While more than 250 Aboriginal languages were once spoken across Australia, only a small number are still actively learned as first languages and are often underrepresented in formal education.
For teachers across Australia, a key challenge is therefore how to teach a language when the traditional classroom model wasn't built with it in mind.
New research from Curtin University offers a possible answer.
After spending a year embedded in an Aboriginal playgroup, researchers developed a teaching model they've called "translingual yarning pedagogy" (TYP), an approach that combines yarning, the traditional Aboriginal practice of storytelling and shared learning, with translanguaging, which allows students to draw on all the language tools available to them, from English and Aboriginal languages to gesture, song and play.
The study followed preschool-aged children learning Noongar as they took part in yarning circles, songs and storytelling activities, moving naturally between languages while engaging with cultural knowledge. Researchers found this flexible approach helped children participate more actively and confidently than rigid, English-first teaching methods typically allow.
Where whole-school change actually begins
Though the Talk Your Play (TYP) approach was originally developed within a preschool playgroup setting, its core principle doesn't stay behind in early childhood.
Lead author Professor Sender Dovchin, from Curtin's School of Education, said applying it in mainstream primary and secondary classrooms requires a shift in emphasis, and a rethink of what counts as meaningful participation in learning.
"While the specific activities would need to be adapted, the underlying principle remains the same: creating learning environments where students can draw on their full linguistic and cultural repertoires as resources for learning," Sender told The Educator.
"With older students, the emphasis shifts from play-based exploration to more academically oriented tasks. For example, students might use multiple languages to analyse texts, discuss complex concepts, conduct research, create multimodal projects, or compare how ideas are expressed across different linguistic and cultural contexts."
Importantly, this is not about adding extra language activities to an already crowded curriculum, Sender noted.
"Rather, it involves rethinking classroom participation so that students' diverse linguistic and cultural knowledge becomes visible and valued within existing learning tasks," she said.
"In primary and secondary settings, teachers can integrate these principles into literacy, science, humanities, and other subject areas by encouraging collaboration, multilingual meaning-making, and critical reflection on language, identity, and culture."
Sender said the TYP approach shows what's possible when classrooms value students' full cultural and linguistic backgrounds, adding that embedding that thinking school-wide, rather than confining it to language classes, starts well before any new program is rolled out.
"I would suggest beginning with a shift in mindset rather than a specific program," she said. "School leaders need to move from seeing linguistic and cultural diversity as something that must be accommodated to recognising it as a significant educational asset."
Sender said that means creating a whole-school culture where students' languages, identities, and lived experiences are treated as valuable resources for learning across all subjects.
"Practically, this can start with professional learning for teachers, encouraging them to reflect on whose knowledge, languages, and perspectives are represented in the curriculum and classroom practices," she said. "Schools can then look for opportunities to make students' diverse backgrounds visible in everyday teaching, assessment, and community engagement."
Even small changes, such as inviting multilingual perspectives into classroom discussions or drawing on local community knowledge, can have a powerful impact, Sender said.
"Ultimately, the goal is not simply to support language diversity, but to create more inclusive, equitable, and culturally sustaining learning environments where all students feel that who they are and what they bring to school matters."
Creating space for the right people to lead
Study co-author Tamara Tucker, a Noongar language educator and founder of Yalkarang Consulting, said that while many teachers might feel underqualified to bring story, song and Country into a language lesson – especially if it's not their own culture – it's okay to feel nervous.
“Recognising that you don't know everything is a really respectful place to start,” Tucker told The Educator. “As educators, we all have a responsibility to create culturally safe learning environments, but we also need to recognise the limits of our own knowledge.”
Tucker said when it comes to teaching First Nations language and culture, the most important thing isn't trying to become the expert, it's creating space for the right people to lead.
“Every First Nations language, story and cultural practice belongs to the people of that Country,” she said. “If you're teaching on Noongar Country, then Noongar people should be leading the teaching of Noongar language and culture.”
Tucker said building trust with community starts with one simple gesture.
“Teachers play an incredibly important role, not by replacing community voices, but by building relationships with them. Reach out to local Elders, families and community members,” she said. “Invite them into your classroom. Learn alongside your students. That models respect, humility and lifelong learning.”
For Tucker, good intentions count for little without genuine action behind them.
“You don't have to have all the answers; you just need to be willing to create opportunities for First Nations people to share our knowledge in our own way.”
Meaningful commitment starts with relationships, not programs
Tucker said too often schools think they've embedded Aboriginal education because they've booked an annual incursion or celebrated NAIDOC Week.
“While those activities have value, they shouldn't be the extent of a school's commitment,” she said. “Real change happens when schools build genuine, long-term partnerships with the First Nations community of the Country they're on.”
That means local First Nations people are welcomed into the school regularly, not as visitors, but as valued partners in education, Tucker pointed out.
“Those relationships should be nurtured over years, not just around significant events,” she said. “This commitment also has to come from the whole school. It can't rest on the shoulders of one passionate teacher.”
Tucker said school leaders need to prioritise it, resource it and make it part of the school's culture and strategic direction.
“When leadership values these relationships, staff have the confidence and support to continue building them,” she said.
“Ultimately, if we want our First Nations children to yalkarang [Noongar; to blossom] we must create spaces where they see their own people leading, where their identities are celebrated, and where their knowledge is recognised as a strength.”
Tucker said that when First Nations people are empowered to teach their own language and culture, every child benefits.
“Students gain a deeper understanding of the Country they live on, and schools become places of genuine respect, belonging and shared learning.”