Covid-19 and In(di)genuity: Lessons from Indigenous resilience,adaptation, and innovation in times of crisis

In the midst of the global Covid-19 pandemic, educators are invited to pause and reconsider the legacies this crisis will leave for future generations. What lessons do we take forward in a post-Covid-19 curriculum? This article contemplates the value of Indigenous resilience, innovation, and adaptation in times of crisis—“In(di)genuity”, if you will—and considers its implications on Indigenous knowledge and the curricular discourse more broadly. Despite encouraging developments in Indigenous education since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a settler historical consciousness continues to pervade the modern discourse of Indigenous education, insofar as Indigenous knowledge is often perceived as outdated, irrelevant, or inferior to Western knowledge systems. This problematic misconception ignores the resilience, innovation, and adaptation that Indigenous peoples have demonstrated in the face of historical crises. This article offers an Indigenous perspective on crisis, grief, and renewal in the context of Covid-19 and advocates for the renewal of the Canadian curricular landscape.

     

The potential of critical race theory in decolonizing university curricula

This paper critiques our experiences as non-Indigenous Australian educators of working with numerous embedding Indigenous perspectives curricular projects at an Australian university. Reporting on these project outcomes alone, while useful in identifying limitations, does not illustrate ways in which future embedding and decolonizing projects can persist and evolve. Deeper analysis is required of the ways in which Indigenous knowledge and perspectives are perceived, and what “embedding” Indigenous Knowledge in university curricula truly means to various educational stakeholders. To achieve a deeper analysis and propose ways to invigorate the continuing decolonization of Australian university curricula, this paper critically interrogates the methodology and conceptualization of Indigenous knowledge in embedding Indigenous perspectives (EIP) in the university curriculum using tenets of critical race theory. Accordingly, we conduct this analysis from the standpoint that EIP should not subscribe to the luxury of independence of scholarship from politics and activism. The learning objective is to create a space to legitimize politics in the intellectual/academic realm. We conclude by arguing that critical race theory's emancipatory, future and action-oriented goals for curricula would enhance effective and sustainable embedding initiatives, and ultimately, preventing such initiatives from returning to the status quo.     

An Aboriginal way towards curriculum reconciliation

ABSTRACT

This paper introduces the context and design of an institutional educational development grants program, Jindaola, which reflects an Aboriginal way towards reconciling Indigenous and non-Indigenous Knowledges in the Australian higher education curriculum. The program is unique in two ways: it foregrounds the voice of Aboriginal local Knowledge Holders in the design and implementation of the program; and, rather than focussing on embedding predefined ‘packages’ of Indigenous Knowledges and pedagogies into curricula, the approach adheres to Aboriginal methods for conducting business and maintaining knowledge integrity, by taking interdisciplinary teams of academics on a journey towards what we are calling ‘curriculum reconciliation’.     

Learning from mistakes and moving forward in intercultural research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

The ongoing challenges in equitable research involving Indigenous peoples and their communities and ways to overcome these are discussed in this article. Central to this article is the narrative reflection of a non-Indigenous researcher following research on Indigenous spirituality, well-being and resilience in the Yaegl community of northern New South Wales, Australia, conducted between 2003 and 2010. Upon reflection several years after the studies, the researcher has identified several inadequacies in the ways in which the research was conceptualised, designed, conducted and supervised. In seeking to critically reflect on and learn from this experience, with the hope of contributing to better understanding and protocols in research with Indigenous peoples, as well as improved models of higher degree research (HDR) supervision in this space, the researcher has collaborated with an Indigenous academic to incorporate theory and Indigenous knowledge in highlighting considerations for better research training and practice.     

