11 Learning design and Indigenising the curriculum

Institute for Teaching and Learning Innovation

Introduction

In 2021, the movement across The University of Queensland (UQ) to Indigenise the curriculum was gaining momentum. People were talking about it, supporting it and eager to make it happen. Despite this energy, many struggled to identify what this meant, how they could do this and who to turn to for assistance. At UQ, learning designers (LDs) apply their pedagogical expertise to collaborate with educators in designing, enhancing, and evaluating teaching and learning practices, with a focus on improving student learning outcomes. Providing learning designers with the knowledge and resources to support Indigenising the curriculum was essential as they are integral in spearheading new and innovative pedagogical approaches. This chapter explores the establishment of the Learning Design Community (LDC) Indigenising the Curriculum Community of Practice (CoP), from the point of view of those who initiated and established it.

The Learning Designer Community Australian Indigenous Reading and Learning Group and the Learning Design Community Indigenising the Curriculum Community of Practice provided Indigenising curriculum capacity at scale for learning designers across UQ to gain knowledge and practical tips of how to Indigenise the curriculum.

Our positioning

Uncle John Graham is an Aboriginal Elder and worked at the Institute for Teaching and Learning Innovation (ITaLI) from 2021 to 2023 (see Graham, 2021). John is a Traditional Custodian of the Gold Coast region, a Kombumerri man, and a saltwater man of the Gold Coast, part of the wider Yugambeh Language Group. He also has cultural links with the Minjungbal and Wakka Wakka peoples. As a strong Aboriginal leader, John has instilled his stewardship, expertise, cultural knowledge and protocol in countless organisations, communities and individuals. John has supported colleagues, researchers, students and community members to achieve their fullest potential. John is the current Aboriginal Elder at Bond University.

Tanya Henry is a Learning Designer at ITaLI. Tanya spent her childhood on the lands of the Kamilaroi Nation, one of the four largest Indigenous Nations in Australia, and now lives in Meanjin (Brisbane). Tanya has always had an interest in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and ways of life and is passionate about inclusive curriculum design, which incorporates Indigenising the curriculum.

The beginning

Tanya: In late 2021, a group of learning designers gathered to unpack and share their thoughts on the reading “Embodied Indigenous Knowledges: Protecting and Privileging Indigenous Peoples’ Ways of Knowing, Being and Doing in Undergraduate Nursing Education” (Drummond, 2020) published in The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education. The conversation ebbed and flowed over thoughts about writing style, content inclusion and how this related to our roles and Indigenising the curriculum at UQ. Many who participated in the discussion indicated that they would be keen to explore more in this space and I was asked if I could take this project further. I was certainly interested in the project but felt completely unqualified in how to do this. I am not Indigenous. I do not know what it is to be an Indigenous Australian. While I knew some of the challenges and barriers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander  peoples face in Australia, I was uncertain as to how to create a meaningful experience for my peers. What did learning designers want and need to know to support Indigenising the curriculum? Recognising my lack of knowledge, I introduced myself to ITaLI Aboriginal Elder, Uncle John Graham, and asked him to meet with me to explore this challenge.

An hour was set aside for my meeting with John. That hour became two and then three hours, discussing what people needed to know about the oldest living culture on earth. I thought I was unprepared before, but, as John spoke, I discovered that not only was I unprepared, I was uninformed and did not fully understand the truth of Australian history. I had grown up in Australia, and the K–12 (kindergarten to year 12) Australian history curriculum I had experienced was centred on colonisation. John spoke; I took notes. The conversation tripped over itself, it kept going, and then it looped back some more. After three hours, John and I had learnt so much about each other, and explored a way of bringing together a group of people who share a passion or interest in Indigenising the curriculum to interact regularly in the form of a community of practice (CoP) (Wenger, 1998).

Uncle John: We discussed formulating a co-designed plan, including a yarning circle process, that provided deeper Indigenous knowledge and assistance for learning design staff. This was the beginning of a journey of new educational learning experiences provided within a safe space. Everyone that attended these sessions enjoyed the exciting cultural ways of knowing, being and doing at an entry level.

The plan

Supporting course teams in Indigenising the curriculum required knowledge and understanding of Indigenous cultures and history. Many learning designers had either experienced an Australian education which focused on a colonial history or had an international background, with both pathways resulting in a possible lack of knowledge of the truth of Australian history and its impacts on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Attempting to Indigenise the curriculum from a place of a lack of cultural understanding and knowledge could not provide an informed or sustainable approach to a culturally aware curriculum (Parkhouse et al., 2021).

To address the identified knowledge gaps and provide a platform for cultural learning, with the intent of supporting Indigenising the curriculum, the 2022 Learning Designer Community Australian Indigenous Reading and Learning Group was developed. Its objectives were:

• to provide a safe cultural place for learning designers to explore Australian Indigenous history, share findings, and ask questions
• to explore and provide practical tools to engage with UQ’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) (UQ, 2018)
• to provide supporting documents and tools to support teaching staff align their practices with the UQ RAP.

A plan to achieve this was developed and is outlined in Table 1.

Table 1: 2022 Learning Designer Community Australian Indigenous Reading and Learning Group program

The gathering of people

Participants attended these sessions with an eagerness to learn, but were confronted by how little they knew about the first peoples of Australia. Many participants were unsure of how to work and communicate respectively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on Indigenous matters. For example, people were not sure which Elder titles or place names could be used by non-Indigenous people.

