Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T16:29:32.632Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The ‘Pedagogy of discomfort’: A qualitative exploration of non-indigenous student learning in a First Peoples health course

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2019

Kyly Mills  and
Debra Creedy
Kyly Mills*
Affiliation:
Griffith University, School of Nursing and Midwifery & School of Medicine, Southport, Queensland, Australia
Debra Creedy
Affiliation:
School of Nursing and Midwifery, Griffith University – Logan Campus, Meadowbrook, Queensland, Australia
*
Author for correspondence: Kyly Mills, E-mail: k.mills@griffith.edu.au
Get access

Abstract

To improve healthcare practices and increase cultural safety when working with First Peoples, it is essential that students engage with challenging discourses that critically engage their social, political, personal, professional and historical positioning. Such engagement may provoke emotional responses in students. However, little is known about the nature of non-indigenous students’ emotional engagement when learning First Peoples health content that integrates cultural safety principles. The pedagogy of discomfort is a process of self-examination that requires students to critically engage their ideological assumptions and may be useful in examining the emotional dimension that occurs when learning this content. Eighty-two non-indigenous health students gave permission for their critical reflective essays, submitted as an assessment requirement of a First Peoples health course to be analysed. Elements of the pedagogy of discomfort informed the analytical and theoretical framework. The emotional engagement by students was captured in the following overarching themes: Acknowledging preconceived ideas; Uncomfortable emotions; Fragile identities; Spectating and Witnessing. Findings highlight how students' emotional engagement may contribute to changes in perspective and frames of reference, transpiring to a ‘call to action’ that challenges systems of differential privilege. While many students expressed discomfort when learning about key cultural safety concepts, the extent of transformative potential varied.

Keywords

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islandercultural safetyemotionFirst Peoplespedagogy of discomfortreflective practice
Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , August 2021 , pp. 29 - 37
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2019

