Charity meets clarity: A multiple methods and transdisciplinary approach to improving philanthropic investment in Indigenous Australian education

Abstract

A multiple methods and transdisciplinary approach to improving philanthropic investment in Indigenous Australian education Abstract: This study explores current and potentially future relationships between philanthropy and Indigenous education in Australia. More specifically, it has sought to address an overarching research question, namely ‘how can philanthropic bodies more successfully engage with Indigenous people and strategically invest their resources to improve Indigenous education outcomes?’ The research has involved a unique partnership between an Aboriginal researcher, the Australian National University, philanthropists, researchers and educators, and five First Nations communities in urban, regional and rural-remote localities. The study has been partly funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) through the ARC Linkage Projects scheme. Supplementary funds have also been provided by the Australian Communities Foundation, a philanthropic body based in Melbourne. In addressing the overarching research question and in light of the inherent complexity at the philanthropy–Indigenous affairs–education interface, the study has adopted multiple-methods and transdisciplinary approaches. It draws upon history, political studies, business and commerce studies, social sciences, and, especially, upon complexity science and emergence theories to both make sense of the data and to influence the future shape of First Nations education and philanthropic partnerships. Literature from both Australia and abroad is analysed to provide insights and understand tensions about historical practices, contemporary applications, and future directions in philanthropic investment in Indigenous education. The study has also sought to capture the voices of ‘demand’ (First Nations communities) and ‘supply’ (philanthropic bodies). As such, both the study and literature review examine current interventions and investments in First Nations education, and find that philanthropic investments in boarding school opportunities and university scholarships have grown considerably over the past decade. The study acknowledges this, but also argues that philanthropic investment in Indigenous education in its current form is too narrow, nowhere near scale when it comes to current and projected levels of need among First Nations communities, and tends to favour ‘fail-safe’ as opposed to ‘safe-fail’ initiatives. The study posits that improvements in Indigenous education are unlikely to present through oversimplified, linear and mono-dimensional interventions. It also concludes that partners in education, philanthropy and First Nations affairs need to think differently about problems and future possibilities by pursuing a course of positive disruption and collective action, where hearts of charity meet minds of clarity.