Earlier this month I was invited to participate in a ThinkTank/Conversation at at the University of New South Wales – Art and Design campus at Paddington, Sydney. We were asked to respond to the question: What does or what can the visibility of Indigenous perspectives in Australian tertiary institutions look like?
Last month I attended a number of events of the Clancestry Arts and Cultural Festival at QPAC in Brisbane. As I was standing there listening to the performances, I was struck by how easily accessible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander happenings are in Brisbane.
A quick post that’s really just asking a question … If you decide to undertake a research degree (ie. a research Masters or a PhD) and your chosen topic is around Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander cultures, peoples, communities etc, is there not an assumption that you will have a least a little more than … Continue reading Can I just pick your brains? or What’s Indigenous Knowledge worth to you?
Performers at the start of the opening ceremony I had the great privilege of attending the 2011 World Indigenous People’s Conference on Education last month. Held in Cusco Peru, I quickly learnt the highs and sometimes lows of attending an international conference in a non-English speaking country at high altitude. I’m not complaining though, since … Continue reading World Indigenous People’s Conference on Education 2011
Historically, many east-coast Australian communities have paid little attention to the cultural history of their places. Most communities proudly display plaques to their war dead, the young men and women from families that marched and died on battle grounds in Europe, the Pacific, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Occasionally there are plaques to explorer … Continue reading Gathering information and curating the past – some ideas and challenges
Today’s lecture I’m delivering at QUT for EDB007 pre-service teachers is about being able to identify the ‘invisible frames’ that we live within. Like my lecture for Indigenous Art Protocols & Practices, the lecture will explore what we know and how we know it. I’m inspired by the recent election to focus this year’s lecture … Continue reading Seeing the invisible frames
Last week I explored the idea of research for students in 1213QCA Indigenous Art, Protocols and Practices at Queensland College of Art, Griffith University. In the context of the student’s work, I focused on the idea of research as not being about the stereotypical idea of research (thinking here – lab coats, clip boards, pen … Continue reading Research: Seeing, Knowing & Doing
Earlier in the year I headed off to the launch of a partnership between the CSIRO, as part of their Indigenous Engagement Strategy and Education Queensland – P-3 Indigenous Science project. Teachers are trained to deliver Indigenous perspectives in their science curriculum for the early years. Here are my images from the evening. As part … Continue reading Indigenous Science in P-3 Project with CSIRO
This article this morning announced that all ACT schools with be teaching Ngunnawa landcare knowledge. Wow! What a fantastic initiative. The biggest hurdles I would anticipate would be ensuring that schools are provided with the budget to ensure that Ngunnawa teachers are paid appropriate wages and ensuring that there are enough teachers to be able … Continue reading ACT Schools teaching Aboriginal landcare knowledge
29 January – Update – for more analysis, commentary & opinion on the gender/race/colonising politics/themes of the film, go to Sociological Images (Thanks SRP for the link)Update 2 – Another analysis on Avatar on the blog – As The Teaching Drum Turns blog.Just a quick blog to start myself blogging again. Went to see Avatar … Continue reading Avatar – watch with one eye closed