scholarly journals Editorial

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. iii-iv
Author(s):  
Martin Nakata ◽  
Katelyn Barney
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Indigenous Education ◽  
Academic Institution ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Mentoring Programs ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Torres Strait

We are very pleased to bring you Volume 47, issue 2 of The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education. The theme of this year's NAIDOC week was ‘Because of her we can’ so it is appropriate that the first article in this volume focuses on the gendered stories of pathways through university by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. Using Ahmed's work on ‘wilfulness’, Rennie explores the resilience, resistance and persistence of seven female Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander higher education students and considers the ways they negotiate pathways and success through university. Bright and Mackinlay also draw on the concept of ‘wilfulness’ to report on the successes and failures of a research project exploring mentoring programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander preservice teachers. They suggest that tensions are always present between the need to comply with the expectations of a Western academic institution while engaging in a wilful pursuit of the kinds of resistance that may be necessary in attempts at decoloniality. Also drawing on a decolonial lens, McDowall explore how preservice teachers position themselves and how they consider their relationships and ethical responsibilities in the field of Indigenous education. Pre-service teachers in different context are the focus of Torepe and Manning who examine the lived experiences and various challenges confronting this group of experienced Māori language teachers working in English-medium, state-funded schools.

scholarly journals The Wilful Character of Indigenous Educational Research

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 92-99
Author(s):  
David Bright ◽  
Elizabeth Mackinlay
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Educational Research ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Negative Charge ◽  
Mentoring Programs ◽  
The World ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
The Relationship

In her recent work, Sara Ahmed explores wilfulness as a negative charge made by some against others, thinking about the relationship between ill will and good will, the particular and the general, and the embeddedness of will in a political and cultural landscape. In Ahmed's reading, wilfulness is a characteristic often ascribed to those who do ‘not will the reproduction of the whole’ (2011, p. 246) — those who are deemed wayward, wandering, and/or deviant. Using Ahmed's discussions, in this paper, we report on the successes and failures of a research project exploring mentoring programs in enhancing the recruitment and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander preservice teachers. We think about the tensions always present between two faces of such a project: the need to reproduce modes of compliance to the expectations of a Western academic institutional regime; and the wilful pursuit of the kinds of wayward resistance and critique that may be potentially undermining and self-sabotaging as well as wholly necessary as attempts at decoloniality. We report on both the successes of the program and the continuing failure to address issues of colonialism. In doing so, we position Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research as a performative doubleness which needs wilfulness in order to ‘stand up, to stand against the world’ (Ahmed, 2011, p. 250) of colonial reproduction in neo-liberal times.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the pilot phase of a Student Support Strategy to improve retention and completion rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Shane Hearn ◽  
Sarah Funnell
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Indigenous Education ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Student Support ◽  
Individual Student ◽  
Completion Rates ◽  
Efficient Manner ◽  
Torres Strait

Abstract Increasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in higher education can play a critical role in transforming lives and is the trajectory to closing the gap and reducing disadvantage. Despite recent progress, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples remain significantly under-represented in higher education. Poor retention and high attrition rates of these students come at significant financial cost for the individual, community, university and government. Wirltu Yarlu, the Indigenous Education Unit at the University of Adelaide has reviewed the role student support services play in improving retention and completion rates, with an aim to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student retention and completion. The newly developed Student Success Strategy is an innovative approach to student support that aims to identify and respond to individual student needs in a more effective and efficient manner. The model encompasses a self-assessment tool designed to measure progress across several domains. Self-assessments are used to inform student specific support needs which in turn enable support staff to personalise future interventions for each student and respond accordingly in an attempt to reduce and prevent student attrition.

Teaching Secondary Mathematics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Hine ◽  
Judy Anderson ◽  
Robyn Reaburn ◽  
Michael Cavanagh ◽  
Linda Galligan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Mathematics Teachers ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Secondary Mathematics ◽  
Australian Curriculum ◽  
Australian Education ◽  
Mathematical Problems ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Short Answer Questions

Secondary mathematics teachers working in the Australian education sector are required to plan lessons that engage with students of different genders, cultures and levels of literacy and numeracy. Teaching Secondary Mathematics engages directly with the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics and the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers to help preservice teachers develop lesson plans that resonate with students. This edition has been thoroughly revised and features a new chapter on supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students by incorporating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and ways of knowing into lessons. Chapter content is supported by new features including short-answer questions, opportunities for reflection and in-class activities. Further resources, additional activities, and audio and visual recordings of mathematical problems are also available for students on the book's companion website. Teaching Secondary Mathematics is the essential guide for preservice mathematics teachers who want to understand the complex and ever-changing Australian education landscape.

