Multiliteracies in Torres Strait: A Mabuiag Island State School Diabetes Project

In 2001, teachers designed and implemented a small project for Years 6 and 7 that involved creating a radio commercial about an important local issue in Torres Strait - diabetes. Although the school was not a New Basics trial school, which would have entitled it to Education Queensland support funding and in-service support, the project displayed key characteristics of a New Basics approach because it linked learning to life outside the school, implemented an uncluttered, transdisciplinary curriculum and blended traditional with new technologies. This paper concentrates on one commercial that demonstrates a powerful use of multiliteracies (English, local language (Yumplatok) and popular culture).