Dare to Lead: National Indigenous Education Conference ‘What a difference a good start makes:

1. Dare to Lead: National Indigenous Education Conference ‘What a difference a good start makes: Indigenous Early Childhood Approaches’ September 2009: Melbourne Thinkin’ you know…gettin’ it wrong…and us missin’ out: Aboriginal worldview and knowledge, English literacy – great expectations or grating obsessions? Dr Karen L Martin Associate Professor in Early Childhood School of Education, Southern Cross University (Lismore: NSW)

2. Acknowledgements: Ancestors Traditional Owners Elders Conferences Organisers Conference Participants All who contribute to our individual and collective Stories

3. Equitable and appropriate educational outcomes: ...In April 2007, MCEETYA released the 2005 benchmarking results. The overall results show that most Australian students in Years 3, 5, and 7 are achieving the national literacy and numeracy benchmarks.... ...Boys have lower achievements than girls in reading and writing in Years 3, 5 and 7 while students living in remote regions, especially in very remote regions, achieve the benchmarks at lower rates than metropolitan and provincial students in all year levels and domains... ...As in previous years, however, the achievement of Indigenous students in reading, writing and numeracy was well below that for All students for every year level... Commonwealth of Australia. (2007) National Report to Parliament on Indigenous Education and Training, 2005. Canberra. WHAT ISTHE QUESTION THAT MUST BE ASKED IS IT... What does this mean for a young Aboriginal boy, living in a remote location in Australia? OR... What meanings does a young Aboriginal boy, living in a remote location give to this testing, to the content, to school, to life?

4. The NAPLAN tests for writing are assessed according to the ability to compose a narrative based on this definition: • A narrative is a time-ordered text that is used to narrate events and to create, entertain and emotionally move an audience. Other social purposes of narrative writing may be to inform, to persuade and to socialise. The main structural components of a narrative are the orientation, the complication and the resolution. • The ten criteria assessed in the writing task are: • • Audience****** • • Text structure • • Ideas**** • • Character and setting • • Vocabulary***** • • Cohesion • • Paragraphing • • Sentence structure****** • • Punctuation***** • • Spelling******

5. ...We do not come to the world sharing exactly the same experiences and realities. We do not give exactly the same meanings to these experiences and realities. Nor do we develop exactly the same understandings – Nor should we... And now some ways to ‘test’ your levels of understanding, the importance of meanings and the terms of reference for understanding.

6. Let’s reconsider this test (for writing narratives) using Aboriginal Terms of Reference First...the story in it’s written form: ‘Jinda’ Ore raid. Dad ol-omen i bin ab boor jill-rin. Jerry ji ja depela nugudpela bud jindarila i bi ore raid. Dempela awl-a-dame bin doc abadim, “Jindarila nugudpela, Jindarila nugudpela!’. Ore raid. Dem jerri ji ja, dey bin huggly do-marge, and dey bin go corroboree, dad beeg beeg corroboree an Jinda i bin lep om. Den i bin gray, gray, gray, gray, gray. Den dad perry, i bi lilwan bit ore-raid and nem bilong im ‘Pirana Bitch-are-ding’ i gamab an i bin doc la Jinda. Dad Pirana awl-a-dame doc, doc, doc. Wepela bin gal im ngankidi; bad i maj bi gainda marbarn – not coj i bin jenj dad raggy durij bla Jinda and gibim niyu durij – do margie gud. An dad Jinda i bin durave la corroborree ina wayid G.T. Muduga. Ore raid. Dad Jinda i bin Jigalong all naid wid nambawanbala. “Cundeelee-bim alon?” dem jerry ji ja dey bin doc abad imdupela. Den Jinda – i laig orla jilipela wajula – wari, wari, wari abad dame. Awl-da-dime i bin luk, luk la waj. Den i bin run op an i bin looj one pela jinabootba. Ore raid. Nambawanbala i bin luk luk eberiwe an i bin dray bit dad jinabootba la awla jina bla awla oowan. Jinda i bin dray jinabootba an im bin bit im. “Yunmibala labda git merry dumarra”. Ore raid. Olman i bin gamab an i bin doc la imdubala. “Najing doing. Yundulbala bi long la rong jab-jekjin an Jinda bilong la mi”. Ore raid. Den olman bait with nambawanbala an nambawanbala i bin pinij. Do marie, init? (Created by Dr Toby Metcalfe, 1993).

