Aboriginal Perspectives in the Australian Curriculum

1.  

5. To be Aboriginal one has to meet all three criteria:
 Being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent
 Identifying as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
 Being accepted as such by the community in which you
live, or formally lived
(AIATSIS, 2009)

6. Aboriginals are the first Australians, and the only Australians who are spiritually connected to the land
through the ever-present dreaming – Anthony McKnight UOW lecturer
I identify myself by my nations, I’m a Dangatti & Gandagarra Woman – Denise Darcy, Gandagarra Land
Council
To be Aboriginal you have to be entwined in the kinship system - Nicole Watson, solicitor
Aboriginal people are not a skin colour, we are a community and people by history, spirituality, locations,
country, thinking, politics, treatment, laws, cultures and most importantly, our stories. —David Towney, Koori
Mail
Aboriginality is not a question of skin colour—it is about our cultural connection to our communities and our
history, a history that is alive and thriving.—Abigail Burchill
To me, Aboriginality is about that shared experience, that shared culture and that shared pride. —Amy
McQuire, Aboriginal journalist,
To be Aboriginal is to to hear the secret and loving stories of the land with understanding, to be independent, to
hear and see with feeling that which can not be seen with open eyes J ulie Tommy Walker, Innawonga woman
and Aboriginal leader

7.  Improve educational outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
students and learners in schools, TAFE and community colleges, so that
they excel and achieve in every aspect of their education and training.

8.  Build everyone's knowledge and understanding of the histories, cultures
and experiences of the first people of Australia.

12. Activity:
 Use the language Maps to find what country we are on
 Find another place significant to you- what is the
Aboriginal language group of that local area?
 Find a capital city
 Find your totems home

13.  Australia is made up of many different Aboriginal Nations, Clans or groups, each
having their own country, culture, language, beliefs and customs.
 Country takes in everything within the landscape - landforms, waters, air, trees,
rocks, plants, animals, foods, medicines, minerals, stories and special places.
Community connections include cultural practices, knowledge, songs, stories and
art, as well as all people: past, present and future.
 People have custodial responsibilities to care for their Country, to ensure that it
continues in proper order and provides physical sustenance and spiritual
nourishment. These custodial relationships may determine who can speak for
particular Country.

14. Activity
Famous Aboriginal Study
 Who are they?
 What are they famous for?
 Where do they come from?
OR “Use the Ringbalin App to meet Aboriginal people from
different places along the river”

15.  Prior to colonisation the First People of Australia identified
themselves by their nation
 People who identify themselves as ‘Aboriginal’ range from dark-
skinned, broad-nosed to blonde-haired, blue-eyed people.
 Aboriginal people define Aboriginality not by skin colour but by
relationships: http://aso.gov.au/titles/shorts/shifting-sands-my-
colour/clip1/ Aboriginal boundary (state) names
State Name
New South Wales
Koori, Goorie, Koorie,
Coorie, Murri
Victoria Koorie
South Australia
Nunga, Nyungar,
Nyoongah
Western Australia Nyungar, Nyoongar
Northern Territory
Yolngu (top end); Anangu
(central)
Queensland Murri
Tasmania Palawa, Koori

16.  Activity;
Use the “Sharing the Dreaming” app to learn a bit about
Nyoongar Culture

17.  Culture is the characteristics of a particular group of people, defined
by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music
and arts. Culture is shared history and heritage.
Aboriginal Culture:
Family- Importance of elders/ Kinship
Spirituality- Dreaming/ceremony/sacred sites
Story Sharing- passing on knowledge
Objects- Tools, Toys & Weapons
Games- Traditional Indigenous Games
Food
Medicine
Dance
Music

18. Code Organising ideas
Country/Place
OI.1 Australia has two distinct Indigenous groups, Aboriginal Peoples and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
OI.2
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities maintain a special connection to and responsibility
for Country/Place throughout all of Australia.
OI.3
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have unique belief systems and are spiritually
connected to the land, sea, sky and waterways.
Culture
OI.4 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies have many Language Groups.
OI.5
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ ways of life are uniquely expressed through ways of
being, knowing, thinking and doing.
OI.6
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have lived in Australia for tens of thousands of years
and experiences can be viewed through historical, social and political lenses.
People
OI.7
The broader Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies encompass a diversity of nations across
Australia.
OI.8 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have sophisticated family and kinship structures.
Australia acknowledges the significant contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

19. Country and Place, People, Culture and Identity.
 Students will have the opportunity to engage with texts that give them
experience of the beliefs and value systems of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peoples.
 In their study of English, students explore a range of experiences and
achievements of Aboriginal peoples in historical and social contexts and
the links between cultural expression, language and spirituality.

20.  Big Rain Coming
 http://splash.abc.net.au/media/-/m/30177/how-do-you-
know-when-rain-is-coming-

21. Country and Place, People, Culture and Identity.
 The study of History in Australia requires a valued engagement in and celebration of
the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, past and present,
as part of the shared history belonging to all Australians.
 Students examine historical perspectives from Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander viewpoints.
For example: Comparing Five Different Historical Sources
A contemporary news story:
http://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/stolen-
generations/clip2/
Case Study: http://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/case-
442/clip1/
An interview:
http://stolengenerationstestimonies.com/index.php/testimo
nies/974.html
A documentary: http://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/first-

22.  Throughout the study of History, students learn about Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples, as the world's oldest continuous
cultures, prior to colonisation by the British, the ensuing contact and
its impact.
 They will examine the interaction between Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander peoples and Europeans, with special emphasis on
Aboriginal initiatives and responses to key government policies
since their earliest contact with British colonists.
 Students develop an awareness of the significant roles Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander peoples have played in Australian society
and the wider world. This knowledge and understanding will deepen
and enable students' capacity to participate in the ongoing
development of a just and equitable Australian society that
genuinely reconciles with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
peoples.

