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Research & Resources

Research

White Australia can’t solve black problems. White Australia is the problem

In an extract from her book, Sarah Maddison argues that the Australian democratic ideal does little to improve Indigenous lives.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/apr/07/white-australia-cant-solve-black-problems-white-australia-is-the-problem

Resources

Kaja-warnu-jangka ‘From The Bush’

Expounding the themes of courageous resilience and embrace of change, it is the product of a collaboration by PAW Media Warlpiri film-maker, Maxwell Walma Tasman Japanangka and ANU-CoEDL’s Carmel O’Shannessy. It was inspired by people in the community suggesting the need to document the two senior men’s lives. The film is mostly in Warlpiri, with subtitles in English. It is 1hr 09 mins long.

The film:
https://vimeo.com/417511570

The trailer:
https://vimeo.com/421795173

My WA: Story books in Aboriginal English

My WA is a collaborative activity between the Department of Education and Celebrate WA. The project provides opportunities for all Western Australian public schools to promote a shared sense of Western Australian community and what it means to be a Western Australian. Story books in Aboriginal English provide teachers and students with a unique resource that recognises and values cultural diversity in Western Australia and uses languages of Aboriginal people.

Wiluna Remote

Kondinin Rural

Medina Urban

Articles:

“The construct of identity text conjoins notions of identity affirmation and literacy engagement as equally relevant to addressing causes of underachievement among low socioeconomic status, multilingual, and marginalized group students…Drawing on projects involving First Nations and immigrant-background multilingual students, the authors document the profound transformations in academic, intellectual, and personal identity that multimodal identity text work is capable of engendering.”

The authors propose a framework for identifying major causes of underachievement.

Cummins, J., Hu, S., Markus, P. & Montero, M.K. 2015, Identity texts and academic achievement: Connecting the dots in multilingual school contexts. TESOL Quarterly 49,3, Sept 2015,555-581.

Other resources:

Australian Charter for the Professional Learning of Teachers and School Leaders