Connecting to the Touchstones

Our focus this month on NAIDOC Week aligns with many of our touchstones; in particular, touchstones 3, 6 and 11:

• Touchstone 3. Storytelling, reading, viewing and writing are pleasure and power.
• Touchstone 6. Learners’ experiences are different, their environments are different, their ways of thinking are different. A ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to literacy learning does not work. Every learner is unique.
• Touchstone 11. Ongoing teacher professional learning is critical. Like all professions, teachers must continue to learn about new developments in their fields.

Resources for all policy makers, school leaders and educators preparing for NAIDOC Week and beyond:

Generative AI and Indigenous Education: The genuine risks to knowledge sovereignty by Scott Alterator, Alexia Maddox, Clare Southerton and Stefan Schutt. The article discusses the benefits and challenges of using AI while acknowledging that “Indigenous knowledge is inherently relational” and therefore needs to be always contextualised in relation to peoples and countries.

Also in the Literacy tab is the 2024 article A Call to Action on Indigenous Education Rights. This lays out 7 key actions for non-Indigenous educators and leaders:

1. Educate Yourself: Commit to ongoing learning about Indigenous histories, cultures, and contemporary issues. Engage with Indigenous scholarship and participate in cultural competency training.
2. Amplify Indigenous Voices: Create platforms for Indigenous colleagues to share their expertise and advocate for increased Indigenous representation in decision-making bodies.
3. Critically examine curriculum and pedagogy: Review teaching materials for bias and incorporate Indigenous knowledges across all subject areas. Adopt culturally responsive teaching practices.
4. Build Genuine Partnerships: Reach out to local Indigenous communities to understand their educational priorities and involve them in curriculum development and decision-making processes.
5. Advocate for Systemic Change: Push for policy changes that support Indigenous rights and student success. Challenge practices that undermine Indigenous rights.
6. Support Indigenous Languages: Advocate for Indigenous language programs and support initiatives that integrate Indigenous languages into the broader curriculum.
7. Create Culturally Safe Spaces: Make your classroom or office welcoming for Indigenous students and colleagues. Be proactive in addressing racism and discrimination.

Our 2024 Symposium - We all like a good story: Celebrating the pleasure and power of First Nations stories and literature brings you 10 videos suitable for viewing and discussing at team and staff meetings.

Advocacy

The Foundation for Learning and Literacy has advocacy as a key pillar of our work.

Recently we prepared a submission to the National Cultural Policy Consultation that you can read here.

Please share this June e-newsletter widely amongst your networks and suggest they may like to Become a Friend.

Past featured articles and resources can be accessed in the newsletter archive.

Yours in literacy,

The Executive and General Committees
Foundation for Learning and Literacy