Unit rationale, description and aim
The Australian education system promotes equity and excellence, and for all children and young people to become successful learners as well as creative and confident individuals. Teachers must develop knowledge of understanding about and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges, histories and cultures in order to support Indigenous learners. Teachers also need an awareness of Indigenous protocols, sensitivities and educational practices in order to be able to teach students about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing.
This unit develops pre-service teachers’’ knowledges and understanding of the complexity and diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures, languages, and the impact of cultural identity and diversity of Australia’s Indigenous students. Through critical reflection of the literature and sensitive engagement in discussion and collaborative tasks, teachers will develop an advanced understanding of educational philosophy, contemporary issues, contexts and policies shaping the educational experiences of Australia’s ‘First Peoples’. Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges, the ways of teaching from an Indigenous perspective and how to work culturally with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and communities are explored. Pre-service teachers will gain a thorough understanding of how to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives integrating the cross-curriculum priority area of the Australian Curriculum.
The aim of this unit is to develop intercultural understandings, promote reconciliation and build capacity to teach Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures; as well as being confident and competent in working sensitively and culturally appropriately with Indigenous Australian students.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Describe and evaluate the impact of colonial and p...
Learning Outcome 01
Research and critically analyse contemporary issue...
Learning Outcome 02
Develop practical strategies for building rapport ...
Learning Outcome 03
Research and apply the concepts of Aboriginal and ...
Learning Outcome 04
Develop a personal learning plan informed by the s...
Learning Outcome 05
Content
Topics will include:
- Overview of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and languages including similarities and diversities across geographic regions (nations)
- An overview of the similarities and diversities of Indigenous and non-Indigenous traditional and contemporary knowledges, worldviews, ontologies, epistemologies, and pedagogies
- The impact of culture, cultural identity and linguistic background on the education of students from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds
- Post-colonial theories regarding race, culture & education and their impact on individuals, organisations, systems and nations including; white privilege; systemic racism and differing world views; and anti-racism strategies
- Analysis of contemporary social, political, educational and international issues, impacting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
- Past and present national and local jurisdictional educational policies, priorities, programs and practices, and their impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples within the Australian society as a whole, as compared to other relevant international policies
- Current and historical events that have impacted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their education
- Opportunities and strategies to connect with local Indigenous communities and families to promote reconciliation and involve parents/carers in the educative process
- Creating inclusive and culturally safe learning environments to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people highlighting culturally appropriate and relevant teaching strategies incorporating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowings, being and doing
- Reliable resources for extending the understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and education
Assessment strategy and rationale
The assessment tasks and their weightings are designed to allow pre-service teachers to progressively demonstrate achievement against the unit learning outcomes. Assessment Task 1 provides the opportunity for pre-service teachers to reach out and connect with local Aboriginal communities and organisations, in view to deeply listen, learn and build a relationship with the local organisations. In this way, pre-service teachers can work towards the application of this knowledge in an authentic context. Assessment Task 2 aims at identifying the progressive development of pre-service teachers in their learning journey about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, their cultures and lived realities.
The choice of tasks provides a balance of assessment procedures that reflect the key learning processes that are critical to successful achievement of the unit learning outcomes. This unit focuses extensively on two APSTs: 1.4 Strategies for Teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students and 2.4 Understand and Respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
Minimum Achievement Standards
Pre-service teachers are required to demonstrate achievement of learning outcomes by submitting all assessment tasks and obtaining a combined score of at least 50%.
Assessment Task 2 in this unit is a Reflective Journal (Critical Task). This task is core to the demonstration of a number of Australian Professional Teacher Standards and a score of at least 50% must be attained in Task 2 to pass this unit.
Overview of assessments
Assessment Task 1: Building connections &nb...
Assessment Task 1: Building connections with Community and Unit development
Pre-service teachers will identify an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander organisation (preferably) in their local area.
You will:
- Connect with an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander-led organisation
- Engage in a yarn to know more about the services offered by the organisation; and its impact on the local community; explore challenges and opportunities for this organisation and the community.
- Story and yarn your connection with the community/resource, and what your experience of the visit was.
- Read any research or reports the service has shared with the community.
- Your task will include the new understandings and learnings that you have achieved from the yarn with the organisation; a review of the organisation, the way the organisation supports families or school colleagues; its impact on the community; and how a school can utilise the facilities, and services offered.
Inspired by your visit, develop a unit of work (3 lessons) that could be used within your school; explain how the unit aligns with the Australian Curriculum (or relevant State curriculum) and incorporates the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cross-Curriculum priority area. Options for the Unit of work: single theme or single curriculum area or an integrated approach.
50%
(2,500 words)
Assessment Task 2: Reflective Journal (Critical ...
Assessment Task 2: Reflective Journal
(Critical Task)
Create a reflective journal that captures your learning journey about and with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, their cultures, history and living realities
This assignment is designed to support your reflection on your experiences and learning journey. It asks you to illustrate how you have furthered your understanding through an engagement with cultural perspectives, knowledges and histories. Within the rich resources including notes from weekly topics, Indigenous voices, readings, film, video, and additional research you are invited to share your critical insights and exploration of Australia’s First Nations People. This final assignment is about the level of understanding and insight you have gained and how you can bring them to your teaching as a synthesis of knowledge.
