Unpacking the metalanguage

In teaching students from a very diverse range of cultural backgrounds in an Alice Springs senior college, the teacher understands how intercultural understanding is a key to unlocking knowledge and understanding to which many of her students have previously not had access. She describes two of the key tools used in her class to redress this imbalance: a highly visual 'wiki' and an ever-present map. Using language strategically, whether in teaching materials, in individual tuition, when providing feedback, is key to how she sees her role in catering for students with different characteristics at different stages of development.

Centralian Senior College is the largest senior secondary education provider in Alice Springs. The school was established in 2005 and has approximately 600 students in years 10, 11 and 12. Almost 50 percent of the student population has an Indigenous background with English being in some cases a second, third or fourth language. The teacher believes that different teaching methods and materials are required in order to engage students from such culturally diverse backgrounds but resists any idea that students should be denied access to the metalanguage that is required for success in learning.