Friday, September 28, 2012

Happy Birthday David Unaipon


Today, the 28th of September is the 140th birthday of David Unaipon. He was the first published Aboriginal author. He was a scientist and mathematician, an inventor and a religious educator.

We can only image what his life, as an Aboriginal man must have been like 140 years ago. It is not hard to imagine the hardships and disappointment he would have experienced as a result of society's embedded racism against Aboriginal people. And we can only imagine what he might have achieved had he been given the same opportunities as other men of his age.

Sadly, most Australian's, young and old, will say "who?" when we mention his name. Let's spread the word of him and work and begin to make him the household name he should be.

More information about David Unaipon:
Image credit: A deadly birthday cake for David Unaipon by Annie Ah Kee using Minecraft.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

WYP: Creating effective relationships with families

A question from LB in Brisbane: Do you have any tips or ideas on how best form and nurture 'effective relationships' with Indigenous students and their family?

 Thanks for your question LB. I can only speak from personal experience, but for me, the key to forming and nurturing effective relationships with Indigenous students and their families, is the same for all students with some subtle differences.

What is an effective relationship?
No doubt an academic definition of an “effective relationship‘ exists but a commonsense definition would be a relationship that works. Have you ever heard people say “I don’t need to like you, but we do have to work together”? Well for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, it may be the same thing. At the minimum, I really am not interested if you like my children or me, but you do have to create an environment where my children’s learning needs are met.

Some facets of an effective relationship in a school context include:

Good Communication: 
Be a good communicator, and be available to be a good communicator. The day-to-day to-and-fro of school & home life, is not easy. As an educator take different opportunities to provide incidental as well as intentional communication.
  • Incidental communication are those opportunities for communication that are not planned. A wave or a smile as you’re walking to and from school or across the carpark, or at the local shops. When parents are dropping their children at school. This is particularly relevant for the “be available to be a good communicator” principle. If you’re walking along with your head down, a scowl or a frown on your face, there will not be many parents, except the most insistent ones, who approach you.
  • Intentional communication is where you set out to communicate a specific message to your students and their families. You’ll need to consider the different modes of communication available to you. Some parents will prefer a paper newsletter, an email newsletter, a pre-arranged interview time, etc.
Your core job as a teacher is communication. Just as your students require different modes of communication based on their diverse needs, so too do their parents. Some specific strategies might be:
  • Depending on your school community, perhaps brainstorm with your school leaders, families and community about different communication opportunities. 
  • As a school you may decide to make your weekly assembly a major event with lots of extended family attending - with notices being read out as well as other updates for families. 
  • Create visually attractive newsletter templates that can be easily and quickly reproduced for families.
  • Create a visually attractive yearly calendar so that families know what events are coming up.
  • Encourage families to attend the P&C/School council events. Make them welcome when they do turn up. 
  • As a school community develop appropriate social media spaces for your school. 
Good listening
Another key aspect of being able to nurture an effective relationship is good listening. A part of good listening is opening your mind to what another person is saying.  A few points to remember:
  • Remember that some people “say things” by actually not saying anything. It can be frustrating, but no feedback can be feedback. 
  • Don’t assume that you know what your families are talking about. Carefully re-phrase statements to check that you have heard correctly. 
  • Take time to learn about the history of the community, the school and families. 
Being thoughtful
Think before you speak. Don’t self-censor yourself, but you do need to have a handle on your language and how it impacts on others. Don’t use terms that you know will offend people, for example, “full-blood”, “half-caste” etc.

Remember:
  • You can’t know everything. You’re not a mind-reader. And if you’re new to a school, then you need time and space to find out what you should know. 
  • Allow yourself to make mistakes. 
  • Acknowledge people for their contributions to your learning. 
  • Treat people respectfully and they’ll respect you back. 
  • Treat community educators as your peers. They may not have a teaching degree, but they have the same degree of knowledge in their fields of expertise and there’s a good chance they’ve been “studying” it longer than the 4 or 5 years it took you to get your degree.Really think about how much time you've invested in getting to know about your school.
Other hints and tips: 
  • Don’t assume that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will want to be your cultural educator. Some will offer to lend a hand, but make sure you’re putting in effort to find information yourself. 
  • Say sorry when you need to - say it as soon as you realise you’ve messed up. If people know you’re genuine, they’ll move past. 
  • Give people time to get to know you. And give yourself time to get to know others. 
  • Follow the work of Dr Chris Sarra and understand and know what your expectations are. 
  • Think about the link between your relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and their families and what you're teaching in your classroom. Is your curriculum respectful and acknowledging? 
Effective relationships are not rocket science, it takes patience, time, and plenty of respect building.

"You can't have a partnership without a relationship, and you can't have a relationship without a conversation" What Works

What other aspects of effective relationships are there? Are their any other specific things that we can do to foster positive relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and their families?

I look forward to your feedback.


Some online resources:



Wednesday, September 5, 2012

2012 Deadly Singles of the Year - some class ideas

One of the categories at the 2012 Deadly Awards is Single of the Year. Each song in this category is very different and spans a range of different styles and genres. Each artist expresses different ideas in their music - some sing about identity, some sing about music, and others love. We have found links to each of the nominated 2012 singles for you.

Class activity ideas:
1. Listen to each of the songs
2. Go online and find out more about each artist
3. What are the different styles of music in this year's singles?
4. What styles do you like or don't like?
5. What other artists are in each of the different categories? Eg. Troy Cassar-Daley is a country music artist, who are some other country music artists you know of
6. What are these Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists singing about in their music?
7. The artists nominated in 2012 are at different stages in their careers. Some have a very strong web presence, while others are still developing theirs. What kinds of technology and mediums can an artist use to generate an audience.

Yabu Band - Petrol, Paint and Glue

http://www.voiceproductions.com.au/assets/music/Petrol-Paint-and-Glue.mp3

Troy Cassar-Daley - Country Is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXpiiV5SsVY

Yung Warriors - Standing Strong
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clJZDJuf2gs

Busby Marou - I Still Don't Believe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3SYLJNimRg


Jessica Mauboy - Galaxy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGwm5vIYKDY

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

The Deadlys


It's time to celebrate The Deadlys. Created in 1997, The Deadlys celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musicians, artists, sports people and community leaders. In 2012 the Deadly Awards will be held on the 25th of September at the Sydney Opera House.

The Deadlys, like the NAIDOC awards, provide a positive affirmation of identity and achievement. In the face of overwhelming negative depictions in the mainstream imagination for over 200 years, affirmation is important.

Best of luck to all the nominees. The Critical Classroom team will not be in Sydney, but we'll definitely be watching the social media feed as well looking for the broadcast.

Will you be following The Deadlys? 
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...