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Walking in the Red Dirt and the Red Carpet: Quality Education in Australia’s First Languages
PROFESSOR TOM CALMA AO
Professor Tom Calma AO is Co-Chair of Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (ALNF), Chancellor of the University of Canberra, National Coordinator Tackling Indigenous Smoking and former Co-Chair of Reconciliation Australia. He was the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission from 2004-2010. Professor Calma, an Aboriginal Elder from the Kungarakan tribal group and the Iwaidja tribal group whose traditional lands are south-west of Darwin and on the Coburg Peninsula in the Northern Territory, is an active advocate for Indigenous education and languages. He has been involved in Indigenous affairs at a local, community, state, national and international level for over 45 years.
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NAOMI FILLMORE
Naomi Fillmore is the First Languages Coordinator for the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (ALNF). She has researched, advised, and managed language and education initiatives in a variety of settings, including in Australia, Nepal, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
- Makinti Minutjukur, Director, Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Education Committee (PYEC), APY Lands (1) .
In 2019, the world celebrated the United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages, set to extend into an International Decade from 2022. 2 Access to education ‘in and about Indigenous languages’ is a major objective of the international year, recognising that education in Indigenous languages (often described in Australia as First Languages) is a human right and essential to the learning, engagement, and well-being of Indigenous children. It also has a cathartic and healing effect on adults who have been denied the right to practice their language and culture through past government policies. 3
International recognition of these facts began much earlier than the UN international year. The Coolangatta Statement on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in Education 4 of 1999 asserted that ‘the use of existing Indigenous languages is our right’; and this right is protected under a number of international treaties and agreements to which Australia is a signatory (see Box 1).
BOX 1: INTERNATIONAL DECLARATIONS RELATED TO INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN EDUCATION
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948, Article 19) enshrines the right to freedom of expression and called upon Member States ‘to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world.’
• The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007, Article 14) states: ‘Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control their educational systems and institutions providing education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning.’
• The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989, Article 30) states: ‘A child […] shall not be denied the right, in community with other members of his or her group, to enjoy his or her own culture, to profess and practise his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language.’
• The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG, Goal 4.5) set the following target: ‘by 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, Indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations.’
Providing linguistically inclusive education to its Indigenous peoples is a basic human right that Australia has a duty to uphold. Domestic and international research shows that doing so leads to a wide range of positive academic, socioemotional, and health outcomes (Box 2). Where English is imposed as the sole language of instruction, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are systematically denied the right to learn in their own languages and the associated benefits.
BOX 2: BENEFITS OF FIRST LANGUAGE EDUCATION
Teaching in First Languages boosts learning.
• Research has shown that learning occurs best in the language a child speaks most fluently. Studies in locations as diverse as the USA, Peru, Kenya, and the Philippines show that early literacy develops best when children can explore early concepts in their first language. (5)
• These benefits extend to learning a second language (such as English); for example, Australian research has found a positive relationship between learning an Aboriginal language and decoding skills in Standard Australian English. (6)
• The benefits for learning is critical in the Australian context where large disparities in reading outcomes and other domains still exist between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their peers. (7)
Teaching in First Languages encourages engagement, confidence, and attendance.
• When students can’t understand the language of instruction, let alone see linkages between what they are learning to their lived, cultural experiences, they inevitably disengage or ‘switch off’ from learning.
• Research shows that low attendance rates in very remote schools are a reflection of young people’s choices to engage or disengage. (8)
Respecting Indigenous languages leads to a host of socio-emotional benefits.
• Language and identity are intrinsically linked. In one of the most comprehensive studies conducted of Australian Indigenous languages and their speakers, over 90 per cent of respondents felt that the use of traditional languages is a strong part of their identity as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person. (9)
• Aboriginal communities implementing bilingual education programs have reported a greater sense of selfworth and acceptance. (10)
• Where this is not the case, children living in areas where language is being lost display high levels of cumulative stress. (11)
• Bilingual children and adults perform better in tests of empathy and reasoning. (12)
A strong sense of identity develops resilience and the ability to cope with life’s challenges.
