allay fears they feel uninformed and discussion or out of place, and Invite questions - ‘there are no stupid given the sensitivities questions’ in the post-colonial Use humour and race-based Discuss the silencing that can be felt Australian context, due to ‘heightened political this is a common correctness’ and explore freedom to experience. make mistakes Resistance to subject Change chair and table layouts from is also common, as rows to circles are negative Avoid hierarchical teaching approaches assumptions and Favour yarning and conversational stereotypical approaches in the classroom rather attitudes. than didactic approaches Develop terms of reference for respectful engagement with student group as a starting point Build inclusive One of the major Focus first on similarities across learning barriers to building cultures before exploring differences relationships in the Discuss the impacts of binary thinking classroom is the by asking students to reflect on polarising that can ‘exceptions to the norm’ in their own occur if content is cultural contexts (present some presented in a binary examples where ‘both’ is a preferred way answer than one or the other) Negotiate Emotional reactions Acknowledge to students that emotional and responses are emotional discomfort is normal, and reactions and common as students can be a positive part of the learning maintain engage with process relationships Aboriginal and Torres Allow for diversity – Recognise that Strait Islander knowledge is not going to be content. There can be ‘consumed’ in the same way by anger, guilt, sadness, different students, depending on their or disenchantment. context and background These emotions are Have a collegial network to debrief in part of the learning so educators are able to return to journey, and how classroom following emotional their expression is outbursts without taking it on board handled in the Acknowledge all views as legitimate classroom can be with empathy (‘I can see where you’re critical to educators coming from’) and put contentious developing and views back to whole classroom to think maintaining a safe, about – rather than being the only one relational learning that needs to respond
allay fears they feel uninformed or out of place, and given the sensitivities in the post-colonial and race-based Australian context, this is a common experience. Resistance to subject is also common, as are negative assumptions and stereotypical attitudes. and discussion Invite questions - ‘there are no stupid questions’ Use humour Discuss the silencing that can be felt due to ‘heightened political correctness’ and explore freedom to make mistakes Change chair and table layouts from rows to circles Avoid hierarchical teaching approaches Favour yarning and conversational approaches in the classroom rather than didactic approaches Develop terms of reference for respectful engagement with student group as a starting point Build inclusive learning One of the major barriers to building relationships in the classroom is the polarising that can occur if content is presented in a binary way Focus first on similarities across cultures before exploring differences Discuss the impacts of binary thinking by asking students to reflect on ‘exceptions to the norm’ in their own cultural contexts (present some examples where ‘both’ is a preferred answer than one or the other) Negotiate emotional reactions and maintain relationships Emotional reactions and responses are common as students engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content. There can be anger, guilt, sadness, or disenchantment. These emotions are part of the learning journey, and how their expression is handled in the classroom can be critical to educators developing and maintaining a safe, relational learning Acknowledge to students that emotional discomfort is normal, and can be a positive part of the learning process Allow for diversity – Recognise that knowledge is not going to be ‘consumed’ in the same way by different students, depending on their context and background Have a collegial network to debrief in so educators are able to return to classroom following emotional outbursts without taking it on board Acknowledge all views as legitimate with empathy (‘I can see where you’re coming from’) and put contentious views back to whole classroom to think about – rather than being the only one that needs to respond
Health_Curriculum_Framework.docx