The Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge LibGuide: Charles Darwin University Embedding Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Knowledge, Culture and Language

Abstract

The School of Education underwent a reaccreditation of the Bachelor of Teaching and Learning (Pre-service) in 2012, and the Head of School sought facilitation grant funds from the Charles Darwin University Office of Teaching and Learning to ensure the course was effectively incorporating Indigenous knowledge. This paper explores the embedding or increasing of Indigenous knowledge content in teacher education with particular focus on building an Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge LibGuide with library staff, academics and indigenous students. The LibGuide design offers multimedia access to Indigenous knowledge, culture and languages for the needs of academic teaching staff, and pre-service education students in one convenient location.

Keywords::

• Indigenous knowledge
• Indigenous higher education
• Indigenous curriculum design
• LibGuide

Introduction

As part of a reaccreditation exercise in 2012, the School of Education (SoE) programs at Charles Darwin University (CDU), Northern Territory, sought to improve access to Indigenous knowledge materials and resources in the CDU Library. Many pre-service teacher education students had commented that there were inadequate Indigenous texts, materials and resources included in their course to engage with and experience what Indigenous knowledge, culture and language means. Therefore, an important aspect of the reaccreditation of the Bachelor of Teaching and Learning (pre-service) was to embed Indigenous knowledge within the course units.

Although the CDU Library already offered a range of diverse resources available through a variety of sources such as eReadings, eBooks, eJournals and aggregated databases, it seemed students had a fragmented understanding about how to find these materials. As a result, the development of the Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge LibGuide was initiated by the School of Education through its Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge project. The project team led by Dr Ford worked with CDU liaison librarians, Barbara Coat and Michelle Turner, to design and produce the LibGuide. During the LibGuide design stage, it was envisaged that the site would be an on-going collaborative endeavour between educators, researchers, students and librarians.

This paper demonstrates how a collaborative process in embedding Indigenous knowledge and perspectives can engage academic staff. Pre-service teachers were given the opportunity to evaluate and offer input on the use of the site and course coordinators would have access to Indigenous knowledge materials to build Indigenous knowledge content in their units. At the next level, it empowered new teacher education students with awareness of the Indigenous Knowledge LibGuide resources.

Background

The move to increase the level of Indigenous knowledge in higher education curricula was a response to the national push initially stimulated by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) as part of the national move to “Close the Gap in Indigenous Disadvantage”, which began with the “Apology to the Stolen Generations” by former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in 2008. In 2007, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) set a goal to halve the education gap in literacy and numeracy achievement between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians by 2018, and the gap in Year 12 attainment by 2020. A key feature of closing this gap was the expansion of intensive literacy and numeracy programmes, and the establishment of individual learning plans (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) 2009). This complemented other programmes such as Smarter Schools National Partnerships which were focused on whole school development. The inclusion of Indigenous knowledge in the Bachelor of Education (Primary) Degree at CDU was a significant move forward for the university.

A number of universities were already progressing well on the path to incorporating Indigenous knowledge into their curriculum and ways of working. For example, a consultation paper from Monash University on improving teaching in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education, reminded us that Australia is a signatory to the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Ma Rhea, Anderson, and Atkinson 2012, 9) which states Indigenous people have the right to be provided access to education in their own culture and language, and that it is taught in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods (United Nations 2008).

Charles Darwin University's geographic location in northern Australia is situated where it is imperative that academic staff and students are aware and sensitive to Indigenous knowledge. CDU's location provides a cultural as well as geographic advantage with campuses in Darwin, Katherine, Alice Springs and Jabiru regions where almost 30% of the population is Indigenous. CDU aims to be actively engaged in the local Indigenous cultures and traditions.

The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) provides a rigorous, national approach to education through the national curriculum, national assessment programme and national data collection and reporting programme. ACARA provides a national process for academics to invigorate their curriculum content and engage with Indigenous knowledge meaningfully. Their report, the National Report on Schooling in Australia 2009, highlights Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) education and emphasised an increasing focus on evidence-based teaching and learning materials in Indigenous studies. The report is closely linked to the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy (AEP), which identifies 21 national goals for education and training. The overarching objective then and now is to bring about equity in education and training outcomes for Indigenous Australians (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) 2009). In 2009, the Review of Australian Directions in Indigenous Education 2005–2008 was completed for the Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs with a focus on identifying the effectiveness of the Australian Directions, which targeted the improvement of outcomes in Indigenous education. The review helped shape the future directions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educational outcomes by including recommendations on priorities for work to be undertaken by education authorities in the government, Catholic and independent school sectors (Buckskin et al. 2009). These reports and reviews provided the scope for this project and ensured Indigenous knowledge was taken seriously by the university's academic staff, students and associated agencies such as the Teacher Registration Board for the Northern Territory (TRB-NT). The agendas required teacher qualification and accreditation processes across Australia to increase university staff and students' awareness and appreciation of Indigenous knowledge. This required increased Indigenous knowledge content in courses across the board, and the School of Education was the first to take up the initiative at CDU.

