1.4 Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students (Proficient level)
Proficient level: Design and implement effective teaching strategies that are responsive to the local community and cultural setting, linguistic background and histories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
I spent a week in a year two class as a relieving teacher. The Geography topic they were studying was based on Australia and they were learning about States and Territories and local connections. Over three afternoons I focussed on the Indigenous perspectives and the connection to local land as well as to Australia. We compared the current map of Australia showing State/Territory boundaries with a map of the original Indigenous Countries' boundaries (see below). We discussed local Kaurna country and why we acknowledge the Kaurna people as the 'original custodians of the land'. We learned some basic Kaurna words and acknowledgements and listened to/viewed several Indigenous stories. The classroom teacher was to continue this focus looking at further connections to land.
I used the ABC website to access an online map of Indigenous Countires. This map allows the user to magnify different parts of the map to make boundaries clearer and discuss Country names, etc. It was particularly engaging for students to have a go at this themselves and look at our local Kaurna country and where its boundaries lie.
http://www.abc.net.au/indigenous/map/
http://www.abc.net.au/indigenous/map/