Research Symposia

Bilingual Education in the Northern Territory: Principles, policy and practice

Date: 26 June 2009

Venue: National Museum of Australia, Canberra

Watch/listen: Video and audio recordings of some of these presentations

At the start of the 2010 school year, the number of hours of bilingual teaching in Northern Territory Two-Way schools is set to decrease by more than half. The public debate that followed the announcement of this policy change revealed a need for further research on the models, achievements and challenges of bilingual education in Indigenous communities.

Acknowledging this research gap and recognising that the new policy represents a significant shift in educational practice, AIATSIS will hold a one day symposium to debate and discuss the policy change and its implications. Issues to be discussed include:

The symposium brought together Australia's leading experts in bilingual education and practitioners in Northern Territory Indigenous schools. Bilingual educators, linguists, educationalists, policy makers and prominent Indigenous specialists who discussed this recent policy initiative thus providing a timely forum for debate.   

Program

Speakers at the symposium included: Mr Tom Calma; Prof. Joe Lo Bianco; community members associated with Two-Way schools in Areyonga, Yuendumu and Yirrkala; Ass. Prof. Brian Devlin; Kathy McMahon; Dr Jane Simpson, Dr Patrick McConvell and Dr Jo McCaffery. 

Download the Program pdf28Kb

For further information contact Sarah Cutfield tel: (02) 6246 1116, conference2009@aiatsis.gov.au

More information on Bilingual Education:

Search  the AIATSIS catalogue for Bilingual education content within our collections.