The project

The School of Education took this opportunity to refocus embedding Indigenous knowledge as unified criteria in units. This was a requirement to be met and endorsed by the Office of Teaching and Learning at CDU and the TRB-NT. Included in CDU's Graduate Attributes is the requirement for all students in any discipline to have “… an understanding of the broad theoretical and technical concepts related to their discipline area, with relevant connections to industry, professional, and regional and indigenous knowledge” (Charles Darwin University 2012). The TRB-NT applies the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers which states teachers must “Understand and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians” (Education Services Australia 2011).

Dr Linda Ford was engaged in February 2012 to review the Bachelor of Teaching and Learning (pre-service) course units for Indigenous knowledge content and to produce a report with any recommendations for the School of Education. In April 2012, the Senior Executive Reference Committee (SERC), whose members included the School of Education Head of School, Professor Peter Kell, Associate Professor Laurence Tamatea, Northern Institute Director Professor Ruth Wallace, Director ACIKE and PVC Indigenous Leadership Professor Steve Larkin, and PVC Academic Professor Martin Caroll, endorsed the addition of consultants, Tanyah Nasir, John Prior and Dr Allan Arnott, to the project team because of their breadth of experience in teaching, programming, planning and delivering Indigenous knowledge in the Northern Territory.

The challenge was to enable CDU School of Education academic staff to recognise what Indigenous knowledge resources they had in their curriculum design, implementation and assessment and to identify the necessary Indigenous knowledge details to add to their unit content. The Indigenous scholarly texts, readings and other literature relevant to the units' aims and objectives were assessed and provided to the course coordinators. During the teaching staff's interviews, the Indigenous knowledge assessment and marking criteria were identified as problematic, but providing them with examples of how to implement these into their unit descriptions often led to a smoother transition to incorporate Indigenous knowledge into the course.

Each of the areas contributed to the consultants understanding why there was limited Indigenous knowledge in the Bachelor of Teaching and Learning programme. Resources and materials of Indigenous knowledge became the focus for the project team which led to Dr Ford working with the School of Education Liaison Librarian Michelle Turner on how to incorporate Indigenous knowledge into the School of Education's LibGuide site.

The lack of Indigenous resources available in the School of Education LibGuide was discussed with Michelle. Dr Ford also noted that the University of Notre Dame Australia had an effective LibGuide model that offered staff and students online access to Indigenous knowledge resources, Indigenous networks and information that would benefit both unit and assignment content. CDU Liaison Librarian Barbara Coat was then engaged to support the discussion on locating Indigenous knowledge for the School of Education LibGuide.

The importance of the CDU library: Past and present

The project team considered the library central to this exercise as a source of information and resources on Indigenous Knowledge. Subsequent to researching other university websites' inclusion of Indigenous knowledge, the team decided that a CDU wide Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge LibGuide be established.

Engaging the CDU Liaison Librarian was based on Dr Ford's previous work in the School of Education and School of Australian Indigenous Knowledge Systems where she delivered education units to pre-service teachers. In 2008, Dr Ford delivered a unit to undergraduate pre-service education students on accessing the Indigenous knowledge available in CDU Library (this later became EIP310-Teaching Indigenous Learners). Dr Ford engaged two CDU Liaison Librarians – Jess Mahjouri from the School of Education and Kaye Henderson from the School of Australian Indigenous Knowledge and Education. The aim was to provide students with Indigenous knowledge tasks to complete in the library so they were aware of the resources available to complete their weighted assessment tasks. They also developed research skills and a better understanding of what Indigenous knowledge was available and effectively apply this to their assignments and practicums. The work with the liaison librarians was designed to support students and create an opportunity for students to get to know the liaison librarians as well.

