<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-row">
<div class="gmail-article-intro gmail-col-sm-12 gmail-col-md-9">
<div id="gmail-article-title"><h1>Teacher resources: Indigenous language materials<span class="edit-entry"></span></h1></div>
<div class="gmail-med-margin-bottom"><a class="gmail-category-name" href="https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/category/reader-submission" title="Reader Submission">Reader Submission</a> / <a class="gmail-category-name" href="https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/category/short-articles" title="Short articles">Short articles</a>
<div class="gmail-h5 gmail-article-date gmail-pull-right">26 April 2018</div></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-row">
<div class="gmail-col-sm-12 gmail-col-md-9">
<div id="gmail-article-header" class="gmail-row">
<div class="gmail-col-xs-12 gmail-col-sm-7">
<div class="gmail-author">
<div class="gmail-row">
<div class="gmail-col-xs-2 gmail-hidden-print">
<img class="gmail-img gmail-img-circle gmail-author-image" src="https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/uploads/Cathy_Bow_author_pic.jpg" alt="Cathy Bow">
</div>
<div class="gmail-col-xs-9 gmail-author-text-pos">
<div class="gmail-author-title gmail-no-margin-bottom">
<a class="gmail-author-link" href="https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/authors/cathy-bow" title="Cathy Bow">Cathy Bow</a>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-col-xs-12 gmail-col-sm-5 gmail-hidden-print">
<div class="gmail-social-article-icons">
<a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.teachermagazine.com.au/articles/teacher-resources-indigenous-language-materials&src=sdkpreparse" class="gmail-social-icon-box gmail-facebook gmail-popup gmail-contact-link" title="Share to facebook">Share <i class="gmail-fa gmail-fa-facebook"></i></a>
<a target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/share?url=https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/articles/teacher-resources-indigenous-language-materials" class="gmail-social-icon-box gmail-twitter gmail-popup gmail-contact-link" title="Share to twitter">Tweet <i class="gmail-fa gmail-fa-twitter"></i></a>
<a href="mailto:?subject=Teacher resources: Indigenous language materials&body=Check out Teacher resources: Indigenous language materials by Teacher Magazine: https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/articles/teacher-resources-indigenous-language-materials" class="gmail-social-icon-box email" title="Share Teacher resources: Indigenous language materials by Email">Email <i class="gmail-fa gmail-fa-envelope"></i></a>
<a class="gmail-social-icon-box gmail-no-margin-right gmail-print" title="Print">Print <i class="gmail-fa gmail-fa-print"></i></a>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-article-body">
<div class="gmail-col-md-12 gmail-featured-article-box gmail-article-top-border gmail-hidden-print">
<figure>
<span>
<img class="gmail-img gmail-img-responsive" src="https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/files/ce-image/cache/1c03ffc10fd4ef6a/Language_materials_855_513_48.jpg" alt="Teacher resources: Indigenous language materials" width="855" height="513">
</span>
<figcaption><div class="gmail-featured-subtitle">Many of the resources were produced during the era of bilingual education in the NT. Image: Charles Darwin University.</div></figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<div class="gmail-row">
<div class="gmail-col-sm-12">
<p>The promotion of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander histories and cultures as a cross-curriculum priority in
the Australian Curriculum provides both a challenge and an opportunity
for teachers.</p>
<p>Many teachers struggle to identify and use appropriate resources, and
to create contexts in which such knowledge can be embedded. Educators
with limited connections to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
peoples and cultures may require support to incorporate Indigenous
knowledge respectfully and appropriately in the classroom.</p><div class="gmail-marketing-box gmail-hidden-print"><a href="https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/?ACT=23&ad_id=471" title="" target="_blank"><img class="gmail-img gmail-img-responsive gmail-center-block" src="https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/files/Monash University-Master of Ed-SB-V1.gif" alt=""></a><span class="gmail-marketing-box-text"></span></div>
<p>Rather than just an add-on, the histories and cultures of Indigenous
people can be integrated into each learning area to bring new
perspectives to existing knowledge and practice, and to encourage
interesting and innovative ways to incorporate this knowledge.</p>
<h3>An archive of authentic texts</h3>
<p>The <a href="http://laal.cdu.edu.au/" target="_blank">Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages</a>
contains authentic language materials which can assist in resourcing
and supporting teachers to meet this challenge across all areas of the
curriculum. The open access archive contains thousands of authentic
texts in Indigenous languages of the Northern Territory, many with
English translations and rich illustrations. The materials cover a vast
array of topics, from traditional stories, ethnobiology, history, bush
food and medicine, tales of contemporary life, and translations of
English stories.</p>
<p>Many of the resources were produced during the era of bilingual
education in the Northern Territory, beginning in the 1970s, and were
mostly created by Indigenous people for Indigenous children who spoke an
Indigenous language at home, and were learning to read and write in
their own language before transitioning to English literacy.</p>
<p>The Living Archive project came out of concern for the materials
which were no longer in active use in schools due to policy shifts away
from bilingual education (Simpson, Caffery & McConvell, 2009). The
project team visited many of these remote schools and collected books
for scanning, as well as gathering materials from libraries and private
collections. In many of these locations, the materials were highly
vulnerable, scattered around hot sheds and dusty storerooms, with no
catalogues available to identify what books had been created. A second
round of government funding enabled the inclusion of materials from
other NT communities which didn’t have bilingual programs, but were
still creating language resources.</p>
<h3>Preservation and online access</h3>
<p>The goals of the Living Archive are twofold: firstly the preservation
of these materials of great cultural, linguistic and pedagogical value.
