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There are both educational and cultural benefits to first language (L1) instruction, particularly in the early years of school, but in Australia, few Indigenous language-speaking students are taught in their own languages. Teaching mathematics in Indigenous languages requires both linguistically capable Indigenous educators and the identification and development of suitable mathematics terminology. This paper reports on the collaborative development of a program reintroducing mathematics lessons in Mawng language at Warruwi Community School. This project developed the capacity of an Indigenous educator to take on more responsibility for the content of the class teaching. Lessons focussing on spatifal sequencing terminology were developed to extend students' use of core Mawng grammatical features while also reinforcing important local cultural knowledge. A collaboration between a non-Indigenous researcher and a Mawng educator, the paper concludes with factors contributing to the sustainability of the project.

This study focussed on the effect of grammar of Iwaidja, an indigenous Australian language, on mathematical conceptualisation. It investigated route description in Iwaidja. Spatial concepts such as direction, height and movement in relation to another object are briefly described using examples. Differences between English and Iwaidja are used to illustrate the some of the impact of grammar on mathematical conceptualisation. The implications are discussed in terms of how understanding these grammatical features can help teachers, especially when children are not fluent in the language of instruction, as well as providing keys to cross-linguistic investigations of mathematical cognition.

Researching how mathematical expression varies in different languages requires methodologies which allow investigation of languages on their own terms and the presentation of mathematical data in multiple languages. Perspectives and tools from linguistics can assist in identifying and describing mathematical expression in varied languages, particularly those without a school mathematics register. A typological approach, which deals with finding, describing and classifying languages according to their structural similarities and differences, is useful to investigate how a mathematical function or process is performed in different ways in different languages. Interactive structured tasks can elicit rich and targeted mathematical language data, where details of mathematically language are difficult to elicit through direct questions and interviewing. An interlinear morphemic gloss can be used to show more information about the structure of short texts in languages other than the publication language. Such research is an ideal forum for collaboration between mathematics education researchers and linguists.

This paper presents research into the benefits and implementation strategies of integrating location-based mobile learning games in higher education courses to enhance educational experiences. Two approaches were studied: learning by playing, and learning by designing. In the first, games were developed for undergraduate courses in four discipline areas, introduced during lectures, and played by students during a tutorial, as a self-guided activity or field excursion. In the second, students designed and developed their own prototype games as an educational activity to explore pedagogical strategies in personalised learning. Observations were made as students played and designed games. Online surveys, focus groups, and game analytics were used to help understand player behaviour and discover satisfaction rates, engagement, and the impact on learning outcomes. Results indicate that both the playing and self-designing of location-based mobile learning games can deliver active, engaging, and authentic educational experiences for students, enhancing opportunities to interact with locations, mobile content, and with each other. The impact of design, implementation strategy, and support on a student's motivation for, and engagement with, the learning is discussed, along with the designing of games to offer an opportunity for students to personalise their learning and develop new ICT skills.

Effective mathematics teaching for Indigenous language speaking students needs to be based on fair expectations of both students and teachers. Concepts of "age-appropriate learning" and "school readiness" structure assessment expectations that entire cohorts of Indigenous language speaking students are unable to meet. This institutionalises both student and teacher failure, as both are exhorted to meet unachievable expectations. The voices of teachers teaching in a very remote school provide insight into teachers' responses to the mismatch between the system expectations and the teaching context. Teacher interviews in a small Northern Territory school, conducted within an ethnographic study, showed that teachers' decisions regarding the level of mathematics curriculum taught were informed by students' prior learning and by the language dynamic in their classrooms. The need and pressure to teach Standard Australian English also affected how mathematics was taught. This leads to a reformulation of the concept of school readiness to ask how schools can be more ready for their Indigenous language speaking students in terms of preparing and supporting teachers.

The Aboriginal English spoken by Indigenous children in remote communities in the Northern Territory of Australia is influenced by the home languages spoken by themselves and their families. This affects uses of spatial terms used in mathematics such as "in front" and "behind." Speakers of the endangered Indigenous Australian language Iwaidja use the intrinsic frame of reference in contexts where speakers of Standard Australian English use the relative frame of reference. Children speaking Aboriginal English show patterns of use that parallel the Iwaidja contexts. This paper presents detailed examples of spatial descriptions in Iwaidja and Aboriginal English that demonstrate the parallel patterns of use. The data comes from a study that investigated how an understanding of spatial frame of reference in Iwaidja could assist teaching mathematics to Indigenous language-speaking students. Implications for teaching mathematics are explored for teachers without previous experience in a remote Indigenous community.

The guiding policies for the conservation of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage material at Museum Victoria are outlined. The primary tenet of the most important of these policies is that museums support the right of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to self-determination with respect to cultural heritage matters. The application of the key principles in these policies is described in relation to conservation issues for the development of Bunjilaka, the Aboriginal Centre at Melbourne Museum. Several case studies of conservation treatments and their attendant ethical issues are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]