teaching for Deadly Futures, Taylor & Francis Group, Milton. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. PP – Chapter 9 – ‘Teaching and Learning: There is no Right Way, But there are Right Things to Do,’ 112 – 132.

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RECCOMENDATIONS:

As a teacher, you are bound to a life of forever learning. This means that ensuring professional development is always updated, and this means for not only myself, but colleagues, families and school staff. Ongoing, I would like to ensure that I am ensuring I am teaching culturally sensitive content, and that I am teaching an honest view of history for my students. This unit has allowed me to see the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ culture through a teachers eyes, and has allowed me to re-focus my interest in teaching history to its fullest and most honest way.

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INCLUSIVITY (and integration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ culture within the classroom): 

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INCLUSIVITY (and integration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ culture within the classroom): 

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INCLUSIVITY (and integration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ culture within the classroom):

The Department of Education (2020) supports teachers and school leaders to ensure that they are embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural inclusion, as an enabling foundation for learning within all government schools. To achieve this, it is important to foster cultural inclusion, and to build confidence in the schools’ families to ensure their children are being taught the right and culturally correct teachings. Studets educational success is linked to culturally supportive homes, and as a secondary, culturally sensitive schools. Students look to develop greater understandings of Australia through connections to Country, and cultural wealth. This allows students to support students to learn more about the Country that they live on, and as well as this, teachers and school leaders to ensure that they engage in Cultural Understanding and Safety Training (CUST). This provides professional development.

Students who are engaged in a supported, and inclusive environment will be able to ensure that students are in the most supportive environment to ensure they have the best outcomes within their education.

The teacher is incredibly important in shaping the knowledge that students are perceiving. This means that what students are taking home to their families, and are sharing with their peers is shaped by what you teach as a teacher. This means that I need to be updated and to teach with importance and carefulness.

When I attended school, and learned about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, I learned a very different history to what I have learned in IND202. IND202 has given me perspective, and has allowed me to view the history of Australia as one that is to be taught with sensitivity, and to be taught honestly to students. This is in line with the curriculum.

It has deepened my understanding of how to teach students in relation to the history of their Country, and has allowed me to have a more in depth view of the history of Australia.

I want to ensure that my students have a deep understanding, and to make sure that the students have the best teaching of Australia’s history possible.

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Within this unit, I have created 2 lesson plans to begin teaching the Dreamtime to Foundation – Grade 2 students.

This unit has been insightful and helpful in regards to learning the correct way to teach these studies, and has given me the tools to ensure I am teaching these topics with the utmost respect, and sensitivity. Reflection is an essential part of development as a teacher, as it is important to teach the most up to date, and important information. This means that I should be ever learning, and reflect on what is important to teach, and when it is appropriate to teach students.

AT1 was a helpful and insightful introduction to IND202. It allowed me to reassess my thinking, and to keep an open mind to the true history of Australia, and to ensure that they Indigenous voices are to be heard throughout the history that has been previously told and told. It helped me to understand the importance of teaching our countries history correctly, and how the relationships between country, air and sea is connected to a spiritual importance. These critical values will be key in my future teachings, and will allow me to develop as a teacher, and as an educator well into the future.

AT2 allowed me to create lesson plans for students, and the feedback that I received was beyond helpful. The feedback allowed me to take time to reassess what was important to teach students. I re-did my lesson plans for this critical assessment, as my lessons were not as age appropriate as I believed. I have reconsidered my lesson plans, and they are not more age appropriate, and allow students to learn the Dreaming Stories to begin with, and when they are ready (and are more mature) they will be able to learn about the colonisation of Australia.

Lesson Plan Evaluations:

Lesson Plan A) Introduction to Dreaming Stories – Budj Bim.

On reflection, this lesson plan would be an effective and creative way to introduce students to the Dreaming.