Secondly, the online publication of these materials makes them
accessible to a wide audience, including the communities of origin,
educators and researchers, as well as the general public, who may not
have been aware of the existence of such a vast range of written
materials in Australian Indigenous languages. The materials are hosted
on Charles Darwin University Library’s digital repository, which ensures
sustainability of access beyond the limited cycle of funding. The
project is still adding new materials to the collection, and continuing
to work on ways to promote engagement with the resources, via a blog and
sample lesson plans.</p>
<p>Teachers and students can access the materials directly through the
web interface, at no cost and with no login required. The site can be
navigated via a map of language areas, by browsing by place and
language, as well as searching words in English or in any of the 50
Indigenous languages included in the archive.</p>
<p><img alt="The new staffroom at Macgregor Primary School" src="https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/files/Language_materials_1.jpg" style="width: 816px;"></p>
<p>Complete versions of all materials in PDF and plain text formats can be viewed online or downloaded and shared under a <a href="http://laal.cdu.edu.au/site/permission" target="_blank">Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivatives</a> licence.</p>
<h3>Materials to support teachers across the curriculum</h3>
<p>For teachers, the Living Archive contains materials which can be used
to support teaching across all learning areas of the Australian
Curriculum.</p>
<p>For example, in the area of Health and Physical Education, there are
several books relating to popular sports and games in remote
communities. An interesting classroom activity would be to explore
different perspectives on some of the health issues affecting Indigenous
communities around Australia, and see how these are presented from the
perspective of the Indigenous people themselves. This could include
discussion of how sickness is caused, through exploring books in the
archive which explain some common diseases, advice about hygiene and
health, as well as resources about bush foods and medicine, which could
also be used as part of a science curriculum.</p>
<p>A History teacher can draw on stories told by and for Indigenous
Australians on topics such as how people lived prior to colonisation,
early interactions with explorers and missionaries, stories of
massacres, and personal reminiscences of World War II. Such stories
invite students to compare historical traditions from Western and
Indigenous perspectives. Examples covering each of the learning areas
are available on the <a href="http://livingarchive.cdu.edu.au/australian-curriculum/" target="_blank">project website</a> and in an open access article published in the <em>Learning Communities Journal</em> (Bow, 2016).</p>
<p>The Living Archive allows teachers and students around Australia to
easily access a vast range of literature, art, culture and language,
leading them to think about different ways to consider Indigenous
knowledge in their own contexts. Schools and teachers with limited or no
connection to Indigenous peoples can use the materials in the
classroom, and those who have connections can also use these resources
to support or develop relationships and incorporate knowledge directly
from Indigenous authorities — leading to further exploration of
opportunities for connection with local knowledge custodians, <a href="http://www.firstlanguages.org.au/get-involved/contact-your-local-language-group.html" target="_blank">research into culture and language of the local area</a>, and understanding of language maintenance and revitalisation.</p>
<p><strong>References</strong></p>
<p>Bow, C. (2016). Using authentic language resources to incorporate Indigenous knowledges across the Australian Curriculum. <em>Learning
Communities: International Journal of Learning in Social Contexts
[Special Issue: New Connections in Education Research]</em>, 20, 20-39. DOI: <a href="http://doi.org/10.18793/LCJ2016.20.03" target="_blank">http://doi.org/10.18793/LCJ2016.20.03</a>.</p>
<p>Simpson, J., Caffery, J., & McConvell, P. (2009). Gaps in
Australia’s Indigenous language policy: Dismantling bilingual education
in the Northern Territory. <em>Discussion Paper 24</em>, Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.</p>
<div class="gmail-call-to-action"><p>Think about a
future topic or unit of work you’re teaching: How could you integrate
the histories and cultures of Indigenous people into this learning area?
How will you identify appropriate resources to support teaching and
learning?</p></div>
</div>
</div>
</div></div></div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
</div>