From 7-14 July, stories and moments will bring Australians together, and explore this year’s National NAIDOC Week theme, Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud.  

This year SBS Learn will publish its sixth National NAIDOC Week curriculum-aligned education resource 21 May ahead of National Reconciliation Week, 27 May to 3 June. This popular online teaching guide features NAIDOC-themed activities, discussions and clips to enable teachers to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives into primary and secondary classrooms, year-round. The resource is authored by proud Yankunyjatjara and Wirangu woman Shelley Ware, marking Shelley’s sixth SBS Learn NAIDOC Week resource.

The SBS Learn team works closely with First Nation educators to develop a teacher resource for all schools across Australia from Foundation to Year 10.  

For SBS Learn’s latest resources and news subscribe here!

SBS Learn National NAIDOC Week resources:

• NAIDOC Week 2024 – Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud (Foundation to Year 10)
• NAIDOC Week 2023 – For Our Elders (Foundation to Year 10)
• NAIDOC Week 2023 – Living Black: For Our Elders (Years 7 to 10)
• NAIDOC Week 2022 – Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! (Foundation to Year 10)
• NAIDOC Week 2021 – Heal Country! (Foundation to Year 10)
• NAIDOC Week 2020 – Always Was, Always Will Be (Foundation to Year 10)
• NAIDOC Week 2019 – Voice. Treaty. Truth  (Foundation to Year 10)

We also recommend teachers completing this Protocols Guide before exploring any First Nations materials in your classroom. It takes about 10-12 minutes of your time.

For the latest information about NAIDOC Week, visit naidoc.org.au

NAIDOC Week is a national celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, history and culture, and runs from July  7-14.

SBS’s National NAIDOC Week project proudly continues the work set out in SBS’s Elevate Reconciliation Action Plan 2022-2026. This Plan outlines SBS’s commitment to reflecting, exploring and embedding First Nations stories, knowledges, cultures and languages across the network, and to connecting the oldest continuous culture on Earth with the newest Australians.

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Sitting or walking in silence. Observing your surroundings. Focusing on your different senses. How does being outside on Country make you feel?

Inspired by SBS’s Alone Australia series, SBS is kicking off a School Nature Challenge to encourage the appreciation of Country through observation of lands, waterways and sky of lutruwita (Tasmania) where Alone Australia Season 1 was filmed. The challenge takes students onto Country where school is located to complete observation activities.

The Challenge is part of a broader teacher resource for Alone Australia and provides an engaging hook to explore a range of subjects for primary and secondary school students.

SBS Learn has been working with First Nations consultants based in lutruwita from nita Education, to help teachers get started in capturing different natural environments across Australia. A huge shout out to our project collaborator Trish Hodge from nita! Trish’s post below is your inspo and starting point for this Challenge.  

How to get involved

For a chance to be featured on SBS Learn website, we are asking schools to take part in this challenge by:

• Step 1 – Record ONE natural soundscape
• Step 2 – Photograph TWO native plants (bonus: if you can find a native animal, include that in your challenge entry)
• Step 3 – Did you know the ______________[insert plant or animal name] is important to First Nations peoples of Australia because_______________________________________________________________.
• Step 4 – Name the Country your school is located and label the plant or animal in your recording and photographs.

* Some helpful suggestions: use AIATSIS Whose Country am I on? and the SBS Learn Protocols Guide for Teachers for best practice on identifying Traditional Owners. For more details and information head to teacher resource.

How do I share content?

To share your class’s Challenge content with SBS, email your entry to sbslearn@sbs.com.au along with the student/class name and school. 

*By sending the artwork images to SBS, you agree you have permission to share the multimedia content and consent for SBS to publish the work on our website and/or social media channels, as well agree to publish the student/class name and the school or location.

SBS Learn has launched updated teacher resources for Alone Australia Season 2 for primary and high school students. From survivalist exercises, scientific investigations to outdoor learning opportunities, these materials provide high engagement for student learning and scope for deep inquiry.

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The films are shared online for free, to everyone that signs up. Participants also get access to free educational resources created by Common Ground and Jordyn Green (Learning to Ngangaanha). The resources are designed to help teachers bring First Nations histories and cultures into classrooms in ways that are safe and engaging.

Common Ground works with Elders, Knowledge Custodians, producers, filmmakers and many other people to make this project happen. The money raised for this project goes directly to paying First Nations people and communities for their ongoing collaboration and contribution to the project.

You can watch films and resources from previous years on Common Ground’s website.

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SBS drama Safe Home centres on Phoebe (played by Aisha Dee) who starts a new job at a family violence legal service where she learns about the impact of family violence on individuals and families. The resources Safe Home: Media reporting of family violence (Years 9-10) encourage students to critically analyse the way family and domestic violence is covered in the media.

