Raising the Bar Closing the Gap maana

Educational value

• This resource is of value in supporting the literacy and numeracy components of the English and mathematics curriculum areas and their application in the context of student diversity. It describes Aboriginal students' improved attendance at maana schools and their improvements in persuasive writing and in reading. The resource also discusses the lessons learned from the program at the school and jurisdictional levels as well as the next steps for the schools involved and for the Tasmanian Department of Education.
• The resource exemplifies the application of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures cross-curriculum priority, not only in the English and mathematics curriculums, but within a whole-school approach. The maana program is connected particularly well to the priority's central theme of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identity and to its organising idea that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People's ways of life are uniquely expressed through ways of being, knowing, thinking and doing.

Year level

1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8

Topics Teaching methods Learning strategies Cultural identity Teacher professional learning Learning motivation Aboriginal students Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples