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key indigenous australian issues
| home | news lMinding the language: students give voice to endangered wordsBy Kelly Burke, Education Reporter 30 July 2004 - It's little lunch at Darlington Public School, and between mouthfuls of bread and peanut butter Mikaela Welsh is trying out her newly acquired skills in the Wiradjuri language. "Nyan," she says, pointing to her shy, sticky grin. "Nyan - that's mouth." Although her Dhan-gadi family hail from the opposite end of the state to where the Wiradjuri language is spoken, Mikaela - as much as any seven-year-old is capable of seeing the bigger picture - knows she is contributing to the revitalisation a crucial part of Aboriginal culture under threat of extinction. Her classmate, Ji Duncan-Weatherby, whose mother comes from the Kamilaroi language group in central NSW, shares the passion, along with fellow year 1 and 2 students Jonathon Sandstrom, Mali Sinclair and Nericia Brown, whose family origins lie in Lebanon, Fiji and China respectively. It is two years since the NSW office of the Board of Studies admitted there was not a single child in the state who could competently speak one of more than 60 indigenous languages. Now, Darlington Public, in the inner Sydney suburb of Chippendale, where a quarter of the students are Aboriginal, is part of a changing tide, precipitated by this country's first indigenous languages policy. Today, the NSW Education Minister, Andrew Refshauge, will launch the cornerstone of that policy - a new Aboriginal language syllabus for kindergarten to year 10, expected to be adopted by about 80 schools across the state from the beginning of next year. Dr Refshauge said the new syllabus would establish NSW as Australia's leader in Aboriginal languages education. It would help to revitalise existing languages and provide a blueprint for recreating lost languages such as Sydney's local Eora, which has fewer than 200 surviving words. "We know that language is at the heart of Aboriginal culture and identity - revitalising languages is therefore critical to ensuring Aboriginal cultural identity is strong," he said. The Department of Education will also be looking to the new syllabus to help lift the state's indigenous school participation rate. Nationally, only 38 per cent of Aboriginal students finish year 12, half the national rate of 77 per cent. A review of NSW's Aboriginal education policy and practice is expected to be handed to the minister next month. Today's launch of the syllabus coincides with a meeting between the University of Sydney and the Federation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages, to work out a proposal for an institute of Aboriginal languages. Source: The Sydney Morning Herald Aboriginal languages for curriculum 30 July 2004 - Aboriginal language studies will become a major part of the school curriculum in an Australian first that takes indigenous education to a new level across New South Wales. The formal lessons in Aboriginal languages will be driven by demand from local communities, but it is hoped thousands of non-indigenous students will support the program. NSW Education Minister Andrew Refshauge today will launch a new syllabus for mandatory and elective courses in Aboriginal languages for students from Kindergarten to Year 10. Students in Government and independent schools will be able to study an Aboriginal language subject in primary school, for their School Certificate and for the HSC. Initiatives to teach and revive the state's 70 indigenous languages will be spearheaded by specialists who will help teachers in the classroom. Under the new policy:
Education sources indicated yesterday that primary schools could spend at least half an hour a week on Aboriginal language lessons. At Darlington Public School, children already are learning how to count, sing and identify body parts in the Wiradjuri language. Teachers said reaction had been positive, but they were careful not to "tread on the toes" of community members who were not supportive. Primary principal Cheryl McBride said the syllabus would give Aboriginal pupils a sense of pride and recognition. Opposition spokeswoman Jillian Skinner also supported the plan, as long as core subjects were not neglected. It is understood about 80 schools have applied for resources to run the programs; about 25 are being funded. Dr Refshauge said learning a language helped improve comprehension and literacy. Source: The Australian related links :
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its one year on from the Australian Governments controversial intervention into NT Indigenous communities
action Roll back, listen to Indigenous community voices speaking about the intervention |
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