\blunte 37, Supplentent,' . . t a @ r r c . :

2008 I'. AUSTRALIAN ]OURNAL d INDIGENOUS EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION

MARTIN NAKATA-lumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, Universityof Technology Sydney, PO Box L23, Broad'way, NewSouth Wales. 2007. Australia

This edition of Tbe AustralianJournal of IndigenousEducation is a special supplementary issue whichbrings together papers from the 2007 IndigenousStudies and Indigenous Knowledge Conference thathave been reviewed through a blind-referee process.The conference was hosted byJumbunna IndigenousHouse of Learning, and the Indigenous ProgramsUnit in the Faculry of Business, at the University ofTechnology Sydney, 1 1- 1 3 July 2007 . It was the secondofan annual conference series planned to encourageconversation and dissemination about the place andmeaning of Indigenous knowledge in the W'esternacademy and its implications for the evolving cross-disciplinary area of Indigenous studies. The seriesbegan in 2OO6 with the (Re)Contesting IndigenousKnowledges and Indigenous Studies Conferencehosted by the Oodgeroo Unit, Queensland Universityof Technology. The papers from that series werepublished by Tbe Australian Journal of IndigenousEducation in Volume 36, Supplement 2007. Thethird conference was hosted by Riawunna, Centre forIndigenous Education, at the University of Tasmaniain Hobart, 2-4 July 2OO8.

Internationally, Indigenous studies, in all its variousdenominations, has become the focal point for thecollection and distribution of knowledge aboutIndigenous peoples across the academy. Since themid-1980s when significant numbers of Indigenousstudents began to enter Australian universities, theproduction and transmission of knowledge andunderstanding "about" Indigenous peoples has satin uneasy tension with higher education programs

"for" Indigenous students and other students. Thepresence of Indigenous students, staff, academicsand researchers has ensured inevitable contestationof the meanings of Indigenous experiences andtraditions as these are re-presented (or omitted)through the knowledge, practices and conventionsof the disciplines which underpin teaching, learning,and research activities in faculties.

The Indigenous Studies and Indigenous KnowledgeConference series attempts to provide the space todrawin these aspects of ourknowledge and experienceinto complex and challenging conversations. Vhilethe conference series encourages contestation of theissues, it does not seek a divisive campaign betweenIndigenous and Western knowledge in the academy.Rather it supports "unsettl ing" conversations andencourages original or applied thinking that canpromote the sorts of analysis required to explicate

INTRODUCTION::.::.:...:::-;a::.::... -;4.4, jba\ \.- +*-;..t :.:4.::a::z€:... 4

the complexities of Indigenous peoples' position inthe 21st century. The aim is to encourage Indigenousand non-Indigenous academics, practit ioners, andresearchers to explore, investigate, describe, andinterrogate our own assumptions and thinking aswell as our own practices and positions. Those of uswho are Indigenous seek to make our presence feltin the interest of working more productively with andbetween both sets of understanding. \(hile we maycontest and dismantle the thinking of others, the aimis to produce forward motion in our own thinkingand production of knowledge.

The highlighting of Indigenous knowledge in theseconversations reminds us of all that still stands outsideof the academy; all that is still not understood or wellrepresented in the conversations and scholarshipabout Indigenous peoples and issues. Indigenousknowledge also reminds us that in everyday practice,Indigenous people are often working in accordancewith other systems, values and practices passeddown while at the same time making sense of andoperating in Western frameworks. The coupling ofIndigenous knowledge with Indigenous studiesreminds us that in our own scholady conversationsand practice we are contributing to and constructingways of thinking about Indigenous peoples and issues

- we are responding to and shaping the discourses,the disciplines, and Indigenous cross-disciplinarypfactices - and we are passing that on to students.Indigenous studies represents a p ivota l pointbetween Indigenous knowledge, understanding, andexperience and the representation and discussion ofthat in academia, in public affairs, and in the trainingof students' thinking and professional practice. But,embedded as it has been in Western systems ofthought, Indigenous studies also represents the historyof thinking about us, our current contestations, andthe grounds for future understanding and directions.The conversations we generate in this conferenceseries are therefore important opportunities to re-think the relationships between Indigenous andnon-Indigenous on a range of levels and in a rangeof contexts.

The Indigenous Studies and Indigenous KnowledgeConference series attracts diverse interests and wide-ranging papers that cross a range of disciplines,topics, and theoretical and practical contexts. In2OO7, we added an Indigenous student supportstrand. This was an attempt to gather together thosewho teach and support Indigenous students and whohave a close working knowledge of the challengesstudents have in these contested knowledge spaces.This is a qualitative aspect of Indigenous highereducation experience that is often lost between ourunderstandings of the challenges facing academicallyunder-prepared Indigenous students and thediscourses of mainstream support, bureaucraticpressures, and government accountability agendas.

2

The opportunity for these academics and supportprofessionals to be part of the wider Indigenousstudies - Indigenous knowledge conversations keepsus all connected in our efforts. W.hat to teach andhow to teach Indigenous studies and Indigenousstudents is an important patt of the conversation.

It is interesting to note that comments in the 2OO7conference survey reinforce that people want to learnfrom each other's practical experience within andacross the sub-sectors of Indigenous activity. Suspicionabout the relevance of perceived "elite" scholarshipto Indigenous community contexts remains a concernfor some. Although topics relating to Indigenousstudies - Indigenous knowledge range very wide,it is important the conference series does not runthe risk of trying to be all things to all people in allsectors, or raise false expectations about what can beachieved through these conversations. At one levelthe conference series is unapologetically academicand resonates most strongly with those involved inIndigenous studies in the higher education sector.Flowever, wherever Indigenous knowledge issuesintersect with practice on the ground, descriptionsand analysis of practice contribute to Indigenousstudies and wider conversation in Indigenous affairs.It is important that those who work at the interfacebetween Western and Indigenous knowledge practicereport and disseminate their experiences throughpublication so that this can be brought back in tokeep shaping the content of Indigenous studies,cross-disciplinary work and the field of Indigenousinquiry and research. For Indigenous graduates andother community workers, this conference series is atouchstone to the changes in thinking occurring allthe time through research and other scholady work.The theory-practice nexus involves us all in theseimportant conversations as learners. Without bothscholarship around theoretical and methodologicalconcerns, and reporting and research about practice,both theory and practice will be the losers.