The resource Discover Australia’s First Fake News Story (Years 6-10) accompanies SBS interactive documentary K’gari, debunking one of Australia’s first fake news story about the origins and naming of Fraser Island, by exposing the largely untold Aboriginal account of events. The resource encourages students to explore new perspectives and to challenge their perceptions – and their sources of information. 

Who is it for? Years 6-10 

Date/Time: during Media Literacy Week  

SBS is part of the Australian Media Literacy Alliance.

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How do you prepare your child for truth telling? How do schools prepare to teach truth telling? With help, support, open communication and an open mind and heart.

As a nation we will be challenged by filmmaker Rachel Perkins and the team at Blackfella Films with the truth telling of the foundations of this nation, with their new three-part documentary series about the Frontier Wars called The Australian Wars. Episode one screens on NITV and SBS at 7:30pm, Wednesday 21 September.

This series will make Australians and the global community reflect on their own thoughts about the foundations of this country we know today as Australia.

I’ve been a teacher for 25 years and I’m passionate about embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture into the classroom and, well to be honest, Australia in general.

Many Australians were denied an education of their own country’s true history at school. When I would say this only a few years ago, people would be outraged. Today is a different story though, people are slowly realising that they were denied these truths and are listening to First Nations voices and lived experiences and want to know more.

In 2010, the national curriculum was updated to include a stronger emphasis on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture, including significant dates like Sorry Day. When it was added, teachers felt they could choose to teach it.

Now take a moment and ask yourself, if you were a teacher and you were not taught your country’s true history at school and you have no connection or pride to the oldest living culture in the world, would you teach it when given a choice?

Many teachers chose not to, as they felt like they didn’t know what to say or they felt like they might offend people. So, it was simply easier to ignore this gap in their own education and move on with a subject area they felt comfortable with. Thankfully there are teachers who have been teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ language, stories, culture and history. But not enough!

I vividly remember when I was at school, my class watched the one and only video ever played in my whole time at school about Aboriginal history. It was horrific. The video went on, it played, it finished, and we left the room and went home. As a young teenage Aboriginal girl I was shocked, confused, hurt, angry and, well literally every emotion you could imagine, but mostly I was traumatised.

There was no emotional or educational support for what I just watched and my family didn’t even know that I felt this way, as they had no idea I even watched this video.

This is not what we want for your children.

This is a real lived experience that fuels the work I do today.

I am part of the education team at Culture Is Life, who have written education resources for The Australian Wars series together with SBS Learn, to help support teachers and students from years 9 to 12, as they watch the series in the classroom.

There was a moment while writing the resources when I questioned whether I wanted my 16-year-old son to watch The Australian Wars at all. In reality I had exhausted myself emotionally watching the series over and over and over again to make sure I got the resources right.

When I stepped away from being so engrossed in the series, I asked myself, ‘Am I comfortable with my son, not knowing these truths?’ I answered a quick ‘no!’

I realised that I was a part of a team that had just written educational resources, that would support my son and his teachers through the series. He would have time in the classroom to break down his feelings and thoughts and be safe in his realisations because of these resources and our recommendations.

I highly recommend parents and caregivers watch The Australian Wars so when the school lets you know your child is watching the series, you can talk together about their feelings and support them through this series and their unit of work.

As a mother of a young Aboriginal man, I know he will be hurt by these truths of the Frontier Wars but I will be there every step of the way talking and checking in and letting him know he is not alone.

The same will go for people whose family or local areas are mentioned in the series; there will be a lot of questions and emotions to talk through. So be there for them; your child’s teacher has been equipped with educational resources to be there too.

I know as a family moving forward, I will be encouraging my son to find a way to pay tribute to the forgotten soldiers and warriors of the Frontier Wars when we take time to remember the fallen soldiers together.

The Australian Wars series and education resources create an opportunity for you as a parent, caregiver and/or teacher to be present in an education that will have huge impact on how we move forward as a country and as individuals. Together we can heal in these truths, creating a better united future, for everyone. ‘Lest We Forget.’

Shelley Ware is a proud Yankunyjatjara and Wirangu woman. A radio journalist and TV presenter, she is also a teacher and education consultant.

Three-part documentary series The Australian Wars premieres on Wednesday 21 September at 7.30pm on SBS and NITV, airing weekly. You can catch up at SBS On Demand. Watch the trailer now:

Join the conversation #TheAustralianWars

This article was originally published on SBS Voices, and republished here with permission.

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The books are written and illustrated by First Nations peoples’, and are some of the many great books you use in the classroom.

This list was originally published for SBS Learn’s NAIDOC Week 2022 Teacher Resource, which links the books to particular activities aligned to this year’s NAIDOC Week theme: Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! While NAIDOC Week usually takes place in July each year, it can celebrated all around the school year.