scholarly journals Editorial

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. iii-iv
Keyword(s):  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Indigenous Education ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Australian Journal ◽  
Research Groups ◽  
Research Journal ◽  
Torres Strait

The challenge for any research journal today is how to continue to make the work we publish relevant, contemporary and innovative for the research groups, educational organisations, and Indigenous communities locally and globally that we serve. At the same time, we recognise it is important for us to continue our work in The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education within the critical pedagogical agenda in which it began; that is, the empowerment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through education, combined with a concern to critique and challenge the national and international colonial contexts in which Indigenous education is positioned today.

scholarly journals Editorial

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. iii-iii
Author(s):  
Katelyn Barney ◽  
Martin Nakata
Keyword(s):  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Indigenous Education ◽  
50Th Anniversary ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Torres Strait Islander People ◽  
Legal Doctrine ◽  
25Th Anniversary ◽  
University Environment ◽  
Common Goals ◽  
Torres Strait

We are very pleased to bring you Volume 46 of The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education. This year is a particularly significant time for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues and education. It marks the 25th anniversary of the landmark Mabo decision that refuted the legal doctrine of terra nullius and recognised that the Miriam people were continuously present and exclusively possessed Mer in the Torres Strait. It is also the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum, a significant milestone resulting in constitutional change to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the national census. This year also marks the release of the Universities Australia Indigenous Strategy 2017–2020, which is designed to provide a sector-wide initiative that binds all universities together with common goals. The strategy includes important initiatives to increase the numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people participating in higher education, increase the engagement of non-Indigenous people with Indigenous knowledge and educational approaches, and improve the university environment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

scholarly journals The Fallacy of the Bolted Horse: Changing Our Thinking About Mature-Age Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander University Students

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Plater ◽  
Julie Mooney-Somers ◽  
Jo Lander
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
University Students ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Developing Nations ◽  
University Education ◽  
Alternative View ◽  
The Public ◽  
Extrinsic Value ◽  
Working Age ◽  
Torres Strait

The aim of this article is to critically review and analyse the public representations of mature-age university students in developed and some developing nations and how they compare to the public representations of mature-age Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students in Australia (‘students’ also refers to graduates unless the context requires specificity). Relevant texts were identified by reviewing education-related academic and policy literature, media opinion and reportage pieces, conference proceedings, and private sector and higher education reviews, reports and submissions. What this review reveals is striking: very few commentators are publicly and unambiguously encouraging, supporting and celebrating mature-age Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students. This strongly contrasts with the discussions around mature-age university students in general, where continuous or lifelong learning is acclaimed and endorsed, particularly as our populations grow older and remain healthier and there are relatively lower numbers of working-age people. While scholars, social commentators, bureaucrats and politicians enthusiastically highlight the intrinsic and extrinsic value of the mature-age student's social and economic contributions, the overarching narrative of the mature-age Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student is one of ‘the horse has bolted’, meaning that it is too late for this cohort and therefore society to benefit from their university education. In this article we examine these conflicting positions, investigate why this dichotomy exists, present an alternative view for consideration, and make recommendations for further research into this area.

Mobile Devices for Tertiary Study – Philosophy Meets Pragmatics for Remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Townsend
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Mobile Devices ◽  
Mobile Learning ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Tertiary Study

This paper outlines PhD research which suggests mobile learning fits the cultural philosophies and roles of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who are preservice teachers in the very remote Australian communities where the research was conducted. The problem which the research addresses is the low completion rates for two community-based Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programs in South Australia (SA) and Queensland (Qld). Over the past decade, the national completion rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in teacher training was 36 per cent, and in these two community-based programs it was less than 15 per cent. This paper identifies the perceptions of the benefits of using mobile devices by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who are preservice teachers in very remote communities. They report ways in which mobile learning supports their complex roles and provides pragmatic positive outcomes for their tertiary study in remote locations. The paper describes the apparent alignment between mobile learning and cosmology, ontology, epistemology and axiology, which may underpin both the popularity of mobile devices and the affordances of mobile learning.

Indigenous Research: Three Researchers Reflect on their Experiences at the Interface

2007 ◽  
Vol 36 (S1) ◽  
pp. 23-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deanne Minniecon ◽  
Naomi Franks ◽  
Maree Heffernan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Standpoint Theory ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Cultural Interface ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Torres Strait

AbstractUtilising Nakata’s (2007) description of the “cultural interface”, two Indigenous researchers and one non-Indigenous researcher examine their development of Indigenous research in and with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities conducted from within an institution of higher education. The authors reflect on their experiences in developing an Indigenous research project and use Indigenous standpoint theory as a device to explore these experiences. The framing of priorities and research questions, ethics processes, the treatment of project information or data, the managing of competing accountabilities, and the role of non-Indigenous researchers in Indigenous research are all explored in these reflections.

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