{"id":25982,"date":"2024-09-06T11:01:42","date_gmt":"2024-09-06T03:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/?post_type=media-release&p=25982"},"modified":"2024-09-06T11:01:46","modified_gmt":"2024-09-06T03:01:46","slug":"curtin-celebrates-success-of-moombaki-cultural-learnings-project","status":"publish","type":"media-release","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/media-release\/curtin-celebrates-success-of-moombaki-cultural-learnings-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Curtin celebrates success of Moombaki Cultural Learnings Project"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Curtin University is proud to celebrate the successful pilot of the Moombaki Cultural Learnings Project, a unique program aimed at boosting the wellbeing and school attendance of Aboriginal children by connecting them to their identity, culture, country and kin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Moombaki program, named after the Noongar phrase meaning \u201cwhere the river meets the sky\u201d, was piloted in three public primary schools and combines a virtual reality game with classroom lessons to educate all students about Noongar language, traditions and history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program recently won the 2024 Curtinnovation Humanities Award<\/a>, recognising its innovative approach to education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lead researcher, Professor Cheryl Kickett-Tucker, said the initiative fosters a sense of pride and identity in Aboriginal children, while also encouraging a deeper understanding and respect for Indigenous culture among non-Aboriginal students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Moombaki mobile app and virtual reality experience are innovative digital tools that allow students to embark on a quest to explore Noongar culture in an engaging, interactive way,\u201d Professor Kickett-Tucker said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStudents wear a VR set and are assigned a totem or spiritual emblem, such as a kangaroo or swan, which guides them through their journey, immersing them in Aboriginal ways of doing, making and being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe hope that by connecting with their culture and language, students will value their identity, which not only boosts their self-esteem but also positively influences their school attendance, laying a foundation for success in the classroom and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Koya Aboriginal Corporation cultural educators delivered the program to four classrooms across three schools in the City of Swan, reaching more than 100 students, including 38 Aboriginal children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The eight-week program incorporates a variety of educational tools, including workshops, digital modules and on-country experiences, covering seven key themes such as \u2018Boodja\u2019 (Place), \u2018Moort\u2019 (People), \u2018Moorditj\u2019 (Wellbeing) and \u2018Mardaa\u2019 (Language).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funded by the Australian Research Council and Curtin University, there are plans to expand the program, building on its success in the City of Swan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Curtin University is proud to celebrate the successful pilot of the Moombaki Cultural Learnings Project, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4454,"featured_media":25983,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"7209,6716,5390,7714,7295,7307","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_research-areas":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[1055,211,228],"research-areas":[],"class_list":["post-25982","media-release","type-media-release","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander","tag-moombaki","tag-research","tag-students"],"acf":{"experts":false,"post_options":{"":null,"additional_content":{"title":"","content":"","image":false},"related_courses":[{"title":"","qualification":"","link":"","description":"","faculty":""}],"credits":{"author":"","photographer":"","media":[24383,24381]},"display_author":true,"banner":{"image":false}}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Media-Release-Image-Landscape-1920-x-1080-1000x500.jpg","author_meta":{"display_name":"294101E"},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release\/25982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/media-release"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release\/25982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25982"},{"taxonomy":"research-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-areas?post=25982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}