Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-11T01:19:57.684Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Finding Space and Place: Using Narrative and Imagery to Support Successful Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in Enabling Programs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2016

Clair Andersen ,
Ann Edwards  and
Brigette Wolfe
Clair Andersen*
Affiliation:
Institute of Learning and Teaching, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Ann Edwards
Affiliation:
Faculty of Arts, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Austraia
Brigette Wolfe
Affiliation:
Faculty of Arts, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Austraia
*
address for correspondence: Clair Andersen, Institute of Learning and Teaching, University of Tasmania, PO Box 133, Hobart, Tasmania 7251, Australia. Email: Clair.Andersen@utas.edu.au.
Get access

Abstract

‘Riawunna’ is an Aboriginal word meaning ‘a place of learning’ for Aboriginal people, from entry level to tertiary studies, at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) and operates on Hobart, Launceston and Burnie campuses. The Riawunna Centre was established to encourage Aboriginal people to aspire to higher levels of education, and to support them to be successful in their chosen course of study. One strategy developed to support the participation, retention and success of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is the Murina program. During the four year period between 2010 and 2013 every student at UTAS who graduated from the Murina program and chosen to enrol in undergraduate studies has been successful in completing their courses. One of the tools used to achieve this result is the strong use of narrative and images in our teaching. This whole-person approach to teaching resonates culturally with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, but is also applicable to any student of any culture, especially those who come to university tentatively and with low expectations of what they can achieve.

