Language in the classroom
Using the appropriate language when addressing Aboriginal culture in the classroom is essential. When the correct terminology is used, teachers can uplift our culture, encouraging students to view it as a deeply meaningful and equally powerful source of knowledge. In this blog series, we unpack the most common language misunderstandings we have encountered and how to address them.
‘Dreamtime’
Dreaming or Dreamtime is space that exists outside of linear time in which a complex interplay of story, spirit and landscape merge with other realms of consciousness. Dreamtime is the space that holds sacred stories about the creation of life, moral lore and nature’s patterns. These stories diversify according to what Country they originate from. Dreamtime does not exist in linear time and therefore it is infinitely existing around us at every moment and thus the wisdom it carries is relevant to every moment. Dreamtime holds advanced geological science and spiritual knowledge that enabled Indigenous Australians to live in one of the most successful and harmonious relationships with each other and the land for more than 65,000 years.
Due to its complexity it is, not surprisingly, often misunderstood by the Western mind. But if teachers speak from this place of confusion and misunderstanding, our culture and people suffer. Stigmas, racist views and arrogance builds in our classrooms and wider communities. We must be uplifting the language in the classroom, especially around Dreamtime, if we are to create the belief within all Australians that Aboriginal systems are not only advanced and knowledgeable but extremely relevant today.
