How to choose appropriate resources for your classroom
As a non-Indigenous educator finding appropriate resources can feel a little intimidating and take time. There are a few places you can find some good guidance to ensure the resources that you choose are authentic and appropriate (see links below). Choosing appropriate resources also depends on where you are and who you are teaching to. Here is a process you can take to find resources that are authentic and appropriate.
1. What topic do I want this for? Which Year level?
2. Which Aboriginal Country am I on? Are there local Aboriginal organisations with educational resources?
3. Who authored the resource? Are they from my local Country?
4. How can I link this resource to local Country? Are there other resources which are local that will support this?
What to avoid:
1. Resources/videos created overseas. These often generalise and tend to show Aboriginal peoples from the Northern Territory as representing all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
2. Resources more that 10 years old. There are high quality authentic resources being created all the time. This was not always the case particularly in the 90s and 00s where some resources were generalised and portrayed Aboriginal peoples only in past tense and living in the bush. If a resource is more than 10 years old it is worth seeing if you can find something else more recent.
Be transparent about which resources you’ve chosen and why by using a process. Processes allow you to clearly think about what resources are most appropriate for your place (Country) topic and year level. You may need to change the resource but having a process which is respectful of local Country and culture will mean you can feel confident in your selected resources.
Here is a good thought process:
I want a Noongar resource for this content descriptor: the natural, managed and constructed features of local places, and their location AC9HS1K03
Cultural burning would work well as it is how First Nations people managed and still manage Country. Perhaps there’s a children’s book exploring cultural burning for Year 1s. I’ve found ‘Looking after Country with Fire’ by V. Steffensen, it explains how fire is used to care for Country and there’s a song at the end. I’m on Noongar Country though… hmm, I can’t find an equivalent book, but I can link it to the season of Birak when Noongar people used to burn the land. I can also use some Noongar words associated with firestick farming from the Noongar First Words Book.
Of course there are more resources available on Noongar cultural burning but this is a good place to start. It is also helpful to store and share the resources you have collected with notes on how you used it and other resources which complemented it.
Check out our Noongar resources and website collection.
Websites for selecting appropriate resources:
AIATSIS Guide to evaluating and selecting education resources
How to Find Authentic Indigenous Resources
Searching, selecting, and evaluating resources
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