Holly Turner

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AboriginalorTorresStraitIslanderStudents
Discussion
StudentswhoidentifyasbeingAboriginalorTorresStraitIslanderhavebeenfoundtoreceive
lowereducationallevelsthanotherAustralianstudents,withAboriginalandTorresStraitIslander
peoplebeingthemostunemployedandleasteducatedpeopleinAustralia(HowardandPerry,
2003).Asagroup,AboriginalandTorresStraitIslanderpeoplehavebeendescribedasthemost
educationallydisadvantagedgroupinAustralia.Thus,educationalequityforthesestudentshas
beenidentifiedasapriority(Frigo,1999;Matthews,Howard&Perry,2003).
ThereasonsforpooreducationaloutcomesforAboriginal(andTorresStraitIslander)childrenasa
grouparemanyandcomplex(Frigo,1999,p.6),therefore,teachersneedtobeawareofsomeof
thedifficultiesthesestudentsmayencounterintheclassroom.Acompoundingissueforstudents
whoidentifyasbeingAboriginalorTorresStraitIslanderwhenlearningmathematicsislanguage,
asmanyofthesestudentsareEAL,andEnglishmaybethestudentssecondorthirdlanguage
(Frigo,1999;Siemonetal.,2011).Mathematicalreasoningandproblemsolvingarecloselylinked
tolanguage,soalackoflanguageproficiencyresultsinstudentsbeingincapableofunderstanding
basicmathvocabularyandproblems(Dale&Cuevas,1992).Another significant factor that affects
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students mathematics education is the clash of cultures. These
children experience an education from predominately non-Indigenous teachers, causing concern for
potential cultural conflicts between the beliefs and views of the students, and the teacher (Frigo,
1999; Howard & Perry, 2003).
In an attempt to cater for the needs of these students, Perso (2003) outlines the importance of
getting to know the child prior to trying to teaching them, in an effort to understand and respect
their backgrounds and prior knowledge: Enhanced educational quality and equity for Indigenous
students can only occur through purposeful curriculum change, quality teaching, increased student
participation and the engagement of the Indigenous community (Howard, Cooke, Lowe & Perry,
2011, p. 366). Yunkaportas (2009) Eight Ways of Learning outlines eight interconnected
pedagogies that allow teachers to include Indigenous Australians perspectives and learning
techniques. Yunkaporta (2009) details that Indigenous Australians learn effectively through sharing
stories, visual learning maps, non-verbal techniques, the use of symbols and images, links to the
land, non-linear ways of learning, deconstructing and reconstructing information, and links to the
community. By introducing Yunkaportas (2009) Eight Ways of Learning into the classroom,

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students who identify as being Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander will receive an education that is
relevant to their culture and community, as well as one that supports their EAL needs.
TeachingStrategies
AsaresultofYunkaportas(2009)findingsthatIndigenousAustralianslearneffectivelythrough
imagesandsymbols,ateachingstrategythatcouldbeusedinaStage3classroomistheuseof
visuals,suchasaMetricConversionchart(seeFigure1).Aboriginalpeoplesthinkingisoftendone
inimagesorshapes,soIndigenousAustralianstudentstendtorelyonvisualratherthanauditory
cuesforlearning(Seimonetal.,2011;Yunkaporta,2009).

Figure1.MetricConversionChart.Source:
https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/eppcontent/glossary/app/resource/factsheet/4020.pdf
ClassroomActivities

DesignAMap
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AsitisnecessaryforteacherstobuildapartnershipwiththeirAboriginalandTorresStraitIslander
studentsandtheircommunities,alearningactivitywherebystudentsuseimagesandsymbolsto
representtheirviews,andwheretheycomefrom,intheformofamap,canensurethatthese
studentsbeliefsandculturesarebeingrespectedandincludedwithintheireducation.Withinthis
lesson,studentswillcreateamapthatusesagridreferencesystem,designinganyareaorplacethey
wish,andformingthekeywithanydesignsorsymbolstheydesire.Throughthisactivity,
AboriginalandTorresStraitIslanderstudentswillhavetheopportunitytouseanumberofthe
strategiesintheEightWaysofLearningprogram,includingStorysharing,NonVerbal,Symbols
andImages,LandLinks,andCommunityLinks(Yunkaporta,2009).
Outcomes
MA317MG:Locatesanddescribespositiononmapsusingagridreferencesystem.
Lesson
Theteacherexplainsthetask:Eachstudentwillindividuallycreateamapusingagridreference
system.Themapcancontainanyinformation,images,orsymbolstheywish.Studentsmustattacha
keytotheirmap.
Whenstudentscompletecreatingtheirmap,theymustidentifythelocationofcertainsymbols
(selectedbytheteacher),todemonstratetheirunderstandingofthegridreference.Whenall
studentshavecompletedthetask,theteacherwillthenwriteaJourneyonthewhiteboard,
accompaniedbysymbols,whichstudentsmustfollowontheirmaps.Anexampleofsuchajourney
is:StartatA1,MoveEast2squares,moveNorth3squares,andsoon.Whenstudentshave
completedtheirJourney,theymustshowtheteachertheirfinaldestination.
Studentsreflectonthetask,andthepurposeofusingagridreferencesystem.

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References
Dale, T. C. & Cuevas, G. J. (1992). Integrating mathematics and language learning. In P. A.
Richard-Amato & M. A. Snow (Eds.), The Multicultural Classroom: Readings for ContentArea Teachers. White Plains, NY: Longman, Inc.
Frigo, T. (1999). Resources and Teaching Strategies to Support Aboriginal Childrens Numeracy
Learning: A review of the literature. Retrieved from
http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/24526/200204160000/www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/aboriginal_research/aborchildnum_litreview.pdf
Howard, P., & Perry, B. (2003). Issues in Teaching Mathematics to Aboriginal Students. Retrieved
from http://bilby.unilinc.edu.au:1801/webclient/StreamGate?
folder_id=0&dvs=1458719313320~926&usePid1=true&usePid2=true
Howard, P., Cooke, S., Lowe, K. & Perry, B. (2011). Enhancing Quality and Equity in Mathematics
Education for Australian Indigenous Students. In B. Atweh, M. Graven, W. Secada & P.
Valero (Eds.), Mapping Equity and Quality in Mathematics Education (pp. 365-378). Doi:
https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9803-0
Matthews,S.,Howard,P.&Perry,B.(2003).WorkingTogethertoEnhanceAustralianAboriginal
StudentsMathematicsLearning.Retrievedfrom
http://www.merga.net.au/documents/Keynote_MatthewsEtAl.pdf
Perso,T.(2003).ImprovingAboriginalNumeracy:YearsK9.Adelaide,SA:Australian
AssociationofMathematicsTeachers.
Siemon,D.,Beswick,K.,Brady,K.,Clark,J.,Faragher,R.&Warren,E.(2011).Teaching
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Mathematics:FoundationstoMiddleYears.SouthMelbourne:OxfordUniversityPress.
Yunkaporta, T. (2009) Aboriginal pedagogies at the cultural interface. Retrieved
from
http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/10974/2/01thesis.pdf

EMM410 Mathematics in the Primary Years