Foundation

Yakanarra Song book: About our place in Walmajarri and English by Jessie Wamarla Moora, Mary Purnjurr Vanbee, Chris Aitken, Jessie Wamarla Moora and Mary Purnjurr Vanbee, Alison Lester (Illustrator). (Pan MacMilan Australia, 2017)

There are 14 songs in this fabulous book, ten in Walmajarri language and four in English, all beautifully illustrated by the kids from the Yakanarra Community School. These are songs about how the Walmajarri came to Yakanarra and their special places: songs about hunting, fishing and collecting bush food; songs about the animals and birds, and the sounds that they make; and much much more. The songs were written to help the kids at Yakanarra speak Walmajarri. But given that they are intended to be sung to the tunes of well known classics, this is a book to be enjoyed by everyone, regardless of age or language.

Ceremony: Welcome to Our Country by Adam Goodes and Ellie Laing, illustrated by David Hardy (Allen & Unwin, 2022)

A joyful celebration of family and culture, the Welcome to Our Country series introduces First Nations history to children. From Australian of the Year Adam Goodes, co-writer Ellie Laing, and Barkindji illustrator David Hardy. Welcome, children! Nangga! Nangga! Yakarti!

Tonight will be our Ceremony. Our family gathers as the fire burns. The smoke rises up as we take it in turns… Then clapsticks tap – one, two, three – but a stick is missing! Where could it be? Joyful and full of fun, Ceremony invites you to celebrate the rich traditions of dance, family, community and caring for Country from the world’s oldest continuous culture.

Our Home, Our Heartbeat by Adam Briggs and illustrated by Kate Moon and Rachael Sarra (Bright Light, a Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing imprint, 2020)

Adapted from Briggs’ celebrated song ‘The Children Came Back‘, Our Home, Our Heartbeat is a celebration of past and present Indigenous legends, as well as emerging generations, and at its heart honours the oldest continuous culture on earth. Readers will recognise Briggs’ distinctive voice and contagious energy within the pages of Our Home, Our Heartbeat, signifying a new and exciting chapter in children’s Indigenous publishing.

Yirrikipayi the crocodile lives on the Tiwi Islands. he’s hungry. He goes hunting, chasing animals in the sea and on land. What’s for dinner? Meet the animals and learn their Tiwi names in this delightful book for all ages. ‘No Way Yirrikipayi began as a workshop idea and has grown into a fabulous picture book. You’re going to love this funny Tiwi story with its beautiful Illustrations.’ Alison Lester

Years 1 & 2

Welcome to Country by Aunty Joy Murphy and Lisa Kennedy (Walker Books Aus, 2016)

An Aboriginal ceremony of Welcome to Country is depicted for the first time in a stunning board book from two Indigenous Australians.

Welcome to the lands of the Wurundjeri people. The people are part of the land, and the land is a part of them. Aboriginal communities across Australia have boundaries that are defined by mountain ranges and waterways. Traditionally, to cross these boundaries, permission is required. Each community has its own way of greeting, but the practice shares a common name: a Welcome to Country. Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin, the senior Aboriginal elder of the Wurundjeri people, channels her passion for storytelling into a remarkable and utterly unique picture book that invites readers to discover some of the history and traditions of her people. Indigenous artist Lisa Kennedy gives the Wurundjeri Welcome to Country form in beautiful paintings rich with blues and browns, as full of wonder and history as the tradition they depict.

Looking After Country with Fire: Aboriginal Burning Knowledge With Uncle Kuu by Victor Steffensen, Sandra Steffensen (Illustrator). (Hardie Grant Publishing, 2022)

Looking After Country with Fire is a picture book for 5 to 10 year olds that demonstrates respect for Indigenous knowledge, following the success of Victor Steffensen’s bestselling adult book Fire Country.

Mother Nature has a language. If we listen, and read the signs in the land, we can understand it. 

For thousands of years, First Nations people have listened and responded to the land and made friends with fire, using this knowledge to encourage plants and seeds to flourish, and creating beautiful places for both animals and people to live.

Join Uncle Kuu as he takes us out on Country and explains cultural burning. Featuring stunning artwork by Sandra Steffensen, this is a powerful and timely story of understanding Australia’s ecosystems through Indigenous fire management, and a respectful way forward for future generations to help manage our landscapes.

At the back of the book, you will also find lyrics to a song written by author Victor Steffensen with the same title, ‘Looking After Country with Fire‘. 

Albert Namatjira by Vincent Namatjira (Magabala, 2021)

Award-winning artist Vincent Namatjira tells the life story of his great-grandfather, Albert Namatjira, one of Australia’s most iconic artists.