‘I wouldn’t have been culturally safe’: health science students’ experiences of transformative learning within Indigenous Studies

ABSTRACT

Despite a significant body of literature espousing the transformative impacts of Australian Indigenous Studies curriculum upon students, there remains a limited body of work related to how these students experience and learn within this complex environment. This is particularly notable for research aligned with Mezirow’s transformative learning theory. Reporting on a qualitative study, this paper offers a perspective into students’ transformative experiences within a tertiary first-year Indigenous Studies health course. Thirteen non-Indigenous students were interviewed about their learning experiences within this context. Explicitly framed by Mezirow’s transformative learning theory, thematic analysis findings suggest students consistently experience precursor steps to transformative learning including disorienting dilemmas, self-examination with guilt or shame, critical reflection on assumptions, exploration of new roles, and trying on new roles. The manifestation of these steps highlights the ways in which students experience learning in this space, and a range of elements influencing this – from students’ own positioning and approaches to learning, to the nature of the curricular and pedagogical approaches. This study offers nuanced insight into the complexity of students’ transformative learning experiences, suggesting students hold a range of contradictory perspectives at any one time. If curricular models are to be effective for the broader student body, we propose that (1) the complex intersection of students’ identity development, need for group belonging, learning approach, limitations in existing knowledge and capacity for complex thought requires further consideration in this context, and (2) greater institutional investment is necessary in both the development of educators in this space, and educational opportunities beyond first-year, lest we risk reinforcing extant beliefs and paradigms held by non-Indigenous Australians about Indigenous Australians, and a continuation of the health disparities these curricular offerings are designed to alleviate.     

‘Truth before reconciliation’: the difficulties of transforming higher education in settler colonial contexts*

ABSTRACT

In response to the contemporary context of reconciliation in Canada, colleges and universities have made efforts to ‘Indigenise’ their campuses, extending earlier, Indigenous-led efforts to create more space for Indigenous peoples and knowledges. While many welcome these efforts, others express concern that they fail to go beyond conditional inclusion to fundamentally shift relationships between settlers and Indigenous peoples. In this article, I examine these developments and suggest that most institutions and individuals have yet to face the full extent of their complicity in colonisation. I argue that perhaps it is only by doing so, and thus, arriving at the impossibility of reconciliation, that a transformation of settler–Indigenous relationships might be possible.     

What are the personal attributes a teacher needs to engage Indigenous students effectively in the learning process? Re-viewing the literature

ABSTRACT

Background: Teachers have the potential to make an enormous positive impact on the lives of their students, and may enter the classroom with a deep-set belief that education is, fundamentally, benevolent and good. However, such an uncritical stance may fail to account for the negative experiences of Indigenous students in Australia, where teachers are often cited as the primary reason Indigenous students leave school or refuse to go to school. Despite this, Aboriginal communities remain strong advocates of education and continue to lobby for a genuine and meaningful role in decision making.

Purpose: Given teachers’ critical influence, a collaboration was formed between the two authors: a Gamilaroi (Aboriginal) woman and a non-Indigenous Canadian woman, to conduct a review of the research. We asked: ‘What are the personal (non-academic) attributes a teacher needs to engage Indigenous students effectively in the learning process?’

Method: The literature review focused primarily on the Australian context and used a framework-based synthesis approach, whereby a decolonising ‘Relationally Responsive Standpoint’ framework was identified a priori. This provided the structure for extracting and synthesising the literature.

Findings and Discussion: The themes arising from the literature review were organised and considered through the framework, which foregrounds awareness through Respecting (self/motivations), Connecting (interpersonal) and Reflecting (knowledge) before concluding by Directing (future role). In Directing, the implications of the findings are discussed through yarning, a dialogical and dynamic approach with a strong future focus regarding the next steps of research and action.

Conclusions: Reviewing the literature in this way offers teachers, researchers, teacher educators and, arguably, policy-makers an opportunity to consider the personal attributes necessary to engage Indigenous students. It highlights the importance of critical self-reflection to being a relationally responsive teacher. We believe that the findings span international and professional boundaries and could impact on Indigenous Peoples globally, if all professions engage with an understanding of their own axiology and ontology.     

