Rebecca Eveans

First Nations’ Learners

Rebecca Eveans

This blog post will outline personal reflections that have shaped my teaching practice when working with First Nations learners.

Growing up in the 90’s as a white girl in a very small, suburban primary school, I had little interaction with children from diverse backgrounds.  The narrative at the time from media and society, was that white people were superior to First Nations people.  Our education in social studies painted the image of white people making the country better, knowing more, and generally better people than First Nations people.

Now, upon critical reflection of my upbringing and societal narratives, I know better.  I can recognise the whitewashing of Australia’s history that has led to biases and assumptions within our society.  Atrocious actions from over 200 years ago continue to impact First Nations’ people today. Combined with the intergenerational trauma that still exists, government leaders and well-intentioned people seek to rectify the damage by closing the gap between First Nations students and non-Indigenous students which often leads to a culture of low expectations.

Yoorrook Justice Commission: Jarvis’ Story
See this article for an account of the effects of racism and low expectations on First Nations learners.

Thankfully, the integration of Cross-Curriculum Priorities embedded without our education system, recognises the importance of seeing both side of the story, acknowledging and reflecting on the past, and celebrating diversity (ACARA, n.d.).

Our job as teachers has been outlined through the APST’s.  The standard that I always come back to during my learning, teaching, and reflection, is the first – Know your students and know how they learn (AITSL, 2017).
Our job is to make connections and build relationships with students.  I could begin to talk about brain connections, safety through connection and Maslow’s theories for learning as part of a culturally responsive practice.  However, more simply, this is how we get to know our students, including their strengths, contributions, and needs as learners. 

Book
I implore you to read this book by Zaretta Hammond for more information on how culture affects the brain.

For First Nations students, we need to become aware of their culture.  Every First Nations mob will have their own specific knowledge and practices.  This includes language, traditions, connections to Country, history, and local knowledge.  There may be two Aboriginal students in your class, but they may come from different locations and mobs that will have different values and customs.  It is imperative that we get to know our students on a more personal level while keeping in mind the cultural differences that will be present for all learners.
As this post explains, there are specifics that need addressing depending on the circumstances of all students.  However, when supporting First Nations learners, there are practices that we already implement that will improve learning outcomes.  Consider the following.  Have you ever…
Delivered learning content through stories?
Used learning walls to map the process of learning?
Used hand actions to help students remember information?
Used images or symbols to connect ideas?
Scaffolded lessons to develop deeper understanding?
Well then, you’ve been using First Nations ways of learning within your class.  Yunkaporta’s (2009) Eight Ways of Learning shows ways of knowing, being, doing, and learning that have been used throughout First Nations culture for generations. 

As this post explains, there are specifics that need addressing depending on the circumstances of all students.  However, when supporting First Nations learners, there are practices that we already implement that will improve learning outcomes. 

Consider the following.  Have you ever…

  • Delivered learning content through stories?
  • Used learning walls to map the process of learning?
  • Used hand actions to help students remember information?
  • Used images or symbols to connect ideas?
  • Scaffolded lessons to develop deeper understanding?

Well then, you’ve been using First Nations ways of learning within your class.  Yunkaporta’s (2009) Eight Ways of Learning shows ways of knowing, being, doing, and learning that have been used throughout First Nations culture for generations. 

Yunkaporta’s Eight Ways of Learning, 2009.

Pedagogical practices like these are effective and commonly used within most classrooms.  By drawing further into the cultural connections while utilising practices like this, students will further develop personal and social twenty-first century skills of Australian learners.

https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/senior/senior-subjects/general-subjects/21st-century-skills

References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (n.d.). The Australian Curriculum: Cross Curricular Priorities – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures. Australian Curriculum version 9. https://bit.ly/4aZ7omM

Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership. (2017). Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards

Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority. (2024). 21st century skills: Preparing students for a changing world. QCAA. https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/senior/senior-subjects/general-subjects/21st-century-skills

Yunkaporta, T. (2009). Aboriginal pedagogies at the cultural interface. PhD thesis. James Cook University.

Sustainability CCP

Rebecca Eveans

A demonstration of an activity linking two curriculum content descriptions from English, one sustainability organising idea, and one sub-element from the critical and creative thinking general capability for a Year 5 class.

Content Descriptors:
Literature – Creating literature
AC9E5LE05 Create and edit literary texts, experimenting with figurative language, storylines, characters and settings from texts students have experienced.
Literacy – Creating texts
AC9E5LY07 Plan, create, rehearse and deliver spoken and multimodal presentations that include relevant, elaborated ideas, sequencing ideas and using complex sentences, specialist and technical vocabulary, pitch, tone, pace, volume, and visual and digital features.

Sustainability organising idea:
SD2 Design – Creative and innovative design is integral to the identification of new ways of sustainable living.
Stemming from visual arts elaborations (AC9AVA8C02) in this task students are to consider sustainable design practices when generating ideas for designs in response to a brief which includes exploring sustainable materials to create their puppets for their English performance.

