Developing effective methods to teach Indigenous Australian traditions is a crucial aspect of the academic work undertaken by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit at The University of Queensland.
Central to the development of the ATSIS Unit’s teaching program is respect and awareness of the cultural nuances of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander intellectual traditions and cognitive frameworks. Recent collaboration with other Indigenous scholars internationally, particularly from North America, has also led to a focus on Indigenous Knowledge teaching and research methodologies.
Director of the ATSIS Unit Mr Michael Williams said that while there were differences in the teaching approaches of Unit staff because of their disciplinary training, there was also evidence of an emerging Indigenous pedagogy.
“The way we approach our work is to create an environment where students are respected for their knowledge and where we can all work with each other as co-learners. Students appreciate this principle as the basis of their classes, and say that it encourages them to respect diversity.”
Mr Williams said the main difference between Indigenous Knowledge and traditional teaching methods was the recognition that students are more able to understand Indigenous Knowledge paradigms if they are presented with active and practical approaches to learning.
“We emphasise the oral tradition of Indigenous cultures and course assessment includes a process that challenges students to present and assess orally. We also frequently take students outdoors to work and sit on the land, which they learn to respect as part of the cultural, spiritual and religious landscape of Indigenous people.”
Participation in cultural expression activities such as dance, story-telling and painting, as well as attending cultural gatherings and other social occasions, also form an important part of the Unit’s teaching methods.
“These activities move many students out of their comfort zone and challenge them to engage with knowledge and learning in a different way. Students regularly say that the ATSIS Unit is unique within the University and they appreciate the teaching style. In other courses students often feel they are just practising short-term memory recall,” Mr Williams said.
Feedback from Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous students about the teaching methods has been extremely positive and two of the Unit’s teachers, Deputy Director Sam Watson and lecturer Norm Sheehan, have been nominated for The Faculty of Arts Best Teaching Nominations. Mr Williams said it was also gratifying that a growing number of international students from the USA had returned home and sought advice from the Unit about how they might work with Indigenous communities in their home states.
As part of on-going Indigenous Knowledge teaching methods exchange and cooperation, Unit staff also recently supervised the PhD studies of a Canadian student. The student is now a member of staff at the Indian Federated College in Canada and will return to the ATSIS Unit next year, along with the Director of the College, as part of an exchange to explore Indigenous Knowledge teaching in the classroom. In a subsequent year, a Unit staff member will visit Canada with a senior Indigenous Australian Yanyuwa woman to continue the project.
“We see Indigenous Knowledge, and its associated teaching methods, as a vital and valid component of Australian academic institutions. In presenting it as a deeply challenging intellectual discipline, we ultimately hope to have its validity recognised within UQ in undergraduate and postgraduate programs,” Mr Williams said.
Contact details: Mr Michael Williams telephone 07 3365 6699
