Indigenous Teaching and Learning Perspectives in Secondary Education PG (11353.1)

In this unit, students will develop their skills and knowledge toward teaching The Australian Curriculum Cross-Curricular Priority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and cultures in secondary school settings. The Australian Curriculum is based on the assumption that all students, across all year levels and subject areas, will have the opportunity to engage with Indigenous perspectives. In preparing for secondary classroom teaching, students will analyse and interpret The Australian Curriculum priority, while also gaining practical knowledge of how to teach Indigenous content, to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students in the secondary years. In exploring how Indigenous content is embedded in learning, students will consider various cultural perspectives and develop skills in self-directed learning to gain the skills needed to teach the cross-curricular priority, with a focus on AITSL Standards 1.4 and 2.4, which all teachers are required to demonstrate. Students will plan, structure and sequence an Indigenous community engagement plan, toward building skills in community connections and developing their own understandings of how to respectfully teach and learn Indigenous perspectives.

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Examine, understand and apply the Indigenous-focused requirements of the Australian Curriculum, in the secondary school context;
2. Describe and analyse how the priority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures can be embedded within various learning areas of the Secondary Years Australian Curriculum, in ways that are consistent, meaningful and respectful;
3. Demonstrate a knowledge and grasp of the requirements of AITSL standards 1.4 and 2.4, and describe how to gain knowledge and proficiency through community engagement and development opportunities;
4. Develop and demonstrate respectful, critical understandings of the social, historical and cultural contexts associated with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including students and their families, in Australia; and
5. Articulate a professional understanding of the inequalities in Australian education that have led to disparities within outcomes for some Indigenous students, while demonstrating an ability to reject deficit approaches and to apply strengths-based, teaching strategies to improve the educational experience for Indigenous students.

Graduate attributes

1. UC graduates are professional - communicate effectively
1. UC graduates are professional - employ up-to-date and relevant knowledge and skills
1. UC graduates are professional - use creativity, critical thinking, analysis and research skills to solve theoretical and real-world problems
2. UC graduates are global citizens - communicate effectively in diverse cultural and social settings
2. UC graduates are global citizens - understand issues in their profession from the perspective of other cultures
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - adapt to complexity, ambiguity and change by being flexible and keen to engage with new ideas
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - be self-aware
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - reflect on their own practice, updating and adapting their knowledge and skills for continual professional and academic development
4. UC graduates are able to demonstrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing - apply their knowledge to working with Indigenous Australians in socially just ways
4. UC graduates are able to demonstrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing - communicate and engage with Indigenous Australians in ethical and culturally respectful ways
4. UC graduates are able to demonstrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing - use Indigenous histories and traditional ecological knowledge to develop and augment understanding of their discipline

Skills development

In this unit, you will be introduced to Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing - including ways of educating - that have happened in Australia for at least 80,000 years. These Indigenous ways intertwine practical knowledge of local environments with cosmological, spiritual and kinship systems to create and enact the Lore for local sustainable living. They will learn how to co-create storied, place-based curriculum and pedagogy, to engage students experientially on-Country.

Prerequisites

This unit is only available to students in the Master of Secondary Teaching course.

Students must have passed units 11354 Using Data to Improve Learning G AND 11351 Curriculum and Assessment in Secondary Education G.

Corequisites

None.

Assumed knowledge

None.