Activity: Build stronger relationships with students and peers.
Use this activity to get to know your lecturer/tutor and peers. Spend about 5 minutes completing the following statements about yourself to share with your lecturer and peers.
Do not share anything that you don’t feel comfortable with the group knowing about you.
Name…
Tea or coffee…
Sweet or savoury…
I live …
I work as…
If I could go anywhere in the world it would be …
Don’t you ever wonder…
A moment that changed my life…
At school I…
Sundays are for…
When I was a child I wanted…
My family’s/partner’s/children’s response to me coming to uni…
I want to be a teacher because…
Prepare your own ‘Getting to Know Me’ resource to take into schools
One way to start the process of building positive relationships with the students, their families and carers and the community is to share a little about yourself with them. Your task is to prepare a resource that you will use in a school which will help students and families get to know you.
You may like to develop a PowerPoint slide, a poster, a booklet or website that could provide a link within your class or school newsletter.
Getting to know the students and their family
One way to get to know more about your students and their family is ask students to share their family tree with you and the class (Note: it does not need to be set out as a tree structure. Also, it is best to consult with your Aboriginal Education Officer before introducing this activity).
Understanding family groups will also help you understand your community, which will help you know your students better. Colonisation has had an enormous impact on the capacity of Aboriginal and Torres Islander peoples to live and operate with in their traditional nations, clans and family groups.
Traditional family connections
You might find that some families in your school community use the terms in the diagram below whereas other families do not. Remember that there is diversity within Aboriginal and Torres Islander family structures.
Kukatja Pattern of Life – from Tjarany Roughtail
Image courtesy of Magabala Books, Broome, Western Australia
Kinship relationships
Draw your family tree using the Aboriginal kinship terms provided in Kukatja Pattern of Life, showing differences between English and Aboriginal kinship terms.
From the University of Sydney – another example of family relationships to consider.
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Use this activity to get to know your lecturer/tutor and peers. Spend about 5 minutes completing the following statements about yourself to share with your lecturer and peers.
Do not share anything that you don’t feel comfortable with the group knowing about you.
Prepare your own ‘Getting to Know Me’ resource to take into schools
One way to start the process of building positive relationships with the students, their families and carers and the community is to share a little about yourself with them. Your task is to prepare a resource that you will use in a school which will help students and families get to know you.
You may like to develop a PowerPoint slide, a poster, a booklet or website that could provide a link within your class or school newsletter.
Getting to know the students and their family
One way to get to know more about your students and their family is ask students to share their family tree with you and the class (Note: it does not need to be set out as a tree structure. Also, it is best to consult with your Aboriginal Education Officer before introducing this activity).
Understanding family groups will also help you understand your community, which will help you know your students better. Colonisation has had an enormous impact on the capacity of Aboriginal and Torres Islander peoples to live and operate with in their traditional nations, clans and family groups.
Traditional family connections
You might find that some families in your school community use the terms in the diagram below whereas other families do not. Remember that there is diversity within Aboriginal and Torres Islander family structures.
Kukatja Pattern of Life – from Tjarany Roughtail
Image courtesy of Magabala Books, Broome, Western Australia
Kinship relationships
Draw your family tree using the Aboriginal kinship terms provided in Kukatja Pattern of Life, showing differences between English and Aboriginal kinship terms.
From the University of Sydney – another example of family relationships to consider.
Reflect on what this might mean for working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.
Aboriginal Kinship Presentation: Skin Names
http://sydney.edu.au/kinship-module/learning/5-skin-names.shtml
Related content
Interacting with others
We can position ourselves in ways that invite respect, curiosity and connection.Read More
References
Greene, G & Tramacchi, J 1992, Tjarany Roughtail, Magabala Books, Broome, WA.