Bunjilaka

My visit to Bunjilaka at the Melbourne Museum allowed me to further my prior knowledge of Aboriginal history. Reflecting on my past education in primary school, the topic of Indigenious Australian’s wasn’t covered appropriately as my only memory of the topic was dot painting. Extending on my education and knowledge I had been exposed to many beliefs and ideas that Aboriginals were all about, which therefore meant dot painting wasn’t the only way to cover a topic.

Through my visit at Bunjilaka, I have been able to think beyond my usual thinking and I recognised the importance of culture, family and connection to the Indigenous Australian’s. As a pre-service teacher I do believe that children’s family and culture are one of the most important elements to a classroom and I feel children should share themselves through their heritage. My big concern as a pre-service teacher is being accepting of others, and demonstrating with children the importance for treating each other with respect and equal. Making connections with family history is essential to my learning in the classroom as I believe children will be able to explore their similarities as well as learn from each others differences. The topic of Indigenous Australian’s to me is an essential part of learning and I do believe that teaching this topic is crucial to being realistic and real. I feel that teaching should be directed to specific language groups that are within Australia, so therefore children are learning through real experiences and learning about specific cultural backgrounds.  Bringing the children’s culture into the topic of Indigenous Australian’s for myself as a pre-service teacher is important as I feel that we are a diverse society and we should all be celebrating our diverse cultures.