The 20O7 conference papers in this edition notonly cross a range of topics but approach questionsof Indigenous knowledge - Indigenous studies indifferent ways. The 2007 conference internationalkeynote speaker was George Dei, Professor and Chair,Department of Sociology and Equity Studies, OntarioInstitute for Studies in Education at the University ofToronto. Professor Dei received his higher educationin both Ghana and Canada and spoke of ways to

"cultivate an Indigenous space in the Western academy"(p. 8 this volume). Dei urges Indigenous scholars toestablish an Indigenous presence through claims ofidentity, place and culture and argues that the materialand discursive conditions of knowledge productionin the academy must account for identity politics toavoid misrecognition and negation. From an Africanperspective, he sets out principles for building a'critical Indigenous discursive framework' to meet

Martin Nakata

INTRODUCTION

Pearce's contribution also emphasises the close tiesbefween teaching and learning and the support ofstudents and draws attention to the critical role ofIndigenous program facilitators. The connectionsbetween teaching and learning and academic skillssupport are also addressed by Martin Nakata, VickyNakata and Michael Chin. The authors contend thatIndigenous students require particular academic toolsfor engaging the disciplines whilst drawing in theirown knowledge and experience to inform their ownanalyses of content presented to them in courses. Anargument is made that research is needed to shedlight on how Indigenous students process intellectualcontestations between their own knowledge andexperience and those represented or omitted fromtheir course content. A different approach is takenby Soenke Biermann, a non-Indigenous student, andMarcelle Townsend-Cross, an Indigenous academic,who reflect on the meanings of transformativepedagogy in an Indigenous studies subject forIndigenous and non-Indigenous students. They arguefor the potential of pedagogy based on "Indigenousvalues, philosophies and methodologies ... to effectpositive educational change for all learners" Gr. 146).Descriptions of concepts of Indigenous pedagogy andsome tools for practice provide a basis for others toexplore andadapt.

All these papers contribute to understandings ofthe cultural interface between Indigenous studies

- Indigenous knowledge. All make cases for theIndigenous position within the academy and/or inpractice beyond the academy. These papers stand, not

iust as contributions to the discourse, but as sites forfurther discussion and conversation. All those whoteach, work and play a supporting role in the Indigenoushigher education sector are urged to interrogate, buildon, and take these contributions forward.

t Acknowledgements

I wish to thank Tbe Australiantournal of IndigenousEducation for publishing this special supplement andfor editorial assistance. Thanks also to: all the authorswho submitted their papers and gave their time to thereferee and editing process; all our blind reviewerswho also gave up their time to provide feedbackto authors; and all our conference presenters whocontributed to a stimulating conference. Specialthanks must go to our conference organisers, inparticular, Zeita Davis of Jumbunna IndigenousHouse of Learning, Sonia Pearce and Judith Phillipsof Indigenous Programs in the Faculry of Business,staff of Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learningand our many University of Technology Sydneystudent volunteers. Special thanks to Tony Pearcean invaluable communify volunteer. We must alsothank conference sponsors and partners: UTS Library,UTS Faculty of Business; Koori Centre, University of

Martin Nakata

Sydney; Indigenous Law Centre, University of NewSouth Wales; Oodgeroo Unit, QUT; WoolyungahIndigenous Centre, University of Wollongong; EoraCollege, TAFE NSW Sydney Institute; ReconciliationAustralia; Australian Institute of Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander Studies; Aboriginal Studies Press;Illawarra Aboriginal Medical Service; and MacquarieBank. Without this support the conference serieswould not have been as successful as it was.

H About the author

Professor Nicholas Martin Nakata, guest editor forthis supplementary edition, is Director of JumbunnaIndigenous House of Learning and Chair of AustralianIndigenous Education at the University of Technology,Sydney. He has written and researched acrossIndigenous issues in schooling, higher education,Indigenous knowledge, Indigenous library anddigitisation issues and in areas relating to anger andIndigenous men.

\rolume 37, Supplement, 2008 A' AUSTRALIAN IOURNAL ./INDIGENOUS EDUCATIONa -:... . :a:,-:t.E.#tY.t::=4tzs.:-..:.::+.; ::r:

Academic preparation, transition and student supportprograms have evolved in Australian universitiesas strategic interventions to improve Indigenousparticipation, access and outcomes in tertiary levelstudies (Hong & Cousins, 2OO3). The economic cost ofbroader student attrition for universities largely drives

"mainstream" developments in changing approaches toacademic support and teaching4earning developmentsin universities (Lintern et al., 2001). These academicsupport and teaching and learning developmentsare also an acknowledgement of increasing studentdiversity and the need to accommodate and respondto this diversity (Mclnnis, 2OO3). Of more concernfrom the Indigenous perspective are the opportunitycosts of student attrition to the Indigenous communitywhen Indigenous engagement with higher education,seen as a key to improve Indigenous well-beingand futures, does not achieve desired outcomes.Despite the tremendous efforts in the Indigenoushigher education sector to close the gap betweenthe retention, completion and graduation rates forIndigenous students and other students (DESI 2005;Encel, 2000), the gap remains.

i* Tensions in a changing academic support context

It has been noted in the general student supportl iterature that retention is associated with "thepolicies, actions and strategies of the institution tokeep a student" (fardine & Krause, 2OO5, p. 5), whilepersistence is associated with "individual students'actions to continue with studies despite negativeinfluences acting upon them" (fardine & Krause,2OO5, p. 5). The pressure to improve retention andpersistence of students has placed focus on their needto adapt to the demands of university expectationsand at the same time has brought increased pressureon universities to accommodate the needs of diversestudent populations. This has led institutions toextend their focus beyond discrete academic skillssupport interventions and towards academic teachingand learning as an atea of research and professional

APPROACHES fu tbe ACADEMICPREPARMIQ}{ "", SUPPORT"/ AUSTRALIAN INDIGENOUSSTUDEI{TS f", TERTIARY STUDIES

MARTIN NAKMA, b Introduction

VICKY NAKATA& MICHAEL CHINJumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, Universityof Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, Broadway, NewSouth W'ales, 2OO7, Australia

il Abstract

This paper explores how the academic performance ofIndigenous srudents has been investigated in the highereducation literature and where this fits within theacademic support context and teaching and learningdevelopments in Australian universities. The authorssuggest an approach to Indigenous academic skillssupport that equips Indigenous students with toolsfor managing their engagements with the content ofWestern disciplines. A case is made for more focussedresearch around Indigenous students' approaches toprocessing intellectual content while developing theirown Indigenous standpoints.

137

APPR0ACHES ,o're ACADEMIC PREPARATI0N -a SUPPORT'/AUSTRALIAN INDIGEN0US STUDENTS Martin Nakata et al.

development in universities (Bryant et al., 1999).Developments in teaching and learning approachesare generally concerned with issues surroundingcurricula and pedagogy-what and how coursecontent is delivered and assessed. Efforts to integrateor scaffold students' academic skills developmentwithin the teaching process have been reported (seeKift, 2005). The general academic support/studentdiversity literature draws attention to the "blurringof boundaries" in the roles of academic skills supportstaff and academics' roles in adjusting teaching andlearning (Mclnnis, 2OO3, p.398).