The student course evaluations submitted at the end of the semester highlighted significant changes in the students' awareness and access to resources and materials on Indigenous knowledge in the library. This was positive and valued feedback that contributed to Ford's reflection to ensure that the library component would remain in the unit (Henderson and Mahjouri 2008). It also resulted in Ford, Henderson and Mahjouri presenting a paper on their professional collaboration at the 2008 ATSILIRN (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Library, Information and Resource Network Inc) conference, entitled Lecturers, Librarians & Learners: Connections, Relations & Knowledge-Joining the Dots”.

Sharing knowledge

The relationship between education and the library story is shown in the painting (Figure 1) by Dr Payi Linda Ford. It depicts the strong connections and importance of collaboration and sharing Indigenous knowledge through the unit coordinated and delivered in the School of Education's Bachelor of Education programme. Ford talked to the painting at the 2008 ATSILIRN conference and the significance of this to engaging and embedding Indigenous knowledge in students learning and to staff that she worked with such as Mahjouri and Henderson.

The three prominent circles represent the knowledge communities. The red (outer) circle represents Information literacy. The black circle represents the Indigenous knowledge system. The white (inner) circle represents the western knowledge system. The green background represents the connections, relationships and knowledge growth. The black lines represent the Pulay Pulay (male and female) also known as the Rainbow Serpent. The Pulay Pulay represents the sacredness of knowledge and the possession of ‘higher’ knowledge is power. Hence the knowledge communities are entwined with the Pulay Pulay. The key to the success of gaining knowledge is through ongoing connections and relationships that is inclusive of the gender balance in our personal and professional delivery of knowledge in the sacred place of higher education units. The white solid dots that border the three knowledge communities represent the higher education learners, who are the students.°The black solid dots represent the Rak Mak Mak Marranunggu lecturer. The red solid dots represent the Librarians, TLDG and databases. The emphasis on joining the dots is to demonstrate the preparation and work commitment by a team of professionals to deliver information literacy requires a workplace culture that has good connections and relationships. (Ford, Henderson, and Mahjouri 2008)

Figure 1 Painting by Dr Payi Linda Ford, 7 April 2008.

Facilitation with the library: Embedding Indigenous knowledge

Five years after the painting, Ford was engaged by the School of Education to undertake the consultancy to incorporate Indigenous knowledge in the Bachelor of Teaching and Learning programme. Ford revisited where she left off in 2008 and re-engaged with the liaison librarians Barbara Coat and Michelle Turner on a much larger scale.

Indigenous knowledge dissemination became a key factor stressed by the academic teaching staff. The issue for the project team was to:

• Address strategies to improve access to Indigenous knowledge resources as stipulated in the School of Education Terms of Reference

• Recommend Indigenous knowledge guidelines be endorsed through the CDU Office of Teaching and Learning to provide professional development for teaching staff on designing their curricula to embed Indigenous knowledge

• Provide professional development for School of Education teaching staff on Indigenous cultural awareness programmes by the CDU Office of Indigenous Leadership

The promotion of Indigenous knowledge resources across the university became an important consideration when feedback from the Senior Executive Reference Committee suggested that Indigenous knowledge could also play an important learning and teaching tool for other academics unit planning and for student learning. The idea to engage the academic staff in a centralised Indigenous knowledge resource was the catalyst to focus on the library as a place of gathering Indigenous knowledge resources relevant for the Bachelor of Education Degree programme. Therefore the Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge LibGuide is a small but important part of a bigger project that endeavours to be endorsed across Charles Darwin University.

Ford interviewed past and present School of Education students, both administrative and lecturing staff. From the analysis of the interviews and feedback from the reference committees, she was able to progress the school's term of reference for the project to concentrate on the need to integrate Indigenous knowledge as a permanent online resource for staff and students to readily access.

Following these analyses, Ford and John Prior carried out a desk top audit of the Bachelor of Teaching and Learning units to examine the Indigenous knowledge content for the reaccreditation for the new proposed Bachelor of Education programme. It was found that some of the Indigenous knowledge content was very limited and education students would have been graduating with little or no knowledge of our Australian Indigenous culture. There had been no requirement to include such content in units of study, and therefore staff were unfamiliar with it and where or how to find culturally appropriate Indigenous knowledge for teaching and learning purposes.

