Staff professional development day

NURA PRIMARY SCHOOL

Small Primary located school in Darwin 300 students, 60% Aboriginal Aims to enhance & support bilingual

education in stage 2

In 2013 Nura Primary School aims to focus on delivering innovative, whole school approaches for all students to achieve success in Literacy & Numeracy. This will include the utilisation of digital learning technologies in teaching and learning as we prepare our students with the skills and creative thinking required for the 21st century.

NARU PRIMARY SCHOOL

“What if the curriculum is experienced as ‘other’ by young people who feel that their cultures are not acknowledged by the schooling system they experience daily?” (A. Welch, 2007)

CONSIDER THIS…

1. Loss of cultural identity Eg Loss of home dialect, acceptance

2. Challenges for teaching and learning in multicultural classroom Eg. Preparing students for the 21 st century, teacher

attitudes, lack of training

WHAT ARE OUR MAIN ISSUES?

C. Diaz & N. Harvey (2007): “Growing up bilingual is about negotiating social and cultural identity on a daily basis. This process has direct implications for children’s attitudes towards their own language and the learning of the dominant language”

Strategies:1. Utilise and draw on prior knowledge from

cultural backgrounds2. Support Aboriginal students home language

through inclusive curriculum

1) LOSS OF CULTURAL IDENTITY

Diaz & Harvey (2007) strategies:1. Util ise and draw on prior knowledge from cultural backgrounds 2. Supports Aboriginal students home language through inclusive curriculum

Activity: Wall wisher – allows students to use their prior knowledge and language to write small segments about a particular topic at their level. It allows students to record, remember and revise information they have written enabling students to reflect on their culture and language and prior knowledge.

OR: Little Bird Tales is also a suitable activity which exposes students to visual constructions with limited amounts of writing

ESL DIFFERENTIATION Provide a subject or visual stimulus to scaffold their writing

ACTIVITY: WALL WISHER

WALL WISHER EXAMPLE

P. Gibbons (2008): “Language-minority students must be provided with an equal opportunity to learn the same challenging content and high level skills that school reform movements advocate for all students”

Strategies:1. Mixed groups and joint construction2. Ideas can be expressed from home language

into second language to share concepts

2) CHALLENGES FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING IN MULTICULTURAL

CLASSROOM

Gibbons: 1.Mixed groups and joint construction2. Ideas can be expressed in home language into second language to share concepts

Activity: Blogs– Online writing opportunities. Students are more inclined to want to do this activity than write on paper. Gives students the opportunities to interact with other cultures while being exposed to literacy

ESL DIFFERENTIATING Provide stimulus topics to talk about. ESL students can write in their own language if necessary.

ACTIVITY: COLLABORATIVE BLOGS

Blog

exa

mpl

e

Gibbons strategy: Ideas can be expressed from home language into second language to share ideas

Activity: Voice thread – this gives students the opportunity to record their own voice as well as write small amounts of text

ESL DIFFERENTIATING ESL students write and record in their own language and later in English to compare and share with class

ACTIVITY: VOICE THREADS

TO FINISH UP

Diaz, C., & Harvey. N (2007). Other Words, Other Worlds: Bilingual identities and literacy. In Makin L., Diaz, C.J, Mc Lachlin C. Literacies in Childhood Changing Views, changing practice. Marrickville, NSW: Elsevier.

Gibbons, P. (2008). “it was taught good and I learned a lot”. Intercultural practices and ESL games in the middle years. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy. 31 (2) 155-173 May Gibbons 1949

Welch, A. (2007) Cultural difference and diversity. In R. Connell, C. Campbell, M. Vickers, A. Welch, D. Foley, & N. Bagnall (Eds) Education Change and society (pp. 155-187) Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press

REFERENCES