ACRP Critical Reflection

Reflection
Aboriginal and Culturally Responsive Pedagogies was a very eye-opening unit.
Prior to taking this unit I knew almost nothing of Aboriginal histories and
cultures. This was rather problematic as it is necessary to teach these things in
every subject across the curriculum. Since then I have gained some
understanding of their history and culture and to effectively and respectfully
integrate that into my teaching practice.
One of the biggest problems I discovered during the completion of my
assignments was the rather poor effort that has been put into the
Mathematics curriculum regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
perspectives. Lowe and Yunkaporta (2013) found that mathematics was the
most restricted of all the subjects with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
perspectives being tagged twice in the entire secondary curriculum. I read
through the curriculum myself, and found it appalling that not only were there
few tags, but there was a very poor effort to link this to Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander perspectives. While I do agree that it can be hard to link pure
maths in Stage 6 mathematics to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
perspectives, there is an abundance of ideas that can be integrated into Stage
4 and 5 lessons that I found from other states and teaching resources online.

It can be hard to link things to Aboriginal perspectives, but we don’t want to

force it where it does not belong, doing this would diminish what you are
trying to do and even make it more confusing to everyone. We need to also
make sure Indigenous students have the same opportunities to learn as every
other student. A perfect way to do this is by using the 8Ways pedagogy, a
framework that is perfectly suited to mathematics (especially with the use of
deconstruct and reconstruct). This was another area that surprised me, as I
had no idea that Indigenous people had different ways of learning and
understanding topics. Had I not taken this class, I may have thought of
Aboriginal students as being non-workers or lazy, rather than a student who is
sitting quietly, listening, and retaining the information the way they best suits
them.
It was hard to read many of the required readings as I read the many
perspectives help by teachers (especially in rural areas) who would make
dismissive remarks about the Indigenous students not being able to learn
because of “their type of logic” (Yunkaporta & McGinty, 2009). How can
teachers expect to teach all students equally when they have prior beliefs and
perceptions that put some students to a disadvantage. It is important that we
realise we hold certain beliefs and to our best o research topics to make sure
we are providing the best form of education to every single one of our
students.

Implications for future teaching

This unit, through lectures, readings, and assignments has taught me the need
to understand my own preconceptions. I need to spend time studying and
researching Indigenous perspectives, cultures and history, and create
resources to help implement these into the classroom in the future.

In completing the Stronger Smarter modules, I’ve realised how important it is

to create a positive sense of Indigenous Identity early in the students' learning.
Incorporating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives is not just
about teaching them about their history, but also to make them feel welcomed
and included. There is a huge problem right now with Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander attendance rates, and that can be boiled down to a sense of not
feeling welcome, which also comes from the preconceived ideas held by the
teachers and other students at the school. By incorporating Indigenous
perspectives into our classrooms, we are providing them with a place that
makes them feel welcome and accepted, which can then, in turn, boost
attendance rates and provide these students with an excellent and equitable
education.
Team contribution (group assignment)
The group assignment for this unit was quite fun, but also a good learning
experience. We began our site visit by first researching various significant
Indigenous sites around the area. Once a site was decided upon it was then up
to me to make contact with the local Indigenous land council, following the
protocols outlined in a NESA document, Working with Aboriginal Communities:
A Guide to Community Consultation and Protocols (2008). Once I found out
which local land council to contact, I called Deerubbin Local Aboriginal Land
Council and introduced our group. I called and was greeted by a friendly
Indigenous man. I explained who I was, what my group was doing, and how we
were going about it. I asked if it was okay for my group to go to Shaw’s Creek
on a particular day. After a little bit of consultation, he happily gave us
permission to go to the site on the weekend.
While at the site I spent a lot of time tracking down the various significant
sites, as outlined in a map of the area, and taking pictures of the beautiful
scenery to include on our presentation. Finally, a great deal of time was spent
researching the history of the area and Indigenous influences in the area of
mathematics. Seeing the contributions Indigenous people have given to my
area of study surprised me and further emphasized the fact that I need to
reflect on my preconceptions for my teaching practices in the future.
References

Lowe, K., & Yunkaporta, T. (2013). The inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander content in the Australian National Curriculum: A cultural,

cognitive and socio-political evaluation. Curriculum Perspectives, 33(1),

1-14.

Yunkaporta, T., & McGinty, S. (2009). Reclaiming Aboriginal knowledge at the

cultural interface. The Australian Educational Researcher, 36(2), 55-72.