Indigenous education sovereignty: another way of ‘doing’ education

ABSTRACT

With schools known to be sites of harm for many Indigenous peoples, both historically and currently, this paper re-considers ‘doing’ education another way. As a Gamilaroi woman, educator and researcher, I contemplate the ways Indigenous sovereignty is conceptualised and enacted by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the country now known as Australia. This provides the foundations to apply broader understandings of sovereignty to the notion of education sovereignty. Using narrative and storytelling, I aim to show education sovereignty before considering potential elements involved in doing education sovereignty. I identify six interconnected elements that underpin education sovereignty, including: Pattern Thinking; Country; Time; Relationality; Intergenerational Reciprocity; and Agency. These elements provide a deeper understanding of what education sovereignty could look like, and therefore another way of ‘doing’ education for all students, grounded in Indigenous axiologies, ontologies and epistemologies.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous sovereignty
• pattern thinking
• country
• time
• relationality
• intergenerational reciprocity
• agency
• Aboriginal education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. ‘Country’, purposefully capitalised, is a term often used by Indigenous Peoples in Australia to refer to home/lands/skies/waters/places/entities.

2. ‘Change the Date’ is a campaign targeted at the Australian Government and general population to consider changing the date of ‘Australia Day’. This is held on 26 January each year to commemorate the landing of the First Fleet, yet many Indigenous (and non-Indigenous) people see this as the beginning of a violent invasion, dispossession and genocide. See http://changethedate.org/

3. See Firesticks Alliance (2019)

4. Pseudonyms are used for anonymity

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship, Macquarie University Research Excellence Scholarship and Walanga Muru.

Notes on contributors

Michelle Bishop

Michelle Bishop is a Gamilaroi woman, grown up on Dharawal Country. She is currently an Associate Lecturer in the Macquarie School of Education, Macquarie University. From a critical Aboriginal perspective, Michelle’s research critiques dominant practices and offers counter-narratives to advocate for emancipatory change in education for Indigenous students. Her PhD project focuses on Indigenous education sovereignty - envisioning an educational future outside of colonial-controlled schooling, centred in Indigenous axiologies, ontologies and epistemologies.