Teaching Aboriginal Cultural Competence: Authentic Approaches

This book examines a collaborative partnership model between academia and Indigenous peoples, the goal of which is to integrate Indigenous perspectives into the curriculum. It demonstrates how the authentic and creative approaches employed have led to an evolution of curriculum and pedagogy that facilitates cultural competence among Australian graduate and undergraduate students.  

The book pursues an interdisciplinary approach based on highly practical examples, exemplars and methods that are currently being used to teach in this area. It focuses on facilitating student acquisition of knowledge, understanding, attitudes and skills, following Charles Sturt University’s Cultural Competence Pedagogical Framework. Further, it provides insights into the use of reflective practice in this context, and practical ideas on embedding content and sharing practices, highlighting examples of potential “ways forward,” both nationally and globally.  

Dr. Barbara Hill, BA ANU, MA Deakin, PhD UNSW is Academic Lead, First Nations Curriculum in the Division of Learning and Teaching at Charles Sturt University (CSU). She also leads the Gulaay, First Nations Curriculum and Resources Team and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK). Dr. Hill has extensive experience working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and community members and has been involved with student support and student advocacy in higher education for over two decades. With Associate Professor Wendy Nolan her research and work in this area was acknowledged with a Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning in 2014 for fostering respectful professional partnerships to implement sustainable pedagogical frameworks for Indigenous Cultural Competency at Australian universities. She has specifically worked with both Ngiyeempaa and the Wiradyuri Elders for over two decades and is acknowledged for her ongoing commitment to the work of social justice. 

Jillene Harris is a Lecturer at the School of Psychology, Charles Sturt University (CSU), where she co-teaches a first-year foundational subject - Indigenous Australians and Psychology - in partnership with the School of Indigenous Australian Studies. She is the Indigenous Liaison Person for the School of Psychology and has substantial experience in establishing support frameworks between the community, education and health sectors.  She was the Arts Faculty representative of the Indigenous Education Strategy Coordinating group, which oversaw the implementation of this strategy across CSU. Most recently she was part of the Australian Indigenous Psychology Education Project (AIPEP), which was jointly funded by the OLT and the Australian Psychological Society and is now considered best practice for expanding the Australian Indigenous curriculum, and enhancing students’ workforce preparation in Psychology Education. 

Ruth Bacchus is a Lecturer at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Charles Sturt University (CSU), where she teaches Children’s Literature, Creative Writing and Politics of Identity. In both Children’s Literature subjects, and in particular in Politics of Identity, Ruth draws upon resources made available as part of the Indigenous Education Strategy among others, to explore with students issues concerning Indigenous and non-Indigenous identities and experiences, and the relationships between them.