Keywords

Aboriginal educationenablingpathwayssupport
Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 46 , Issue 1 , August 2017 , pp. 1 - 11
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andersen, C. (2009). Indigenous footprints on health curriculum. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 38, 41.Google Scholar
Andersen, C. (2014, March). Indigenising universities: Looking at the UTAS model. Paper presented at the AIATSIS Conference Breaking Barriers in Indigenous Research and Thinking: 50 Years On, Canberra, Australia.Google Scholar
Andersen, C., Bunda, T., & Walter, M. (2008). Indigenous higher education: The role of universities in releasing the potential. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 37, 1–08.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Asmar, C. (2014). Indigenous teaching at Australian universities: Research-based approaches to teaching Indigenous students and Indigenous curriculum. Sydney, NSW: Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. Retrieved from http://www.indigenousteaching.com/.Google Scholar
Atkinson, J. (2002). Trauma trails, recreating song lines: The transgenerational effects of trauma in Indigenous Australia (pp. 5–22). North Melbourne: Spinifex Press.Google Scholar
Attwood, B., & Markus, A. (1999). The struggle for Aboriginal rights. Sydney NSW Australia: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Australian Human Rights Commission. (1997). Bringing them home: The ‘Stolen Children’ Report. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved from http://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/bringing-them-home-report-1997.Google Scholar
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2011). The health and welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Canberra: Author.Google Scholar
Bennett, A., Hodges, B., Kavanagh, K., Fagan, S., Hartley, J., & Schofield, N. (2012). 'Hard' and 'soft' aspects of learning as investment. Widening Participation & Lifelong Learning, 14 (3), 141–156.Google Scholar
Bessarab, D., & Ng'andu, B. (2010). Yarning about yarning as a legitimate method in Indigenous research. International Journal of Critical Indigenous Studies, 3 (1), 37–50.Google Scholar
Biddle, N., Hunter, B.H., & Schwab, R.G. (2004). Mapping Indigenous education participation. CAEPR Discussion Paper No. 276. Canberra, ACT: Australian National University.Google Scholar
Bin-Sallik, M.A. (Ed). (2000). Aboriginal women by degrees: Their stories of the journey towards academic achievement. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press.Google Scholar
Boellen, C., & Wollard, B. (2009). Social accountability and accreditation: A new frontier for educational institutions. Medical Education, 43, 887–894.Google Scholar
Carofiglio, G. (2007). Reasonable doubts. (Howard Curtis, Trans.). London: Bitter Lemon Press.Google Scholar
Castellano, M. (2004). Ethics of Aboriginal research. Journal of Aboriginal Health, 1 (January), 98–114.Google Scholar
Centre for the Study of Higher Education (2008). Participation and equity. A review of the participation in higher education of people from low socioeconomic backgrounds and Indigenous people. Melbourne: Centre for the Study of Higher Education, University of Melbourne.Google Scholar
Chandler, M.J, Lalonde, C.E, Sokol, B.W., Hallett, D., & Marcia, J. E. (2003). Personal persistence, identity development, and suicide: A study of native and non-native north American adolescents. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 68 (2), 1–138. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1166217.Google Scholar
Covey, S.R. (2004). The 7 habits of highly successful people: Restoring the character ethic. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Denning, S. (2007). The secret language of leadership: How leaders inspire action through narrative. San Francisco: Jossey – Bass.Google Scholar
Dewey, J. (1886). Soul and body. Bibliotheca Sacra, 43, 239–263.Google Scholar
Dickie, V. (1998). Narratives in education and practice. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 54, 227–229.Google Scholar
Dockery, A.M. (2013). Cultural dimensions of Indigenous participation in vocational education and training: New perspectives. Adelaide: NCVER.Google Scholar
DOHA. (2012). Aboriginal and torres strait islander health performance framework 2012 Report. Canberra: Department of Health and Ageing, Commonwealth of Australia.Google Scholar
Fredericks, B., Adams, K., Finlay, S., Fletcher, G., Andy, S., Briggs, L., Briggs, L., & Hall, R. 2011. Engaging the practice of yarning in action research. ALAR Journal, 17 (2), 7–19.Google Scholar
Fredericks, B., Clapham, K., Bainbridge, R., Collard, L., Adams, M., Bessarab, D., Andersen, C., Duthie, D., Ball, R., Thompson, M., & Daniels, C. (2014), Ngulluck katitj wah koorl koorliny/us mob going along learning to research together: Drawing on action research to develop a literature review on Indigenous gendered health and wellbeing. Action Learning Action Research Journal, 20 (2), 89–113.Google Scholar
Fugelli, P. (2001). Trust- in general practice, British Journal of General Practice, 51, 575–579. Retrieved from http://folk.uio.no/pfugelli/artikler/trust.htm.Google Scholar
Gunnestad, A. (2006). Resilience in a cross-cultural perspective. How resilience is generated in different cultures. Journal of Intercultural Communication, (Issue 11). Retrieved from http://www.immi.se/intercultural/nr11/gunnestad.htm.Google Scholar
Harris, S. (1982). The main features of Aboriginal learning processes. In Sherwood, J. (Ed.), Aboriginal education: Issues and innovation (pp. 129–34). Perth: Creative Research.Google Scholar
Have, P.t. (1990). Methodological issues in conversational analysis, Bulletin de Méthodologie Sociologique, Nr. 27 (June), 23–51. Retrieved from http://www.paultenhave.nl/mica.htm.Google Scholar
Havemann, P. (1999). Indigenous peoples’ rights in Australia, Canada & New Zealand. Auckland: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hunter, M., & Egan, K. (Eds.) (1995). Narrative in teaching, learning and research. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Hunter, B.H., & Schwab, R.G. (2003). Practical reconciliation and continuing disadvantage in Indigenous education. The Drawing Board: An Australian Review of Public Affairs, 4 (2), 84–98.Google Scholar
IHER. (2012). Review of Higher Education Access and Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People: Final Report. Retrieved from http://www.innovation.gov.au/TertiaryEducation/HigherEducation/ReviewofIHER/Pages/default.aspx.Google Scholar
Inoue, N. (2012). Mirrors of the mind: Introduction to mindful ways of thinking education. New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc.Google Scholar
Kovach, M. (2010). The First Peoples child & family. Review, 5 (1), Retrieved from http://journals.sfu.ca/fpcfr/index.php/FPCFR/article/viewFile/172/14.Google Scholar
Lalonde, C.E. (2006). Identity formation and cultural resilience in Aboriginal communities. In Flynn, R.J., Duding, P. and Barber, J. (Eds.) Promoting resilience in child welfare (pp. 52–67). Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press.Google Scholar
Liddle, C. (2014). Australian Universities don't value their Indigenous students and staff. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/jul/10/australian-universities-do-not-value-indigenous-students?CMP=twt_gu.Google Scholar
Mattingly, C. (1998). Healing dramas and clinical plots: The narrative structure of experience. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Mezirow, J. (1997). A critical theory of adult education. Adult Education Quarterly, 32 (1), 3–4.Google Scholar
Moleli, F. (2005). Protective factors that could foster resilience in first year students. Retrieved from http://etd.uwc.ac.za/xmlui/handle/11394/1594.Google Scholar
Nicholls, C., Crowley, V., & Watt, R. (1996). Theorising Aboriginal education: Surely it's time to move on? Education Australia, 33, 6–9.Google Scholar
Palmer, P.J. (1998). The courage to teach: Exploring the inner landscape of the teacher's life (2nd ed.), San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Pechenkina, E., & Anderson, I. (2011). Background paper on Indigenous Australian Higher Education: Trends, Initiatives and Policy Implications. Retrieved from http://sydney.edu.au/documents/about/higher_education/2011/20110930%20IndigenousHigherEducationReview-ReseachPaper.pdf.Google Scholar
Pechenkina, E., Kowal, E., & Paradies, Y. (2011). Indigenous Australian students’ participation rates in higher education: Exploring the role of universities. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 40, 59–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RCIADIC. (1991). Royal commission into aboriginal deaths in custody. 1(28). Retrieved from http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/IndigLRes/rciadic/national/vol1/.Google Scholar
Rigney, L.-I. (1999). Internationalization of an indigenous anticolonial critique of research methodologies: A guide to Indigenist research methodology and its principles. Wicazo sa Review, (Emergent Ideas in Native American Studies), 14 (2), 109–121.Google Scholar
Rose, M. (1990). Healing hurt minds the peper harow experience. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Trudgen, R. (2000). Why warriors lie down and die. Darwin: Aboriginal Resource and Development Inc.Google Scholar
Sacks, O. (2008). Musicophilia: Tales of music and the brain. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.Google Scholar
Sennett, R. (2008). The craftsman. London: Penguin.Google Scholar
Smith, L.T. (1999). Decolonising methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples. Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago Press.Google Scholar
Tinto, V. (2008). Access without support is not opportunity. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2008/06/09/tinto.Google Scholar
Walker, M., Fredericks, B., Mills, K., & Anderson, D. (2014). Perspectives on a decolonizing approach to research about Indigenous women's health: The Indigenous women's wellness study. Health Care for Women International, 35 (10), 204–216.Google Scholar
World Health Organisation. (2008). Closing the gap in a generation. Health equity through action on the social determinants of health. Retrieved from http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2008/WHO_IER_CSDH_08.1_eng.pdf.Google Scholar
Zautra, A.J., Hall, J.S., & Murray, K.E. (2010). Resilience: A new definition of health for people and communities. In Reich, J.W., Zautra, A.J., & Hall, J.S. (Eds.), Handbook of Adult Resilience (pp. 3–34). New York: Guilford.Google Scholar