Reflection

During my time in Aboriginal and Culturally Responsive Pedagogies I have learnt

of a myriad of ideas, concepts and meanings that will undoubtedly assist me
through my journey not only as a pre-service student, but also as a graduate
teacher and all throughout my teaching career.

I have faced various challenges walking into this unit. The first of which is the
constant fear of offending or unintentionally saying something insensitive, this is
also known as paralysis of integrity (Price & Garlett, 2015). This is a constant
fear coming from the notion that I, as a non-Aboriginal woman, would come into
contact with a culture that is not mine and have to teach various aspects of it
authentically. Although I have learnt some aspects of the Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander cultural history and perspectives throughout my time in primary
and secondary school, when I reflect upon it, I realise that it was not completely
authentic. It did not give me the complete tools to understand Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander culture to the degree that one would hope to learn of their
nations first peoples and the oldest living culture in the world.

Lack of knowledge on how to approach the content and topic within the
classroom and dealing with these sensitive issues is another aspect that I found
daunting. To know the scope and history of Australian Indigenous culture and
the past issues within educational intuitions can make it quite overwhelming as a
teacher to approach. For me, I have learned how to approach and reach out the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander community, which is one of the most
important steps in creating an authentic relationship (Price & Garlett, 2015).
This allows nurturing of spirituality, kinship and connection to ‘Country’. These
are some of the most important factors to incorporate within the classroom, but
also as educators to also acknowledge and educate oneself in (Blair, 2015). I’ve
also learned to be kinder to myself and to not let any potential deficiencies in
knowledge stop me have trying my best to understand, learn and go into every
situation with the best intentions and willingness to learn from mistakes.

Mary Sal Paimalan Shoard 17770473

Aboriginal and Culturally Responsive Pedagogies has put into context the cross
curriculum aspects as stated by New South Wales Education Standards Authority
(NESA) that I need to incorporate within the classroom (Riley & Genner, 2011). It
is unfortunate to express that before this unit, when asked to incorporate
Indigenous perspectives into lesson plans, the incorporation procedure was
superficial and without substance and connection to the significance of what
needed to be communicated to students (Riley & Genner, 2011). I can now see,
understand and reflect upon the significance and intersect Indigenous
perspectives with the quality teaching model. This can be done through deep
planning and trying to incorporate a whole school model to help create
intellectual quality, a quality-learning environment and significance (Riley &
Genner, 2011).

Planning and self-reflection is key as an educator. Reflecting on my worldviews

and the worldviews and experiences of my students and creating a safe and
respectful co-existence of all these factors (Blair, 2015). Understanding how
Australian Indigenous students learn is an aspect of the unit that I did not know
beforehand and that I am still learning due to my inexperience in the classroom. I
am still trying to understand myself as an educator and how to encourage a
classroom of different languages, cultures and experiences (Yunkaporta &
McGinty, 2009). I know this can be achieved through educating myself on the
ways of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learning, such as the 8 Ways
learning pedagogies. This pedagogy is based on the Western Sydney Indigenous
ways of learning and cannot be used solely for all Indigenous students, but by
starting with this pedagogy and further seeking and educating myself, I can
further incorporate authentic and significant knowledge and perspectives within
my classroom practice (Price & Garlett, 2015). This is a learning process but with
time and effort I know that it will become second nature.

I need to continue to be mindful and learn and ensure all the needs of students
are met for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, being conscious of
how they learn and my interactions with them, the effort I take into building
relationships and the time taken to continue my self refection and learning

Mary Sal Paimalan Shoard 17770473

(Yunkaporta & McGinty, 2009). I need to ensure that my students are safe as I
have a duty of care, that under my care I do all I can to ensure they feel safe and
do not endure racism, if this does happen under my care that it does not go
unresolved or unpunished (Blair, 2015).

It is important to self-reflect and to connect to the significance on a personal

level to put all that I have learnt into context not only within the classroom, but
within my life my history, what it means to me. Storytelling and kinship are two
important aspects of Indigenous culture that resonate with me. (Blair, 2015)

During the site visit to the Australian Museum for assessment 2 there was
specific and personal connection to my Key Learning Area (KLA) of Society and
Culture. The museum was displaying images of the Cootamundra girls home. My
father was born in 1938 was born and raised in Cootamundra, the stories he tells
me of the girls home and the names of his friends and school mates that lived in
the girls home resonated when I saw the images of the girls. The girls home can
be taught as a specific case study in numerous topics in Society and Culture. It
has a relevant personal connection and it ignited in me a deeper connection to
authentically teach Indigenous perspectives and share not only the knowledge
I’ve gained through this unit but also the personal stories and connections. It
provokes the need to communicate social justice; social justice in my KLAs is
paramount.

NESA states that as teachers we need to form our students into active and
informed citizens, through the help of Aboriginal and Culturally Responsive
Pedagogies this notion of creating socially and cultural empathetic and involved
citizens is even more achievable.

Mary Sal Paimalan Shoard 17770473

References:

Blair, N. (2015). In Aboriginal education: More than adding perspectives in

learning to teach in the secondary school, by Noelene L. Weatherby-Fell,
Port Melbourne, VIC :, Cambridge University Press , 189-208 (Ch 11).

Price, K. Garlett, C. (2015). Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Education: An

introduction for the teaching profession, Second Edition. Melbourne,
Australia: Cambridge University Press.

Purdie, N., Milgate. G., & Bell, H.R. (2011). Two way teaching and learning:
toward culturally reflective and relevant education, ACER Press. 119-153.

Yunkaporta, T & McGinty, S. (2009). Reclaiming aboriginal knowledge at the

cultural interface. The Australian Educational Researcher (36) 55-72.

Mary Sal Paimalan Shoard 17770473