Reconciliation and Social Justice Library

A MATTER OF SURVIVAL - TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND DIALECT

6.59 The discipline of teaching English as a second dialect is still young compared to teaching English as a second language. As observed throughout this report the need to teach English as a second dialect is not being met by the Australian education system. There continues to be inadequate teacher pre-service preparation, and a lack of suitable curriculum material. The Commonwealth Curriculum Development Centre did produce in 1983 a substantial report on English and the Aboriginal Child by Robert Eagleson, Susan Kaldor and Ian Malcolm. However, there appears to be a lack of substantial institutional support for teaching English as a second dialect in teacher training, education departments and schools.

6.60 The committee believes that the Commonwealth should give greater priority to the teaching of English as a second dialect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Teacher training institutions must be encouraged to provide suitable training. The Commonwealth could make a significant contribution by commissioning the preparation of suitable curriculum material to be used by classroom teachers throughout Australia.

6.61 The committee recommends that:

· the Minister for Employment, Education and Training in consultation with the states and territories commission the preparation of curriculum material for the teaching of English as a second dialect. This should be funded separately from the Aboriginal Literacy Strategy. (Recommendation 31)