Amy

Sugars
English 2

Assignment 1: Case study

Insights into challenges

There are a number of challenges that teachers may come across when teaching students from
an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) background. Firstly, educators often have a lack of
knowledge in terms of Indigenous culture and how to be inclusive of these students’ needs
therefore, the unique experiences that they bring to the classroom are often disregarded (Brim &
Mannion 2012, p. 10).

It may be challenging for teachers to gain an understanding of the language experiences that ATSI
students have had at home because many Indigenous people often have had negative schooling
experiences. This is may be due to differences in their views of education and may deter parents
from building relationships with their child’s school (Brim & Mannion 2012; Hyde et al. 2013, p. 68).

Many ATSI students fall behind in schooling due to the differences in culture and literacy
experiences that they are often exposed to, prior to starting school, this poses challenges for both
the student and the teacher because their strengths may lie in areas that are different to many of
the other students (Brim & Mannion 2012, p. 8-10). The traditional literacy practices of Australian
Indigenous people differ from more Westernised practices, stories and histories are more widely
expressed through oral story telling, art, dance and music, which is quite different to what students
are often taught during literacy at school (McDonald 2013, p. 119). Writing may be an area of
difficulty for students of an ATSI background because traditionally there was an absence of writing
in the Australian Indigenous culture. This difficulty may be more prevalent amongst ATSI students
in more rural areas, where traditional languages are more widely spoken (McDonald 2013, p. 119).
Therefore the challenge for teachers is that they need to consider how to be inclusive of the
different cultural backgrounds in their classroom and the literacy practices that their students have
been exposed to.

Focusing on the ACE Literature strand

There are a number of challenges and opportunities that teachers should note when planning for
teaching ATSI students, using the Australian Curriculum literature strand. Challenges may arise
particularly throughout the ‘literature and context’ sub-strand due to the differences in culture and
literacy experiences that the students have been exposed to (ACARA 2017). In the ‘responding to
literature’ sub-strand a number of opportunities may arise because students are given the
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opportunity to make personal connections and verbally express their ideas with others, which is a
significant part of Indigenous literacy practices (ACARA 2017& McDonald 2013, p. 119).

In the year 2, literature strand there are a number of challenges and opportunities that arise, which
teachers must consider. Firstly the content descriptor: ‘discuss how depictions of characters in
print, sound and images reflect the contexts in which they were created (ACELT1587)’, presents
the opportunity for teachers to incorporate literature from Indigenous cultures (ACARA 2017). The
teacher can ask students of these cultures to share their experiences and understanding with their
peers, in order to connect their learning with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and
Cultures cross curriculum priority. This involves taking into account the students’ strengths and
cultural literacy experiences (ACARA 2017).

ATSI students often struggle to recognise and analyse features of English language which poses a
challenge in many areas of literacy, for year two students, particularly in the content descriptor:
‘discuss the characters and settings of different texts and explore how language is used to present
features in different ways (ACELT1591)’ (ACARA 2017; Schott 2005, p. 52). This would be
particularly challenging for those students whom English is not their first language, because of the
analysis of language required. Refer to Appendix 1 for further information about the links to the
curriculum.

Inclusive literacy teaching

There are a number of principles surrounding inclusive literacy teaching and there are a number of
ways that these can be addressed (Colton 2017). Firstly educators need to understand the vast
range contexts that influence students’ learning and the literacy experiences that students bring to
the classroom, in order to tailor their teaching to suit their needs (Henderson 2007; Lapp et al.
2007; Colton 2017). It is crucial to provide students with literacy learning experiences that enable
them to make connections with their lives inside and outside of school (Henderson 2004; Brim &
Mannion 2012; Colton 2017). In the case of an ATSI student, the contexts surrounding the
language and literacy experiences that they bring to the classroom may vary from those of non-
Indigenous students, therefore educators need to put strategies in place to be inclusive of this
diversity (Brim & Mannion 2012, p. 10).

After gaining an understanding of the students’ literacy learning background educators should
provide learning experiences that offer a range of opportunities for students to meet the desired
learning outcomes, using their strengths as a guide when planning (Eminston 2007; Schott 2005,
p. 50; Lapp et al. 2007, p. 398; Colton 2017). As previously discussed, some Indigenous students
may have different strengths in literacy and the ways that they learn most effectively may differ
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from many students of a non-Indigenous background, due to differences in literacy practices in
their culture (Schott 2005, p. 50; Hyde et al. 2013, p. 68).

Educators need to embrace the differences that each student brings to their classroom and
consider how they can incorporate their interests, needs and strengths into their literacy teaching
in order to enhance the learning and participation of all students (Henderson 2004, p.11; Eminston
2007,p. 341; Colton 2017). In order to do this teachers must plan activities that make use of the
unique knowledge and strengths that Indigenous students can bring to the classroom, rather than
seeing it as a challenge or a weakness, it is something that should be build upon (Henderson
2004, p. 11).