Conducting Indigenous research in Western knowledge spaces: aligning theory and methodology

Walking simultaneously in two worlds as an Indigenous researcher, navigating Indigenous and Western epistemologies/methodologies can have its challenges. Indigenous methodologies have become an important element of qualitative research and have been increasingly taken up by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers. Indigenous methodologies seek to ensure that the research is culturally safe and culturally respectful through recognition of Indigenous worldviews, respect, and accountability. It is no longer research on or about Indigenous people, rather it is becoming research for and with Indigenous people. In this paper, we reflect on the experiences of an Indigenous researcher working with a non-Indigenous supervisor within an overarching Western theoretical framework of poststructuralism while also using Indigenous methodologies. We discuss the tensions and points of connection that emerged in the research design process. We suggest that Indigenous and Western epistemologies/methodologies do not have to be used to the exclusion of each other; they can be used effectively to complement and support each other.     

Rethinking Environmental Education with the Help of Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Traditional Ecological Knowledge

In recent years, Indigenous ecological knowledge has been receiving increased attention due to its potential to help address the devastating impacts of climate change and environmental degradation. Indigenous peoples in various contexts have become engaged in collaborative research projects with scientists and other experts to build environmentally sustainable societies. Environmental education has been another site for incorporation of Indigenous knowledge systems and ways of knowing. This paper presents one such programme designed by the Bunun Indigenous group in Taiwan to support environmental learning and reconnection with the natural world of their group as well as other Indigenous and non-Indigenous individuals willing to participate. While the programme's objective is learning with and from the natural environment (the lessons that can be adopted by non-Indigenous groups), its other objectives include re-building and strengthening Indigenous identities, cultures and ways of life, and potentially contributing to decolonisation of settler societies and reconciliation between groups.     

Other ways of being: challenging dominant financial literacy discourses in Aboriginal Context

Financial literacy education (FLE) continues to gain momentum on a global scale. FLE is often described as essential learning for all citizens, despite the bulk of initiatives outside the compulsory school classrooms focussed on educating economically disadvantaged individuals. Informed by Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing a critical discourse analysis of FLE facilitators resources used in train-the-trainer workshops in/for a Canadian Aboriginal community was conducted to identify dominant discourses. An uncomfortable space was uncovered as the ubiquitous focus on individual wealth accumulation contradicted Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing, underscoring the challenges of embedding Indigenous epistemologies in highly institutionalised charitable organisations’ attempts to help Indigenous (and non-Indigenous) peoples in poverty. Although this research is based on a Canadian program, the explosion of FLE as a “solution” to collective problems such as poverty lends itself to other—including Australian—contexts.     

Counting and accounting for social justice in the devolved school: How do indigenous students fare?

Abstract

How does a self‐managing school meet the needs and aspirations of the most disenfranchised members of its community? What responsibilities should reside with the state and the education system in the quest for more equitable schooling outcomes? In the neo‐liberal state, responsibility for addressing educational disadvantage has largely been devolved to schools within centrally determined curriculum frameworks and accountability mechanisms. But there are disturbing signs that these new arrangements are not working in the interests of the most marginalised students and their families. This article explores the nexus between school‐based management and educational equality with particular reference to Indigenous students in a disadvantaged Australian school community. It reaffirms the need for well‐resourced and vibrant education bureaucracies as an integral component of a responsible approach to school‐based management.     

From the outside in: tutor perspectives of student transformative experiences within Indigenous Studies health education

ABSTRACT

While more is becoming understood about the effects of Indigenous Studies health curricula on student preparedness and attitudes toward working in Indigenous health contexts, less is known about how tutors in this space interpret student experiences and contribute to the development of preparedness. Reporting on a qualitative study, this article provides insight into tutors’ perceptions of tertiary first year health students’ transformative experiences in an Indigenous Studies health course. Twelve Indigenous and non-Indigenous tutors were interviewed about their teaching experiences within this context. Framed by Mezirow’s transformative learning theory, thematic analysis findings suggest tutors observe several precursor steps to transformative learning including disorienting dilemmas, critical reflection on assumptions, exploration of new roles, and trying on new roles. The content of these themes extends our understanding of how these precursor steps manifest, and the elements related to this. Findings also suggest tutors vary in their identification, interpretation and response to many of these pedagogical entry points. Within this learning context, the concept of teacher/student relationship is suggested as playing a meaningful role in the positioning and efficacy of tutors. This impacts tutors' understanding of transformative learning, the social construction of students, consequent interpretations of student experiences, and means of facilitating cognitive and affective learning. We propose a reconceptualisation of thinking around teaching in this space, with a focus on both further development of educator capabilities and student curricular opportunities to promote transformative learning appropriate to the stated goals of the Australian Indigenous Studies learning and teaching context. The findings indicate that institutional investment in the development of educators in this space remains vitally important.     

