Pursing Indigenous-Inclusive Curriculum in Social Work Tertiary Education: Feeling my Way as a Non-Indigenous Educator

Authors

  • Susan Gair School of Social Work and Community Welfare

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1017/S1326011100004415

Abstract

Abstract

The retention and completion rates of Indigenous students undertaking tertiary studies continue to be disappointing. The contribution of Eurocentric curricula to such an outcome has been proposed in the Australian and international literature. Remaining very conscious of my status as a white, female, social work educator teaching at a regional university, over the last six years I have attempted to pursue the development of a more Indigenous-inclusive curricula and thus contribute to increasing Indigenous graduates from our degree programmes. This article documents some of my actions to rectify gaps in my own non-Indigenous knowledge base as a reflective learner under Indigenous supervision within the academy and in the community. Action to advance the development of accurate, useful curriculum and teaching practices respectful of Indigenous knowledges is recommended.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Secretariat. ( 1997). Royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody: Queensland government report on implementation. Brisbane, QLD: Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Department of Families, Youth & Community Care.

Aboriginal and Tbrres Strait Islander Women’s Task Force on Violence. ( 1999). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Task Force on Violence Report. Brisbane, QLD: Queensland Government, Department of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Development.

Aird W. ( 2006,18 May). Culture is no excuse for crime. The Australian. p. 12.

Atkinson J. ( 2002). Trauma trails, recreating song lines: The transgenerational effects of trauma in Indigenous Australia. North Melbourne, VIC: Spinifex Press.

Baldwin M. ( 1996). White anti-racism: Is it really ‘no go’ in rural areas. Social Work Education. 15( 1), 18– 38.

Bennett B., & Zubrzycki J. ( 2003). Hearing the stories of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social workers: Challenging and educating the system. Australian Social Work, 56( 1), 6– 70.

Bessarab D. ( 2000). Working with Aboriginal families: A cultural approach. In Weeks W. & Quinn M. (Eds.), Issues facing Australian families(3rd ed.,pp. 77– 90). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson.

Bin-Sallik M. ( 2003). Cultural safety: Let's name it!. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 32, 21– 28.

Brabham W , Henry J., Bamblett E., ( 2002). Indigenous Australians' participation in higher education. Australian Universities Review, 45( 1), 10– 14.

Briskman L., ( 2003). Indigenous Australians: Towards postcolonial social work. In Allan J., Pease B. & Briskman L. (Eds.) Critical social work(pp. 92– 106. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen and Unwin.

Christensen P., & Lilley I. ( 1997). The road forward? Alternative assessment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students at the tertiary level. Brisbane, QLD: University of Queensland, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit.

Clark J. ( 2000). Beyond empathy: An ethnographic approach to cross-cultural social work practice. Unpublished manuscript, Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto.

Commonwealth Department of Education,Science and Training. ( 2002). Achieving equitable and appropriate outcomes: Indigenous Australians in higher education. Canberra, ACT: Commonwealth Dept of Communication,Information Technology & the Arts.

Crawford F. ( 1997). Using self for social work: Doing autoethnograpy. Advances in Social Work Education. 2( 1), 75– 81.

de Ishtar Z. ( 2004). Living on the ground research: Steps toward white women researching in collaboration with Indigenous people. Hecate. 30( 1), 72– 83.

Dominelli L. ( 1989). An uncaring profession? An examination of racism in social work. New Community, 5( 3), 391– 403.

Ellis C., & Bochner A. ( 2000). Autoethnography, personal narrative, reflexivityIn Denzin N. & Lincoln Y. (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research(2nd ed., pp. 733– 768). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Flemons D., & Green S. ( 2002). Stories that conform/stories that transform: A conversation in four parts. In Bochner A. & Ellis C. (Eds.), Ethnographically speaking(pp. 165– 169), Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press.

Gair S., Thomson J., & Miles D. ( 2005a). Reconciling Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledges in social work education: Action and legitimacy. Reconciling Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledges in social work education: Action and legitimacy. 41( 2), 371– 382).

