What is it about?
The concept of inclusivity, or inclusion, assumes the entitlement of all students, whatever their background in terms of abilities or culture, to receive the support they need for optimal educational achievement. It may be compared with the concept of empowerment which has been advocated with respect to minority students in the Canadian context and elsewhere. In the case of students coming from different Australian language backgrounds, bilingual education has been advocated as a means of supporting students’ pride in both Indigenous and non-indigenous Australian cultures. This paper argues, on the basis of inclusivity, for the provision of two-way bidialectal education for students in Australian schools who speak Aboriginal English. It shows how this form of inclusive education would affect three main sources of knowledge relevant to education: (a) schematic knowledge; (b) contextual knowledge, and (c) systemic knowledge.
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Why is it important?
The implementation of two-way bidialectal education needs more support
Perspectives
The implementation of two-way bidialectal education is described in three case studies in Adriano Truscott & Ian Malcolm (2010) "Closing the policy-practice gap: making Indigenous language policy more than empty rhetoric" In John Hobson, et al Re-awakening Languages: Theory & Practice in the Revitalisation of Australia's Indigenous Languages. Sydney: Sydney University Press.
Professor Ian G Malcolm
Edith Cowan University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: English and inclusivity in education for indigenous students, Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, January 1999, John Benjamins,
DOI: 10.1075/aral.22.2.04mal.
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