Rationale
”This program is founded on the idea that cultures can listen to one another and learn… Stored in Noongar language and culture are the lessons of living sustainably in this rich land. Learning on Country restores the value of this knowledge by activating it in the classroom. In the southwest of WA, where English now dominates, two-way learning provides an opportunity to re-learn and re-value the ancient Noongar words and concepts, and to experience a language which ‘fits’ its country. Crucially, Noongar children, and their families, find themselves as equal brokers.
Integrating science and literacy grounds the children in the words of their world. The natural world offers children a way of speaking and writing English and Noongar that is real to them. Plants, animals, soils, water and the natural processes provide an image of the world as a living entity. Language is also a living entity, and literacy gives children the life of their languages…
The Wheatbelt was created to generate an agricultural surplus, but in creating this surplus it also generated significant deficits. It caused widespread environmental degradation, destruction and extinctions. These problems are acute in many parts of the Wheatbelt. It also fundamentally de-valued the ancient living knowledges of Noongar people. This robbed both cultures—the traditional and the arriving—of this understanding.
Learning on Country, by integrating literacy and science, as well as Noongar and European knowledge, meaningfully works against these problems. It turns a history of alienation into an opportunity for dialogue. And dialogue is the essence of learning and living.”
Professor Tony Hughes-d’Aeth
Aboriginal people believe that their spiritual Ancestors shaped the land during the Creation, and established the sacred Law, governing the manner in which they live. At the close of the Creation period, Ancestors were transformed into landforms, heavenly constellations, humans, animals, and plants. Therefore, in Aboriginal thought, people and plants, or landforms, can have the same origin. There is thus no great distinction between landscape and culture.
This document respects Aboriginal knowledge of the natural environment and the ways in which Aboriginal people relate physically and symbolically to plants and animals around them.
We hope that they will share such concepts with the students.
EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES
Connects school programs with current biological science research findings in the south-west of Western Australia.
Explores Reserves as natural ecosystems and equips students with the tools they will need in order to manage these lands.
Aboriginal cultural connection to the land is supported by Noongar people and their contributions to the South West Aboriginal Land & Sea Council (SWALSC), https://www. noongarculture.org.au and to Wheatbelt Natural Resource Management Inc., https://www. wheatbeltnrm.org.au.
Responds to the wish expressed by the Ballardong people that they be involved with science learning in their Country.
Integrates literacy and language, including a bidialectal approach, encompassing Noongar etymology, phonetics, grammar, and the rich stories of Ballardong Noongar waangkiny.
Learning is supported by existing programs within the WA Department of Education; specifically, the Two-Way Science Initiative, Tracks to Two Way Learning, Aboriginal Languages Program, and Be a Bush Scientist (SPICE), https://www.uwa.edu.au/ study/for-teachers/science-resources-for-teachers.
The resource supports key WA Department of Education strategies, including Australian Curriculum implementation, professional learning support, student attendance and engagement.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF SUPPORT
The Two-way learning program is funded entirely by the
Natural Resource Management (NRM) https://www.perthnrm.com,
supported by the WheatbeltNRM https://www.wheatbeltnrm.org.au.