Vincent’s witty and moving paintings are accompanied by evocative text, which records the pivotal moments in Albert’s life. In telling his great-grandfather’s story, Vincent builds a compelling picture of the times and conditions in which Albert lived and worked, capturing his triumphs and tragedy against a backdrop of social change and historical injustices.

This poignant children’s book provides an important tool for discussion about Australia’s art history, and a launching pad for exploration of the key moments in Australia’s Aboriginal Rights movement.

The Little Red Yellow Black Book: An introduction to Indigenous Australia (Fourth edition) by Bruce Pascoe (AIATSIS, 2018)

Originally published in 1994, The Little Red Yellow Black Book has established itself as the perfect starting point for those who want to learn about the rich cultures and histories of Australia’s First Peoples. Written from an Indigenous perspective, this highly illustrated and accessible introduction covers a range of topics from history, culture and the Arts, through to activism and reconciliation. In this fourth edition, readers will learn about some of the significant contributions that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have made, and continue to make, to the Australian nation. Common stereotypes will be challenged, and the many struggles and triumphs that we’ve experienced as we’ve navigated through our shared histories will be revealed. Readers will also learn about some of the key concepts that underpin Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander worldviews including concepts such as the Dreaming, the significance of Ancestral Heroes and Country.

Hello and Welcome by Gregg Dreise (Penguin, 2021)

Feel the welcome as we celebrate Indigenous culture, Elders and future generations. Join the corroboree in the traditional Gamilaraay language of the Kamilaroi people as we listen and learn together. A wonderful companion to Gregg Dreise’s highly acclaimed My Culture and Me, this joyful picture book celebrates Australia’s Indigenous heritage and the diversity we enjoy today. Hello and welcome to our corroboree. Hello and welcome to our gathering. Father Sky, Mother Earth, together here with me. Different colours, different people, together in harmony.

Years 3 & 4

Kunyi by Kunyi June Anne McInerney (Magabala, 2021)

Kunyi June Anne McInerney was just four years old when she and three of her siblings were taken from their family to the Oodnadatta Children’s Home in South Australia in the 1950s. Through an extraordinary collection of over 60 paintings, accompanied by stories, Kunyi presents a rare chronicle of what life was like for her and the other Children’s Home kids who became her family.

Her paintings are a healing trove of memories that reveal the loneliness, fear and courage of the Stolen Generation children who were torn from family and loved ones. From bible lessons to sucking bone marrow and collecting bush fruits, the escapades, adventures and sorrows of the children are painted with warmth, humour and unflinching honesty.

Kunyi’s story is one of healing and reconciliation. She is telling it so that the lives of the children at Oodnadatta Children’s Home will not be forgotten. This is a collection of tender and honest stories that will educate children on our nation’s history and remind adult readers of the real impact of the Stolen Generations.

Once There was a Boy by Dub Leffler (Magabala, 2011)

The whimsical story of a little boy with a broken heart who meets a young girl who shares his secret. This timeless and elegant tale is transformed into a beautiful grown-up story by the use of subtle analogies, such as the use of sapotes as forbidden fruit. A celebrated children’s picture book debut by Dub Leffler.

Respect by Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson, illustrated by Lisa Kennedy (Magabala, 2020)

Respect is the first title in the ‘Our Place’ series of four children’s picture books which welcome and introduce children to important elements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. Respect whispers a soft and heartfelt message about the basic cultural principle that informs all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nations throughout Australia. Respect is about a way of life that is older than flickering stars, about stories that shimmer through tall grasses, and redgum leaves that tumble to a parched and red earth. It teaches children the importance of family who show the way and how we need to listen, learn and share.

This eloquent and delicate story shows young and old alike, what Respect looks like for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Years 5 & 6

Black Cockatoo by Carl Merrison and Hakea Hustler (Magabala, 2018)

Black Cockatoo is a vignette that follows Mia, a young Aboriginal girl as she explores the fragile connections of family and culture. Mia is a 13-year-old girl from a remote community in the Kimberley. She is saddened by the loss of her brother as he distances himself from the family. She feels powerless to change the things she sees around her, until one day she rescues her totem animal, the dirran black cockatoo, and soon discovers her own inner strength.

A wonderful small tale on the power of standing up for yourself, culture and ever-present family ties.

Game Day! Patty Mills Championship Collection by Patty Mills, Jared Thomas and illustrated by Nahum Ziersch 

This fantastic junior fiction basketball series by four-time Australian Olympian and NBA star Patty Mills is an entertaining, sporty read that will inspire kids to achieve their goals through sport, and also showcases Patty’s pride in his Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage.

Before Patty Mills was a basketball superstar leading the Boomers to win an Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo, he was a little kid with a big dream.

Little Patty is a star on the footy field, an ace at athletics and a ripper at rugby. So when he tries out for basketball, he expects it to be a breeze… He soon discovers he has a lot to learn, on and off the court.

