For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (TSI) people so much of their culture comes from the facets of their identities. These mostly include food, clothing, shelter, transport, art and music. Music, ceremony, and performance in particular are extremely important for Aboriginal life and culture; they are often seen as the core values of these individuals spiritual and cultural lives (Australian Government, 2015).
During this lesson year four students will begin to understand how important these things are to the Indigenous culture, and how they impact these individuals lives. This lesson is based on the year four English curriculum (Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2015a, ACELA1488, ACELY1687, and ACELY1689). As well as the year four humanities and social sciences curriculum (ACARA, 2015b, ACHHK077), and has strong links to the cross curriculum priority Aboriginal and TSI histories and cultures (ACARA, 2015c).
Increasing students knowledge of this topic is important for their development and knowledge of Australia as a country, as well as how to remain respectful and considerate of this culture as well as many of the other cultures around the world (Goodwin, 2012). Teaching students these skills from as young as four-five years old will embed the skills, respect and empathy they will need to succeed throughout not only the remainder of their schooling, but also their life.
During this lesson students will present a powerpoint with a partner about one of the following topics based on Aboriginal and TSI culture, these include: Food, art, music, shelter, transport and clothing. Students will choose their topic, and work with their partner to complete their presentation. Students will be given the following questions to help them with their research:
What does your topic look like? Write, draw or include a picture
Why is your topic important to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people?
How is your topic used by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people? Write, draw or include a video.
What did you learn about this topic throughout your report?
It is quite often that parents own points of view and opinions can influence children in both positive and negative ways, sometimes if parents hold any negative biases these too can be passed on to young children often unintentionally. Sheffield, Morris et. al (as cited by Moges and Weber, 2014) agree, stating that children often see and imitate how their parents display emotions and interact with others. It is vital for students to become well adapted to their environment that parents do not physically show their biases to their child. It is important to allow the child to grow, learn and adapt to their learning environment, as well as build their own points of view; and not just adopting those of their parents.
References:
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2015c). Cross curriculum priorities. Retrieved from http://v7-5.australiancurriculum.edu.au/crosscurriculumpriorities
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2015a). English. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/english/curriculum/f-10?layout=1#level4
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2015b). History. Retrieved from http://v7-5.australiancurriculum.edu.au/humanities-and-social-sciences/history/curriculum/f-10?layout=1#cdcode=ACHHK077&level=4
Australian Government. (2015). Australian indigenous ceremony – song, music and dance. Retrieved
from http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/austn-indigenous-ceremony
Goodwin, J. (2012). Indigenous culture: It’s everybody’s business. Every child magazine, 18(1). Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/our-publications/every-child-magazine/every-child-index/every-child-vol-18-1-2012/indigenous-culture-everybodys-business/
Moges, B. & Weber, K. (2014). Parental influence on the emotional development of children. Retrieved from https://my.vanderbilt.edu/developmentalpsychologyblog/2014/05/parental-influence-on-the-emotional-development-of-children/
