Honouring student repertoires: connecting oracy to “ways of being”

This paper employs autoethnography in a multilingual indigenous community in the north of Australia to examine the in-practice challenges of both oracy and dialogue in a classroom in which shared language and culture are minimal. Through narrative, this paper examines some dilemmas of dialogue, particularly in regard to the ontological responsiveness needed to create a classroom in which all members are able to participate dialogically. In seeking to crack open the culturally situated nature of oracy and dialogue, doing so through examinations of other “ways of oracy” that occur in the local indigenous context, this paper proposes that the dilemmas around dialogue for CALD students are not just issues of linguistic and cultural access but also an ontological third space. The nature of this challenge requires teachers to first engage with reflective ontological and pedagogical ‘moves’ as a precursor to dialogic possibilities in the classroom. Drawing on intercultural communication, third space theory and the cultural interface, this paper illustrates some possibilities for teacher reflection to ensure greater recognition of all students' repertoires and increased dialogic possibility.