Understanding Learners and their Communities
Over the past few months, I have been thinking about my own cultural diversity and I must say this has shaped my views about the indigenous Australians. One thing that I have leant is that, indigenous communities in Australia keep their cultural diversity alive by passing them from one generation to another. This includes their knowledge, performance, rituals and arts. They also pass their cultures by teaching and speaking languages, guarding their cultural objects, materials, significant sites and sacred places. My views have been shaped by the way the indigenous Australians are very keen in embracing their culture. This has made me consider how this might influences the way I will work in a professional context with Primary school students who identify as Indigenous Australian (Nathan, 2007).
First, considering that I am not indigenous Australian, primary school student might not accept some of the things I tell them. For the few years that I have been in Australia, I have observed that young children tend to believe more what their fellow indigenous Australian teachers. This is because they tend to associate themselves with these professionals. The second thing that I think will influence how I work with Indigenous Australian Primary school students is the lack of information. Considering that I am a not Indigenous Australian, I might not know as much as the professionals who are Indigenous Australians may know. This in turn will affect the way I teach and deliver information to the students. The third and the last way that will influence how I work is the way my views have been changed. In my own opinion, when teaching, someone needs to consider several factors when dealing with indigenous people. one needs to put into consideration the peoples cultural background. While teaching, I discovered that some of my students suffered some health issues such as inner ear problems. Due to this some of them would be away from school for many consecutive days. This led to them falling behind on studies which in return caused them to fail in their exams. The last thing that was a challenge was the colour differences. This was so considering that I was not the same colour as the other indigenous Australian teachers (Nathan, 2007).
References
Nathan, D. (2007). "Aboriginal cultures of Australia", Aboriginal Cultures of Australia Virtual Library. New York: Saxton
