As part of my exploration of Indigenous pedagogy that begun a year or so ago, and now shifting towards expanding this to explore curriculum expectations I’ve come upon the work of a Justine Grogan. She is an Associate Lecturer in Indigenous Studies in the School of Law and Society at the University of the Sunshine Coast. She wrote some public facing pieces on the kinds of ‘tick a box teaching’ that is common among these areas of teaching.
She states that, “Secondary schooling sees an overexposure to Rabbit Proof Fence, a movie which could be an effective resource to unpack motivations behind child removals, though without teacher guidance it becomes a ‘tick a box’ curriculum resource and students become bored.” Which echoes my earlier sentiments in a previous blog, with Rabbit Proof Fence serving as the cure all for all colonial ills within our teaching.
Continue, “My research highlights how institutional racism is still very much a part of Australia’s social fabric,” she said. Indeed, as per previous writings this appears within the curriculum quite explicitly as the number of references to ATSI concerns are limited, located in inactive places or are viewed as optional extras.
That, “It shows how misconceptions deflect how white privilege works by shaming the victim and how this is maintained within schooling institutions”, referring to the concept of ‘white fragility’ which I’m halfway through reading. She adds, “If we don’t speak up, we conform, and that does not bring about change.”, which is a crucial call to action. Where to act? By “Teaching the teachers who will go into classrooms and pass on their knowledge has a ripple effect, and that’s how we change the system.” This is the tricky and important work that we all must wade into if we hope to affect change.
And by taking, “Tangible steps we can take include actively seeking to educate ourselves and others on true history and its modern impacts.” - this modern element is often missing or lacking in discussions of this type. Culture instead is rendered as history, stable, inert and unchanging.
And, “While some students remembered contemporary conceptions from their secondary education such as, the Mabo legal case and the Sorry Speech this was very limited. Other respondents portrayed a reflective stance, such as ‘a Year 11 elective modern history class ... was culturally insensitive’ and ‘I remember learning about Indigenous culture through workshops and guest speakers and camps etc. but in class learning was very Eurocentric’. Further, many students also noted no formal instruction at all throughout their secondary schooling.” Which is why I tend towards a stance of ‘something is better than nothing, it doesn’t seem morally acceptable to do nothing and to have a generation uninformed of the true history of Australia. Indeed the Mabo case and the Sorry speech being time sensitive and precious examples of Indigenous related events and excellence.
Within a more academically minded piece she outlines that the, “Problems with the schooling curricula and overuse of learning materials leads to positive and negative stereotyping which align with some schoolteachers’ ignorance and fear (Bishop, 2020; Lowe & Galstaun, 2020). All educators must empower students to examine and unpack their own beliefs, worldviews and values, including positions of white privilege, giving students the opportunities to ask the hard questions in a safe space (Taylor, 2020). The educator must also develop skilful questioning that develops understanding of diversity though self-reflection and critical application (Bishop & Durksen, 2020). This aligns with my commitment, largely influenced by my wife’s scholarship, to the Socratic method in its many forms as a means to develop this voice, self reflection and criticality among young people.
The get out of jail free card among white educators is common: “All educators, in all disciplines, need to be aware of the different forms of racism at play, rather than students simply alluding to their white fragility, such as, ‘It’s my fault because I’m white’ and ‘I’m sorry’; this conformity and apologetic notion will not bring about systemic change, nor does it absolve members of society to help to redress social change (DiAngelo, 2018).” I see this compounded by the idea of ‘I’m just a teacher’ just an Anglo hetero male, framing which carries the same weight and meaning.
And, “Therefore, it is important to recognise how institutional racism, in all its forms, manifests itself to include students’ schooling memories (Lowe & Galstaun, 2020; McKinley & Smith, 2019; Vass & Hogarth, 2022).” In this case these memories are important for both teacher and student alike.
In closing, “For transformative education to be effective, teachers need to unpack these misconceptions and untruths and educate to the structural systems that continue to oppress and segregate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people/s (MacDonald & Kidman, 2022; McKinley & Smith, 2019).” Hear, hear!
The two pieces these quotes are drawn from are here:
https://www.sunshinecoastnews.com.au/2022/07/12/justine-grogan-indigenous-studies/
Both of which are excellent reads, if any of these ideas have caught your eye.
Running Word Count (the second 100,000): 25,525