• A ten-year study of people in central Australia concluded that ‘connectedness to culture, family and land, and opportunities for self-determination’ contributes to significantly lower morbidity and mortality rates’. (13)
• Young people living in remote areas who spoke an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander language were less likely to engage in anti-social behaviours and were less likely to be victims of physical or threatened violence. (14)
THE FUTURE OF QUALITY EDUCATION
The theme of this special issue raises the question of how Aboriginal and Torres Strait communities, particularly young people within these communities, view the future of quality education. Put differently, what do Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents, educators and communities consider the purpose of education to be and what changes do they see as necessary to achieve this purpose?
The Remote Education Systems (RES) (15) project sought to answer these (and other) questions through research involving over 1,250 education stakeholders from more than 40 remote schools across Australia between 2011 and 2016. It found that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in remote communities believe the purpose of education is to learn Language, Country and local knowledge, and for students to become strong ‘Two-Ways’. When asked what changes were needed to achieve this purpose and ensure successful outcomes for children, responses overwhelmingly related to teaching and learning in Indigenous First Languages.
‘Two way’, ‘both ways’, ‘Red Dirt Curriculum’ and bilingual education are related approaches that share the common principle of building from local language and knowledge and scaffolding students across into engagement with western knowledge. Katrina Tjitayi, School Improvement Coordinator for the Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Education Committee (PYEC), describes the purpose of the approach as ‘to mould and shape young Anangu [Aboriginal people] into competent bilingual, motivated, driven and focused young adults with a strong sense of purpose in life, to confidently function and operate in two worlds’. (16)
As early as the 1970s, Aboriginal organisations have called for greater representation of their languages in formal school systems, a message that’s been consistently repeated throughout the decades. (17) In 2019, two politicians made well-publicised calls for Indigenous languages to be included in schools. Northern Territory member of parliament Yingiya Mark Guyula (who made history by delivering his maiden parliamentary speech in the Djambarrpuyngu dialect of Yolngu Matha) and Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt both renewed demands to prioritise Indigenous languages in schools. (18)
Young people, many who are also emerging leaders in their communities, recognise the importance of Language in their own learning experiences and echo calls from Elders for Language protection and inclusion in education.
In our work at the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (ALNF), we have the pleasure and privilege of working with young people around Australia (Box 3). Young people are able to leverage their position as community members with insider knowledge of community and culture, and combine their cultural strengths, with strong digital literacy skills and heightened interest in reclaiming their heritage Language. (19)
BOX 3: YOUNG ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER VOICES
– Elisha Umahwri, Anangu Educator at Indulkana Anangu School, APY Lands, 19 years old.
– Lala Gutchen, Erub Mer Language Facilitator, Erub (Darnley Island) Torres Strait, 26 years old.
Yet despite the unwavering message going back decades, the well-documented academic, cognitive, and emotional benefits, and the fact that in many remote schools, almost 100 per cent of Aboriginal children are encountering English for the first time, (20) formal education in Australia is delivered primarily in English. (21) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Australia continue to be denied their right to linguistically inclusive education.
POLICY TO PRACTICE
At the policy level, the Australian governments at both state/territory and national levels have made commitments to open spaces for the teaching and learning of First Languages in Australian schools.
At the national level, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority’s (ACARA) Framework for Aboriginal Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages (22) provides pathways for schools to teach Indigenous languages as first, revival or second languages. The Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration, (23) signed by all state and territory education ministers, sets out that ‘all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young peoples must be empowered to achieve their full learning potential […] and embrace their cultures, languages and identities’.
Many states have their own policy documents related to the teaching or revitalisation of Indigenous languages. For example, the South Australian Bilingual Education Policy (24) seeks to ‘Strengthen and reinvigorate the learning of Aboriginal languages in children’s centres, preschools and schools’ and a ‘move toward a bilingual education model’. In New South Wales, where most Aboriginal children are heritage learners of traditional languages, the NSW Aboriginal Languages Act 2017 (25) seeks to ‘promote, reawaken, nurture and grow Aboriginal languages across NSW’.
Despite these policies, jurisdictions have been slow to implement commitments in practice. Though inclusive language education policies are important in and of themselves as representative of political will and acknowledgement of Indigenous rights, their impact is limited without action on the ground.
