Indigenous Education

These courses are primarily designed for students wishing to undertake a teaching career. They address Aboriginal education and social policies that have impacted on Aboriginal communities, particularly in NSW, cultural differences and related pedagogues, teaching strategies, including anti racism strategies, and the inclusion of the Aboriginal community in the delivery of knowledge within the schooling system. The aim of the courses is to equip education students to implement the mandatory NSW Aboriginal Education Policy within their teaching area through presenting various practical teaching experiences and understandings to the students using various teaching mediums and tools. These include lectures and presentations from Aboriginal academics, the Aboriginal Community and Aboriginal education specialists. The students are invited to work on these understandings in class through group work activities to discuss and develop a broad understanding over the whole content area of Aboriginal education.

Much of the understandings developed for these programs are based on the principles of the Coolangatta Statement 1999, these are education principles organised by Indigenous peoples across the Globe who had met regularly over a 6 year period discussing the importance of education for Indigenous peoples. The foundation of the statement highlights this in saying, "Most all Indigenous peoples, and in particular, those who have suffered the impact and effects of colonization, have struggled to access education that acknowledges, respects and promotes the right of Indigenous peoples to be Indigenous - a right that embraces Indigenous peoples’ language, culture, traditions and spirituality. This includes the right to self-determination."

These issues are what we believe are important to Aboriginal people and important in the education of Aboriginal students.