Using Indigenous Perspectives in Learning

I also deliberately tried to integrate Indigenous attitudes and views into the curriculum making sure that histories, cultures and contributions of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders were captured. This included:

• Reading/sharing books and stories by Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander writers or stories about Indigenous people and culture.
• By engaging Indigenous art, symbols and music in the learning environment, children will learn and get to appreciate the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Indian cultures.
• Presenting the Indigenous traditional ways of storytelling as well as looking into the Dreamtime stories and how they show a strong bond to the land, animals, and religion
• The experience of Indigenous Art

I presented children with the culture of Aboriginal dot painting and Torres Strait Islander weaving and prompted them to develop their own pieces of artwork based on these cultures. I focused on the cultural meaning of using these forms of art, the relationship with the Country and the ancestry, and the spiritual values. In the classroom, the artworks of the children were exhibited with meanings explained about the same.

Activity:

I had organised a story telling program in which I read Dreamtime stories to the children. Such are some of the tales that tend to give the creation of the world, the animals, and the land. Listening and talking about what the stories mean were part of the participation that the children had.

Purpose: To expose children to Aboriginal cultural stories that would make them respect the Indigenous cultures of storytelling. The stories also make children come to the knowledge of realisation of the value of land and animals in Aboriginal culture.

Reflection: The children were engaged in the story being told, and it developed a greater interest in the child on how to know more about the natural world and its relationship with the cultural beliefs.