English meets Art

Indigenous Perspectives

Throughout Term 1, Year 9 students have been studying Indigenous Perspectives in English. This unit dives into poetry, short stories, picture books and songs by Aboriginal composers. By studying these texts, our students were enlightened and explored Indigenous writers, poets, rappers and film-makers in modern-day Australia. 

A huge part of this program is implementing eight ways of learning.  Eight ways of learning highlights diverse ways of teaching content as well as learning through visual imagery and story sharing. Therefore, with that in mind, Year 9G mixed up their  ‘traditional’ learning environment of 30 tables and chairs and headed off into the Art rooms.  

Year 9G students made the most of this environment by annotating a poem by Aboriginal Poet Kevin Gilbert. Students worked in groups of five and began collaborating and story sharing their ideas together. Moreover, students then extended their reading skills by visually drawing and articulating the poem. Once completed, students shared their work with their classmates and fellow peers.

All students participated and worked hard as a group in respectfully gaining an insight into Aboriginal Perspective. This change of learning environment allowed our students to become actively involved in their learning by visually expressing their knowledge. Our students were ecstatic to step outside a traditional English classroom and express their unique learning skills visually and creatively. 

Ms D Kulevski 

English Teacher