Gair S., Thomson J., & Savage D. ( 2005b). What’s stopping them? Barriers hindering Indigenous students from completing a BSW at JCU. Advances in Social Welfare Education, 7( 1), 54– 66).

Gilbert S. ( 2001). Social work with Indigenous Australians. In Alston M. & McKinnon J. (Eds.), Social work fields of practice(pp. 46– 57). Melbourne,VIC: Longman.

Grauel T. ( 2002). Professional oversight: The neglected histories of supervision. In McMahon M. & Patton W. (Eds.), Supervision in the helping profession(pp. 3– 15). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson.

Hawkin D. & Worrall J. ( 2002). Reciprocal mentoring supervision. Partners in learning. A personal perspective. In McMahon M. & Patton W. (Eds.), Supervision in the helping profession(pp. 43– 53). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson.

Herbert J. ( 2000). Getting to the heart of the matter: The importance of the Aboriginal community voice in education. Queensland Journal of Educational Research, 16( 2), 130– 146). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson.

Heron J. ( 1992). Feelings andpersonhood. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Holloway E.L. ( 1995). Clinical supervision: A systems approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Holt N. ( 2003). Representation, legitimation and autoethnography: An autoethnographic writing story. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 2( 1), Retrieved 7 January 2007 from http://www.ualberta.ca/˜iiqm/backissues/2_1final/html/holt.html

Huggins J. ( 1998). Sister girl: The writings of'Aboriginalactivist andhistorian Jackie Huggins. Brisbane, QLD: University of Queensland Press.

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. ( 1997a). Bringing them home: A report of the National Inquiryinto the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families. Canberra, ACT: Australian Government Publishing Service.

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. ( 1997b). Guide to the findings and recommendations of the Naional Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families. Canberra, ACT: Australian Government Publishing Service.

Indigenous Higher Education Advisory Council (IHEAC). ( 2006). Improving outcomes and enhancing Indigenous culture and knowledge in Australian higher education: Report to the Minister for Education, Science and Training. Canberra, ACT: Department of Education,Science and Training.

Jensen R. . ( 2005). The heart of whiteness. San Francisco, CA: City Lights.

Kennedy M. . ( 1990). Bom a half-caste. Canberra, ACT: Aboriginal Studies Press.

Kierkegaard S. . ( 1980). The sickness unto death: A Christian psychological expositionfor upbuilding andawakening(Part 1). Princeton, NJ: University Press.

Krause K., Hartley R., Richard J., & Mclnnis C. ( 2005). The first year experience in Australian universities: Findings from a decade of national studies Melbourne, VIC: University of Melbourne, Centre for the Study of Higher Education.

Lampert J., & Lilley I. ( 1996). Indigenous Australian perspectives at the University of Queensland(Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit Research Report Series, No. 2). Brisbane, QLD: University of Queensland, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit.

Langford R. . ( 1998). Don’t take your love to town. Ringwood, VIC: Penguin Press.

Langton M. . ( 2002). A new deal? Indigenous development and the politics of recovery. Paper delivered at the Dr Charles Perkins Memorial Oration, University of Sydney Retrieved 28 April, 2005, from http//www.koori.usyd.edu.au/news/oration.shtml.

Larson G., & Brown L. ( 1997). Teaching research to Aboriginal students. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 15(1/ 2), 205– 215).

Lee D. ( 1995). Writing in a colonial space: Cadence. In Ashcroft B. Griffiths G. & Tiffin H. (Eds.), The post-colonial studies reader(pp. 397– 401). London: Routledge.

Lynn R., Thorpe R., Cutts D., Butcher A., & Ford L. ( 1998). Murri way! Townsville, QLD: James Cook University Centre for Social Research.

Maynard J. ( 2005). Light in the darkness Elizabeth McKenzie Hatton. In Cole A. Haskins V. & Paisley F. (Eds.), Uncommon ground: White women in Aboriginal history(pp. 3– 27). Canberra, ACT: Aboriginal Studies Press.

McConville G. ( 2002a). Regional agreements, higher education and representations of Indigenous reality. Australian University Review, 45( 1), 15– 24.

