EAL students work on mind scapes comparing the natural places in their first home and their new Australian home.
By Daryl Pellizzer
THE other morning I worked with Mr Win Kyi. We watched a video on ABC’s Behind the News about Deep Time. It showed that first nations people have been in Australia for 65,000 years.
Win Kyi asked me if there were many Aboriginal teachers or police or doctors. We talked about how if Aboriginal people studied and got the right qualifications then they could do those jobs. I explained that compared to the number of non-indigenous Australians there are not many indigenous people here. There were a lot more before colonisation. Many were shot or moved off their land so they didn’t have the food and water that they needed.
THE other morning I worked with Mr Win Kyi. We watched a video on ABC’s Behind the News about Deep Time. It showed that first nations people have been in Australia for 65,000 years.
Win Kyi asked me if there were many Aboriginal teachers or police or doctors. We talked about how if Aboriginal people studied and got the right qualifications then they could do those jobs. I explained that compared to the number of non-indigenous Australians there are not many indigenous people here. There were a lot more before colonisation. Many were shot or moved off their land so they didn’t have the food and water that they needed.
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Win Kyi observed that the English culture and Aboriginal culture are very different. He asked if the Aboriginal people had any farms. I told him that traditionally they farmed the land using controlled fire but they didn’t have fences. They shaped the land using cool burning fire so that they knew where to find food and water.
Win Kyi said that when he saw Aboriginal people on TV that they seemed very happy, they sing and dance and paint their skin. I said yes, they have many stories about the land and the animals and how these were formed. |
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We talked about the meaning of the word traditional and if modern medicine is better than traditional medicine. And how in Myanmar there is also traditional knowledge of medicine. When you are a long way away from a doctor or a hospital if you know which leaf can help stop you bleeding from a cut this can be very useful.
The other day out in the garden I said that it is amazing how the blossoms stay on the tree in the strong wind. Win Kyi told me that one traditional saying from his Myanmar culture was Flowers beware of wind, people beware of people.
We also talked about the different traditional foods people eat. He told me that when he was young many people would hunt birds with a shanghai or slingshot amongst the sugar cane. People also hunted frogs to eat. We watched a video of people finding, cooking and eating witchetty grubs. Win Kyi said that now in Myanmar there are not as many birds or frogs around. He asked me why I thought that was.
We talked about the loss of natural habitat, deforestation, urbanisation, overhunting and climate change. We also talked about how many people seemed only to want more and more. It was a very nice conversation. We enjoyed talking to each other about all the various topics and sharing our stories and ideas.
Below are a couple of mind scapes Mr Win Kyi has been making in class for our interviews.
The other day out in the garden I said that it is amazing how the blossoms stay on the tree in the strong wind. Win Kyi told me that one traditional saying from his Myanmar culture was Flowers beware of wind, people beware of people.
We also talked about the different traditional foods people eat. He told me that when he was young many people would hunt birds with a shanghai or slingshot amongst the sugar cane. People also hunted frogs to eat. We watched a video of people finding, cooking and eating witchetty grubs. Win Kyi said that now in Myanmar there are not as many birds or frogs around. He asked me why I thought that was.
We talked about the loss of natural habitat, deforestation, urbanisation, overhunting and climate change. We also talked about how many people seemed only to want more and more. It was a very nice conversation. We enjoyed talking to each other about all the various topics and sharing our stories and ideas.
Below are a couple of mind scapes Mr Win Kyi has been making in class for our interviews.
Mind scaping involves colouring and drawing but it is not, as some might think, merely colouring in. It is a way of thinking and recording ideas. I encouraged the students to make these in order to have conversation prompts during their interviews.
Win Kyi and his wife, Thei Mu, were interviewed and recorded by Terry Melvin and Laura Brearley this week for their film We Left Our Days.
The mind scapes helped with the flow of stories and conversations. The theme of these interviews is an attempted comparison between the sense of special natural place in the students’ first home and their sense of special natural place in their new Australian home.
This story was first published in Wonderful Students Hit the Page, Daryl Pellizzer's Substack newsletter about his students’ learning journeys.
The mind scapes helped with the flow of stories and conversations. The theme of these interviews is an attempted comparison between the sense of special natural place in the students’ first home and their sense of special natural place in their new Australian home.
This story was first published in Wonderful Students Hit the Page, Daryl Pellizzer's Substack newsletter about his students’ learning journeys.