Australian Indigenous students:
ALSS Program
ALSS stands for Aboriginal Language Speaking Students. The ALSS program has a strong focus on the two way approach strategy developed by the Western Australian Department of Education (2012). This strategy has been designed to assist teachers who have indigenous EAL/D students in their classroom.
In short, the two way approach is based around having information flow both ways. This strategy prides itself on all parties working hand in hand to improve the schooling experience and outcomes for the indigenous EAL/D student.
The main feature of this strategy is to have a person of the same cultural background as your EAL/D student in the classroom. This person can help facilitate a relationship between not only teacher and student but also teacher and parent/community. By having someone of the same cultural background as your EAL/D student, you are making the transition into mainstream schooling easier for your EAL/D student. As a teacher, you can work one on one with this person to plan and implement curriculum content in a way that your EAL/D student can understand. This person is able to help translate to aid both the teacher and the EAL/D student.
For further information on the ALSS program we have provided the link to the paper in the resources tab.