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Published: July 23rd 2008
Acknowledgement to Country for NAIDOC Week
A community elder gives a little talk (acknowledgement to country) before events as a way to show respect for the indigenous people of the land.I have spent four weeks now at Alexandria Park Community School in Sydney. I have been in multiple classrooms, working with a wide variety of students and taking part in the many events the school puts on. The community school was formed just a few years ago after closing down a few other inner-city schools that experienced decreased enrollment. This particular school has a junior campus consisting of year 1 (kindy - kindergarten) through year 6 and some year 7 classes. The senior campus is just a block away and has the other year 7 classes through year 12. Students are only required to go to school through year 10 and from there they can choose to leave and start work. In this particular school, few students get their certificate. Students have to apply for high school and most of the students who are interested in school apply for more prestigious schools that require a certain test score and recommendation from their teacher.
Currently, I am primarily working with a sixth year Opportunity Class for more academically gifted students. It's been a lot of fun, the kids are great, and I am starting to teach more lessons. I'm working with
my supervisor and he is a great teacher, so I am learning a lot from him. It's also been very interesting being in this advanced class since I am used to working more with students with either learning disabilities or behavioral disabilities. It's been a new challenge preparing lessons for these students. For my last four weeks I will be moving to a first and second year classroom.
There are many similarities as well as differences between this school in Sydney to the schools I have taught at in Wisconsin. One of the biggest differences is how much they celebrate and embrace the cultures of the students. They also put a great emphasis on sports but at the same time the students only have physical education once a week and it is usually a game of hockey or dodgeball, although one day we did netball. They also have an interesting way of organizing the grades into stages. Stage one is 1st-2nd, stage two is 3rd-4th, stage three 5th-6th and so on. Then the classes are mixed with grades and into stages. Apparently the British education system is looking to adopt this strategy since it helps students who may not
have gained all of the information in 1st grade receive it without completely skipping it. I've also have been surprised how Americans and the United States are viewed. I've noticed this through school as well as the media and people I have met. This negative attitude is disappointing, but I understand where it comes from and after I talk and interact with people they are surprised that I am not full of myself and know-it-all.
Anyway, I am very much enjoying being able to experience Australia and another education system. I feel I am learning a lot about other strategies to use with various students and methods as a school. The staff and students at Alexandria Park have been wonderful to me and I hope I am making a good impression on them as an American and maybe they will learn a little from me.
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