It wasn’t particularly hard to plan this lesson, however this was a ‘re-planned lesson’. My initial lesson was not age appropriate, nor subject appropriate. My initial lesson was to teach colonisation lessons to Foundation students, but as per feedback, the activity and the content was not appropriate for the age of the students. Instead, it was best to start at teaching the Dreaming Stories, in conjunction with a KESO (Koorie Education Support Officer), or the local Elders of the Country that you live on (for me, it is Gunditjmara Country). The role of a KESO is to engage ands support Aboriginal (and or Torres Strait Islanders’), their families, teachers and school staff. It allows teachers to ensure they are teaching the correct and most up to date information to students, and that lessons are taught sensitively.

If I were to change anything within this lesson plan, I would ensure that there were enough alterations and ‘different’ tasks for students who need extra help, or are disengaged. This is something that happens often in school, and I believe there needs to be a deeper understanding of those students who are needing additional support. I believe the lesson plans were written coherently and in conjunction with the correct language structure and style. I believe that it is easy to follow, and flows from each lesson.

I was challenged by my lessons, as up until now, I was not aware where to approach Indigenous people for the voices and input within the lesson plans. This would stifle the lessons, as I would not be teaching the truest form of education as I could. By including a KESO, or local Elder, it ensures that I am gaining the expert knowledge that I need to know to ensure my students are learning what they need to know. By reading Nourishing Terrains, by Deborah Bird Rose, it explained the essential nature of ensuring a development of knowledge and resources around teaching the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ culture.

Lesson Plan B) Continuation of Dreaming Stories – Rainbow Serpent and learning of Gunditjmara Language.

This lessons first intention was to teach the Gunditjmara language to my students, to ensure that they understand the importance of keeping the Indigenous language alive. Students may find this lesson difficult, but it is important to ensure that they understand the importance of language what that language means to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This is of utmost importance, as ensuring that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in my class feel heard and understood. Juliana McLaughlin et al. (2012: pp 178-195) addresses the importance of building relationships with your students’ families, and to understand the culture and spiritual beliefs, and where their students are coming from.  This is not just about their home lives, or their spiritual beliefs, but it is about their language, and their family structures.

I believe this lesson would ensure that I have a full understanding of this, and would allow me to in turn, create better lesson plans and be a better teacher.

The lectures helped me to create these lesson plans, as they helped me to gain a deeper understanding

Lesson Plan C) Language Quiz and Clay Play

This lesson was part of my initial 3 lesson plan, and I believed that it was important to keep this lesson in. It features around an extension of using the Indigenous Language, and this flows from the 2nd lesson plan. This allows a constructivist approach to learning, as with the last 3 lessons and this has a more inclusive and personalised experience for those who may struggle with fine motor skills.

Students are re-engaged with the song that they learned in the previous lesson. This again reinforces the importance of song, and the spirituality that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people hold dear to them. This importance is conveyed to students, in conjunction with a KESO or a local Elder. This thoughtful process allows me to be a more connected teacher with the content that I am teaching my students. I want to ensure that as a teacher, I am teaching not only my students, but I am informing them of the history of Australia.

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Lesson Plan A: Introduction to Dreamtime Stories

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Lesson Plan A: Introduction to Dreamtime Stories

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Lesson Plan B: Continuation of Dreaming Stories (Rainbow Serpent) 

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Lesson Plan B: Continuation of Dreaming Stories (Rainbow Serpent) 

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Lesson Plan C) Language Quiz and Clay Play

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Lesson Plan C) Language Quiz and Clay Play

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The importance of respectfully teaching the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture in schools:

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The importance of respectfully teaching the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture in schools:

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ACARA acknowledges the unique place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples as
the First Australians. This includes the special relationship Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Peoples have with land, sea, sky and waterways, their unique history and cultural
diversity, and their ways of being, knowing, thinking and doing.
The Australian Curriculum: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
cross-curriculum priority provides the opportunity for all students to engage with this
important aspect of Australia’s nationhood.

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After feedback that was given for AT2, I believed it was important to reassess my lesson plans, and create lesson plans that were more age appropriate. I have re-jigged my lesson plans, and have created lessons around teaching the Dreaming Stories, and have been more conscious to use the correct terms when referring to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their culture.