Abstract
This case study outlines the development and use of bilingual/bicultural models of education used at Ltyentye Apurte Catholic School from 1979. It draws on the recollections of former and current staff, unpublished curriculum documents and previously published work about bilingual education at the school. It identifies a number of different models that have evolved over the years as the situation has changed in the school and the community. This case study highlights the importance of collaboration and teamwork in the development and maintenance of effective bilingual/bicultural education including teaching teams at the classroom level and between schools, higher education institutions and other non-government organisations. High turnover of staff has a significant impact on the continuity of these relationships and the sustainability of the programs.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arrernte Curriculum (n.d). Unpublished manuscript. Ltyentye Apurte Catholic School.
Australian Child Language Acquisition Project (ACLP). Retrieved October 21, 2015, from http://languages-linguistics.unimelb.edu.au/research/projects-acla2.
Baker, C. (2011). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (5th ed.). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Blitner, S., Dobson, V., Gibson, F., Martin, B., Oldfield, N., Oliver, R., et al. (2000). Strong voices. Batchelor, NT: Batchelor Press.
Catholic Education Office of the Northern Territory. (2012). Policy on bilingual education and teaching Indigenous languages and culture. [Unpublished manuscript].
Closing the Gap: Prime Minister’s Report 2013. (2013). Retrieved from www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/02_2013/00313-ctg-report_fa1.pdf.
Close the Gap: Progress and priorities report 2014. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-social-justice?source=our-work.
Close the Gap: Progress and priorities report 2015. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-social-justice?source=our-work.
Cummins, J. (2000). Academic language learning, transformative pedagogy and information: Towards a critical balance. TESOL Quarterly, 34(3), 537–548.
Cummins, J. (2008). Teaching for transfer: Challenging the Two Solitudes approach in Bilingual Education. In Cummins, J. & Hornberger, N. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of language and education (2nd ed.), Vol 5: Bilingual Education. Springer Science + Business Media LLC. Retrieved on January 9, 2014 from http://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-0-387-30424-3_116#page-2.
Etherington, P. (2006). Becoming Kunwinjku: Kunwinjku discuss their pedagogy (Unpublished doctoral thesis). Darwin, NT: Charles Darwin University.
Francis, N. (2012). Bilingual competence and bilingual proficiency in child development. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
Gallacher, J. (1969). Some problems facing an educator in a programme of social change. In S. S. Dunn & C. M. Tatz (Eds.), Aborigines and education (pp. 99–104). Melbourne: Sun Books.
Hansard, House of Representatives Vol 80, 1972. Commonwealth of Australia: Canberra.
Harper, H., & Purdon, A. (2013). Story as a basis to literacy [Workplace English Language and Literacy Knowledge Bank Project]. Australian Government: Canberra.
Hattie, J., & Yates, G. (2014). Visible learning and the science of how to learn. Routledge, Abingdon: Oxon.
Heath, S. B. (1983). Ways with words: Language, life and work in communities and classrooms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Intyelyape-lyape Akaltye Curriculum (n.d.). IAD Press: Van Leer Foundation.
Lyentye Apurte Languages Policy (2003). [Unpublished manuscript]. Ltyentye Apurte Catholic School.
Myschools website. Retrieved from www.myschool.edu.au.
Ngananpa anwerekenhe (n.d.). [Van Leer Project. Originally VHS copied to DVD]. Alice Springs: IAD.
Ober, R., & Bat, M. (2007). Paper 1: Both-ways: The philosophy. Ngoonjook: A Journal of Australian Indigenous, 31, 64–86.
Purdon, A. (1987). A study of bilingual education in the Northern Territory (Unpublished Master’s thesis). Aberystwyth, Wales: University College of Wales.
Purdon, A. (2010). Living in the mainstream. Ngoonjook: A journal of Australian Indigenous Issues, 35, 31–43. Batchelor, NT: Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education.
Ramirez, J. D. (1991). Longitudinal study of structured English immersion strategy, earlyexit and late-exit transitional bilingual programs for language minority students. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED330216.pdf.
Reynolds, R. (1994). Ltyentye Apurte Community Education Centre. In D. Hartman & J. Henderson (Eds.), Aboriginal languages in education (pp. 105–116). Alice Springs: IAD Press.
Teaching our way: Developing Aboriginal curricula in Aboriginal schools. (1991). [Video, 1 VHS videocassette]. Institute for Aboriginal Development, Alice Springs, N.T.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1979). Consciousness as a problem in the psychology of behaviour. Soviet Psychology, 17, 3–35.
Wallace, K., & Lovell, J. (2009). Listen deeply: Let these stories in. Alice Springs: IAD Press.
Watts, B. H. & Gallacher, J. D., & Aust. Dept. of Territories (1964). Report on an investigation into the curriculum and teaching methods used in Aboriginal schools in the Northern Territory to C. E. Barnes, Minister of State for Territories. Darwin, NT: Welfare Branch.
Wells, G. (1986). The meaning makers. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Purdon, A., Palmer, I. (2017). We Did It! A Case Study of Bilingual/Bicultural Education at Ltyentye Apurte Catholic School. In: Devlin, B., Disbray, S., Devlin, N. (eds) History of Bilingual Education in the Northern Territory. Language Policy, vol 12. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2078-0_24
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2078-0_24
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-2076-6
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-2078-0
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)