video | Not Just The Didgeridoo: Over-generalization of Aboriginal cultures and its impact on education

• This video looks at the over-generalization of Aboriginal cultures, languages and dialects of English, and the interplay between this over-generalization and underperformance in school. Teachers and educational support staff are often trained to support their cross-cultural communication with students speaking ‘Aboriginal English’. The problem is that ‘Aboriginal English’ is not just one thing, and often teachers can end up forcing students into their own pre-conceived notions. We need to recognize that there are many different Aboriginal cultures and dialects of English; advice that works in one state or school might not work in another. Aboriginality is not just the didgeridoo, and Aboriginal English is not just one dialect.

• Category: Aboriginal Languages
• Thematic area: Support
• Call topics: Mainstreaming across national development plans and language policies
• Major objective: Thematic areas: Promotion
• Area of intervention: Increasing understanding, reconciliation and international cooperation