This changing academic support practice occurs atthe site of intersecting tensions: between the "retentive"institution and the "persistent" individual; betweenthe roles of academic skills support staff and academicteaching staff; and between the delivery/demandsof course content by academics and the individual'sdevelopment of academic skills required to engagesuccessfully to meet academic standards.

Students as learners are positioned and understoodby the academy within these tensions. Changingacademic support practice for diverse cohorts ofstudents is institutional recognition that the once

"abeady ready for academic learning" student canno longer be assumed. Lawrence (2000) contends,however, that in terms of institutional responsesto academic under-preparedness, student diversityis largely framed through deficit theory whereunfamiliarity with academic discourse and conventionsis read as a problem rather than the site and source ofstudents' engagement with, negotiation, and masteryof academic discourse.

The tensions for Indigenous students in thesechanging student support contexts

Indigenous students have always been understoodas an academically under-prepared and culturally-different cohort and a raft of measures has beendeveloped and refined since the mid-1980s to supportIndigenous students in higher education (Bin-Sallik,L99l). Indigenous academic support measures havelargely been developed outside of general academicsupport structures for other students. These measureshave been firmly situated within broader conceptionsof support for Indigenous students, which recognisethe particular challenges Indigenous students face inhigher education. These broader measures attemptto ameliorate a range of personal, social and culturalbarriers to success. The evolution of Indigenousstudent support centres in most Australian universitiesattests to the need for this specialised response tosupport Indigenous students in universities.

Special programs for the academic support ofIndigenous students do to some extent mirror thegeneral response for other cohorts ofunder-preparedstudents. For example, recognition of Indigenous

academic under-preparedness due to historicalexclusion has led to the development of variousfoundation, bridging, enabling, compensatory,supplementary or specially-designed programsor strategies. The Commonwealth Government'sIndigenous Tutorial Assistance Scheme (ITAS)recognises lower rates of secondary schoolcompletions and provides funding assistance at thetefiiary level for one-to-one support of Indigenousstudents who require academic assistance withparticular subjects. Special entry enrolments in mostall university programs is yet another example.

We agree with Lawrence (2OO0) that theseapproaches arc largely deficit-based, but would bereluctant to make this a primary point of contentionby being romantic about the position of manyIndigenous students beginning universify studies.Being academically under-prepared in terms of therequisite academic skills set is a major disadvantagefor Indigenous students who must access and engagewith the meanings of knowledge within

'Western

disciplines. However, in many cases, special academicprograms and support measures have been designedby or in conjunction with Indigenous people, tobe culturally affrrming and to recognise Indigenousstudents' starting points; and indeed, their particularpurposes for pursuing higher education. This hasprovided a more positive framework for Indigenousstudent support.

What we argue is that Indigenous students,particulady under-prepared students need to beconsidered both in terms of their skills "deficits"and in terms of their particular sets of Indigenousknowledge, which we consider to be importantassets they bring to their learning. This "Indigenous"knowledge may simply mean "experience" ofthe wodd as an Indigenous person, it may meanhistorical understanding passed down from theIndigenous perspective, it may mean local knowledge,or community-based experience, or traditionalknowledge, all of which are not well-represented incourse content, if at all. This knowledge, or theseassets, set Indigenous students apart from others andinstitute them in a particular relation to the knowledgeand practices of the academy, which have historicallyexcluded, misrepresented, and de-valued Indigenousknowledge and perspectives (Nakata, 2OO7).

Lawrence's (2000) positive thesis on negotiating andmastering unfamiliar discourses sits well with Nakata's(2OO7) notion of the Indigenous students' position atthe cultural interface but does not go far enough inconsidering the position of Indigenous students intheir engagements with the content of disciplines. Aconsideration of Indigenous standpoint (Nakata, 2006),however, forces a focus on how Indigenous studentsare to be "academically" skilled up to negotiate andmaster disciplinary and institutional discourses whileconsidering their own knowledge and experience

138

Volume 37, Supplentent, 2008

in order to maintain and develop their intellectualpositions in relation to course content.

In relation to this aspect of Indigenous learning,we suggest there is a tendency to underplay theimportance of the interplay between Indigenousstudents' skills deficits and knowledge assets. Theabsence of discussion about this tension appears tofall befween the conversations that occur aroundembedding Indigenous knowledge and content incourses and those that occur in relation to academicskills development and support. We contend thiscontinues the separation of different aspects oflearning that are both integral to Indigenous sfudents'successful engagements in the academy and whichstudents need to develop simultaneously. This is quitedifferent from those discussions that surround thedevelopment of an identified Indigenous pedagogy,which we consider problematic enough to waffantseparate discussion (Nakata, 2OO4).

In the Indigenous higher education contextthen, the tensions between teaching and learningissues (around curricula content and pedagogy) anddiscrete academic skills support measures need tobe brought closer together. We suggest that howIndigenous higher education students have beeninvestigated in the literature both shapes and limitsour understanding of them as learners in the academyRevisiting the extant literature is timely to ourdiscussion if the academic preparation and supportneeds of Indigenous students are to be reconsideredto address this tension between skills deficits andknowledge assets.

I Shaping and limiting our understandings

Performance of Indigenous students

Concern about comparative Indigenous rates ofattrition and outcomes with other students hasensured that the performance of Indigenous studentsand the barriers to their success have receivedsome attention in the literature. Indeed, the factorsaffecting the performance of Indigenous studentshave been well reported for more than a decadein different universities, different disciplines, anddifferent program levels (e.g., Bourke et al., 1996;Burden et al.,

'1998; Kutieleh et al., 2O03: Malcolm &

Rochecouste,2OO2; Nugent & Arbon, 1994; Page etal., 1997; Penfold, 1996; Sonn et al., t996; Tennentet al., 1996; Usher et al., 2OOO; Walker & Humphries,L999). There are also position papers and descriptiveaccounts of various strategies to support the academicprogress of Indigenous students (e.g., Blanchard etal., L999; Brennan et al., 2OO5: Harrison et al., 1998:Holt, 2005; Keefe, 1990; Luck, 1998; Miekleiohn etal., 2OO3; Mills, 2001; Omeri & Ahern, 1999; Thomas& Farmer, 2OO5). Many of these reports identifr arange or factors, including personal, family, financial,

,," AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL "/ INDIGENOUS EDUCATION

and other social issues that inhibit success. Whilethere is reference in these reports to academic issues,the attention is minimal and constitutes one factoramong many. On an evidence basis, issues associatedwith academic content, academic skills, and teachingand learning approaches are not assessed as criticaldeterminants in Indigenous students' decisions topersist or withdraw. Nevertheless the literature doesconsistently confirm, identiS', and report that academicissues do provide difficulties for Indigenous studentsand that academic support is an essential factor inthe success of many Indigenous students, especiallythose who enter university under-prepared.