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

Ahmed, S (2013) The Cultural Politics of Emotion. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2015) The Health and Welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Cat. no. IHW 147. Canberra: AIHW.Google Scholar
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2016) 4.2 Social Determinants of Indigenous Health Australia's Health 2016. Social Determinants of Australia's Health Series no. 15. Cat no. AUS 199. Canberra: AIHW.Google Scholar
Biles, J, Coyle, J, Bernoth, M and Hill, B (2016) I am looking for my truth: a hermeneutic phenomenological study focusing on undergraduate nursing students' journeys in indigenous Australian cultural competence. Journal of Australian Indigenous Issues 19, 161–175. Available at http://www.swinburne.edu.au/about/our-university/indigenous-matters/research/journal-of-australian-indigenous-issues /Google Scholar
Boler, M (1999) Feeling Power: Emotions and Education. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Boler, M and Zembylas, M (2003) Discomforting truths: The emotional terrain of understanding difference. In Trifonas, PP (ed.), Pedagogies of Difference: Rethinking Education for Social Change. New York: Routledge, pp. 110–136.Google Scholar
Bullen, J and Flavell, H (2017) Measuring the ‘gift’: epistemological and ontological differences between the academy and indigenous Australia. Higher Education Research and Development 36, 583–596.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bullen, J and Roberts, L (2018) Driving transformative learning within Australian indigenous studies. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 48, 1–12.Google Scholar
Burnard, P (2004) Writing a qualitative research report. Nurse Education Today 24, 174–179.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carey, M (2015) The limits of cultural competence: an indigenous studies perspective. Higher Education Research & Development 34, 828–840.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, V and Braun, V (2017) Thematic analysis. The Journal of Positive Psychology 12, 297–298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Department of Health (2014) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Curriculum Framework. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. Available at https://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/72C7E23E1BD5E9CFCA257F640082CD48/$File/Health%20Curriculum%20Framework.pdf.Google Scholar
Dudgeon, P and Fielder, J (2006) Third spaces within tertiary places: indigenous Australian studies. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology 16, 396–409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dudgeon, P, Milroy, H and Walker, R (eds.) (2014) Working Together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principles and Practice. Barton: Commonwealth of Australia.Google Scholar
Dunn, KM, Kamp, A, Shaw, WS, Forrest, J and Paradies, Y (2010) Indigenous Australians’ attitudes towards multiculturalism, cultural diversity,’race'and racism. Journal of Australian Indigenous Issues 13, 19–31. Available at http://www.swinburne.edu.au/about/our-university/indigenous-matters/research/journal-of-australian-indigenous-issues/.Google Scholar
Durey, A, Thompson, S and Wood, M (2012) Time to bring down the twin towers in poor Aboriginal hospital care: addressing institutional racism and misunderstandings in communication. Internal Medicine Journal 42, 17–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eckermann, A-K, Dowd, T and Chong, E (2010) Binan Goonj: Bridging Cultures in Aboriginal Health. Chatswood, NSW: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Elo, S and Kyngäs, H (2008) The qualitative content analysis process. Journal of Advanced Nursing 62, 107–115.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Faulkner, J and Crowhurst, M (2014) ‘So far multicultural that she is racist to Australians’: discomfort as a pedagogy for change. Pedagogy, Culture & Society 22, 389–403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fleming, T, Creedy, DK and West, R (2017) Impact of a continuing professional development intervention on midwifery academics’ awareness of cultural safety. Women and Birth 30, 245–252. Available at https://www.journals.elsevier.com/women-and-birth.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fredericks, BL (2009) The epistemology that maintains white race privilege, power and control of indigenous studies and indigenous peoples' participation in universities. Australian Critical Race and Whiteness Studies Association eJournal 5, 1–12. Available at https://acrawsa.org.au/.Google Scholar
Hunt, L, Ramjan, L, McDonald, G, Koch, J, Baird, D and Salamonson, Y (2015) Nursing students' perspectives of the health and healthcare issues of Australian indigenous people. Nurse Education Today 35, 461–467.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Indigenous Higher Education Advisory Council (IHEAC) (2007) Ngapartiji Ngapartji Yerra: Stronger Futures. Report of the 3rd Annual IHEAC Conference. Paper presented at the 3rd Annual IHEAC Conference, Adelaide.Google Scholar
Jackson, D, Power, T, Sherwood, J and Geia, L (2013) Amazingly resilient indigenous people! using transformative learning to facilitate positive student engagement with sensitive material. Contemporary Nurse: A Journal for the Australian Nursing Profession 46, 105–112.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kickett, M, Hoffman, J and Flavell, H (2014) A model for large-scale, interprofessional, compulsory cross-cultural education with an indigenous focus. Journal of Allied Health 43, 38–44. Available at http://www.asahp.org/journal-of-allied-health/Google Scholar
