First Languages: time to hear from First Nations members
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 127 No number 4, 3 June 2022, page no. 16
First Nations teachers and support staff have been undertaking Language and Culture work within schools for many decades. However, their contribution to students’ understanding of Australia’s rich and diverse history and culture is often unrecognised and unrewarded.
Current industrial frameworks do not contain clauses that recognise and appropriately remunerate the unique cultural knowledge and prior learning that many bring to the work they perform. As such, the critical work undertaken to support the learning of First Nations Language and Culture continues to be unrecognised and unpaid or underpaid.
Many First Nations QTU members work in classroom teaching roles (as general and community teachers), and their work will often include aspects of Culture and Language teaching, particularly for those working in Indigenous community schools. Others may solely teach First Nations languages and culture, rather than general classroom roles.
Most, regardless of their roles, develop the programs that underpin the teaching of Language and Culture in their schools, and liaise with their communities in an on-going manner about language and culture matters, often in addition to their regular classroom work.
The QTU, together with the Independent Education Union - Queensland and Northern Territory Branch (IEU-QNT) and the United Workers Union (UWU), is working to identify and collate data on the type of tasks often performed by First Nations workers in schools, to enable them to be linked to an appropriate classification structure, pay and conditions.
We want to hear from you. Please take our survey by using the QR code below or by visiting http://surveys.engagedstrategy.com.au/s3/IEUA-QNT-First-Languages-Work-Value-Survey