Acadernic issues & performance

The academic issues identified in these reports andstudies can be categorised as: under-preparedness;course organisation within faculties; recognition ofIndigenous content and knowledge; teaching andleaming approaches; and academic literacies associatedwith disciplinary conventions.

For example, both students and academics haveidentified the need for better academic preparationbefore starting courses (See Bourke et al., 1996;Burden et al., 1998; Nugent & Arbon, 1994; Sonnet al., 1996; Tennent et al., 1996; Usher et al.,2OO5) and various interventions and programshave been developed across the country. Contentand knowledge issues are consistently identifiedas relating to: inclusion/exclusion of Indigenouscontent, the need to make programs more relevantto both urban and traditional community experience,the treatment of Indigenous content, and concernsabout the devaluing of Indigenous knowledge andIndigenous students' experiential knowledge (SeeSonn et al., 7996; Bourke et al., 1996; Malcolm &Rochecouste, 2OO2). Teaching and learning issuesidentified in these reports include the preferencefor hands on, practical learning over theory-basedlearning and an identification of the demands ofacademic conventions as "white man's way" (SeeBourke et al., t995; Malcolm & Rochecouste, 2OO2iPage et a]', L997). With regard to specific academicskills, these reports confirm that a broad range ofacademic skills difficulties have been consistentlyidentified over time and academic under-preparation,language difficulties, and unfamiliarity with academicand disciplinary conventions are all implicated inthese diff iculties (e.g., Malcolm & Rouchecouste,2002; Nugent & Arbon, 1994; Penfold, 1996; Usheret al., 2OO5). The findings of these reports, for themost part, draw on Indigenous student perspectivesand experiences of university. There are also somedescriptions in the literature of strategies designedto address Indigenous academic literary issues (e.g.,Carmichael , 2OOO-?OO1; Morgan & Kutieleh, 2O04;Rose et al.,2OO3).

139

APPROACHES /o/,e ACADEMJC PREPARATJON a,d SUPPORT "/AUSTRALIAN INDIGENOUS STUDENTSMartin Nakata et al.r$:{€i,i+r tr *ie@--31lt r\iiJ:

Some research has attempted to understand Indigenoustertiary students as learners. This area of researchhas included: approaches to learning (Robertson,1,996); Indigenous students' conceptions of learning(Boulton-Lewis et al., 1997, 2OOO, 2OOL,200l; Bunker,1999; Wilss et al., L999); preferred learning styles(Barnes, 2OOO); verbal reasoning abilities (White7995); Indigenous srudent-non-Indigenous turorinteractions (Demosthenous, 2OO4); literary issues(Malcolm 7996; Malcolm & Rochecousre, 2O02,2003);and critical thinking (Harrison, 2004). These studiesare also useful for understanding Indigenous studenrs.This field of inquiry has largely been approached fromthe perspective of Western educational theories ofleaming to defermine how Indigenous students differfrom other students andwhat implications this has fortheir learning, academic preparation or support.

With the bulk of what we know about Indigenousstudent performance emerging from position papers,descriptions of practice, or from studies with abroader focus, the discussion of academic issues forIndigenous higher education students within theliterature illustrates a pertinent point that Malcolm& Rochecouste (2003) also make with regard toIndigenous academic skills research, that the work sofar done has been:

either broad brush (and therefore not concernedwith the details ... ) or based on the gatheringof opinions or impressions. There is a seriouslack of data on the ways in which Indigenousstudents in higher education perform ..., and theliterature is overweighted with advice rather thananalysis (2OO3, p. 16).

I Learners as negotiators of complex intersections

At the heart of changing tensions between academicsupport, teaching, and learning contexts and all thesereported performance issues are Indigenous learners.V/hile Indigenous students do not identiff academicskills or teaching and learning issues as criticaldeterminants in decisions to persist or withdraw, theynevertheless identiff them as issues that affect theirperformance in higher education. Challenges areintensified when students are academically under-prepared. Accessing meaning in course content,analysing different positions, and expressing (verballyand in writing) one's own position in relation tothese as required in academic tutorial and assessmentregimes becomes much more of a challenge underthese conditions (Nakata, 2OO7 a; 2OO7b).

However, as reported in the literature, the academicissues that challenge Indigenous learners go beyond

questions of academic skills alone. They extend to andintersect with teaching and learning (curricular andpedagogical) issues associated with the Indigenouscontent of courses and the place of Indigenousexperience, perspectives, content or knowledge in theacademy. These "for Indigenous students" and ',about

Indigenous conrent" issues are a topic of inquiry anddiscussion in Indigenous studies as well (Nakata, 2OO4).Collectively, the study of the Indigenous academicperformance and Indigenous studies l iteratureconfirms that, for Indigenous students, academicdifficulties emerge from more than a simple deficitof the requisite academic skills for working withindisciplinary knowledge, conventions and practice.The literature in the main reminds us that academicconcerns for Indigenous students also emerge aroundthe teaching and learning issues associated withthe inclusion/exclusion or treatment of Indigenousknowledge and content in courses. It reminds usas well that academic concerns also emerge aroundunease that academic discourses and paradigms of theWestern disciplines often fail to capture understandingof Indigenous issues, as students or the Indigenouscommunity experience them. There is a furtherconcern expressed in the literature that immersionin the knowledge and conventions of the academicdisciplines risks undermining cultural identit iesof students and cultural ways of learning throughassimilative tendencies (Walker, 2OOO; Malcolm &Rochecouste, 2OO3). Clearly, across the literatureand confirmed by wide anecdotal reporting, manyIndigenous students confront complex challengesin negotiating their engagements with concepts,conventions, and practices of established disciplines,while maintaining the standpoints forged in theirexperiences of being Indigenous.

Although the range of support measures in placeto assist Indigenous students to access, participate inand complete higher education programs could beconsidered institutional measures of accommodation,it can also be surmised that academia itseH has beenless accommodating. That is, Indigenous academicsupport measures tend to remain outside the mainwork of disciplines. The literature on Indigenousstudent performance, discussed above, quiteconsistently confirms that adiustments to curriculaand pedagogy remain minimal in the disciplines, andin mainstream courses and programs, and are mostevident in special Indigenous programs run by or inconjunction with Indigenous academic staff. Apart fromthese special Indigenous programs, the developmentof the "discipline" area of Indigenous studies assubjects, streams, and majors in "mainstream" courseshas been the predominant method of inclusion ofIndigenous content into other courses. Frustrationwith the patchiness and limits of this approach hasled to more recent activity in some universities toembed Indigenous perspectives across disciplines and

Research into Indigenous students as learners inhigher education

140

volume 37, Supplement, 2008

courses (See QUT, 2003; USQ, 2OO7). But as Mclnnis(2OO3) pointed out in reference to the "mainstream"context, while teaching and learning is under pressure

to change "there are considerable obstacles in the wayof major changes to cumiculum design and delivery"(p. 398) Across Australian universities, the Indigenousacademics at tempt ing to embed Indigenousperspectives or augment the offerings in Indigenousstudies strands would attest to the obstacles.

