Asia literacy: Getting parents on board

Ian Dalton, Executive Director of the Australian Parents Council at the 2011 AEF National Summit.

Ian Dalton of the Australian Parents Council (APC) and AEF Advisory Board Member, outlines a unique project for parents entitled Parents Understanding Asia Literacy (PUAL). The project is being rolled out in 2012 with a series of parent and mentor training programs that will build an engaged, informed and supported network of parents focused on engaging their children and school communities on the importance of Asian languages and studies. More information at the PUAL website.

Ian explains that parents are an influential part of student decision-making: ‘You won’t get students on board if you don’t get parents on board. They’re very influential in the types of career paths young people are going to follow.’

Ian outlines the rationale for the project. ‘A lot of the groundwork in the past has just involved students and teachers but this will move things on to the parental component as well.’ 

An inclusive approach

He states that the project would be collaborative. ‘What works effectively is that if you start getting them talking among each other, they’ll generally start coming up with the sorts of directions that you’re trying to go at them anyway,’ he continues. 

The project aims to assemble a cohort of about 150 parent advocates from 75 schools nationwide in about 15 clusters. Each cluster will have one parent mentors who will host cluster training workshops providing information and stimulating dialogue. Parents wishing to register their interest should do so by Friday 18th November 2011.

Ian emphasised the need to make Asia literacy meaningful in the here and now, and perhaps steer away from emphasis on elitist career choice.

‘Of the three and half million students in Australian schools how many is [the opportunity of a career in diplomacy] talking to? How many kids at this point in time…have those aspirations?’ he asks.

‘One of the problems I see in the way we promote Asia and Asian languages is that we tend to keep it at the big end of town,’ he ventures. ‘I think we need to start crawling a bit before we start to walk and run at such an elite level.’

The APC is leading the project along with the AEF, the Family-School and Community Partnerships Bureau, the Australian Council of State School Organisations, Beasley Intercultural Pty Ltd and Erebus International.

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  Ian Dalton at the 2011 AEF National Summit

  ‘It’s very much a seminal piece of work and we’re very excited about its potential to take the studies of Asia agenda forward.’

  Audio: 14:53