Critical and creative thinking general capability:
Generating – Consider alternatives – Level 4 (years 5-6) consider alternatives by challenging or creatively adjusting existing ideas in situations where current approaches do not work and recommend a preferred option.

Inspiration - Prompts for students to create their own puppets. Images from unsplash.com, 123rf.com, and pexels.com.
Inspiration – Prompts for students to create their own puppets.
Images from unsplash.com, 123rf.com, and pexels.com.

Activity:
For a year 5 English unit, students are required to create a story in groups of 3-4.  They are to develop their story into a script that they will create puppets for their characters, rehearse and perform for prep-year 2 students for under 8’s day for which the theme for this year is ‘storytelling through play’.  Students must consider sustainable solutions to create their puppets.  Specifically, they will be presented with examples of puppets to design their own and will research options to make them sustainably using recycled and recyclable materials.  They will work together in their groups to complete a table of the required materials for their puppets and will research options on the internet to find alternatives to make them as sustainable as possible.  Groups will share their findings and use this information to plan for and create their puppets.

Explanation:
This engaging unit aligns English CD’s of creating texts through multimodal presentations with a purpose of performing for younger students.  The task is scaffolded from the writing stages through to planning and creating puppets and then to rehearsing and performing allowing for feedback throughout the process and development of 21st century skills such as collaboration, critical thinking, and creative thinking.  As Scott (2015) emphasised the importance of twenty-first century pedagogies, this unit allows students of all abilities to utilise their strengths in a collaborative project that engages participation through the ability for students to personalise their stories and characters according to their interests.

References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (n.d.) Australian Curriculum: English – Year 5 (Version 9). https://bit.ly/4eVsBkR

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (n.d.) Australian Curriculum: Sustainability (Version 9). https://bit.ly/3xSbL5H

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (n.d.) Australian Curriculum: Critical and creative thinking (Version 9). https://bit.ly/3zBAR9g

Scott, L. (2015). The futures of learning 3: What kind of pedagogies for the 21st century? UNESCO.

GCs and CCPs

Rebecca Eveans

A reflection on the General Capabilities and Cross Curricular Priorities.

In my 90’s primary school education, there was very little incorporation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and never any mention of Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia.  Aboriginal people were only mentioned during a year 7 social studies unit on the first fleet where they were referred to by outdated and racist terms.   The narrative was told from the perspective of non-Indigenous voices with no consideration of the perspectives of the First Nation people, their culture, or the atrocities that were to follow. 

Thankfully our curriculum has changed to include this vital aspect of Australian education.  During a placement in a year 3/4 class, I was able to observe a series of lessons about the first fleet.  When the teacher told the story of the landing on Australia, letters and documents were read from both the European side and the First Nations people explaining their perspectives and account of events.  Students were asked to compare them and imagine themselves in the situation of the European settlers and the First Nations people.  Such critical thinking, cultural understanding and reflections of the history of First Nations people were not a part of my education but will be now thanks to the incorporation of the CCPs. 

As for the General Capabilities, literacy, numeracy and digital literacy were the foundation of education for 90’s children, with very little of the other GCs of today’s curriculum.  However, aligning with the Sustainability CCP, I did develop some 21st century skills thanks to Miss C, a passionate environmentalist.  She introduced our year 6 class to a major environmental issue at the time, the hole in the ozone layer The Ozone Hole Was Super Scary, So What Happened To It? | Smithsonian (smithsonianmag.com)  with the song ‘Saltwater’ which we sang and used sign language to perform on an assembly. 

‘Saltwater’ by Julian Lennon, 1991.

She was the only teacher in my primary education that discussed these issues and sparked conversations about actions for change.  We’d watch BTN – Behind The News (abc.net.au), a popular NEWS programme for students that explained big concepts for kids and got us thinking about the role we play in the future.  A popular TV show ‘Beyond 2000’ (343) Beyond 2000 – Official Channel – YouTube documented science and technology advancements that were being developed, including solar panel cars which as 12-year-olds we thought we’d all be driving by the time we were able to drive. 

‘Ingenious’ – a PC game distributed to free to every Australian school that enabled students to investigate through simulated games and experiments.

To incorporate these issues we’d play a game on the school computers called ‘Ingenious’, that combined science and technology to investigate and experiment real life problems.  You would complete science-based problems such as moving gears and levers to make things work and you would be awarded a car parts that allowed you to create your own solar panel car to race against other computer solar cars.  Our year 6 teacher developed in us 21st century skills such as collaboration and critical thinking through strategies that engaged students and connected us to authentic important issues which is now a part of the Australian Curriculum today.  Miss C was truly a teacher ahead of her time.

References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (n.d.). The Australian Curriculum: version 9. https://v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au/