The Invisible Hand of Pedagogy in Australian Indigenous Studies and Indigenous Education

Abstract

The Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC)-funded project ‘Exploring Problem-Based Learning Pedagogy as Transformative Education in Indigenous Australian Studies’ raised a number of issues that resonated with concerns we have had as professionals engaged in teaching and researching Australian Indigenous studies and Indigenous education. In this discursive paper we air some of the concerns we share which emerge from our collective research and teaching interests. We argue that Australian Indigenous studies and Indigenous education are too frequently collapsed or used interchangeably, and while there is tension between these areas rather than see as a problem we chose to interrogate this and argue for the potential for fruitful intellectual collaboration. This article problematises pedagogy and finds that sustained effort needs to be made to understand how pedagogical approaches to Australian Indigenous studies and Indigenous education are guiding and shaping each cognate area.

Challenging Lecturer Assumptions About Preservice Teacher Learning in Mandatory Indigenous Studies

“…The mandatory Indigenous Studies subjects referred to in this research also aim to develop preservice teacher knowledge of the ‘pedagogical approaches, curriculum developments and assessment issues around the learning needs of Indigenous students and how to teach non-Indigenous students about Indigenous society’ (Ma Rhea & Russell, 2012, p. 20). Ma Rhea and Russell (2012) argue that developing preservice teacher knowledge about these pedagogical approaches should be considered a distinct cognate area — Indigenous education as a method. Their paper highlights the need for further investigation into the pedagogical, curricular and assessment decision-making processes of these cognate areas as Universities seek to develop graduate skills and knowledge across a range of professional domains (p. 20).…”

How We Do Business: Setting the Agenda for Cultural Competence at the University of Sydney

“…Its motto sidere mens eadem mutate ('The constellation is changed, the disposition is the same') (The University of Sydney n.d.-b) highlights its proud history which explicitly builds on the traditions of its British heritage, down to its sandstone buildings and disciplinary agendas which were entrenched in colonial imperialism. While the University was founded on espoused values of equality and access to all, like other Australian universities its pedagogical foundation was modelled on the British system which was originally designed to educate the aristocracy (Ma Rhea and Russell 2012). This embedding of a particular type of Western education is important to note because, like other Australian universities, the various functions of the University have impacted heavily on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples:…”

Culturally Inclusive Curriculum in Higher Education

“…From the beginning of the subject through to the end, we ensure pre-service teachers are alert to an overriding tenet for Indigenous Education: ‘who’ is able or allowed to do the teaching (Ma Rhea & Russell, 2012, p. 21). The subject works because our workshops are led by Indigenous speakers, the very people who have the right to share their knowledge and the very people best equipped to build cultural competence in our pre-service teachers.…”