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Indigenous Knowing and Cultural Awareness

Dr Les Vozzo

Acknowledgement to Tyson Yunkaportahttp://8ways.wikispaces.com

Badanami Centre for Indigenous Education University of Western Sydney

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Indigenous Knowing and Being

• Spiritualism as a cultural way of knowing,

• Collectivism as a social way of being, and

• Autonomy as a political affirmation Aboriginal ways of knowing and being.

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Standard 1: TEACHERS KNOW STUDENTS AND HOW THEY LEARNDemonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

1.1.1 .. physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students and how these may affect learning

1.1.2 .. research into how students learn and the implications for teaching

1.1.3 ..knowledge of teaching strategies that are responsive to the learning strengths and needs of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds

1.1.4 .. broad knowledge and understanding of the impact of culture, cultural identity and linguistic background in the education of students from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds

1.1.5 ..strategies for differentiating teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities

1.1.6 ..broad knowledge and understanding of legislative requirements and teaching strategies that support participation and learning for students with disability

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In pairs, share your thoughts about

Indigenous knowing and being and your experience living in rural and urban communities

TASK 1: ‘Get To Know You’ activity

Cultural Awareness • Deeper level of Consciousness• Making the links

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In small groups use the information sheet provided to discuss key points to consider

when communicating with Indigenous people

TASK 2 : Communication Protocols

Interface Approaches in

Aboriginal EducationAboriginal ways

of learning

Embedding Aboriginal Knowledge (AK) through Pedagogy

Aboriginal pedagogy derives from Aboriginal culture. For Aboriginal people, culture, world view and pedagogy are interrelated.

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Research for our Aboriginal pedagogy framework began at the start of the Darling River, where we brought knowledge of Aboriginal Pedagogy from local sources and

beyond together with two Western pedagogy systems – Quality Teaching and Reading to Learn.

QT

R2L

AK

Story – Following a Songline down the Darling River

…then down the river

Knowledge about Aboriginal ways of learning came from river communities and land…

…Messages from stories, non-verbal messages, reflection, demonstration / observation, side-tracks, images, experience

The cultural details of this journey can’t be shared here, but this is not the important part. The important part is the process…

What were the lessons, and how were they learned?

Choices

How we learn - culture way

We connect through the stories we share.

We picture our pathways of knowledge.

We see, think, act, make and share without words.

We keep and share knowledge with art and objects.

We work with lessons from land and nature.

We put different ideas together and create new knowledge.

We work from wholes to parts, watching and then doing.

We bring new knowledge home to help our mob.

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Units of work from Aboriginal Teachers

Look past the Aboriginal content, see instead the ways of learning…

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…Ways of learning…

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More Learning Maps by non-Aboriginal Teachers.

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In pairs discuss how you may incorporate 8-ways of knowing in

your teaching?

TASK 3

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Please complete the feedback forms

EVALUATION