ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to provide teachers with tools to assist with selection of quality curriculum materials and provides examples of lived experiences from three Aboriginal teachers. Through our experiences as teachers, we have seen the benefit in effective embedding of Indigenous knowledges and perspectives for all Australian students. However, we have also experienced the fear and concern from our non-Indigenous colleagues when tasked with embedding Indigenous knowledges and perspectives in their own teaching. We aim to provide context for teachers, through detailing a more balanced perspective of our shared Australian histories, as well as a discussion around the power of language and the media. Our hope is that this will deepen teachers’ understandings of the historical influence that social, political, and cultural discourses play in contemporary Australia, and how these discourses are often reinforced through the education system. Throughout the chapter, we provide resources that teachers can access to aid their own understanding, as well as resources that can be used within the classroom. The importance of selecting quality curriculum materials is highlighted throughout the chapter, and we provide teachers with the YARNS tool to assist with embedding quality curriculum materials.
