'Learning through country : competing knowledge systems and place based pedagogy'

Abstract

This thesis exposes the dichotomies and binaries that have characterised theoretical and political discourses in the provision of remote Indigenous education in Australia. The research finds that ideological tensions and over simplified notions of biculturalism in Indigenous affairs have dominated policy settings, resulting in compromised pedagogy at the classroom level. The research also finds that a structural disconnect exists in remote Indigenous education between schools, community and work at a local level. This disconnect is perpetuated by a failure of remote educational provision to develop pedagogic frameworks that are able to be inclusive of Indigenous knowledge and remote Indigenous development aspiration. The thesis demonstrates that remote Indigenous developments, and their associated employment roles, have specific pedagogic needs that cannot be met solely through generic pedagogy, nor can they be met through the provision of education based solely in ‘culturalism’. Rather, the research shows that there is a need for pedagogic frameworks that can cater for inherent tensions and complementarities in the transmission of knowledge. This is based in a notion that all knowledge is contested and, as such, it is the way that pedagogy is designed and which sets of knowledge are valued that ultimately decides what is learned. Towards this end, an analysis of the knowledge foundations of a remote Indigenous development is used to generate a model that can be used to assess educational and training requirements. Through detailed ethnographic and qualitative data, this thesis also provides an analysis of the social, physical and economic characteristics of one of the largest remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, Maningrida in Western Arnhem Land. This is then used to develop a ‘pedagogic device’ that can link ‘place based pedagogy’ with generic pedagogy. Finding that ‘Country’ forms a basis for social organisation and knowledge transfer in the region, the thesis describes the development of a localised ‘Learning through Country’ program which uses land as a ‘pedagogic device’. The thesis then moves from ‘Learning through Country’ to development and employment in ‘working on Country’ and ‘caring for Country’ programs. This section of the thesis analyses the development of Indigenous land and sea management programs in the Northern Territory. It also details their place in remote employment, as well as a quantification of activity and a training history of a large Indigenous land and sea management program. Finally, the preceding research is combined with research on land and learning models of education in the NT to create an applied pedagogic framework that has the potential to provide space for Indigenous knowledge in learning, as well as mediating the dichotomies in pedagogic provision for remote Indigenous students. Ultimately, this framework has the ability to reconnect remote Indigenous education with local communities and work.