Many teachers will have come across the FIRST Framework.
I’m writing this to offer words of caution in relation to this.
While the First Nations Australian Advisory Group (FNAAG) to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority endorsed the First Framework, it is not workable in most States and Territories of Australia.
The FIRST Framework was written as a guide to assist teachers and schools to engage with their local First Nations communities to support the implementation of the Australian Curriculum (AC).
In many areas of Version 9 (V9) of the Australian Curriculum there is First Nations content that must be taught, for example a content description (CD) in Year 4 History allows for students to learn about ‘the effects of contact with other people on First Nations Australians and their Countries/Places following the arrival of the First Fleet and how this was viewed by First Nations Australian as an invasion’ (AC9HS4Ko4).
This content is supported by content elaborations – optional elaborations that provide suggestions of ways to teach the content. One such elaboration for the above CD is ‘exploring early contact of First Nations Australians with the British, including individuals such as Pemulwuy, Windradyne and Bennelong, and considering the differing perspectives of the interactions between Europeans and First Nations Australians, and how interactions could be interpreted as negative for one group and positive for the other’.
Now, the FIRST Framework acknowledges that some teachers may be nervous about teaching First Nations content and states that ‘The best way to address this fear is by reaching out to your local community and explain what you are trying to teach and respectfully ask for advice’.
This works well in Australian States such as New South Wales, that advises ‘When planning and programming content relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, teachers are encouraged to: involve local Aboriginal communities and/or appropriate knowledge holders in determining suitable resources, or to use Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander authored or endorsed publications; and to read the Principles and Protocols relating to teaching and learning about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, and the involvement of local Aboriginal communities’.
The infrastructure in Victoria, through the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Incorporated (VAEAI), is a State-wide community based organisation representing Local Aboriginal Education Consultative Groups across eight regions. VAEAI recommends consulting with Aboriginal people and Aboriginal sources for information and suggests that we ‘Try to work with local community people and Elders, and always respect their intellectual and cutural property rights’. (This is where the FIRST Framework falls down – there is not mention of ICIP (Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property.)
Recently, I have been contacted by First Nations and non-First Nations teachers commenting on the inappropriateness of the FIRST Framework. These comments include:
. There is no acknowledgement of First Nations Knowledge Holders’ Cultural and Intellectual Property.
. An acrostic FIRST (F – find out about; I – Indigenous knowledge and voices; R – Respectful partnerships; S -Supporting student learning; T – Time) is neither culturally responsive nor culturally responsible.
. There is no mention of payment to First Nations Knowledge Holders.
. It assumes that all teachers are non-First Nations
. There are 378 schools in the greater Adelaide area. Take a random number – say 10 teachers in each school – 3,780 teachers. How would the Kaurna Board and/or the South Australian Aboriginal Education and Training Consultative Council manage to develop ‘respectful partnerships?
. It’s all take, take, take … no mention of giving back to Knowledge Holders.
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