The journal entries should demonstrate critical reflection and integrated understanding of:
- The impact of colonial and postcolonial experiences on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
- Contemporary issues, history, context and policies and their impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
- The specific needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students as learners and the importance of working with local communities, knowledges and pedagogies.
- Consider and evaluate how your personal reflections of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have developed throughout the unit.
- Describe the changes you will implement to your future teaching practice to create a culturally safe space for learning.
- Identify professional learning needs and relevant and appropriate sources of professional learning including professional networks and community groups.
Your journal entries will be a critical synthesis inspired by the unit’s weekly resources, tutorial/workshop activities, prescribed readings and wider literature including policy documents and additional contemporary research. In this task, you have the option of creating a digital portfolio, a video or any other multimodal representation for the journal.
50%
(2,500 words)
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This is a 10-credit point unit and has been designed to ensure that the time needed to complete the required volume of learning to the requisite standard is approximately 150 hours in total across the teaching period. Pre-service teachers should expect to engage with a range of the following: online resources, seminar presentations and group discussions, self-directed study activities and assessment tasks. Delivery may involve a combination of online and multi-mode delivery. This combination ensures that participants can develop self-reflection and self-critique regarding topics such as cultural recognition, discrimination and opportunities to achieve Reconciliation. Online discussions will enable pre-service teachers to engage in critical conversations which will focus on the reflexive link between theoretical knowledge and the workplace. Engagement with appropriate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community organisations or service deliverers will be required. Such opportunities will create authentic, contextually rich learning experiences for pre-service grounded in the communities in which they are teaching. The unit is hosted on a Learning Management System (LMS) site with resources and online links, announcements, and a discussion board to post questions and reflections that promote connection between content and educational experiences.
AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS - GRADUATE LEVEL
On successful completion of this unit, pre-service teachers should be able to:
ACECQA Curriculum Specifications
On successful completion of this unit, pre-service teachers should have developed the following specific knowledge:
Representative texts and references
Required text(s)
Blair, N. (2015). Privileging Australian indigenous knowledge : sweet potatoes, spiders, waterlilys & brick walls. Common Ground Publishing.
Price, K., & Rogers, J. (Ed). (2019). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education. An Introduction for the Teaching Profession. (3rd ed.) Cambridge University Press.
Australian Curriculum https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/.
F-10 Curriculum | Intercultural Understanding (australiancurriculum.edu.au)
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures | V9 Australian Curriculum
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) https://www.acara.edu.au.
Relevant State and Territory curriculum documents.
Recommended references
Allender, T., Clark, A., & Parkes, R. J. (Eds.). (2020). Historical thinking for history teachers: a new approach to engaging students and developing historical consciousness. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
Battiste, M., & Henderson, J. Y. (2000). Protecting Indigenous knowledge and heritage. A global challenge. Purich Publishing Ltd.
Bishop, M. (2023). Humility. Listen. Respect: Three values underpinning Indigenous (environmental) education sovereignty. Progress in Environmental Geography, 2(3), 191–201. https://doi.org/10.1177/27539687231190658
Falls, T., & Anderson, J. (2022). Attitudes towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia: A systematic review.
Grogan, J., Hollinsworth, D., & Carter, J. (2021). Using videoed stories to convey Indigenous “Voices” in Indigenous Studies. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education; v.50 n.1 p.38-46; August 2021, 50(1), 38–46. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/aeipt.229336
Harrison, N. & Sellwood, J. (2016). Teaching and learning in Aboriginal education (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.
Loban, R. (2024). Embedding culture into video games and game design: the palm, the Dogai and the tombstone. CRC Press.
McKnight, A. (2016). Preservice teachers’ learning with Yuin Country: becoming respectful teachers in Aboriginal education. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 44(2), 110–124. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2015.1066491
Neale, M., & Kelly, L. (2020). Songlines: the power and promise. Thames & Hudson Australia.
Perso, T. & Hayward, C. (2015) Teaching Indigenous Students: Cultural Awareness and Classroom Strategies for Improving Learning Outcomes. Allen & Unwin.
Riley, T., Meston, T., Cutler, C., Low-Choy, S., McCormack, B. A., Kim, E.-J. A., Nakar, S., & Vasco, D. (2024). Weaving stories of strength: Ethically integrating Indigenous content in Teacher education and professional development programmes. Teaching and Teacher Education, 142, 104513-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2024.104513
Tutt, C. (2021). The first scientists: deadly inventions and innovations from Australia’s First peoples. Hardie Grant Explore.
Ungunmerr-Baumann, M.R., Groom, R.A., Schuberg, E.L., Atkinson, J., Atkinson,C., Wallace, R. & Morris, G. (2022). Dadirri: An Indigenous place-based research methodology. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 18(1), 94-S3. https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801221085353