Mcintosh P. ( 1998). White privilege and male privilege: A personal account of coming to see correspondences through work in women’s studies(Working Paper 189). Wellesley MA: Aboriginal Studies Press.

McMahon M. ( 2002). Some supervision practicalities. In McMahon M. & Patton W. (Eds.), Supervision in the helping profession(pp. 17– 26). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson.

Miller L. ( 2003). Belonging to country: A philosophical anthropology. Journal of Australian Studies, 76, pp. 215– 227).

Moreton-Robinson A. ( 2000). Talkin’ up to the white woman: Indigenous women and feminism. Brisbane, QLD: University of Queensland Press.

Nakata M., & Muspratt S. ( 1994). How to read across the curriculum: The case of a social sciences social investigation strategy as ideological practice. The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy. 17( 3), 227– 239).

Neegan E. ( 2005). Excuse me: Who are the first peoples of Canada? A historical analysis of Aboriginal education in Canada then and now. International Journal of Inclusive Education. 9( 1), 3– 15).

Older Women’s Network. ( 2003). Steppin’ out and speakin’ up. Sydney NSW: Older Women’s Network.

Ouellette G. ( 2002). The fourth world: An Indigenous perspective on feminism and Aboriginal women’s activism. Halifax, NS: Fernwood Press.

Page S., & Asmar C. ( 2004). Indigenous academic voices: Stories from the tertiary education frontline. Higher Education Research and Development Society (HERDSA) News, 26, pp. 13– 16), April.

Pearson N. ( 1994). A troubling inheritance. Race and Class, 35,( 4), pp. 1– 9)

Pearson N. . ( 2000). The light on the hill. The Ben Chiffley Memorial Lecture. Retrieved 6 October, 2003, from http://www.australianpolitics.com/news/2000/00-08-12a.shtml

Pearson N. . ( 2003). On leadership. The 2003 Leadership Lecture. Retrieved 6 October, 2003, from http://www.leadershipvictoria.org/speech_pearson200.html.

Proctor B. . ( 1994). Supervision, competence, confidence, accountability. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 22, 309– 318.

Reynolds H. ( 2000). Indigenous social welfare from low priority to recognition and reconciliation. In McMahon A. Thomson J. Williams C. (Eds.), Understanding the welfare state: Key documents and themes. Croydon, VIC: Tertiary Press.

Ruwhui L. . ( 1999). Ko tane pupuke, te komako 111. Social Work Review, 11( 4), 32– 37.

Sinclair R. . ( 2004). Aboriginal social work education in Canada: Decolonising pedagogy for the seventh generation. First Peoples Child and Family Review, 1( 11), 49– 61.

Smith L.T. . ( 1999). Decolonising methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples. Dunedin: University of Otago Press.

Tacy D. . ( 2000). Re-enchantment: The new Australian spirituality. NSW: Harper Collins.

Tripcony R. . ( 2004). Indigenous education -Everybody&s business: Implications for teacher education. Brisbane, QLD: Queensland College of Teachers.

Ungunmerr M.R. ( 1993). Dadirri: Listening to one another. In Hendricks J. & Hefferan G. (Eds.), A spirituality of Catholic Aborigines and the struggle for justice, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aposolate. (pp. 34– 37). Brisbane, QLD: Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

Wingard B., & Lester J. ( 2001). Telling stories in ways that make us stronger. Adelaide, SA: Dulwich Centre Publications.

Wright J. . ( 2005). More youth, less university places. Advocate, The Journal of the National Tertiary Education Union, 1( 12), 16– 17.

Youngblood Henderson J.S. ( 2000). Challenges of respecting Indigenous worldviews in eurocentric education. In Neil R. (Ed.), Voice of the drum: Indigenous education and culture. (pp. 59– 80). Brandon, MB: Kingfisher Publications.

Downloads

Published

2007-12-01

How to Cite

Gair, S. (2007). Pursing Indigenous-Inclusive Curriculum in Social Work Tertiary Education: Feeling my Way as a Non-Indigenous Educator. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 36(1), 49–55. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1326011100004415

Issue

Section

Articles