From the ground up: How Aboriginal languages teachers design school-based programs in their local language ecology, with Carmel Ryan, Marmingee Hand, Nathan Schrieber and Michael Jarrett

In the International Year of Indigenous Languages (2019), this paper highlights the work of four Aboriginal language teachers. Their languages are among the many first languages of the Australian continent, yet the right of these languages to a place in schools has been hard-fought and they have a relatively short history of being taught in classrooms. As a consequence of past policies that caused broad language loss, and the minoritisation of their languages in education systems, the teachers' work requires a wide range of skills. Each of the teachers works in a different language ecology, and each ecology necessitates responding to a particular configuration of languages, which impacts on the teachers' access to speakers and resources. The authors of this article are connected through their varied roles and experience in the field of Indigenous languages revival and maintenance. The teachers' contexts are unpacked through semi-structured interviews and a collaborative writing process. The article aims to capture both the unique characteristics of teachers' work across diverse language ecologies, and the common features of each setting. It celebrates the teachers' achievements, and outlines the challenges they face, demonstrating ways that teaching Aboriginal languages differs from teaching other languages in Australia.