As recognised by this conference series, theissues around the representation of Indigenousknowledge and Indigenous studies content are thesite of intellectual contestation within the academy(Phillips et aI., 2OO7). This is a site for intellectualinquiry and for new knowledge production. It is alsothe site of Indigenous students' learning. For almostall Indigenous students, learning begins on thesecontested grounds. With roots in different theoriesand epistemologies of knowledge systems, in differentsets of historical experience, informed by critiques ofcolonialism, mystified and often overwritten by theconventional practices in the disciplines, these aredifficult and complex intellectual and learning spacesto navigate. Navigating these spaces is challenging forboth students and academics, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike. Such contestations are unlikely to beresolved satisfactorily within the teaching and learningcontext in the near future, despite attempts in variousplaces to "indigenise" curricula or embed Indigenousperspectives across the teaching areas (Nakata,2OO4).

Yet the literature discussed above confirms thatcontent, knowledge and perspectives issue, cleailycause frustration, alienation, and/or emotionalentanglement for Indigenous students studying in thedisciplines. These frustrations are a bigger challengefor Indigenous students who do not have adequateacademic skills to engage, analyse from their ownexperience, and generate alternative accounts thatmeet academic requirements. However, the literaturefails to tease out the implications of the interplaybetween skills levels and academic content issues forthe quality of learning engagements or for outcomes.Are these frustrations with content and lower skillslevels implicated in, for example, superficial learningengagements, disengagements, and intellectualseparatism? How are students positioned or equippedto work productively in contested knowledgespaces in preparation for professions or for deeperdisciplinary contestation at postgraduate levels? Nordoes there appear to be research that illuminates howsuccessful Indigenous students navigate and negotiatecontested positions in knowledge while maintainingand developing their own intellectual positions forproductive Indigenous ends and to satisry academicrequirements. If as academics we are challenged toarticulate the complexity of our position in relationto disciplinary knowledge and our contestations withthe academy, what does it say of our expectations of

'," AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL "/ INDIGENOUS EDUCATION

students if we maintain the separation between skills/content issues or if we deny either is not part of thesame challenge?

I New tools to challenge the rules of engagement

The development of "generic" academic literacy skillsto assist Indigenous students to meet the demandsof disciplinary practices and conventions is, by itself,insufficient to deal with these contestations. ForIndigenous students "the acquisition of tertiary oracademic literacy is not a simple situation of acquiringanother way to speak or write to succeed at university"(Malcolm & Rochecouste, 2003, p.25).

We suggest the situation requires the seriousconsideration of Indigenous learners as navigatorsand negotiators in a contested knowledge space. Thisprompts the serious consideration of what additionalor different skills and tools Indigenous studentsneed to develop in tandem with generic academicskills. What do they need for thinking, learning, andproducing academic work in this space to assist themto articulate their own positions which draw on theknowledge and experience of being Indigenous?

Insights into how Indigenous students experiencethe demands of learning while navigating complexintersections on a range of levels, is a much neededarea of investigation (Nakata, 2006). To adequately skillstudents requires that we first understand how theyexperience and process the intellectual demands. Thenwe can ask, for instance: What options and strategiescan students develop and use to draw attentionto these matters, as these emerge in their learningengagements and so direct their own learning in moreconstructive, meaningful, and useful directions? Howcan Indigenous students be upheld and developed as

"thinkers" in these complex spaces before we expectthem to be "knowers" of academic knowledge and/or generators of their own or of "new" perspectiveson knowledge? What sorts of conversations anddiscussions do they need to have with themselves andin interactions with others? We need a more detailedunderstanding of these demands as they emerge instudents' learning engagements, and a more detailedunderstanding of how individuals attempt to managethese demands. We need to understand these demandsas they emerge in preparatory through transition, todeeper learning stages in third and fourth year and atpostgraduate levels.

The theory and practice work of some scholars (e.g.,Lawrence, 2000; Carmichael, 200L; Harrison, 2004)draws attention to the importance of critical skillsfor understanding Western disciplines, discoursesand conventions, and for a more situated readingof knowledge and practice. Vhile such critical skillsare fundamental to Indigenous students' skills set,the skills for drawing in Indigenous knowledge andexperience to generate more productive analytical

t41

APPR0ACHES b,be ACADEMIC PREPARATIQI.{ ara SUPP0RT "/AUSTRALIAN INDIGENOUS STUDENTS Martin Nakata et al,

engagements - that go beyond critique - is anadditional step.

This signals a different approach to resolvingthe retention-persistence tension that is currentlyexpressed via arguments about institutionalaccommodation of diversity versus individualIndigenous accommodation of academic practices.Rather than foster the expectation that the content ofcurricula and pedagogy must first change to providesatisfactory opportunities for Indigenous students toengage more meaningfully, this approach seeks toequip students to engage productively with the corpusof Western knowledge, whatever the conditionsof this knowledge in terms of exclusion, omissionor misrepresentation of Indigenous standpoints. IfIndigenous students are viewed as bringing assets inthe form of their own knowledge and experience intotheir learning engagements, then they already havethe grounds from which to contest, even when theIndigenous perspective - or their own individual one

- may be absent or misrepresented in course content.If we acknowledge Indigenous students' assets, thenwhat do such students require, in terms of skills, to beable to legitimise the inclusion of their own experienceand knowledge? How are they to do this to a standardthat satisfies academic practice? If there is a departurefrom academic practice, then what or who or howare students to determine whether there is sufficientrigour to their intellectual arguments? In makingcontested claims on experiential or undocumentedIndigenous knowledge, what are the standards to be?As academics, how are we to discuss and what are weto do to equip Indigenous students to engage crediblyfrom the academy's point of view and with somesatisfaction from the Indigenous point of view, underthese conditions?

These conditions of Western knowledge are Lnimportant site for Indigenous intellectual and criticalinquiry for it is from this location, or in the shadowof this knowledge, that Indigenous students mustilluminate and articulate their own position, forged alsofrom within their own experiences of being Indigenous.The purpose of higher education, especially educationfor professional practice in Indigenous contexts, is toengage, contest and re-think current understandingsabout Indigenous issues. Building better grounds forsuccessful Indigenous educational outcomes goesto the heart of building Indigenous futures. Thegeneration of effective practices in Indigenous contextsinvolves getting beyond reliance on ideological andoppositional discourses and requires a "working out"from inside both Indigenous and disciplinary setsof understandings.

