Briar Road Public School, in Ayred, has been building an Indigenous Languages program for the past three years under Principal Tammy Anderson. The area has been a melting pot of Aboriginal cultures since the residential property was developed in the 1970s, she said, but none of the children spoke Aboriginal language at home, so the school chose to teach Darwal in the local area.
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“We’ve partnered with an indigenous organization and it’s really an important part of doing things authentically,” Anderson said. We don’t make language. We are the guardians of language.”
Anderson, a First Nations woman who has taught Aboriginal languages for 20 years, made a deliberate choice to build them slowly and implement them correctly, consulting parents and the community at every step. Program pioneers are now in their second year, and teaching is extended each year as the original cohort grows.
Students are now at the stage where they can advertise their school PA system using words from an indigenous language they did not know three years ago.
“This reinforces the sense of self-image of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and I also think it gives non-Indigenous children a stronger sense of the country they live in. Our overall results have improved in things like Aboriginal literacy and numeracy,” Anderson said.
The Minister of Indigenous Affairs, Ben Franklin, said providing opportunities for Indigenous children to learn their own languages strengthened their ties to the country, enabled them to maintain a strong sense of identity and improved educational outcomes.
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Originally published at Melbourne News Vine
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