Inclusive strategies for literature teaching

Students of an ATSI background often struggle in literacy, therefore teachers need to implement
strategies that are inclusive of these students and encourage their engagement and participation
(Brim & Mannion 2012, p. 11; Schott 2005, p. 50; McLeod et al. 2014, p. 118). Firstly educators
need to be knowledgeable and have an understanding of the Australian Indigenous cultures and
the resources that are available to assist their teaching, in order to put effective literature teaching
strategies into place (McLeod et al. 2014, p. 129). Teachers also need to have an understanding
of the difference between Australian Standard English (AAE) and Aboriginal English in order to
understand the language learning contexts of students who speak Indigenous languages (McLeod
et al. 2014, p. 119; Schott 2005, p. 51-52)

A crucial element of inclusive literature teaching is gaining an understanding of the literature and
literacy practices that students are exposed to outside of school in order to understand the ways
that they may learn best, an effective way to do this is by building relationships with students and
their families (Brim & Mannion 2012, p. 8; McLeod et al. 2014,p.119). Seeking out help from the
families and Indigenous elders to share about Australian Indigenous cultural literature, if possible,
can be extremely valuable because it enables ATSI students to have a sense of pride in their
culture whilst also benefiting the learning of non-Indigenous students (Winch 2014, p. 638- 645;
Schott 2005, p. 52). Many Indigenous parents wish for their culture to be passed down to their
children therefore, it is important to embrace the culture in the classroom to support the families
and their wishes (McLeod 2014, p. 126). Including Indigenous families in the classroom and
building relationships with them fosters a positive attitude towards their child’s schooling, and
encourages working as a team to provide rich literacy experiences inside and outside of school
(Brim & Mannion 2012). Positive relationships with families also shows them that the school
values and embraces their culture (Brim & Mannion 2012).
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If Indigenous students in your class speak a traditional language then it may be useful to seek help
in translating books into their language, in order for them to make connections to the English
language (Winch 2014). Teachers can also use these translations to teach non-Indigenous
students about the language and culture, to give them a greater understanding of the ATSI
students in their class.

It is important for teachers to recognise that students have different ways in which they learn most
effectively, this is applicable for all students, but particularly for ATSI students because there are
often differences in their learning styles (Schott 2005, p. 50, Hyde et al. 2013, p. 68). Often ATSI
students benefit from working together and watching others model skills clearly before trying it
themselves, therefore teachers should frequently demonstrate reading and writing skills to help
these students meet the desired learning outcomes (Schott 2005, p. 50). Such modelling may be
useful to help identify language features because this is a challenge that many ATSI students
struggle with (Schott 2005, p. 52; ACARA 2017). Hands-on experiences are also beneficial for
many Indigenous students (Schott 2005, p. 52).

In more westernised cultures reading books to young children is very common however, there is
only a small amount of literature written by the Australian Indigenous peoples (McLeod et al. 2014,
p. 128; McDonald 2013, p. 119). This means that educators need to carefully select a range of
texts and reflect on the ways in which Indigenous characters are portrayed (McDonald 2013, p.
119)

Future challenges

I think that a challenge, for me as a future educator, will be gaining an understanding the different
cultural practices and languages of Australian Indigenous people. I believe that it will also be a
challenge to put the theory into practice in order to help Indigenous students to be included and
engaged in literacy learning. I believe that I will learn the most from gaining experience in this area
and building relationships with the students because the ways in which Indigenous students’
culture influence their lives may vary between each individual.

References

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) 2017, F-10 Curriculum:
English, Australian Curriculum, viewed 17th August 2017,
<https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-
curriculum/english/?strand=Language&strand=Literature&strand=Literacy&capability=ignore&priori
ty=ignore&elaborations=true>.
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Brim, R & Mannion, K 2012, 'Families as first teachers: giving Indigenous children a strong start for
a brighter future', Educating young children, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 8-12.

Colton, J 2017, Principles of inclusive literacy teaching, 31st July, University of South Australia, 2nd
August 2017, < https://lrs.unisa.edu.au/ess/echo/presentation/968946ca-3797-474f-a714-
10f5d4d341e8>.

Edmiston, B 2007, 'Mission to Mars: using drama to make a more inclusive classroom for literacy
learning', Language arts, vol. 84, no. 4, pp. 337-346.

Henderson, R 2004, 'Recognising difference : one of the challenges of using a multiliteracies

approach?', Practically Primary, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 11-14.

Hyde, M, Carpenter, L & Conway, R 2013, Diversity, inclusion & engagement, 2nd edn, Oxford
University Press, South Melbourne, Victoria.

Lapp, D, Flood, J, Brock, CH & Fisher, D 2007, 'All students are special : some need supplemental
supports and services to be successful', Teaching reading to every child, 4th edn, Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates Publishers , pp. 395-418.

Mcdonald, L, Walsh, M & Association, PE 2013, A literature companion for teachers, Primary
English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA), Marrickville, N.S.W.

Mcleod, S, Verdona, S & Kneebone, LB 2014, 'Celebrating young Indigenous Australian children's
speech and language competence', Early childhood research quarterly, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 118-
129.

Schott, J 2005, 'Effective Teaching Strategies for Indigenous Learners', Literacy Learning: The
Middle Years, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 50-56.

Winch, G, Ross, JR, March, P, Ljungdahl, L & Holliday, M 2014, Literacy Reading, Writing and
Children's Literature, 5th edn, Oxford University Press, Sydney.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Relevant Australian Curriculum content descriptors and achievement standards

Content descriptors

• ‘Discuss how depictions of characters in print, sound and images reflect the contexts in
which they were created (ACELT1587)’
• ‘Discuss the characters and settings of different texts and explore how language is used to
present features in different ways (ACELT1591)’
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Achievement standards

• ‘By the end of year 2, students understand how similar texts share characteristics by
identifying text structures and language features used to describe characters and events, or
to communicate factual information’ (ACARA 2017).