2.4 Understand and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians
AITSL Standard 2.4 Example 1
I provide opportunities for students to develop understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and languages. During a mat session I discussed with the students, that over the next few weeks we will be learning about the Aboriginal culture and dreamtime. I showed them the Aboriginal flag on a Power Point and discussed the meaning behind the flag: the top half of the flag is black to symbolise the Aboriginal people, the red in the lower half stands for the earth and the colour of ochre, which has ceremonial significance and the circle of yellow in the centre of the flag represents the sun. The students made an Aboriginal flag together, see Figure 1, they cut pieces from strips of black and red crepe paper and glued them into the correct sections of the flag then scrunched up rectangular pieces of tissue paper and glued them onto the circle. During the activity we talked about what each section represents. We also revisited the meaning of the flag during other mat sessions before reading an Aboriginal story.
Figure 1 - Group collage activity of Aboriginal flag
EYLF Outcomes: 1, 2 & 5
NQS Quality Area: 1, 2 & 3
Domains: Language, Social, Creative and Physical
AITSL Standard 2.4 Example 2
I provide opportunities for students to develop understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and languages. During a mat session I discussed that the Aboriginals have a special connection with everything that is natural and Aboriginals see themselves as part of nature. I explained that they will be using natural materials to make a nature picture, see Figure 2, then showed the students a Power Point of pictures made from natural materials. During the activity the students were encouraged to explore the natural resources, engage their senses and use describing words to discuss what the materials look, feel and smell like. I told the students the names for different objects to expand their vocabulary. The student then uses the natural resources to make a picture, took a photo with an iPad and used the Pic Collage app to choose their photo, resize their photo by using their two fingers and chose a background, see example in Figure 3.
Figure 2 - Nature picture activity
Figure 3 - Nature picture activity
Student A's comment about their picture: It's the outback where the Aboriginals live
Figure 4 - Nature Pic Collage rubric
EYLF Outcomes: 1, 2, 4 & 5
NQS Quality Area: 1, 3 & 5
Domains: Language, Personal, Emotional, Creative, Physical and Spiritual
AITSL Standard 2.4 Example 3
I provide opportunities for students to develop understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and languages to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. During a mat session I discussed that there is no written language for the Australian Aboriginal people, so in order to pass on their important cultural stories, the Aboriginal people use symbols through their artwork. I showed the students examples of Aboriginal artwork and pointed out the symbols and dots, see Figure 5. I also showed the students a variety of different Aboriginal symbols and explained what they stood for, see Figure 6. I then explained to the students that they will be using the Aboriginal symbols to create a picture/story using the traditional Aboriginal colours of black, white, red and yellow.
Figure 5 - Example of page from Power Point
Figure 6 - Example of Aboriginal art symbols shared with students and displayed around easel for painting
I showed the students an example of a painting I had made using Aboriginal symbols and dot painting, see Figure 7, and told them the following story: the Aboriginal people were sitting eating honey ants when an emu came running past. The Aboriginals used their spears to hunt the emu and had it for dinner.
Figure 7 - Example of the picture I created to tell a story using Aboriginal art symbols
Before the students started their painting I showed them the Aboriginal symbols around the easel and told them what they were. I asked the student to choose a symbol/s to tell their story. I placed these at the top of the easel for the student to copy then invited the student to create their picture using the paint brushes (for the symbols) and their fingers (for the dot painting). I then took a photo of them with their symbols and painting, asked the student what their story was and scribed their response.
Figure 8 - Student A's painting
Student A's Response to Their Painting: A Aboriginal people ate a honey ant and that. Then a rainbow came out and that’s the end of my story.
Figure 9 - Aboriginal art task, links to the Kindergarten Curriculum Guidelines and Student A's Response, which was stuck to the back of their artwork and added to their portfolio.
EYLF Outcomes: 1, 2, 4 & 5
NQS Quality Area: 1, 3 & 5
Domains: Language, Personal, Emotional, Creative, Physical and Spiritual
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