Dewey called them Utopians,I call them ancestors

Abstract

In this article, I will describe how the Utopians whom John Dewey once referenced are possibly the ancestors of Indigenous peoples, in this case, ancestors of the Diné. I will describe a Diné philosophy of education through the Kinaa?dá ceremony which was the first ceremony created by the Holy People of the Diné to ensure the survival of the people. I frame this ceremony as an educational experience that illuminates the similarities between the Diné and Utopian philosophies of education. It is through an understanding and experiencing of the Kinaa?dá that one can fully experience a real example of the ‘Utopian schools.’ It is through an upbringing within a non-acquisitive paradigm, ontologically and epistemologically, that one can fully envision this society that William Schubert explains through a compilation of various philosophers and theorists in order to make it understandable to an acquisitive society. The oral teachings from my ancestors through songs, stories and ceremonies that have been passed down to the current generations prove that the utopia once existed and that some ‘Utopians’ still exist. This explanation of a Diné philosophy of education through the Kinaa?dá ceremony is my lived example of what Dewey seemed to have dreamt or found in another dimension. I claim that the Utopians Dewey witnessed were possibly Indigenous peoples.     

Learning from land and water: exploring mazinaabikiniganan as indigenous epistemology

Abstract

Indigenous peoples have long called for education that supports self-determination, counters colonial practices, and values our cultural identity and pride as Indigenous peoples. In recent years, Land education has emerged as a form of decolonial praxis that necessarily privileges Indigenous ontologies and epistemologies and engages in critiques of settler-colonialism. Informed by this theoretical framework and using Indigenous storywork methodology, this study focused on the perspectives of six Anishinaabe Elders on mazinaabikiniganan (commonly known as pictographs) at Agawa Rock, now part of Lake Superior Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. Revealing ways of knowing and being that are intimately connected to Land and place, the pedagogical potential of mazinaabikiniganan as a form of Land education is discussed.     

“Alignment-Plus”: alignment with schooling requirements and cultural-bridging among indigenous middle-class parents

Abstract

Education research demonstrates that positive and trusting family/school relationships support academic achievement but for many Indigenous parents in Canada legacies of residential schooling have made it difficult to develop strong bonds with schools and teachers. Drawing on interviews with 69 Indigenous parents and eight non-Indigenous parents of children who identify as Indigenous from two Canadian provinces, this study explores the intersection between family/school relationships and social class, and highlights distinct ways that middle-class Indigenous parents are involved in schooling. Shifting from a “deficit” approach to a “strength based” approach highlights existing resources and capacities among those who are comfortable and familiar with navigating the education system while also creating prospects to build on that capacity to empower others who are less familiar/comfortable.     

Computer Science in Liberal Arts Colleges

When a liberal arts college decides to include computer science as one of its academic disciplines, a number of questions arise. What is an appropriate curriculum? What sort of laboratory support does this new discipline need? How does a small liberal arts school attract, retain, and evaluate faculty in this area? Do computer science faculty become a separate department or remain joined with mathematics or some other discipline? In short, what must be done to put computer science on equal footing with mathematics and other scientific disciplines? This paper addresses these questions.     