Mackinlay, E and Barney, K (2012) Pearls, not problems: exploring transformative education in indigenous Australian studies. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 41, 10–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merriam, SB (2004) The role of cognitive development in Mezirow's transformational learning theory. Adult Education Quarterly 55, 60–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mezirow, J (1997) Transformative learning: Theory to practice. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education 74, 5–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Million, D (2009) Felt theory: An indigenous feminist approach to affect and history. Wicazo Sa Review 24, 53–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mills, K, Creedy, DK and West, R (2018) Experiences and outcomes of health professional students undertaking education on indigenous health: a systematic integrative literature review. Nurse Education Today 69, 149–158.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moreton-Robinson, A (2000) Talkin'up to the White Woman: Aboriginal Women and Feminism. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press.Google Scholar
Moreton-Robinson, A (2004) Whiteness, epistemology and indigenous representation. In Moreton-Robinson, A (ed.), Whitening Race: Essays in Social and Cultural Criticism. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press, pp. 75–88.Google Scholar
Moreton-Robinson, A (2007) Witnessing the workings of white possession in the workplace: Leesa's testimony. Australian Feminist Law Journal 26, 81–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nakata, M (2007) The cultural interface. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 36, 7–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nakata, M, Nakata, V, Keech, S and Bolt, R (2012) Decolonial goals and pedagogies for indigenous studies. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society 1, 120–140.Google Scholar
Nakata, M, Nakata, V, Keech, S and Bolt, R (2014) Rethinking majors in Australian indigenous studies. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 43, 8–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) (2003) Values and Ethics: Guidelines for Ethical Conduct in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Research. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.Google Scholar
Pedersen, A and Barlow, FK (2008) Theory to social action: a university-based strategy targeting prejudice against aboriginal Australians. Australian Psychologist 43, 148–159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, G (2015) Dancing With Power: Aboriginal Health, Cultural Safety and Medical Education (Doctoral dissertation). Available at https://www.monash.edu/library/about/initiatives/repository.Google Scholar
Phillips, J, Whatman, SL, Hart, VG and Winslett, GM (2005) Decolonising university curricula–reforming the colonised spaces within which we operate. In Kidman, J, Te Rito, JS and Penitito, W (eds), The Indigenous Knowledges Conference 2005 - Reconciling Academic Priorities with Indigenous Realities. Wellington, NZ: Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, pp. 1–15.Google Scholar
Power, T, Virdun, C, Gorman, E, Doab, A, Smith, R, Phillips, A and Gray, J (2018) Ensuring indigenous cultural respect in Australian undergraduate nursing students. Higher Education Research & Development 37, 1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramjan, L, Hunt, L and Salamonson, Y (2016) Predictors of negative attitudes toward indigenous Australians and a unit of study among undergraduate nursing students: a mixed-methods study. Nurse Education in Practice 17, 200–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramsden, I (2002) Cultural Safety and Nursing Education in Aotearoa and Te Waipounamu (Doctoral dissertation). Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Ranzijn, R, McConnochie, K, Day, A, Nolan, W and Wharton, M (2008) Towards cultural competence: Australian indigenous content in undergraduate psychology. Australian Psychologist 43, 132–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rigney, L-I (1999) Internationalization of an indigenous anticolonial cultural critique of research methodologies: a guide to indigenist research methodology and its principles. Wicazo sa review 14, 109–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, L (2011) Feeling in crisis: Vicissitudes of response in experiments with global justice education. Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies 9, 6–65.Google Scholar
Thackrah, RD and Thompson, SC (2013) Confronting uncomfortable truths: receptivity and resistance to Aboriginal content in midwifery education. Contemporary Nurse: A Journal for the Australian Nursing Profession 46, 113–122.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thackrah, RD, Thompson, SC and Durey, A (2015) Exploring undergraduate midwifery students' readiness to deliver culturally secure care for pregnant and birthing Aboriginal women. BMC Medical Education 15, 77–86.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thorpe, K and Burgess, C (2016) Challenging lecturer assumptions about preservice teacher learning in mandatory indigenous studies. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 45, 119–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Universities Australia Indigenous Higher Education Advisory Council (2011) National Best Practice Framework for Indigenous Cultural Competency in Australian Universities. Canberra: Universities Australia. Available at https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/.Google Scholar
Yunkaporta, T and McGinty, S (2009) Reclaiming aboriginal knowledge at the cultural interface. Australian Educational Researcher 36, 55–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolfe, N, Sheppard, L, Le Rossignol, P and Somerset, S (2018) Uncomfortable curricula? A survey of academic practices and attitudes to delivering indigenous content in health professional degrees. Higher Education Research & Development 37, 649–662.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zembylas, M (2013) Critical pedagogy and emotion: working through ‘troubled knowledge’ in posttraumatic contexts. Critical Studies in Education 54, 176–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zembylas, M (2014) Theorizing “difficult knowledge” in the aftermath of the “affective turn”: implications for curriculum and pedagogy in handling traumatic representations. Curriculum Inquiry 44, 390–412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zembylas, M (2016) Making sense of the complex entanglement between emotion and pedagogy: Contributions of the affective turn. Cultural Studies of Science Education 11, 539–550.CrossRefGoogle Scholar