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From Home to School in Multilingual Arnhem Land: The Development of Yirrkala School’s Bilingual Curriculum

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Language Practices of Indigenous Children and Youth

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Minority Languages and Communities ((PSMLC))

Abstract

This chapter presents a case study of Yirrkala School, a remote Indigenous school in the Northern Territory of Australia that has succeeded in maintaining its long-standing bilingual programme in spite of great pressure to move towards a mainstream, English-only model. Bilingual policy and education in the region is discussed, and the history and current realities of Yirrkala School itself are described. The chapter draws on a set of interviews conducted in 2015–16 with community members intimately involved with designing and implementing the local school curriculum, as well as on various community-based publications spanning several decades. These are used to articulate local perspectives on the role of language and culture in the classroom and the journey of two-way education in Yirrkala.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Among many other UN recommendations detailing the legal and ethical basis for first-language education (see Skutnabb-Kangas 2015 for a summary) is the following example:

    Article 30 of the Convention establishes the right of the indigenous child to use his or her own language. In order to implement this right, education in the child’s own language is essential. […] [I]ndigenous children shall be taught to read and write in their own language beside being accorded the opportunity to attain fluency in the official languages of the country. Bilingual and inter-cultural curricula are important criteria for the education of indigenous children. Teachers of indigenous children should to the extent possible be recruited from within indigenous communities and given adequate support and training. (para. 62, General Comment No. 11 (2009) Indigenous Children and their Rights under the Convention)

  2. 2.

    Although even in the 1970s for many within the Education department, the intention behind bilingual education was really only to foster transitional English literacy (see, e.g. Watts and Gallacher 1964). On the ground, however, this focus was developed (with the support of the specialist bilingual support staff in the Darwin office) to become a broader and richer ‘two-way’ programme encompassing bilingual and bicultural curricula and goals. We thank an anonymous reviewer for bringing this to our attention.

  3. 3.

    ‘National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy’—a standardised national test taken by all children in years 3, 5, 7 and 9.

  4. 4.

    These 60 programmes included ‘26 first language maintenance programs, seven to nine language revitalisation programs, 11 language renewal programs, 11 second language learning programs and two language awareness programs’, as well as nine schools delivering ‘two-way or step programs offering home language learning programs’ (Areyonga, Lajamanu, Maningrida, Milingimbi, Numbulwar, Shepherdson College, Willowra, Yirrkala, and Yuendumu) (HRSCATSIA 2012, p. 90). Note while these numbers account for all 154 NT schools, the 2013 numbers reflect a total of 97 schools that responded to a departmental survey. As Wilson (2014, p. 115) notes, it is difficult to get comprehensible and accurate recent data on the topic.

  5. 5.

    In this short account, we acknowledge the importance but do not fully address the central role of the complex power structures at play both within the Education department and at the local school level, and nor do we discuss the fundamental impact of the attitudes and actions of school principals and non-local teachers. Too often local Indigenous teachers are disempowered within such structures. See insights in, for example, Devlin (2009), Marika (2000), Simpson et al. (2009), Yunupiŋu (1990).

  6. 6.

    Although of course bilingual programmes may not mirror exactly the local language situation.

  7. 7.

    rom means ceremonial law or customs.

  8. 8.

    Yirrkala is classified as ‘very remote’ according to the Australian Standard Geographic Classification (ASGC) Remoteness Structure (http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/d3310114.nsf/home/remoteness+structure).

  9. 9.

    Ḏätiwuy, Djapu, Dhuḏi-Djapu, Djambarrpuyŋu, Marrakulu, Narraŋu, Gumatj, Gupapuyŋu, Maŋgalili, Munyuku, Maḏarrpa, Dhaḻwaŋu, Rirratjiŋu, Gälpu, Wangurri, Golumala, Djaŋu, Warramiri and Ŋaymil.

  10. 10.

    Recall that the different YM varieties, while socially considered different languages, can be considered dialects in linguistic terms.

  11. 11.

    Lirrina Munuŋgurr is a Djapu woman who graduated from the Dhuwaya-English programme and currently has two children enrolled at YCS.

  12. 12.

    Leon White is currently the principal of the Yirrkala Homeland Schools. He is a non-Indigenous community resident who has worked as an adult educator and with Yirrkala and the homeland schools since 1974. During his time in Yirrkala he has worked as a homelands visiting teacher, a Batchelor College lecturer based in Yirrkala, the Arnhem Regional Manager, the principal at Yirrkala Community School and repeatedly as the principal of all the homelands schools.

  13. 13.

    Amery (1985, p. 8) notes that early attempts were made to incorporate YM in the curriculum, but these were stymied at the time due to the lack of an adequate orthography.

  14. 14.

    The information on this process, and the early days of bilingual education, presented in this section was largely provided in personal interviews in November 2015 and February 2016 with Beth Graham, a former non-Indigenous teacher at Yirrkala who was appointed bilingual coordinator when the bilingual programme was being created. Where information is sourced elsewhere, this will be acknowledged.

  15. 15.

    The school council consists of Yolŋu community members from Yirrkala and all of the homelands centres. See section “‘Aboriginalisation’ of the School” for more information.

  16. 16.

    Nhawi is a Yolŋu term meaning ‘whatchamacallit’.

  17. 17.

    Banbapuy Whitehead is a Ḏätiwuy woman who is currently a senior teacher at YCS.

  18. 18.

    Balanda is a term Yolŋu people use when referring to white people, particularly of European descent.

  19. 19.

    Yalmay Yunupiŋu is a Rirratjiŋu woman who is currently the teacher-linguist at YCS.

  20. 20.

    D. Marika, now deceased, was the former chairman of the Yambirrpa School Council.

  21. 21.

    Direct instruction is a set of US-developed approaches to learning whereby teachers follow pre-packaged scripted lesson plans and students are grouped according to achievement (see, e.g. Adams and Engelmann 1996; Hattie 2009).

  22. 22.

    Families as First Teachers is a government programme offered in remote communities to help parents support the early development of children aged 2–4.

  23. 23.

    Galtha refers to the process of working together to reach an agreement.

  24. 24.

    Garma refers to a ceremony/place where different people join to make decisions together.

  25. 25.

    Awarded by Linguapax, a non-governmental organisation ‘dedicated to the appreciation and protection of linguistic diversity worldwide’ (http://www.linguapax.org).

  26. 26.

    http://www.linguapax.org/english/what-we-do/linguapax-award.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Gemma Morales

  2. Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

    Jill Vaughan

  3. Yirrkala Community School, Yirrkala, NT, Australia

    Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs

Authors
  1. Gemma Morales
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  2. Jill Vaughan
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  3. Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Languages and Linguistics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Gillian Wigglesworth

  2. Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Jane Simpson

  3. Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

    Jill Vaughan

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Morales, G., Vaughan, J., Ganambarr-Stubbs, M. (2018). From Home to School in Multilingual Arnhem Land: The Development of Yirrkala School’s Bilingual Curriculum. In: Wigglesworth, G., Simpson, J., Vaughan, J. (eds) Language Practices of Indigenous Children and Youth. Palgrave Studies in Minority Languages and Communities. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60120-9_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60120-9_4

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