Yarning

Each session began with a yarning circle, demonstrating Indigenising the curriculum in practice, with participants introducing who they are as human beings rather than what they do within their work context. Yarning is an important Aboriginal relationality protocol and building this into the start of every session enabled participants to engage with Indigenous ways of knowing, doing and being (Shay, 2021). The significance of this approach was discussed in each session by Uncle John as he facilitated the yarning, which broke down barriers of hierarchical roles, and connected people in new and unique ways which has created bonds that still exist today. Non-Indigenous participants came from many different cultures and some did not know the details of their heritage. Other participants had recently discovered their connections to Indigenous Australia. As people became regulars to the sessions, they explored their own heritage more deeply and shared more about who they are and their journey.

Outcomes

As a result of engaging with yarning circles, one of the UQ Schools applied this approach when interviewing for an S25 identified role (open only to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people). It was recognised that a yarning circle in this situation would acknowledge the cultural and communication style of Indigenous people applying for the role and engaging in an interview. Bringing people together in a CoP allowed participants to share their experiences by way of practice and created a sense of belonging and connection (Rodgers, 2012).

The Indigenising Curriculum Design Principles (Bunda, 2022) were interwoven into all sessions, especially Truth and Respect. The sessions were powerful and highly emotive, with many learning for the first time the truth that was concealed by colonialism. Participants noted openly that they experienced new and varied emotions. Many felt uncomfortable and had to consider their own culture, values and biases as they navigated many of the topics discussed. These sessions provided a safe and supportive space for participants to share their learnings and emotions, enabling many to continue their journey of discovering the truth with the encouragement and solidarity of others.

Challenges

Learning the truth and engaging with this new knowledge for the first time can be uncomfortable and confronting for people, with many experiencing a variety of emotions.

Reflections

The sessions were popular, with 15 to 20 people participating in most and a core group of people attending each session. In late 2022, LDC members provided feedback of this offering in the Learning Designer Community Australian Indigenous Reading and Learning Group 2022 Feedback Survey (survey results N = 23).

As a result of attending the Reading and Learning Group, participants said they had started to consider and change their practices. Some responses are below.

These sessions gave me specific points to discuss with academics.

I am making a conscious effort to discuss the potential use of Indigenous ways of learning (e.g., yarning circles) to set up the foundational relationship between teacher and student, and student and student … I’m keen to explore both in-person and online methods for incorporating the sense of relationship-building that is fundamental to Indigenous ways of learning.

I started having conversations with people in my School about this.

A high proportion of survey respondents, 87%, saw value in the Learning Designer Community Australian Indigenous Reading and Learning Group, with 95.5% indicating that they would like to see this offering, or a similar offering, in 2023.

This Reading and Learning Group is one that is particularly important to me. I don’t think I’ve ever been given enough opportunities, as a professional, to learn properly about how to engage well with Indigenous knowledge, history and learning and I’m enriched every time I hear from Uncle John.

It would be helpful to see this program continue in 2023, to provide more ideas over time for how we can contribute to UQ initiatives like embedding First Nations knowledges, perspectives and pedagogies in the education programs that we support.

This feedback combined understanding with how collaborative opportunities to explore beliefs about race and culture (Neri et al., 2019) can have ripple effects, so as to enhance and promote systematic change (Parkhouse et al., 2021). This then informed the 2023 Learning Design Community Indigenising the Curriculum Community of Practice.

This CoP mirrored the greater UQ Indigenising the Curriculum Circle of Practice, with the intent of supporting targeted content and strategies for learning designers that addressed:

• how to create culturally safe places and spaces
• appropriate content that aligns discipline knowledge with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges, cultures, communities, and histories and its ongoing impacts
• appropriate assessment for Indigenised curriculum
• appropriate resources including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander- authored/developed resources
• engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as teachers, co-teachers, curriculum designers and co-designers
• truth-telling in the Indigenised space
• cultural obligations and kinship models, including how these can impact wellbeing and decision-making
• common misconceptions and assumptions about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities
• barriers that have serious impacts on the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and how these can be broken down using strengths-based approaches.

Discussions within these CoP gatherings were rich, motivational, challenging, confronting and inspiring. The CoP provided a platform for participants to voice their challenges, explore opportunities, and ask the group for thoughts and ideas. A traditional speaking stick was used and including this cultural tool added to the significance of the conversations.

The now

The Learning Design Community Indigenising the Curriculum COP provided a unique, social, workplace learning opportunity. Participants have joined the greater UQ Indigenising the Curriculum Circle of Practice and information from these sessions is shared in monthly Learning Design Community meetings.

Closing thoughts

Tanya: It has been a privilege to create an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led learning offering and safe cultural place of discussion for my peers. I began this journey with the directive to create a learning space for others but found myself on a journey of deep learning. My hope is that these learning opportunities have supported a journey of discovery and connection, ultimately fostering UQ graduates who are knowledgeable about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and committed to building a reconciled and inclusive Australia in the future.

John: I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of working with Tanya and our colleagues in providing truthful and respectful guidance and assistance in their journeys of learning more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their cultures. The opportunity to develop proper ways of engaging and working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is central to developing a better Australian society for all people, especially the first peoples of this country. As an Indigenous knowledge holder, my guidance shaped the content from a place of understanding and a desire to impart knowledge so both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people can continue their own journeys in this space.