Hit the court with little Patty as he has fun learning the rules, practising his skills, bonding with his teammates, taking pride in his Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, playing his heart out and helping his team rise to every challenge that comes their way.

Our Race for Reconciliation by Anita Heiss (Scholastic Australia, 2017)

It’s the year 2000 and the Olympics are going to be held in Australia. In a year of surprises, Mel and her family are heading to Sydney on an unforgettable journey to Corroboree 2000, bringing together all Australians as they celebrate Australia’s Indigenous heritage and acknowledge past wrongs.

Say Yes: A Story of Friendship, Fairness and a Vote for Hope by Jennifer Castles, with illustrations by Paul Seden (Allen & Unwin, 2017)

A story about how the events surrounding the historic 1967 Referendum played out in the everyday lives of two young girls.

Once there were two little girls who were best friends. They did everything together. As they got older they weren’t allowed to do the same things anymore. Because they looked different. Because of the law.

This is a story about the landmark 1967 Referendum, the two women who came together to change the law… and how the Australian people said YES.

Freedom Day – Vincent Lingiari and the Story of the Wave Hill Walk-Off by Thomas Mayor & Rosie Smiler, Samantha Campbell (illustrator). (Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing, 2021)

When many voices are joined together, with courage, change can happen. In 1966, more than two hundred courageous Aboriginal people walked off the Wave Hill Cattle Station in the Northern Territory. Led by Vincent Lingiari, these stockmen and their families were walking together to fight for equal pay and land rights. 

Exquisitely illustrated and designed, this non-fiction picture book brings a landmark historical event to a new generation. Many people have seen the iconic photograph of Gough Whitlam pouring a handful of red soil into the hands of Vincent Lingiari – a symbol of the legal transfer of Gurindji land back to the Gurindji people – and recognise this as a key moment in the ongoing land rights movement. Freedom Day delves into the events that led up to this moment, and makes a rallying cry for the things that still need to change in its wake. Thomas Mayor co-authors this book with Rosie, Vincent Lingiari’s granddaughter, to bring this vital story to life. The story has been written in close consultation with the Lingiari family.

Years 7 & 8

Singing the Coast by Tony Perkins, Margaret Somerville (New South Books, 2010)

Most Australians live on the narrow coastal strip that fringes our island continent. For Aboriginal people a place comes into being each time it is sung, and it is through this process that places are learned about and cared for. These songs can be for all of us, in the places where Aboriginal stories are rapidly overwritten with the grids of roads and towns. Together Tony Perkins and Margaret Somerville explore one coastal group’s experience in maintaining the stories and songs of their country: Perkins’ Gumbaynggirr homeland in mid-north coast New South Wales. These stories and songs are unique in their particularities, yet universal in their sense of knowledge, understanding and openness to sharing.

Maralinga’s Long Shadow by Christobel Mattingley (NewSouth Books, 2010)

The powerful story of Yvonne Edwards, artist and community leader, who lived on or near the Maralinga lands, and the cost of the fall-out for herself and her family from the nuclear tests in the 1950s.

‘Grandfather and Grandmother telling lots of stories. They had to live at Yalata. Their home was bombed. That was their home where the bomb went off. They thought it was mamu tjuta, evil spirits, coming. Everyone was frightened, thinking about people back in the bush. Didn’t know what bomb was. Later told it was poison. Parents and grandparents really wanted to go home, used to talk all the time to get their land back.’

Yvonne Edwards was just six years old when the first bombs of the nuclear tests at Maralinga were detonated in 1956. The tests continued until 1963 and their consequences profoundly affected her family and community.

This powerful book, by award-winning author Christobel Mattingley, honours Yvonne Edwards’ legacy as a highly respected artist and community elder.

Years 9 & 10

Common Wealth by Gregg Dreise (Scholastic Australia, 2021)

A powerful illustrated slam poetry picture book about togetherness and Australian and Indigenous history. This beautiful 32-page picture book showcases the persuasive and powerful vision of unity from award-winning indigenous creator Gregg Dreise. Passionate, yet peaceful, Common Wealth is a compelling plea for a future of truth, togetherness and respect for Australia’s deep history. All that I’m wishing, Is that you take a moment to listen . . . You see, I’m on a mission, to spread unity – not division.

Taboo by Kim Scott (Macmillan Australia, 2017) 

From Kim Scott, two-times winner of the Miles Franklin Literary Award, comes a work charged with ambition and poetry, in equal parts brutal, mysterious and idealistic, about a young woman cast into a drama that has been playing for over two hundred years …

Taboo takes place in the present day, in the rural South-West of Western Australia, and tells the story of a group of Noongar people who revisit, for the first time in many decades, a taboo place: the site of a massacre that followed the assassination, by these Noongar’s descendants, of a white man who had stolen a black woman. They come at the invitation of Dan Horton, the elderly owner of the farm on which the massacres unfolded. He hopes that by hosting the group he will satisfy his wife’s dying wishes and cleanse some moral stain from the ground on which he and his family have lived for generations.