How to equip students to draw in their ownexperiences, develop their analytical positions whileupholding an Indigenous standpoint to contestand "grow" the academic discourse to be inclusiveof their own positions, is an under-explored area of

research. Some students do manage well. But howdo they negotiate these contested spaces? What aretheir strategies? How skills-dependent are thesestrategies? Can they be described for others to use?Can students be supported in their engagements withcontent, in specific ways, to develop useful strategiesas part of their repertoire of academic skills? Are therepafticular pedagogical approaches more conduciveto suppoft these? Are there implications for academicpreparation, special entry provisions, and ongoingacademic suppoft?

Research focus in this area is required to shed lighton the interplay between skills and content issues forIndigenous students and needs to connect both withacademic skills support and academics' professionaldevelopment in teaching and learning. It is one thingto provide a basis for considering how attention tothese issues can be inserted into academic preparation,transition, and support programs to enrich andexpand the repertoire of skills or tools that Indigenousstudents need to engage with the disciplines on theirown terrns and for their own needs. But a fine-grainedanalysis of Indigenous student's learning engagementsand strategies for working within the disciplines touphold Indigenous standpoints should produce datathat will also inform teaching and learning practice andprofessional development for academics in faculties.'$/hat

can academics come to understand of Indigenousstudents who must "struggle on their own" to engagewith course content in ways that are meaningful andpurposeful for their own future professional goals andfor collective Indigenous ends? \7hat strategies andskills can academics and tutors, including Indigenousones, develop and integrate to scaffold and supportstudents' engagements with content? What strategiescan tutors develop to shape discussion that providesbetter opportunities for negotiation betweenIndigenous and non-Indigenous meanings?

This approach also moves beyond concerns aboutIndigenous attrition and completion rates. It is likelyto have bearing on the quality of Indigenous students'preparation for professional practice in a range ofIndigenous contexts. The tools that Indigenousstudents learn to help them navigate and negotiatecomplex knowledge terrain in learning engagementsare anticipated to be transferable to generatingimproved practice in complex Indigenous contexts,for example, in health practice, governance areas,economic development, law, and business. workingin these contexts requires constant negotiationbetween different systems of thinking and practice,and understanding of people's historical experience ofthese intersections. Indigenous learners' engagementwith the disciplines is a specific, specialised exampleof what Indigenous Australians deal with everyday asthey interact with broader institutional practices andconventions. Research in this area should also producedata significant or transferable to the preparation of

142

Volume 37, Supplement, 2008 ,," AUSTRALIANJOURNAL "/ INDIGENOUS EDUCATION

non-Indigenous graduates for work in Indigenouscontexts. Most importantly it will extend discussionsin the literature.

I Summary

Deeper knowledge and understanding of Indigenousstudents' engagements with course content anddemands of established disciplines "as they learn"to articulate their own position in relation to whatis presented in courses is required to inform howspecific "tools for engagement" with the disciplinescan be developed. Many Indigenous students whocome to universify academically under-prepared aremotivated to improve Indigenous futures throughtheir choice of profession. They bring with themimportant knowledge and experience that is not well-represented in the disciplinary knowledge base orcourse content and are left to navigate and negotiateon thek own across a conceptual gap. The continuinggap between Indigenous and non-Indigenouseducational outcomes in many ways reflects the failedattempts at theoretical solutions in the conceptualspace between Western and Indigenous knowledgeand practice, where gaps in understanding from bothsides contribute to failure. But it is in this gap wherethe possibilities for producing more useful "inter-subjective" understanding cleady reside.

The need for empirical data to shed light on thisneglected aspect of academic preparation and skillssupport for Indigenous students entering tertiarystudy is crucial if we are to mount a concerted effortto close the gap. The need to understand Indigenousstudents as learners who are required, in manylearning events throughout their study, to negotiate thecomplex intersections between their own knowledge,perspectives and experience and the authoritativeknowledge of the disciplines they must engage within their courses is both urgent and at the centre ofquality, successful Indigenous education.

I References

Arbon, V, & Nugent, M. (1994, Jwe). More than an a.cce$ln): A criticalapproach to Aboriginal access prlgrams. Paper presented at theInternational Access Network Symposiun, University of Southern Maine,Portland, Maine.

Barnes, A. t. (2000). Learning preferences of some Aboriginal and TonesStrait Islander students in a veterinary prcgram. The AustralianJournal ofInd igmous Educa tion, 28(l). 8- 16.

Bin-sallic( M-A. (1991). Aboriginal tertiary eduution in Australia (2nd ed.).Underdale, SA: University of South Au$ralia, Aboriginal Studies Key Centre.

Blanchard, A., Crawford, F., & Dann, B. (1999). Establishing access andsupport strategies for Aboriginal students in social work. In R. Walker & R.Humphries (Eds.), Qualitt in practice; Aboriginal student participation inrnainstream courses 1 96- 198 Quality funded proj ects (pp. 75 -83). Perth,WA: Curtin Indigenous Research Centre, Curtin University ofTechnology

Boulton-Lewis, G. M., Marton, F., & Lewis, D (1997). Conceptions oflearningheld by Aboriginal students in a tertiary program in Indigenous primaryhealth care. In R. Murray-Harvey & H. C. Silins (Eds.), Learning andteaching in higher education: Aduancing international perspectiues:Proceedings of the Higher Education Research and Deuehpment Society ofAus tra la s ia Co nfe rmce (pp. 23 -26) . Adelaide: H i gher Education Researchand Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA).

Boulton-Lewis, G. M., Marton, F., Lewis, D., & Vilss, L. A. (2000). Aboriginaland Torres Strait Islander university students' conceptions of formallearning and experience of informal learning. Higher Education,39,469-488.

Boulton-Lewis, G., Mlss, 1., & Lewis, D. CI001). Changes in conceptions oflearning for Indigenous Australian university students. Britkh Joumal ofEducational Ps1'cbologr, Tl ,327 -341.

Boulton-Lewis, G., Wilss, 1., & Lewis, D. CI003). Dissonance betweenconceptions of learning and ways of learning for Indigenous Australianuniversify students. Studies in Higher Education,2S(1), 78 89.

Bourke, C., Burden, J., & Moore, S. (1996). Factors afecting the performanuof Aborigiral and Tones Strait Islander students at Australian uniuersities.Canberra, ACT Department of Education Training and Youth Affain.

Brennan, S., Healey D., Hunter, J., Johnson, D., San Roque, M., & Vblff,L. (2005). Indigenous legal education at UNSV: A work in progress.Indigenous lau Bulletin, 6(8) ,26-29.

