Barayamal

First Scientists in Your Classroom

A Barayamal scorecard

First Scientists in Your Classroom

You know First Nations knowledge belongs in your science classroom. Do you know whether you are doing it well? Fourteen questions, about three minutes and a plan you can use in Term 4.

Start the scorecard
Dean Foley, Kamilaroi man and founder of Barayamal, sitting on a carved wooden bench
Dean Foley, founder of Barayamal

What you will find out

You will find out which of four areas your practice is weakest in and what to do about each one, with a next step matched to your result.

Why Barayamal

Barayamal is a First Nations-owned and led Australian non-profit that has backed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander founders since 2016: 1,400+ people supported, 360+ employers connected and $1.37M leveraged. It publishes the Blakwashing field guide, the public record of organisations' First Nations claims and the 3% Pledge directory, reviewed on 5 August 2026. The name means Black Swan in Gamilaraay.

Three minutes, then a plan

14 questions · about 3 minutes · free · no login

Finish and you get the free Wikipedia Editing for Beginners: First Nations Edition course (1 hr 40 min, no card or trial) plus a short resource list matched to your result.

Your answers are stored by Barayamal to show your result and improve this tool. Name and email are optional. Privacy, cookies and terms

The scorecard

First Scientists in Your Classroom

Answer for the classroom you actually teach in. You get your score and the four-area breakdown, and you can copy or print the result.

Step 1 of 15

Sourcing

1 Was the last First Nations science resource you used in class written or reviewed by a First Nations person?

Go with what you know now. If the resource does not say, answer 'Not sure'.

Sourcing

2 When you use a First Nations science example, do you tell students where it came from: the people, the place and the source?

Sourcing

3 Have you or your school paid a First Nations person or organisation for their time or knowledge in the last twelve months?

A paid incursion, a paid review of a unit or a paid yarn all count. A free favour does not.

Protocol

4 If a student asked 'who gave you permission to teach this?', could you answer?

Protocol

5 Do you know which parts of what you teach are openly shared knowledge and which are restricted or belong to particular people?

Some knowledge is public and published. Some is held by particular families, genders or Elders and is not for a classroom.

Protocol

6 When you are unsure whether something is appropriate to teach, do you have someone you can ask?

Specificity

7 Can you name the nation or language group that your last First Nations science example came from?

Not 'Aboriginal' or 'Indigenous'. The actual people.

Specificity

8 Can you name the Traditional Owners of the land your school sits on without looking it up?

Specificity

9 Do you teach the seasonal calendar of the Country your school is on?

If the only calendar you use comes from somewhere else in Australia, choose the middle option.

Practice

10 Does First Nations content appear in your science program outside Science Week and NAIDOC Week?

Practice

11 Do your students do science with First Nations knowledge, such as observing, testing or making, rather than only reading about it?

Practice

12 In the last year, have you changed something in your teaching because of feedback from a First Nations student, family member or colleague?
13 Which best describes you?
14 If Barayamal asked, would you share a short case study of something you did in your classroom?

No obligation. It helps us decide who to invite.

15 Anything you want to tell us about how you teach First Nations science? (optional)

One line is plenty. Leave it blank if you are in a hurry.