What path do you take if the metaphorical mountain is too steep for both learners and teachers to climb?
In this episode of the Language on the Move Podcast, Dr Agnes Bodis talks to Hannah Madin and Catherine White. Hannah is a Teaching and Learning Officer at the Department of Education in the Northern Territory (Australia), and Catherine White is a Teaching and Learning Coach in secondary education.
We are zooming in on learning English as an additional language or dialect in remote communities in Australia’s Northern Territory (NT). There are numerous Aboriginal languages spoken there as well as dialects of English. However, the language of schooling remains Standard Australian English.
We discuss this mismatch between first or home languages, language of education, and teacher preparedness. Hannah and Catherine outline a collaborative project by the NT Department of Education to remove these barriers to learning in the school context. The project is called “Roadmap to Stage 1 Essential English and Mathematics” and includes not only the creation of teaching support materials, but the creation of an online Community of Practice, a professional learning program and school visits.
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Additional resources
Remote school in the Northern Territory (Image credit: NT Department of Education)
Madin, H. (2026) Road to Success in the NT Department of Education and Training. In Dinneen, C., M. Reed, P. Humphreys (Eds.), Proceedings of the Macquarie University 2025 Global EMI Symposium: collaborations in EMI. Macquarie University College.
Macquarie University 2025 Global EMI Symposium recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slr6PXz-AEE
Related content
Bodis, A., & Kettle, M. (2024). Supporting multilingual families to engage with schools. Language on the Move. https://languageonthemove.com/supporting-multilingual-families-to-engage-with-schools/
Bodis, A., & Valdez, C. (2025). Your languages are your superpower! Language on the Move. https://languageonthemove.com/your-languages-are-your-superpower/
Quick, B., & Ollerhead, S. (2025). Why teachers turn to AI. Language on the Move. https://languageonthemove.com/why-teachers-turn-to-ai/
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