Group 4A (18372205, 19245502, 18293834)

Diversity, Social Justice and Learning, Assignment 2, Part:

Group-based Culturally Responsive Teaching Resource: ‘Adapting to Indigenous Learning
Contexts in the English Classroom’:
Harry: Worimi – that is to say ‘hello’ in the Dharug indigenous language. However, as of 2016, the
ABS reports that less than only seven percent of indigenous Australians understand Dharug with far
more being English speakers.And it’s this imbalance in indigenous languages that our game [title] will
be addressing.
[Group introduces self]
Matt: Put simply, our game will be addressing linguistic imperialism in Australian schooling: the
enforcing of English upon Indigenous students to the exclusion of their own, traditional languages. By
extension, our game will suggest that Indigenous students should be able to learn through their own
languages.
Rhys: The game’s development has been aided by the work of post-colonial and critical race theorists
such as Edward Said, Michael Apple and Martin Nakata. They have raised our awareness of
colonialism’s legacy and in the words of Nakata, “the ghost of racism haunting in the 21st century”.
More specifically, the role of language in continuing race- or culture-based inequities was highlighted
by their works.
Harry: Practically, [game’s title] is intended to prepare students for an English exam on two pieces of
literature: a classical English play, King Lear, and Indigenous poem [Title].
Matt: Its rules are simple, operating like a standard game of Snakes and Ladders. Students roll a dice
to progress through the game and land on coloured squares. These colours correspond to questions on
King Lear and [Indigenous poem].
Rhys: Also, if students correctly answer questions on the classical English text, King Lear, their
progress may be greatly boosted by large ladders providing shortcuts through the game…kind of like
their progress in society if they show proficiency in English. Meanwhile, correct answers on the
Indigenous poem can only incur a small reward; again mimicking society.
Harry: Similarly, the game contains red snakes and blue snakes – these relate to [Indigenous
poem] and King Lear respectively. Lacking knowledge of King Lear does more damage to players’
progress than lacking knowledge of the Indigenous poem. Ultimately, though, the first player to reach
the end wins.
Matt: What this game attempts to do is to highlight the inequities in society regarding language as
well as the unspoken power of language: English is more rewarding, not knowing English is more
damaging. By raising awareness of this dynamic, it will cause students to question it.
Rhys: However, how is this game relevant to our KLA – English? On the most simple level, our game
challenges students’ knowledge of King Lear and “My Mother The Land. It requires students to have
a knowledge of both pieces of literature and general terms relevant to literature.
Harry: However, the board game also causes students to question the role of English in society and
the poem it bears. Correspondingly, the role of Indigenous languages and their apparent lack of power
become concerns.
Matt: Our board game can also be adapted to other KLAs and other social justice issues, it simple
requires the questions to be re-written. For example, a history teacher may challenge perceptions of
Australian history as only beginning in 1788 may provide questions about pre-colonial and post-
colonial Australian history (with the latter receiving the larger reward).
Group 4A (18372205, 19245502, 18293834)

Harry: In addition to its adaptability another benefit of our board game is its ability to address
intersections of inequality; specifically, the combined role of Aboriginality, language and to a lesser
degree race all feature. Or, in our history class scenario, the role of race, ethnicity and language may
be substituted in.
Matt: However, the key short-falling of our game is its ability to ‘change’ students behaviour and
ways of thinking: it can only raise awareness of inequities regarding language, it does little beyond
that.