But the sins of the past will not be so easily expunged.

We walk with the ragtag group through this taboo country and note in them glimmers of re-connection with language, lore, country. We learn alongside them how countless generations of Noongar may have lived in ideal rapport with the land. This is a novel of survival and renewal, as much as destruction; and, ultimately, of hope as much as despair.

Talking to my Country by Stan Grant (Harper Collins, 2017) 

In 2015, as the debate over Adam Goodes being booed at AFL games raged and got ever more heated and ugly, Stan Grant wrote a short but powerful piece for The Guardian that went viral, not only in Australia but right around the world, shared over 100,000 times on social media. His was a personal, passionate and powerful response to racism in Australia and the sorrow, shame, anger and hardship of being an indigenous man. ‘We are the detritus of the brutality of the Australian frontier’, he wrote, ‘We remained a reminder of what was lost, what was taken, what was destroyed to scaffold the building of this nation’s prosperity.’

Stan Grant was lucky enough to find an escape route, making his way through education to become one of our leading journalists. He also spent many years outside Australia, working in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa, a time that liberated him and gave him a unique perspective on Australia. This is his very personal meditation on what it means to be Australian, what it means to be indigenous, and what racism really means in this country.

Talking to My Country is that rare and special book that talks to every Australian about their country — what it is, and what it could be. It is not just about race, or about indigenous people but all of us, our shared identity. Direct, honest and forthright, Stan is talking to us all. He might not have all the answers but he wants us to keep on asking the question: how can we be better?

Am I Black Enough For You by Anita Heiss (Penguin, 2012)

The story of an urban-based high achieving Wiradyuri woman working to break down stereotypes and build bridges between black and white Australia.

I’m Aboriginal. I’m just not the Aboriginal person a lot of people want or expect me to be.

What does it mean to be Aboriginal? Why is Australia so obsessed with notions of identity? Anita Heiss, successful author and passionate advocate for Aboriginal literacy, rights and representation, was born a member of the Wiradyuri nation of central New South Wales but was raised in the suburbs of Sydney and educated at the local Catholic school.

In this heartfelt and revealing memoir, told in her distinctive, wry style, with large doses of humour, Anita Heiss gives a firsthand account of her experiences as a woman with a Wiradyuri mother and Austrian father. Anita explains the development of her activist consciousness, how she strives to be happy and healthy, and the work she undertakes every day to ensure the world she leaves behind will be more equitable and understanding than it is today.

Blacklines introduced by Ian Anderson, Michele Grossman, Marcia Langton and Aileen Moreton-Robinson. Edited by Michele Grossman (Melbourne University Press, 2012)

Written by established and emerging Indigenous intellectuals from a variety of positions, perspectives and places, these essays generate new ways of seeing and understanding Indigenous Australian history, culture, identity and knowledge in both national and global contexts. From museums to Mabo, anthropology to art, feminism to film, land rights to literature, the essays collected here offer provocative insights and compelling arguments around the historical and contemporary issues confronting Indigenous Australians today.

Stay up-to-date with the latest teaching resources. Sign-up to SBS Learn’s newsletter here!

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Do you know how many people access higher education in your suburb? Are you curious about which languages are most commonly spoken in your school’s area? How has your community’s student population grown over the last five years?

Deep-dive the Census 2021 data with SBS’s new Australian Census Explorer, available for the first time in eight languages alongside English. Discover key insights into demographics, population, language, statistics and more. Use our highly interactive tool in your research, class preparations and guided learning. Bookmark it with your students – they will love its fun and easy-to-use interactive elements for their assessments and ongoing learning about who we are as Australians today.

Launched during NAIDOC Week 2022, SBS’s unique tool also provides insights into First Nations peoples and communities, enabling all Australians to gain a deeper understanding of the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures. Explore the rich diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, presenting the 167 Indigenous languages spoken in Australia, with the Census counting 812,728 First Nations people (3.2 per cent of the population).

Alongside English, the SBS Australian Census Explorer is available in Arabic, Greek, Italian, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Spanish, and Vietnamese, making the national snapshot accessible to multilingual communities around the country.

Discover for yourself how Australia is changing. Access the SBS Australian Census Explorer here.

The post SBS Australian Census Explorer appeared first on SBS Learn.

This competition has now closed.

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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS

S. Kelly QLD
E. Carmady NSW
S. Miller NSW
I. Terpon WA
J. Bell SA
L. Calluaud NSW

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Inspire your students with First Nations storytelling from children’s books and award-winning novels we’ve listed as recommended reads in this year’s jam-packed SBS Learn NAIDOC Week 2022 Teacher Resource.