7. Let’s reconsider this test (for writing narratives) using Aboriginal Terms of Reference Now...the story in it’s spoken form ‘Jinda’

8. And now the story in it’s written and verbal forms. ‘Jinda’ Ore raid. Dad ol-omen i bin ab boor jill-rin. Jerry ji ja depela nugudpela bud jindarila i bi ore raid. Dempela awl-a-dame bin doc abadim, “Jindarila nugudpela, Jindarila nugudpela!’. Ore raid. Dem jerri ji ja, dey bin huggly do-marge, and dey bin go corroboree, dad beeg beeg corroboree an Jinda i bin lep om. Den i bin gray, gray, gray. Den dad perry, i bi lilwan bit ore-raid and nem bilong im ‘Pirana Bitch-are-ding’ i gamab an i bin doc la Jinda. Dad Pirana awl-a-dame doc, doc, doc. Wepela bin gal im ngankidi; bad i maj bi gainda marbarn – not coj i bin jenj dad raggy durij bla Jinda and gibim niyu durij – do margie gud. An dad Jinda i bin durave la corroboree ina wayid G.T. Muduga. Ore raid. Dad Jinda i binJigalong all naid wid nambawanbala. “Cundeelee-bim alon?” dem jerry ji ja dey bin doc abad imdupela. Den Jinda – i laig orla jilipela wajula – wari, wari, wari abad dame. Awl-da-dime i bin luk, luk la waj. Den i bin run op an i bin looj one pela jinabootba. Ore raid. Nambawanbala i bin luk luk eberiwe an i bin dray bit dad jinabootba la awla jina bla awla oowan. Jinda i bin dray jinabootba an im bin bit im. “Yunmibala labda git merry dumarra”. Ore raid. Olman i bin gamab an i bin doc la imdubala. “Najing doing. Yundulbala bi long la rong jab-jekjin an Jinda bilong la mi”. Ore raid. Den olman bait with nambawanbala an nambawanbala i bin pinij. Do margie, init? (Created by Dr Toby Metcalfe, 1993).

9. ...We do not come to the world sharing exactly the same experiences and realities. We do not give exactly the same meanings to these experiences and realities. Nor do we develop exactly the same understandings – Nor should we... And now some discussion to share how meanings do differ and how this impacts on the teaching-learning of literacies, but especially English.

10. RELATEDNESS and LIFEHOOD: Aboriginal Terms of Reference RELATEDNESS THEORY: Aboriginal Terms of Reference MIBU MATILDA GEORGE KAREN GRANT ??? [By Aboriginal Terms of Reference, is Mibu my: Grandmother, mother, aunty, sister, daughter, niece, grandaughter? • Conception • Birth • Babyhood • Childhood • Young adulthood • Adulthood • Old age & Elders • Death

11. Australian Realities Aboriginal Realities Schooling / Education Aboriginal Studies Aboriginal Schooling

12. That Aboriginal culture is an ‘oral’ culture and that makes the acquisition of ‘English written literacies’ more difficult. That to be effective, these English literacy skills must replace, or ‘fill up’ an Aboriginal child’s existing understandings and practices for being multi-literate in their own worlds, homes and Communities. That carefully selected ‘artefacts’ are effective for teaching an Aboriginal child in English literacies (ie. computers, games, dvds, books).

13. That reading books to learn English is a relevant and effective strategy in the English literacy learning of Aboriginal children. That books are the most ‘relevant’ means by which to engage, enthuse and immerse an Aboriginal child in English literacy. That Aboriginal parents or families don’t value schools. That just ‘doing’ good things, nice things, satisfying things is enough – especially if the children / families say they ‘like it’.

14. That measuring Aboriginal learners against non-Aboriginal learners is valid. That testing Aboriginal learners should not be different. That being Aboriginal IS the problem and this needs to be changed, challenged or erased. It is the task of teachers to replace the child’s reality, vs. expanding his/her relatedness.

15. An interface for the teaching-learning engagements with Aboriginal learners:

16. Now...for the low risk takers/low achievers, the story in a more comfortable form ‘Cinder’ All right. That old woman he been have four children. Fairy sister themfella no good fella but Cinderella he be alright. Themfella all the time been talk about him. “Cinderella no good fella. Cinderella no good fella!” All right. Them fairy sister, they been ugly do magic and they been go dance, that big, big, dance and Cinder he been left home. Then he been cry, cry, cry. Then that fairy he be little one bit alright and him belong “Fran Fitzharding” he been come up and he been talk about Cinder. That Fran all-the-time talk, talk, talk, talk. We fella been call him ngankidi; but he must be have gained a (mabarn) power – not cause he been change that raggedy dress and give him a new dress – do magic good. And that Cinder he been drive to dance in a white GT motor-car. All right. That Cinder he been dance all night with number one fella. Then Cinder – he like all the silly fella whitefella – worry, worry, worry about them. All the time he been look, look the watch. Then he been run off and he been lose one fella shoe. All right. Number one fella he been look, look everywhere and he been try fit that shoe to all the feet of all the women. Cinder he been try that shoe and him been fit him. “You and me fella have to get married tomorrow”. All right. Old man he been come up and he been talk to him two fella,“Nothing doing. You two fella belong the wrong sub-section and Cinder belong to me”. All right. Then old man fight with number one fella and number one fella he been finished. Do magic, eh?

17. To our Father’s Fathers, the pain the sorrow... To our children’s children, the glad tomorrow OodgerooNoonuccal (1993)