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Education programs across Australia

Tasmania

Curriculum and pedagogy

• Aboriginal Literacy Program in Early Childhood (ALPEC)
• Aboriginal Perspectives Across the Curriculum
• Aboriginal Studies: Framework and Guidelines K-12
• Changing Places
• English as a Second Language (ESL) Program
• From Gumnuts to Buttons
• Living with the Land - Aborigines in Tasmania
• On Being Aboriginal
• On the Track
• Policy Support Materials
• Studies of Society and the Environment (SOSE), Studies of Asia and Languages other than English (LOTE) Programs
• Taraba
• Two Rivers

Aboriginal Literacy Program in Early Childhood (ALPEC)

The Aboriginal Literacy Program in Early Childhood (ALPEC) aims to improve the literacy outcomes of Aboriginal students in the Preparatory Year, Year 1 and Year 2. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Workers are part of a classroom team in eighteen schools across the State.

Aboriginal Perspectives Across the Curriculum

A training and resource package for teachers intending to incorporate Aboriginal perspectives across the learning areas. It is an adaptation of Aboriginal Perspectives Across the Curriculum, a South Australian project.

Features include: contributions from Tasmanian Aboriginal speakers, elders, sports people, artists, writers and musicians; information on Tasmanian Aboriginal programs and organisations; resource lists; articles about contemporary Tasmanian Aboriginal issues; and examples of units of work across learning areas.

Aboriginal Studies: Framework and Guidelines K-12

A set of four booklets designed to enable schools to develop Aboriginal programs at all levels. The guidelines meet nationally agreed specifications. Titles include:

• Aboriginal Studies Framework
• Aboriginal Studies Guidelines K-4
• Aboriginal Studies 4-8
• Aboriginal Studies 9-12.

Changing Places

This is a program for selected primary schools that aims to decrease the gap in achievement between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students and to improve proficiency in literacy and numeracy of students in the target group. The program also sets out to affirm student identity, self-value and capacity to succeed.

The Changing Places program is expanding in 2002 to make links with associated high schools by providing a professional learning program in the areas of literacy, cross-cultural education, task-based assessment and inter-school communication. The intention of the program is to improve educational outcomes for Indigenous students in the middle years of schooling (grades 5 to 8).

English as a Second Language (ESL) Program

Individualised learning programs are provided to meet the needs of students from backgrounds other than English. Twenty-five specialist teachers provide instruction and resources in primary and secondary schools and colleges across the State.

ESL teachers assist class and subject teachers in the provision and delivery of culturally inclusive curricula across the learning areas. They provide resource materials to support class and subject teachers.

From Gumnuts to Buttons

A kit of visual and interactive simulation activities aimed at helping students gain an understanding of, and empathy for, Aboriginal peoples' history. The activities are designed to introduce participants to new knowledge and awareness of important events and occurrences in Tasmanian history. These events have contributed significantly to the social, political and economic situation for the Tasmanian community today.

Living with the Land - Aborigines in Tasmania

Six booklets written as narratives, varying in complexity, that can be used for teaching purpose for Years 6-10. The titles are: Invasion; Resistance; Dispossession; From Optimism to Despair; Adapting and Resisting; and Survival.

On Being Aboriginal

This is a series of eight booklets and twelve display photographs designed to acquaint teachers and students with aspects of Aboriginality. It was the product of a joint project of the Department of Education, the Tasmanian Aboriginal Education Advisory Council and the Aboriginal community of Tasmania.

The set introduces readers to members of the Tasmanian mainland and the islands of Bass Strait. The titles include: We Must Be Proud of What We Are, I Was Born Black and I'll Die Black, and When Cape Barren Island Was an Aboriginal Reserve.

On the Track

Policy Support Materials

A professional development package supporting the implementation of the Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy Statement.

This document provides a background briefing on harassment and discrimination in all forms. It defines harassment and discrimination and describes the kind of school environment which promotes success in countering them. It incorporates a question and answer approach to address issues that could arise as schools put the policy into practice. Sample grievance procedures, a bank of ideas for staff development and learning experiences for students, and an annotated list of resources are included. Subsequent sections offer teachers additional information on harassment and discrimination based on race, sexuality, gender, ability/disability, body shape and size.

Studies of Society and the Environment (SOSE), Studies of Asia and Languages other than English (LOTE) Programs

The SOSE curriculum provides opportunities for student learning about what it means to be Australian and about Australia's place in the world. Students are also exposed to the range of cultures which make up their country. Many Tasmanian students participate in the Studies of Asia program, their teachers believing that the study of Asia deserves a status comparable with studies of other nations and cultures traditionally included in the curriculum. Through learning a language, students come to appreciate the diversity of other cultures.

Taraba

Six Tasmanian Aboriginal stories retold by Rosemary Ransom. Each story tells something of the spiritual world of the Tasmanian Aboriginal people, as well as explaining how the rewards and punishments given by the spirits have contributed to the characteristics of Tasmanian birds and animals. The illustrations were created by young Tasmanians aged six to sixteen years. The collection is seen as a valuable resource for teachers as few materials have been available in relation to Tasmanian Aboriginal perspectives.

Two Rivers

Two Rivers is a powerful expression in images and words of young people's understanding of Tasmania's history and a vision for a shared, racially harmonious future. The collection arose from students' experience with Aboriginal people including Aboriginal elder and writer, Aunty Ida West.