24. Country and Place, People, Culture and Identity.
 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have diverse cultures,
social structures and a history of unique, complex knowledge systems. The
Science K–10 (incorporating Science and Technology K–6) Syllabus
provides students with opportunities to learn about how Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples have developed and refined knowledge
about the world through observation, making predictions, testing (trial and
error) and responding to environmental factors within specific contexts.
Students will investigate examples of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
peoples' understanding of the environment and the ways that traditional
knowledge and western scientific knowledge can be complementary.

28. Country and Place, People, Culture and Identity.
 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a unique sense of identity, which
can be demonstrated through the interconnected aspects of Country and Place,
People, and Culture.
 Mathematics is a representation of the world that has developed over thousands of
years through many diverse cultural contexts. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
cultures have a rich understanding of mathematics that includes a broad range of
applications of mathematical concepts.
 The NSW K–10 Mathematics curriculum values Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
perspectives of mathematics and provides opportunities for students to investigate
various aspects of number, measurement and geometry, including time and location
and relevant interrelationships, in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contexts.
Students can deepen and extend their understanding of the lives of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples through the application and evaluation of statistical data.

30.  Still using NSW Syllabus

31.  http://www.livebinders.com/edit/index/1053707?id=1053
707

34.  “In 1935 a fair-skinned Australian of Indigenous descent was ejected
from a hotel for being an Aboriginal. He returned to his home on the
mission station to find himself refused entry because he was not an
Aboriginal. He tried to remove his children but was told he could not
because they were Aboriginal. He walked to the next town where he
was arrested for being an Aboriginal vagrant and placed on the local
reserve. During the Second World War he tried to enlist but was told
he could not because he was Aboriginal. He went interstate and
joined up as a non-Aboriginal. After the war he could not acquire a
passport without permission because he was Aboriginal. He
received exemption from the Aborigines Protection Act and was told
that he could no longer visit his relations on the reserve because he
was not an Aboriginal. He was denied permission to enter the
Returned Servicemen's Club because he was”
(Gardiner-Garden, 2003)

35.  Explore History of Aboriginal Servicemen & Women
 Black Diggers
 Hero Profiles e.g.
 First Australians Episode 6:
http://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/first-australians-
episode-6/
 War Museum
 Aboriginal Trackers
 My Place: Australia at War
 Torres Strait Islands Light Infantry:
http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/viewing/R8917/resource.html
 Look at Artefacts & Sources

36.  Hold a flag raising ceremony.
 Display Indigenous posters around your class room.
 Invite local Indigenous elders to speak at your school or workplace.
 Listen to Indigenous music.
 Study a famous Indigenous Australian.
 Research the traditional Indigenous owners of your area.
 Study Aboriginal arts and crafts.
 Read a Dreaming story.
 Start your own Indigenous hall of fame featuring local role models.
 Create your own Aboriginal art.
 Visit Indigenous websites on the Internet.
 Make your own Indigenous trivia quiz.
 Visit local Indigenous sites of significance or interest.
 Learn the meanings of local or national Aboriginal place names.
 Run an art competition.
 Host a community BBQ or luncheon.
 Invite an Indigenous sportsperson or artist to visit your school to talk to the students.
 Invite an Indigenous elder to do a Welcome to Country.
 Organise a smoking ceremony.
 Invite Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander dancers to perform.

37.  NAIDOC in The City- Monday 7th July Hyde Park 11am
 Flag Raising Ceremony: Monday 7th July Campbelltown
Council
 Community Fun Day: Monday 7 July at Koshigaya Park,
Cnr Camden and Menangle Roads, Campbelltown.
 NAIDOC Morning Tea: Tuesday 8th July MTC Australia
Level 1, 101 Queen St Campbelltown
 NAIDOC Touch footy comp: Wednesday 9th July Sarah
Redfern Oval

39. Using narrative to structure a lesson
on comparing grammar systems
Hands-on
sequencing of
text and
images
Non-linear visual
map of text for study
Community
focus
Learning situated in
land and place
context
Beginning with whole text,
then sentences, then
grammar, then spelling.

40. Silent reflection time after
a learning sequence
Model
texts
from community
Literacy Scaffolding
Sharing
Story
Local place is
topic for study

41. Story mapping
Traditional design used for
learning map
Hands-on deconstruction and
reconstruction of text and grammar
Land focus

42.  
Can you match these statements with their symbols?
We connect through the stories we share.
We picture our pathways of knowledge.
We see, think, act, make and share without words.
We keep and share knowledge with art and objects.
We work with lessons from land and nature.
We put different ideas together and create new knowledge.
We work from wholes to parts, watching and then doing.
We bring new knowledge home to help our mob.

43.  Teaching the Truth
 Beginning with the Present
 Standing on the Shore rather than the Ship
 Localise
 Embedded across the Curriculum