1.4 Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
My time studying 'Education, culture and diversity' with Michael Colbung has had a significant impact on my understanding of the needs and challenges of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander students in our schools.
At VHHS I worked with one aboriginal student in Year 10 English. She was a delightful girl, very confident and always willing to participate in class discussions and activities. However, her writing was below standard and the speed at which she could execute tasks was slower than a large portion of the class. Working with my mentor for that class we devised a number of strategies to help her cope in my lessons. One of these was to give her the following days work in advance so she could get a head start, which she appreciated. Another was to assess her progress more on her verbal responses and contributions to class as these were often at a very good standard, she just struggled to convert these to paper. I learnt a lot from this experience as well as my studies with Michael Colbung at the University of Adelaide.
At VHHS I worked with one aboriginal student in Year 10 English. She was a delightful girl, very confident and always willing to participate in class discussions and activities. However, her writing was below standard and the speed at which she could execute tasks was slower than a large portion of the class. Working with my mentor for that class we devised a number of strategies to help her cope in my lessons. One of these was to give her the following days work in advance so she could get a head start, which she appreciated. Another was to assess her progress more on her verbal responses and contributions to class as these were often at a very good standard, she just struggled to convert these to paper. I learnt a lot from this experience as well as my studies with Michael Colbung at the University of Adelaide.