The consultants, Ford, Prior, Nasir and Arnott, planned two workshops. The first was for Indigenous community members that included past and present Charles Darwin University School of Education Indigenous students and staff to provide input. Much of their work framed the project recommendations, one of which was to improve resources for Indigenous knowledge. The second workshop was specifically for the academic staff in the School of Education and the liaison librarians.

One strategy that emerged from these activities was to build a LibGuide to gather relevant and publically available Indigenous materials and resources for academics and students. These included:

• New books and library materials

• New curriculum sources

• Publically available multimedia resources

• Research network contacts

• Public affairs feeds on major issues

• Significant resources for major areas including literacy, numeracy, sport and social affairs

The LibGuide

Springshare LibGuides were chosen as the platform to host the Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge LibGuide. The decision to employ this platform was logical given many academic libraries around the world use this system, and most of the literature about LibGuides has been overwhelmingly positive, both in relation to the implementation of the product, service and client feedback (Moses and Richard 2008). From an administrator perspective, LibGuides are very easy to maintain and update. To further support the decision to use LibGuides were the results from the CDU Library Client Survey conducted in May 2012. This was a general survey of client services, not specific to the project, but it was useful as it indicated students found LibGuides easy to use and were useful (Charles Darwin University Library 2012).

Liaison with the CDU Library showed other universities had developed LibGuides in various subject areas as a central resource. For example, James Cook University, The University of Notre Dame Australia and The University of Newcastle have all developed their own Indigenous Knowledge LibGuides. Therefore, several LibGuide models supported Indigenous knowledge and there was a precedent for choosing LibGuides for this purpose.

While there are significant literature examples available on the use of LibGuides in academic settings developed in collaboration between librarians and academics, little has been written on LibGuides as ongoing tools to support teaching in remote practicum. Many School of Education indigenous practicum teachers and students live and work in remote locations, thus increasing the need for online content to be available 24/7; LibGuides provides this. CDU delivers ‘Growing Our Own’ (GOO), a fully accredited and nationally recognised teacher education programme (MATSITI 2012). ‘Growing Our Own’ practicum student teachers visiting the CDU Casuarina Campus for onsite training provided feedback to library staff about the resources available to them. Library staff harnessed these face-to-face sessions to gather pertinent information to assist with the development of the LibGuide. It became evident through these discussions that the layout and design of the LibGuide should be straightforward and user friendly. This valuable input along with collaboration from School of Education and project team staff, led to what is today known as the Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge LibGuide.

In establishing and developing this site, it was clear from the outset that there is no lack of Indigenous knowledge material and resources, whether it is in the area of pedagogy, curriculum or within subject areas. The resources are available and accessible, and the provision of a user-friendly Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge LibGuide site, ensures academic staff and students will be able to gain access more readily. The LibGuide organises a wide range of Indigenous content into one site grouped under headings, including: teaching resources, Indigenous researchers, multimedia and web resources. From within the LibGuide there are links to other websites and subscription and non-prescription databases that include newspapers and journal articles. There is also a link to the top ten indigenous research publications for 2013. The multimedia and web resources include streaming videos which requires a higher bandwidth for users. Postgraduate student resources were also included. Enrolled students need only computer and Internet facilities to gain access to the LibGuides. As a finding aid, there are links to it via the Education LibGuide and through CDU course content links in the online learning management system.

The maintenance of the LibGuide is ongoing as the Indigenous Knowledge LibGuide site grows and develops, with the opportunity to include relevant and up-to-date resources as they become available through publishers. An important feature of the LibGuide platform is that content can be updated easily where there is Internet access. The site is dynamic and allows for news feeds, which, in effect, results in automated updates. However, the LibGuide requires ongoing input by qualified librarians and this meant the project team recommended ongoing funding for this work.

Hardcopy resources

The continuing need for hardcopy resources with significant potential Indigenous knowledge content was indicated through face to face training sessions. The liaison librarian staff worked closely in collaboration with Dr Ford on what category types of information were required. The project team sought out practical teaching resources of relevance for the School of Education Indigenous knowledge requirements. In addition, Ford sought advice from the SERC to vary the remaining project funds in order to purchase AU$10,000 worth of Indigenous knowledge resources for the library.

CDU's external course offerings also meant that students were reliant on distance library services for DVD formats. The LibGuide has a feedback mechanism to enable teachers to submit relevant sources and they actively seek feedback from remote students during library instruction sessions about what they use and what works. This is useful for the liaison librarians to monitor and gauge online usage of the CDU Library resources.

