Students are required to provide a response of approximately 250 words to the weekly online activity.  There are 13 weeks in the semester and each week will be given a mark out of 10.  The best 10 weeks will then be added together to give you a total mark out of 100. This will then be reduced to a percentage of 30% which will contribute to your final grade.

Things to consider:

Please note that late submissions will incur a one mark per day penalty.

• It is imperative that the response be provided by to the Sunday of each week.
• Referencing in this activity is appropriate. When you reference in text, make sure you have a reference list at the bottom. The reference list will not be included in your word count for this activity.

• Restrict your responses to around 250 words. (Applying a 10% flexibility rule this means that they must be 225-275 words). Anything outside that will be deducted marks.

•  You will receive a grade each week but will not receive feedback on a weekly basis unless you attempt a weekly question and do not achieve a pass grade.

• You will be able to see what the other students post for their responses only after you have posted your own response. This is to enhance student engagement and learning while ensuring a fair process for all.

Refer to the following steps required to undertake this assessment:

1. Choose one of the following topics or negotiate an alternative with the unit convenor:

•  Methods to engage Indigenous Australians as learners.
•  Strategies to support Indigenous Australian educational success.
•  Strategies to embed Indigenous perspectives in primary schools.
•  Necessary pedagogical considerations for teaching Indigenous studies in secondary schools.
• Necessary pedagogical considerations for teaching Indigenous Studies in universities.

2. Think about the scope of the topic and how you could best use this in your professional practice or community. Also concentrate on the topic and be careful you don’t expand significantly beyond it. For example, if you chose the first option – methods to engage Indigenous Australians as learners – you may want to narrow this down to a certain level of education i.e. university students. The resource needs to be applicable, practical and informed.

3. Choose the medium in which you intend to present your resource. You may like to consider one of the following options:

• A book
• Short film (10-20 minutes in length) 
• PowerPoint presentation (audio and visual) (10-20 minutes and 10-20 slides in length)
• Website

4. Include a 500 word written description outlining how this resource will be utilised. You need to consider the audience, context, aims and objectives. Ensure that you use references in this section.

This task is designed in a way that enables students to create new resources by drawing on the content covered in Modules 1 and 2. I encourage you to all have fun creating wonderful resources that you can draw upon for years to come. Most importantly, make sure you create something you will put to use!

The final assessment requires students to pick one of the following essay questions and provide a 4,000 words written response in the form of an essay. The reference list is to be included in the word count.

It is expected that the essay is structured with a clear introduction, body and conclusion. It is to be presented in the following format:

Ø 12 point arial, calibri or times new roman font.

Ø Double line spacing.

Ø All pages must be numbered.

Ø All pages must include footer with the students name and student number.

A minimum of 20 references is required. Ensure they are relevant and inclusive of some recent literature.

Essay Question 1 – Key learning objectives

Choose 1 of the key learning objectives covered in this unit – literacy, mathematics or science. Research widely and locate one relevant quote that you would like to be the basis for the essay. Make sure this quote is directly linked to your chosen objective and is relevant. Provide a written analysis of the quote and explain its relevance.

Provide a detailed analysis of how the objective (literacy, mathematics or science) relates to Indigenous education. In doing so, discuss:

1. Historical relationships between objective and Indigenous Australians.

2. Indigenous ways of practicing relevant objective.

3. Strategies to incorporate more Indigenous practices in relation to teaching the objective in classroom.

4. Provide 2 examples of how Indigenous Australians practice the chosen objective. E.g. Yolngu mathematics.

Essay Question 2 – Working with Indigenous communities

Working with Indigenous communities is a key to successful outcomes in Indigenous education. Critically analyse the following statement by Harrison:

‘Building strong relationships with Aboriginal parents is as much about working with your own preconceptions as it is about working with the parents’ (Harrison 2011:167).

In doing so, you are to:

a) Demonstrate an understanding of what you own preconceptions entail and how people’s preconceptions may differ from one person to the next.

b) Identify essential factors that are required to work effectively with Indigenous communities.

c) Discuss barriers that may prevent someone from working effectively with Indigenous communities.

d) Explain how communities may differ from one to the next.

Drawing on available literature, you are also required to provide two case studies of community engagement initiatives. Provide one positive case where a community has been engaged in a process and the overall outcome has been positive. Alternately, provide one example which has resulted in a negative outcome. Remember – the case studies need to be linked to relevant literature.

Essay Question 3 –Closing the Gap(s)

The following statement provided by Professor Lester-Irabinna Rigney covers many important areas that relate to contemporary Indigenous education – curriculum, working with community, and the future.

‘Successful schools and governments work closely together in curriculum consultations as with Indigenous peoples. What has been shown to work in schools is Indigenous content in the curriculum, both vertically as ‘Indigenous studies’ and horizontally across the entire curriculum as ‘Indigenous perspectives’. This is done best when community involvement in program design and decision-making takes a bottom-up rather than top-down approach. Indigenous children look for affirmation of their identities in their schooling. Building tomorrow’s classroom will fail miserably if it relies on a subject core that educates Indigenous children out of an Indigenous education’ (Rigney 2011:39).

You are required to critically analyse this statement. In particular, it is extremely important that you explain what is meant by:

a) ‘Vertically as Indigenous studies and horizontally across the entire curriculum as Indigenous perspectives’.

b) What is meant by a bottom-up approach as opposed to a top-down approach.

c) What it means to educate Indigenous children out of an Indigenous education.

d) Provide a detailed explanation as to how this relates to the quest to close the gaps in Indigenous education.