Bryant, M., Scoufis, M., & Cheers, M. (1999). The transformation of highereducation in Australia: University teaching is at a crossroad. Proceedlngsof the Higher Education Research Deuelopmmt Societl of Australasia AnnualInternational Conference. Retrieved 8 February 2006, from http://wwwherdsa.org.autranches/vicKornerstones/authorframeset. html.

Bunker, A. (1999). Conceptions of learning held by Aboriginal entrants toa bridging programme. Proceedings of the Higher Education ResearchDeuelopment Societl' of Australasia Annual International Conference.Retrieved 8 February 2006, from http://wwwherdsa.org.auhranches/vlclCornerstones/authorframeset. html.

Burden, J., Bourke, E.A., Bourke, C., & Rigby, K. (1!!8). .access,participation, transformation; A study of factors contributing toIndigenous student attrition and retention at Uniuersity of TechnologtSydne"y. Und,erdale, SA: University of South Australia, AboriginalResearch Institute.

Carmichael, A. (200112002). Interrogating texts: Racist discourses. English inAustrulia, 129-130 & 123-126.

Demosthenous, C. (2004). Some preliminary findings on Indigenous studentsand non-lndigenous tutor interaction within a university setting. InB. Bartlett (Ed.), Educating: weat'ing research into practice, 1, (pp.259-

269). Nathan, QLD: Griffith University School of Cognition, Language &Special Education, f0nline Version]. Retrieved 10 February 2005, fromhttp:/ /search.informit.com.aulfullText;dn : 00285025 181 5570;res : E -

LIBRARYDepartment of Education Science and Training. Q005). National repurt t0

parliammt on Indigenous eduwtion and training 2003. Canberra, ACTDepartment of Education Science and Training.

Encel, J. Q000). Indigenous participatiln in higher education (0ccasional

Paper Series, 00/C). Canberra, ACT Department 0f Education, Trainingand Youth Affairs.

t 4 1

APPROACHES b'be ACADEMIC PREPARATION a"I SUPP0RT'/AUSTRALIAN INDIGENOUS STUDENTS Martin Nakata et al.

Harrison, B.T, Godfrey J. & Partington, G. (1998). Identifying policies toimprove recruitment, retention and performance of Aboriginal and TorresStrait students in tertiary educalion. Joumal of Institutional Research inAustrali a, 7 (1), 32 - 34.

Harrison, N. CI004). Rethinkng critical thinking: Indigenous students

studying at university Teaching Education, 15(4), 55-72.Holt, t. (2005, April). tndigenous education; studying in a supplrtiue

enuironment. Paper presented at Enhancing Student success: The Role ofIntegrated Support Services Conference, University of Newcastle, Australia.

Retrieved 8 February 2006, from http://wwwccc.newcastle.edu.aulstudent-support2 005conference/index.htm.

Hong, A. 1., & Cousins,.J. (2003). Indigenous students in Australian higher

education: A case study from the Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Curtin

University of Technology. Intematiornl Jourual o;t' Leaming, 10, 1Z9l -1316.

Jardine, A., & Krause, K-1. (2005, April). once thqt arriue how do we keepthem? Student persistence research and implicationsfor the retention ofnon-traditional studmts. Paper presented at Enhancing Student Success: The

Role of Integrated Support Services Conference, University of Newcastle,Australia. Retrieved 1 5 March, 2005, from http://wwwccc.newcastle.edu.aulstudent- support2005 conference/index.htm.

Keefe, K. (1!!0). Bddge to nowhere: Special courses in Aboriginal higheredttcation. Discourse, 1 1 (1), 91 - 103.

Kifl, S. (2005, April). Transfoming the frst year experience; A new pedagogjt

to m.able transition. Paper presented at Enhancing Student Success: TheRole of Integrated Support Services Conference, University of Newcastle,Australia. Retrieved 15 March, 2006, from http://wwwccc.newcastle.edu.

aulstudent- supportZ 005conference/index.htm.

Kutieleh, S., Egege, S., & Morgan, D. (2003). To stay or not t0 stay: Factorsaffecting international and Indigenous students' decisions to persist withuniversity study and the implications for support services. In K. Deller-

Evan & P Zeegers (Eds.), Refereed proceedings of the 2003 Biennial

Language and Awdemic Skills in Higher Eduwtion Confermce (pp. 89 98).Adelaide, SA: Student Learning Centre, Flinders University

Lawrence, J. Q000, luly). aethlnking diuersity; Retheorising transitionas a prlcess of engaging, negotiating, and mastering the discourses and

multiliteracies of an unfamiliar cubure rather than as a problem of def.cit.Paper presented atthe 4Ih Pacific Rim Fir$ Year in Higher Educaiion

Conference, Queensland University of Technology Brisbane, Queensland,Australia.

Lintern, S., Johnston, H., & 0'Regan, K. (2001). The changing face of

orientation: Strategies from student services.Journal ofthe Australian andNew kaland SludEn! Seruices Association, t8,4-19.

tuck, J. (1998, November/December). Australian Indigenous stud.ents atuniuersity; How do we know them? Paper presented at the Australia

Association for Research in Education Annual Conference, Adelaide, SouthAustralia. Retrieyed 12 April, 2005, from hltp: I lwww.aar e.edu.aulgSpap Iluc98214.htm.

Mclnnes, C. Q003). From marginal t0 mainstream strategies: Responding tostudent diversity in Australian universities. European Journal of Education,

3s(4),387 -400.

Malcolm, I.G. (1995, July). LituaE euents acrlss cultures in highu education.Paper presented at the Higher Education Research and Development Societvof Australasia Conference, Perth, Western Australia. Retrieved 8 February2005, from http ://wwwherdsa.org.aulconfs/1 996/malcolm.html.

Malcolm, I.G., & Rochecouste, j. (2002, }uly). Barriers to Indigenous

student success in higher education. Paper presented at the Higher

Education Research and Development Society of Australasia

Conference, Perth, Western Australia. Retrieved 8 February, 2006, from

http://wwwecu. edu.aulconferen ces/her dsal main/ papen/ nonr ef I pdf/

IanMalcolm.pdf.Malcolm, I.G., & Rochecouste, J. (2003). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

literacy in higher education: Emerging linguistic evidence. LiteraE and

Numeracy Studies, 12 (2), 15 -30.

Meikiejohn, B., Wollin, J.A., & Cadet-James, Y. L. CI003). Successful

completion of the Bachelor of Nursing by Indigenous people, Australian

Indigenous Health Bulletin , 3(Z) , I -9 .