Usage

Since it was implemented in 2012 the LibGuide has received 1371 views. The statistics shows that the greatest number of views of the Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge LibGuide was 780 and these were for finding teaching resources. The home page received 353 views and other pages received almost equal proportions. The analysis was necessary to determine the effectiveness of the LibGuide and the content that has been the most successful. It may also indicate the entry level to the site, with fewer views on the home page compared to the teaching resources page; an indicator that there may be direct entry to this page by staff from a bookmarked web page or that students are following a direct link from the blackboard course content. These data are important in terms of providing a guide to how we continue working collaboratively to promote resources through means other than the library.

Other CDU LibGuides are currently used as subject and information guides predominately for CDU students. The Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge LibGuide is slightly different as its objective is to provide a “one stop shop” for curriculum sources for teaching Indigenous learners and to encourage remote teachers to add to the resource, thus making it a public resource rather than one designed specifically for use while studying at CDU.

The LibGuide was developed to facilitate easy access to Indigenous knowledge information and resources in areas such as Indigenous science, art and literacy. In developing the site, it has been fascinating to see the Indigenous knowledge application in the sciences such as astronomy, ecology, weather, climate change and the seasons. For the unit coordinators teaching specialised subjects such as early childhood, art, research methods, maths, and physical education and health there are abundant resources, text and materials.

Conclusion

The Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge LibGuide was intended as a resource site, and as indicated by usage statistics this is indeed its most common usage. As CDU moves to increase Indigenous knowledge content across other subject areas the task of ongoing updates will become increasingly important and will play a significant part in the inclusion of more Indigenous knowledge for the School of Education. This may enable the University Office of Teaching and Learning to apply the model to faculty and school programmes across all CDU subject areas at a later date. It will be of use to academic staff, students, researchers and others involved in Indigenous knowledge. While libraries have been creating pathfinders for decades, the interactive online nature of LibGuides enables them to grow and evolve through collaboration with our academics and our students to keep the resources relevant (Little et al. 2010). For the CDU Library, this project and the LibGuide emphasise its important role as a relevant and current resource.

The Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge LibGuide is an aggregation of Indigenous knowledge content and is significant in that it brings together information from multiple resources into one easy access location for users. LibGuides are an open access web based tool therefore reaching a wide audience, benefitting the CDU community of educators and learners as well as the wider Australian community.

The establishment of the Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge LibGuide was only a part of the overall project to increase the use of Indigenous knowledge in the School of Education Bachelor of Education (Primary) degree. Although it has highlighted the vast amount of Indigenous knowledge resources available, not only for education but for other subject areas, such as art or science, these resources are widely spread and often require some research skills to find and access.

The Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge LibGuide aims to provide user friendly “one stop shop” access to a range of Indigenous knowledge information and the statistics indicate that the LibGuide has been well used since its implementation. It will require continuing updating and change and as such is an ongoing project – and one which we believe will prove useful for staff and students alike.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Payi Linda Ford

Payi Linda Ford is a Senior Research Fellow at the Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory. Dr Ford's research in higher education in Australia is extensive. Her depth of knowledge and understanding of cross-cultural education practices for Indigenous and non-Indigenous traditions is substantial.

John Prior

John Prior has worked in cross cultural contexts for many years, first as a teacher, then in various roles in Indigenous communities of the NT. As a teacher, Senior Project Officer for the former ATSIC then a Community Development Officer for NT Local Government. During these years (from the 1980's to present) he has also been a part time teacher/tutor for students of CDU, and now also has the role of a Research Assistant for TNI.

Barbara Coat

Barbara Coat was the Liaison and Academic Support Coordinator at Charles Darwin University at the time of the commencement of this project. Barbara has substantial experience in librarianship particularly in relation to the development of information literacy programs and resources. During the past 2 years Barbara had responsibility for liaison and support for indigenous support, SIKPP, ACIKE and the Northern Institute. Barbara had the honour of working with Dr Ford on this project and the Charles Darwin University Library will continue to develop this resource as part of the responsibilities of the Indigenous Support Liaison Librarian. Barbara is currently Learning Resources Coordinator at Torrens University Australia.

Lyndall Warton

Lyndall Warton is Health Liaison Librarian at Charles Darwin University and was first qualified as a Regsitered Nurse which enhances her ability to support the students and staff of the Health faculties. Lyndall has worked in a variety of roles in libraries and research management.