Teaching article
Selecting First Nations resources: start with authority and context
Evaluate authorship, authority, context and suitability before classroom use.
An attractive downloadable page can still omit who created it, whose knowledge it represents or how it may be used. Apply the AIATSIS selection guidance to the actual resource instead of treating online availability as an approval signal.
Use the selection guidance as a process rather than an approval badge. Evaluate the actual resource and its intended classroom use.
Examine the resource's stated authority
Identify who created it. Check cultural context and permissions. Assess its intended audience.
A resource naming a particular community provides more context than a generic cultural label.
Availability online does not establish permission. Whose authority supports this resource?
Prepare a short educator checklist.
Resources
- Reflection Journal Template — Record the creator, source, permission questions and planning decision before selecting classroom material.
Further reading
- AIATSIS — evaluating and selecting education resources
- Harmony Week — official organiser information
Read next
- One cultural account speaks from a particular perspective
- Plan a cultural guest visit around the expertise being offered
- A festival activity should connect accurately to its context
Explore Respectful cultural and historical inquiry. Browse all teaching articles.