Mills, S. (2001). Chasing the learningcurve: Challenges and strategies of

academic support staff who work with Indigenous tertiary students off

campus study centres in regional South Australia. Changing idmtities;Proceedings ofthe 2001 Australian language and Academic Skills Confermce,

lJniuersitlt of\Yollongong [Online uersion]. Retrieved 8 February, 2005,

fr om http: I llearning. uow.edu.aullAS200 1/unrefereed/mills.pdf.

Morgan, D., & Kutieleh, S. (2004, July). Academic aritingfor Indigenous

Australian and intemational studenh: A contextual approach t0 assist

transition to Australian tertiary instilutilns.Papet presented at Sth Pacific

Rirn First Year in Higher Education Confetence, Melbourne, Victoria,

Australia. Retrieved 10 February 2006, from http://wwwadcet.edu.aul

anzssa{iewFAQDetail.aspx?itemid : J65.Nakata, M. (2004). tndi7enous Australian studies and higher education;

2004 Biennial AIATSIS \Ventuorth Lecture. Reffieved 20 February, 2006

from http ://wwwaiatsis. govau /lbry I dig_prgmlw entw orth/ a352185 _a.pdf .

Nakata, M. (2006). Australian Indigenous studies: A question of discipline.

The A u s I ra I i a n J ou m al of An t hropo togt. t 7 13). 265 - 27 5.

Nakata, M. (2007a). The cultural inIefiace. AustralianJoumal of Indigmous

Education,365,7-14.

Nakata, M. CI007b). D'isciptining the sauages; sauaging the disciplines.

Canbern, ACT Aboriginal Studies Press.

0meri, A., & Ahern, M. (1999). Utilising culturally congruent strategies t0

enhance recruitment and retention of Australian Indigenous nursing

sludenfs. Joumal of hanscultural Nursing, 10 (Z), $0 -155.

Page, S., DiGregorio K. D., & Farrington, S. (1997, December). The studmt

experiences studl; Understanding the factors that ffict Aboriginal and

Tomes Strait Islander studmts' academic success. Paper presented at the

Annual Australian Association for Research in Education Conference,

Brisbane, Au$ralia. Retrieved 15 December, 2003, ftom hltp:l/wuw.aarc.

etu.au 197 I pap / digrk446. htm.Penfold, C. (1995). Indigenous students' perceptions of factors contributing

to successful Law studies. Iegal Education Reuiew, T(2), 155-191.

Phil l ips, S., Phil l ips, J., Whatman, S., & Mclaughlin, J. (Eds.). (2007).

(Re)Contesting Indigenous knowledges and Indigenous studies. Ila

Australian Joumal of lndigmous Educalion, 36(5\. 1-153.

Queensland University of Technology (200il. Embedding Indigenousperspectiues; Reportfrom the Teaching and Leaming Committee. Retrieved

10 May, 2007, from http ://www appu.qut.edu. aulresources/curriculum/

indigenousAeportactivitypdf.Robertson, H. (1990. Helping students to reach their full potential.

Proceedings of the Higher Education Research and Deuelopment Society

Volume 37, Supplement, 2008 '," AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL,/ INDIGENOUS EDUCATION..:.a:-:..::.-:: 7. : *@=?,: t se.a::;>:. :.

ofAustralasia Con;t'erence, Perth, western Australia. Retrieved 8 February

2005, http://wwwherdsa.org.aulconfs/1996/robertson.html.Rose, D., Lui-Chivezhe,1., McKnight, A., & Smirh, A. (2003). Scaffolding

academic reading and rvriting at the Koori Centre. The AustralianJournal

of Ind igeno us Ed ucn t iot t. 32. 4l -49.

Sonn, C., Bishop, 8., & Hunphries, R. (1999, July). a isk and protectiue;t'actors

that influence the participatiln of indigenous students in rnainslream

courses; Preliminary fndings [1]. Paper presented at Higher Education

Research and Development Sociefy of Australasia Conference, Perth,

Western Australia. Retrieved 8 February 2006, from http://wwwherdsa.or g.au/ confs I 1995/sonn. html.

Tennent, 8., Luck,J., Alcock, R., Andenon, L. Brennan, M. Field, P & Stehbens,

C. (1996). Survey instrunents for researching indigenous tertiary students- action research in action. Proceedings of the Higher Education Research

and Deuelopmmt Societl of Australasia Conferenw, Perth, Westem Australia.

Retrieved 8 February 2006, from http://www.herd sa.ory.au/ confs/1996 itennent.html,

Thomas, M., & Farmer, M. (2005). Indigenous law $udents at the University

of Western Australia. Ind igeno u s La w B u I I e I i/i, 6(1 1). I 6- I 8.

Usher, K., Lindsay D., Miller, M., & Miller, A. (2005). Challenges faced byIndigenous nursing students and $rategies that aided their progress in thecourse: A descriptive sturly. Contemporary Nurse, 189(1-2), 17 -31.

University of Southern Queensland. (2007). Embedding Indigenousperspectiues at L|SQ. Retrieved 2 Nlay, 2008, from http://wwwusq.edu.aulresources/sept07 graphicsreadyinformationfl yerembeddin gindigenouspers

pectivesinthecurriculumfi n.pdf.

Walker, R., & Humphries, R. (1999). Quality in practice; Aboriginal studentparticfuatiln in mainstreatn courses. Perlh, VA: Curtin Indigenous

Research Centre, Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Curtin Universit,v ofTechnology

Valker, R. (2000) Indigenous perflnnance in \Vestem Australian uniuersities;

Reframing retention and suc.cess. Canberra, ACT Department of Education

Training and Youth Affairs.White, C. (1996). Verbal reasoning abilities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islandertertiaryapplicants. TheAustralianJoumalo;t'htdigatousEducation,24(Z) ,27 -32.

Wilss, 1., & Boulton-Lewis, G, M., Marton, F. & Lewis, D. (1999, July).Leaming in and out of unit'ersity; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

students' clnceptilns and strategies used to learn. Paper presented at

the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia

Annual International Conference, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Retrieved 8 February 2006, fron hnp://www.herds a..org.aukranches/vic/Cornerstones/authorframeset. html.

: - , , r i , . r i n ' r r i f f i

14 )

:ii About the authors

Professor Nicholas Martin Nakata is Director of

Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning and Chairof Australian Indigenous Education at the Universityof Technology Sydney He has written and researchedacross Indigenous issues in schooling, highereducation, Indigenous knowledge, Indigenous libraryand digitisation issues and in areas relating to angerand Indigenous men.

Vicky Nakata is a Researcher at the JumbunnaIndigenous House of Learning, University ofTechnology Sydney. Her background is in educationand information studies.

Michael Chin has worked extensively in Indigenousstudent support for more than a decade. He is currentlyITAS coordinator at Jumbunna Indigenous Houseof Learning, University of Technology Sydney. Hisresearch interests are the fust-year transition issues inhigher education and English for academic purposes.