Translating policy into practice will require clear, practicable implementation strategies with sustained commitment and resourcing. (26) Indigenous communities, teachers and parents must be engaged in the transformative process of implementing language policy through consistent consultation, interaction and support. Pedagogically-focused teaching and learning materials in Indigenous languages are crucial to sustaining policy at the school level. (27)
PROMISING SOLUTIONS
ALNF is among a growing number of organisations working to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to realise their vision for quality, inclusive, ‘Two Way’ education that is grounded in local knowledge and expertise. There are no ‘quick fixes’ and each language and community is different. ALNF’s partnership with the community on Erub (Darnley Island) in the Torres Strait is one example of our wider approach for empowerment, cultural continuity, and self-determination. The Erub community and ALNF have been working collaboratively since the beginning of 2019. Using a digital solution developed by ALNF and drawing from our experience in speech pathology and early childhood best practice, the Erub community is independently documenting graphemes, words, phrases, and stories in the Erub Mer language. Young people feature prominently in this work, with older generations, who are generally more proficient speakers and knowledge holders, working with younger community members, who have complementary digital and literacy skills, to achieve a common objective.
The long-term goal is to use the collected content for teaching and learning activities, both within and outside of school. Community members will continue to lead this work, supported by training and mentoring in early language and literacy practice. Valuing and developing the capacity of local educators (as opposed to teachers posted temporarily to the island) is a vital component of the approach, recognising their important and ongoing role in improving academic and affective outcomes and in decolonising the education system. (28)
LOOKING FORWARD
Australia’s First Languages are essential to achieving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities’ vision for ‘Two Way’ education now and into the future. First Languages support children’s learning, engagement, and long-term health and well-being. Although policy commitments at the state and national levels are important precursors, policy is insufficient without engagement, empowerment and resourcing at the local level. Non-traditional solutions like technology, complemented by models that engage young people as leaders and implementers alongside their Elders, are promising options already being implemented by organisations like ALNF.
Indigenous leaders (young and old) are united in their calls for two-way, bilingual education for the next generation, and through the UN International Year and Decade of Indigenous Languages, these calls are now echoed globally. Upholding their right to linguistically inclusive First Language education gives Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children the freedom to succeed in both worlds: or as Katrina Tjitayi (PYEC) puts it;
‘we want our children to be strong and proud of their Language and culture. That way, they can walk on both the red dirt and the red carpet’.
1. Lester, K et al. (2013). Red Dirt Curriculum: Re-Imagining Remote Education. Sidney Myer Rural Lecture 3, Alice Springs, Northern Territory.
2. United Nations. (2019, December 18). General Assembly Adopts 60 Third Committee Resolutions, Proclaims International Decade of Indigenous Languages, Covering Broad Themes of Social Equality. United Nations Meetings Coverage and Press Releases. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/ga12231.doc.htm.
3. Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. (1997). Bringing Them Home: Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families. Retrieved from https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/ content/pdf/social_justice/bringing_them_home_report.pdf.
4. “The Coolangatta Statement on Indigenous Rights in Education,” Journal of American Indian Education 39, no. 1 (1999): 52–64.
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14. House of Representatives. (2012). Our Land Our Languages: Language Learning in Indigenous Communities (Canberra: House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs), https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_ Business/Committees/House_of_Representatives_ Committees?url=atsia/languages/report/full%20report.pdf.
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16. Lester et al., Red Dirt Curriculum: Re-Imagining Remote Education.
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18. Breen, J. (2019, May, 8). ‘Your Failure, Not Ours’: Aboriginal MP Slams NT Remote Education in First Yolngu Policy Speech. ABC News. https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-08/first-speechin-aboriginal-language-to-nt-parliament/11092190?pfmredir=sm; Archibald-Binge, E. (2019, November, 19) ‘Not Us versus Them’: Ken Wyatt Says All Students Can Benefit from Indigenous Languages, History. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrived from https://www.smh.com.au/national/not-us-versus-them-kenwyatt-says-all-students-can-benefit-from-indigenous-languageshistory-20191119-p53c3x.html.
19. Fillmore, N., Bemrose, D., & Gutchen, L. (2019). Language, Technology, Community Nexus: A Case Study of Erub Mer. Causes of Language Endangerment: Looking for Answers and Finding Solutions to the Global Decline in Linguistic Diversity. Foundation for Endangered Languages XXIII, University of Sydney.
20. Wilson, B. (2014). A Share in the Future: Review of Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory, 304.
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