With incredible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors, publishers and illustrators, there are book packs to win across all year groups from Foundation to Year 10. 

Some of the titles include Ceremony: Welcome to Our Country by Adam Goodes and Ellie Laing, illustrated by David Hardy (Allen & Unwin, 2022) – which is a story of the ceremony of the change of seasons conducted by the Adnyamathanha people of South Australia.  

Freedom Day – Vincent Lingiari and the Story of the Wave Hill Walk Off written by Thomas Mayor, Rosie Smiler and Samantha Campbell (Bright Light, a Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing imprint, 2021) tells the story of Vincent Lingiari and the Wave Hill Walk Off.

Tongerlongeter: First Nations Leader and Tasmanian War Hero by Henry Reynolds and Nicholas Clements (NewSouth Books, 2021) is a story of resistance, suffering and survival.

To explore how to use these books into classroom activities, visit this year’s SBS Learn NAIDOC Week Teacher Resource for lesson plan ideas.

How to win book packs

For your chance to win a NAIDOC Week-inspired book pack, make sure you have signed up to the SBS Learn newsletter and enter your details below.

Each prize pack consists of a collection of books, selected for each year group. 

Competition opens: Wednesday 29 June 2022 9:00am AEST 
Competition closes: Tuesday 19 July 2022 12.00pm AEST 
Competition drawn: Wednesday 20 July 2022 11:00am AEST
Maximum Number of Entries: One per person.

Terms and conditions

For the list of book packs available and for competition full terms and conditions, please read them carefully here.

The post Win NAIDOC Week-inspired books for your school appeared first on SBS Learn.

We pay homage and respect to all our Elders on our Countries – we are Wiradjuri and Gamilaroi – and we pay respect to the Elders on whichever Nation and Country you are on today, reading this resource.” – Lynette Riley and Diane Riley-McNaboe.

Yaama! (Gamilaroi for Hello!)

Developed during the coronavirus pandemic, Associate Professor Lynette Riley and Diane Riley-McNaboe, two Dubbo-born sisters from both Wiradjuri (Dubbo) and Gamilaroi (Moree) Nations, created seven workbooks for a time of limited contact with our family and friends. SBS Learn are very privileged to be able to share two of these with teachers on our website.

Aunty Lynette and Aunty Dianne were keen to assist young people to engage with Aboriginal culture and to offer possibilities for Aboriginal peoples to access educational opportunities, they worked with SBS Learn to transform their published workbooks into teacher’s resources. Now you can bring the East Coast Aboriginal language of Wiradjuri into your student’s lives!

About the authors 

Lynette and Diane are Dubbo-born sisters, from both Wiradjuri (Dubbo) and Gamilaroi (Moree) Nations, who have made significant contributions to the continuation, study and celebration of their Wiradjuri culture. Both are teachers and work predominantly within the field of education (Lynette is at Sydney University, Diane is based in Dubbo, and works across schools and community). They are especially keen to assist young people to engage with Aboriginal culture and to offer possibilities for Aboriginal peoples to access educational opportunities.  

Volume 1: Sounds, Numbers, People & Family 

The first book in the Wiradjuri Workbooks – Volume 1 Ngumbaay – covers Sounds, Numbers, People & Family. The activities set out in this resource will:

• Connect children, parents and families together;
• Build understanding of Wiradjuri culture through language, symbols and tracks;
• Teach how to describe family terms, Kinship, body parts and colours in language;
• Include practical and engaging activities, and;
• Feature written translations in Wiradjuri and English.

You can find the online teacher resource on SBS Learn, or as a downloadable digital version (PDF).

Volume 2: Family Terms, Body Parts & Colours 

The second book in the Wiradjuri Workbooks – Volume 2 Bula – covers Family Terms, Body Parts & Colours. The activities set out in this resource:

• Connect children, parents and families together;
• Build understanding of Wiradjuri culture through language, symbols and tracks;
• Teach how to describe family terms, Kinship, body parts and colours in language;
• Include practical and engaging activities, and;
• Feature written translations in Wiradjuri and English.

You can find the online teacher resource on SBS Learn, or as a downloadable digital version (PDF).

The post Learn Wiradjuri appeared first on SBS Learn.

Here at SBS Learn, we want to encourage students to not just learn a language, but to love a language. This is why we’re excited to announce two new additions to SBS’s podcast series that will allow you and your students to listen to your learned language a little slower and a lot easier! Learn a language faster, slower! 

SBS Slow Japanese

Are you learning Japanese? SBS Japanese is launching Slow Japanese, a podcast for Japanese language learners in Australia. Aimed at intermediate learners from Year 7, all the way up to adult learners, this podcast makes learning a little bit more fun with your host Junko Hirabayashi!