Boarding schools: A longitudinal examination of Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous boarders’ and non-boarders’ wellbeing

Improving educational outcomes for Indigenous Australian students is a key strategy to helping Indigenous people reach their full potential. This has resulted in well-intentioned efforts by Australian educators and governments to ensure Indigenous children have positive school experiences. However, Indigenous students still lag behind their non-Indigenous counterparts in educational outcomes. This is particularly so for Indigenous students living in rural and remote parts of Australia where educational opportunities are limited, especially in high school. One solution to this problem has been to enrol these students in boarding schools in urban and metropolitan centres. While research on the success of boarding schools for Indigenous students is scarce, what little that does exist is not encouraging. The focus of this research was to examine the effects of boarding for Indigenous (n = 11) and non-Indigenous students’ (n = 158) wellbeing (N = 1423) in two large private boys’ schools. Participating students aged 12–18 years old completed a survey measuring wellbeing constructs on two occasions, 12 months apart. Non-Indigenous boys were generally higher in wellbeing compared with Indigenous boys. There was also evidence of improved social wellbeing beyond that of non-Indigenous boarders over time. Overall, while evidence of merit was weak, boarding schools may benefit their Indigenous students’ development in social wellbeing.     

The Black Women’s Gathering Place: reconceptualising a curriculum of place/space

ABSTRACT

This article de-centres imperialist, capitalist, patriarchal traditions of critical approaches in Curriculum Studies via an examination of experiences shared at The Black Women’s Gathering Place (BWGP), a non-traditional space where a diverse, intergenerational group of Black women engage with each other through the sharing of stories. In the BWGP, we enact components of Pinar’s [2004. What is Curriculum Theory? Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum] concept of currere, simultaneously re-entering our collective and individual pasts and re-imagining our futures in an effort to reconcile our public and private selves. Taking up tenets of Black feminist theory, theoretical framings of hidden curriculum, and components of Ng-A-Fook’s [2007. An Indigenous Curriculum of Place: The United Houma Nation’s Contentious Relationship with Louisiana’s Educational Institutions. New York, NY: Peter Lang] ‘Curriculum of Place,’ we reconceptualise a curriculum of place/space that negotiates dominant norms expressed in social environments. In this space, we validate traditional knowledges upheld in communities of Black women across the Diaspora. The BWGP allows us to argue for a re-presentation of extant knowledge by and about Black women.     

Exploring anomalies in Indigenous student engagement: findings from a national Australian survey of undergraduates

Increases in participation by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in higher education across Australia continue to be promising. However, it is also known that Indigenous students' attrition, retention and completion rates remain areas of concern. In this paper, we report our findings from an analysis of Indigenous student responses to the 2009 Australasian Survey of Student Engagement. Overall, Indigenous Australian students express positive responses in relation to engagement, but are more likely than non-Indigenous students to be planning to depart. We explore this somewhat unexpected anomaly, whilst also suggesting that much more needs to be known about our Indigenous students, including, for example, whom they may interact with at university; where they turn for support; and why they may decide to leave. Our findings strongly indicate that better national and institutional data are needed to address the current gaps in knowledge relating to Indigenous student populations in Australia and around the world.? In this paper, the term ‘Indigenous’ refers to Australian students who are of self-declared Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander background, while ‘non-Indigenous’ refers to all other Australians.     

Introducing Torres Strait Island dance to the Australian high school physical education curriculum

This study was carried out within the context of a requirement for every Australian Capital Territory Education and Training Directorate (ACT ETD) high school to include Indigenous perspectives across all areas of the curriculum. For the first time ever in the case study school reported in this article, two Torres Strait Island dances were taught to students from Year 7 to Year 9. Traditionally dance within Physical Education (PE) in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has been informed by British and American influences. This paper seeks to problematize the inclusion of Indigenous dance into a Westernized PE curriculum and considers the challenges faced by non-Indigenous Health and Physical Education (HPE) teachers in relation to this, as well as what support is available. It is argued from the findings of this study that it is possible for schools to move beyond traditional PE content and include Indigenous perspectives in a non-tokenistic way. However, it is also argued that such an approach requires Indigenous people to have a central role, and for non-Indigenous teachers to challenge taken for granted mainstream Westernized and racialized teaching practices and discourses.