ALEA National Conference 2019 Melbourne

Description

Contemporary Australian primary classrooms require students to engage with poetry as a ‘text type’ or genre within their literacy programs. Much of this engagement is through reading and writing poetry. However, poetry has traditionally been performative, particularly for individuals from cultural backgrounds based on oral traditions, including Australia’s First Nations. Research shows that Indigeneity is poorly understood within primary classrooms, reinforced by a lack of authentic Indigenous perspectives and voices. We propose that literacy experiences about Indigeneity in primary schools should engender action, transformation and embodiment, and must include dialogue and participation that is mutual, respectful and validates all perspectives. In the case of teaching about Indigeneity, poetry can be a powerfully creative modality or art form for connecting the experiences of students with their explorations of Indigeneity. To illustrate these ideas, this paper offers a learning sequence about poetry and Indigeneity as an example of what might be implemented in an upper primary classroom in a school located in a fictional suburb we call “Diverseville”. The aim of this sequence is to explore what it means to be an Australian and how those meanings can include deep understandings of Indigeneity within a culturally diverse educational setting.

Period	11 Jul 2019
Event type	Conference
Location	Melbourne, Australia, VictoriaShow on map
Degree of Recognition	National