Listen to the first episode now:

SBS Easy Croatian

Are you learning Croatian? Introducing Lagani hrvatski, a podcast from the SBS Radio Croatian editorial team and the Centre for Croatian Studies at Macquarie University. Listen to the SBS Croatian News expressed in simple sentences and read more slowly so you can follow along!

Listen to the latest episode now:

Other Language Learning Podcasts from SBS

All the original SBS language-learning podcasts are also still available on SBS online, in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or the SBS Radio app. These include:

• SBS Easy French
• SBS Slow Italian
• SBS Learn English

The post Introducing SBS Podcasts: Slow Japanese and Easy Croatian appeared first on SBS Learn.

Dr. Elaine Laforteza listened to the stories of families struggling with passing on language and got helpful advice and practical tips from experts, including speech pathologists and linguists in the SBS podcast series, My Bilingual Family.

About this Podcast 

It takes a village to raise a child.

African Proverb

My Bilingual Family is like a village with lots of people just as interested as you are in trying to pass on languages. The podcast will:

• Talk to all sorts of families to hear their stories, dilemmas and questions. The languages you’ll hear about reflect the diversity of Australia – from major community languages like Greek and Chinese, to smaller ones like Hebrew and Rohingya.
• Learn from some of the strategies families have come up with. And receive helpful advice and practical tips from experts like speech pathologists, linguists and counsellors to find out what works and what doesn’t when it comes to bilingual child education. What are the keys to success? 

Follow My Bilingual Family in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or the SBS Radio app to hear more from these families and experts. 

Relevancy to the classroom

Teacher Fiona McRobie with a pupil.

My parents My parents spoke Urdu most of the time at home and English in public, and I only spoke Urdu up until primary school. I made fun of for knowing and speaking 2 languages; I fell for all that shizzle and stopped learning it. I think my teachers knew, but it wasn’t an issue for them. If it had been normalised, I would have kept learning it. It would have been less so “embarrassing”. But then again, I didn’t really expect much more in a predominantly English-speaking country.

Hira, 26

“21.5 per cent of all children in Australia speak languages other than English at home”, according to the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC), an Australian Government Initiative. Known as Emergent Bilinguals or Dual Language Learners, your students can be supported in your classroom from an early age using the AEDC discovered three points:

1. Supporting your student’s use of their home language with a positive attitude and engaging to learn more about them.
2. Valuing your student’s home culture and using “culturally responsive teaching” in order to inclusively tailor classes in the same way you would incorporate a student’s interests or abilities to enrich classroom experiences.
3. Considering teaching strategies to support the developmental success of multilingual students such as increasing vocabulary by reading out loud or making connections between materials and their own experiences, and making instructional adjustments such as using visual cues and hands-on learning.

Although you may not personally be bilingual or have children you are raising to be, this podcast series will help gain a deeper understanding into the lives of your students and their language challenges.

Episode 1: Bilingual Parenting in the Early Years

In this first episode of My Bilingual Family, we learn children have the capacity to learn any language. Some kids may take their time but when their language explosion happens, it’s unstoppable. We talk to speech pathologist Anne Huang and Dr Loy Lising, a senior lecturer in Linguistics at Macquarie University. 

Episode 2: The Different Methods of Raising Bilingual Children

This episode you hear from Dr Anikó Hatoss, a senior lecturer in linguistics at the University of New South Wales, and Katerina Skoumbas, a mother raising her two kids with Greek and Indonesian. 

Episode 3: When the Going Gets Tough with Bilingual Parenting

In episode three, it discusses the experiences of two such families, and their stories provide invaluable perspective and ideas for all of us, and talk to counsellor and speech pathologist Bronte Ramm, as well as Dr Gayle Hemsley, a speech pathologist specialising in multilingualism. 

Episode 4: Overcoming Prejudice and Developing Pride

In episode four, it discusses how language use can invite discrimination and racism, and how that can make it difficult to persevere with bilingual parenting. As adults, we want to protect children rather than expose them. 

Episode 5: How Global Forces Shape Bilingual Family Life

In episode five, it looks at the bigger picture with Professor Ingrid Piller, an applied sociolinguist with research expertise in multilingualism, bilingual education, language learning and intercultural communication. She helps unpack what’s going on with families speaking languages such as Rohingya, Punjabi and Korean. 

Episode 6: It Take a Village to Raise a Bilingual Child

Episode six meets researchers Sun Jung Joo and Ana Sofia Bruzon to discuss communities like churches, as well as transnational family connections. 

Further reading

• Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) Resources for Schools
• AEDC Supporting Emergent Bilingual Children PDF guide
• SBS article: Raising a bilingual child in Australia: Benefits, facts and tips
• SBS article: Five common myths about raising bilingual children

The post Raising Bilingual Children appeared first on SBS Learn.