Preparing for the Gift: Two Educator’s Perspectives on Practicing Indigenous-Settler Relations in the Classroom

Abstract

This chapter explores the dynamics of collaboration among the Bachelor of Arts (Extended) teaching staff in the process of curriculum development. Based around the concept drawn from the Uluru Statement, that Indigenous students’ knowledge and experience is a ‘gift’ they bring with them into the teaching and learning space, this presentation understands curriculum development and pedagogical reflection as a type of ‘preparation for the gift’. This framework provides an alternative to the deficit discourses that frequently frame teaching and learning environments in the context of Indigenous education. It provides a way to conceive of best practice in a pedagogical context, which seeks to position Indigenous perspectives at the centre of the teaching and learning endeavour. The authors present an overview of key concepts drawn from Indigenous scholarships that have shaped curriculum development, such as Martin Nakata’s Indigenous standpoint theory, illustrating how these core concepts can work across a range of subjects to strengthen students’ intellectual and critical engagement as part of their academic practice. In describing this curriculum work, Lilly Brown and David Collis will tell the story of how these developments occurred within the BA (Ext) program over recent years, and the principles of collaboration that were involved in making it a reality.