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Language Practices of Indigenous Children and Youth pp 23–48Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Curriculum as Knowledge System: The Warlpiri Theme Cycle

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Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Minority Languages and Communities ((PSMLC))

Abstract

In this chapter, we describe the development and use of the Warlpiri theme cycle, an Australian Indigenous language and culture curriculum, created by educators, elders and community members for four Warlpiri schools located in Central Australia. The Warlpiri curriculum is a three-year cycle, with 12 themes or knowledge domains, which are central to Warlpiri people and their land, language, law and culture. We present the theme cycle as the reflection and enactment of a living Indigenous Knowledge system in the teaching and learning programme in the Warlpiri schools. Processes of knowledge reproduction are examined. These processes are reflected in the ongoing development of the theme cycle and its knowledge domains, as well as in the pedagogies used in the Warlpiri programs.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    ‘Skin’ is a classificatory moiety system. There are eight skin groups, with eight male names and eight female names. Every Warlpiri person has a skin name through their mother and father. This links all Warlpiri through as classificatory kin, such as mother and father and also husband and wife, and so the skin system prescribes relationships between people. Patri- and matrimoiety groups are linked to places, sites and Dreamings belonging to a skin group. Many other Aboriginal groups across Australia share similar skin systems, and so it is possible to establish classificatory kin relations with others.

  2. 2.

    Visit http://laal.cdu.edu.au/.

  3. 3.

    To see this paper presented by Warlpiri educators Valerie Patterson Napanangka and Sharon Anderson Nampijinpa at the 2014 Garma Festival, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdCboHjkk5w.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    Samantha Disbray

  2. Yuendumu School, Yuendumu, NT, Australia

    Barbara Martin

Authors
  1. Samantha Disbray
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  2. Barbara Martin
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Languages and Linguistics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Gillian Wigglesworth

  2. Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Jane Simpson

  3. Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

    Jill Vaughan

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Disbray, S., Martin, B. (2018). Curriculum as Knowledge System: The Warlpiri Theme Cycle. In: Wigglesworth, G., Simpson, J., Vaughan, J. (eds) Language Practices of Indigenous Children and Youth. Palgrave Studies in Minority Languages and Communities. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60120-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60120-9_2

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