Seeking affirmation via Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community knowledge: Transforming Australian school curricula

Public inquiry into the embedding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges in Australian curricula has often mirrored the tumultuous social and political landscape in Indigenous affairs. While commitment to social justice can be a starting point for teachers, our research shows efforts to embed IK on teaching practicum indicates that curriculum transformation must come from a place of deep knowledge. The “Cultural interface” (Nakata, 2002; 2007) was employed to analyse sites of curriculum and pedagogical decision-making between these stakeholders as places of knowledge convergence and productive engagements. Phenomenology (van Manen, 1984) was adapted to direct attention to the experiences and ‘voice’ of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander preservice teachers and supervising teachers. The research design and dissemination strategy was informed by principles of Indigenous research methodology, such as ‘talkin up the research’ (Fredericks, 2007) with community before beginning, during (with) and after. Findings included that successful embedding examples came from teachers who demonstrated commitment to deepening their knowledge base through sustained and productive relationships with community knowledge sources and through valuing and recognising the IK brought to the practicum setting by pre-service themselves.