Teaching Australian Aboriginal higher education students: what should universities do?

Abstract

This paper reports findings from a recent study of Australian Aboriginal higher education student experience. Reported here are extracts from a set of case studies of staff, specifically those working in Indigenous Centres, involved with these students in both teaching and support capacities. These participants provided a rich set of qualitative data regarding their own experiences in the learning and teaching of Australian Aboriginal students. The paper raises important issues for the improvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university student experience and for increasing their representation in higher education, a strategy strongly supported by several current government initiatives. Best practice in the context of this paper not only includes teaching and learning, which in turn has implications for raising the awareness of university teaching staff, but also applies more broadly at the level of university-wide responsibility including policy-making and future directions.

Keywords:

• Aboriginal/Indigenous students
• teaching and learning
• cross-cultural issues in teaching and learning
• best practice
• university policy

Acknowledgements

We also acknowledge the contributions of other members of our research team: Ellen Grote and Mike Exell, and members of our wider research network: Guido Posthausen, Rose Lovelock and Trudy Avlonitis. Our gratitude also goes to those participants who gave willingly of their time and opinions for our study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 This research was undertaken by a team of researchers from four Australian universities in response to a call to identify success and best practice in facilitating the transition of minority Aboriginal groups into tertiary education. The project was funded by the Office of Learning and Teaching within the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR).

2 The Australian government funded ITAS.

3 The AIME programme (see http://aimementoring.com).

4 Similar initiatives include Engineering Aid Australia (http://www.engineeringaid.org/about-us/); The Stronger Smarter Institute (http://www.strongersmarter.qut.edu.au/index.jsp); University of Newcastle Indigenous Medical Entry Program; Bachelor of Medicine – Joint Medical Program (http://www.newcastle.edu.au/joint-medical-program/indigenous-students/), the University of Western Australia Year 12 seminars and subject specific camps for Years 9–11, and the Australian Capital Territory's principals’ recommendations.

5 The term ‘Indigenous knowledges’ as used by Walter (2012):

encompasses Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander scholarship, pedagogy, the cultural and specific knowledges of the many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations as well as the shared epistemological tenets such as relationality that define and delineate Indigenous knowledges from the western frame predominant within the sector. (1)

6 The term Indigenous cultural competency in this context is described as ‘Student and staff knowledge and understanding of Indigenous Australian cultures, histories and contemporary realities and awareness of Indigenous protocols, combined with the proficiency to engage and work effectively in Indigenous contexts congruent to the expectations of Indigenous Australian peoples’ (Universities Australia 2011, 171, italics original).

7 The lecturer or the tutor.

Additional information

Funding

The authors of this paper are grateful to the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR), and particularly to the Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT) which provided the funding for this research.