Indigenous Higher Education Research Articles

Transformation at the cultural interface: Exploring the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students

Research on transformative learning (Mezirow, 1991), particularly within the context of higher education, has demonstrated the significant impact university learning can have on a wide range of cohorts across diverse learning contexts. However, the extensive body of literature pertaining to transformative learning remains largely silent on the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students and the extent to which their engagement with academia can be transformative. Nevertheless, Nakata’s (2007b) cultural interface theory has shaped policy, practice and thought in Indigenous higher education, elucidating the nuances, complexities and challenges that confront Indigenous students in their journey through university. In bringing together these two critical theories, this study investigated the journeys of three undergraduate Indigenous university students finding that university can indeed be a site of positive personal transformation. Such changes were fostered through critical peer support relationships, relationships with family and loved ones as well as a growing confidence and pride in their cultural identities. These findings have important implications for the way institutions support and teach Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and provides a nuanced insight into their university journeys at the cultural interface.

Negotiating Indigenous higher education policy analysis at the cultural interface in the Northern Territory, Australia

ABSTRACT Policy analysis can be useful for learning about ‘what works’ in policy. Contemporary policy studies literature highlight that such learning is influenced by power relations in government that shape our ways of knowing the world. This paper offers a critically reflexive narrative account of power relations present during Indigenous higher education policy analysis research conducted in the Northern Territory (NT), Australia to shed light on how to effectively negotiate policy analysis. We reflect on tensions that arose by applying Nakata’s concept of the ‘cultural interface’, which accounts for the complexity of meaning making across diverse knowledge spaces. Narratives from an Indigenous Project Reference Group member are included to provide a perspective on these tensions from an Indigenous standpoint. The paper concludes by describing enabling conditions and strategies that were necessary for effective policy analysis, and considers implications for Indigenous higher education policy analysis in the NT.

‘Success’ in Indigenous higher education policy in the Northern Territory, Australia: reclaiming purpose for power

ABSTRACT The concept of policy ‘success’ has been subject to much contestation. In the Indigenous higher education setting, Indigenous (and non-Indigenous) scholars have brought attention to the relevance of experiential knowledge to understanding the effects of power and race on policy, including how success is theorised. This paper aims to interrogate the notion of policy success by exploring how Indigenous users of higher education policy in the Northern Territory (NT), Australia, conceive the term ‘success’. We conducted semi-structured interviews with twelve (n = 12) Indigenous people with expertise in NT Indigenous higher education policy. Our findings highlight that while some of our participant’s conceptions of policy success align to those within current policy frameworks, there are also differences due to power and race relations. We reflect on the impact on policy outcomes, and discuss how a critical understanding of such relations can advance Indigenous higher education policy in the NT.

Beyond the “Indigenizing the Academy” Trend: Learning from Indigenous Higher Education Land-Based and Intercultural Pedagogies to Build Trans-Systemic Decolonial Education.

Given the UNDRIP’s assertion of Indigenous Peoples’ rights to their education and knowledge systems, and in the wake of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s calls to action, many Canadian Universities are considering “Indigenizing the Academy.” Yet, the meaning of such undertaking remains to be clarified. This article explores trans-systemic approaches as a possible avenue for “Indigenizing the Academy,” and, more specifically, what Indigenous higher education programs and institutions can contribute to a trans-systemic approach to education. Considering two existing models I encountered in my doctoral research, namely the Intercultural approach as developed in the Andes (García et al., 2004; Mato, 2009; Sarango, 2009; Walsh, 2012), and land-based pedagogy as developed in North America (Coulthard, 2017; Coulthard & Simpson, 2016; Tuck et al., 2014; Wildcat et al., 2014), I argue they present trans-systemic elements that would allow us to re-think the frameworks in which to engage with Indigenous Peoples’ rights and knowledge systems in the mainstream academy. What could be learned from the principles and practices of these two Indigenous higher education philosophies to articulate Indigenous knowledge into trans-systemic education in the mainstream academy in ways that foster solidarity and mutual understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people?

Educação Superior Indígena na perspectiva da Interculturalidade

Este artigo objetiva contribuir para o debate acerca da Educação Superior na formação de professores indígena na perspectiva da interculturalidade no Brasil, como projeto de resistência ao modelo colonialista eurocêntrico, visando a construção de uma epistemologia que dialogue com os povos indígenas na sua diversidade no contexto Latino Americano, Pan-Amazonico e brasileiro. Trata-se de um estudo de cunho bibliográfico e documental tendo como base metodológica a abordagem quanti-qualitativa. Os resultados indicam que a Educação Superior indígena na territorialidade brasileira é fruto de lutas históricas no campo das políticas públicas por reconhecimento e direitos, tem contribuído na reafirmação de identidades étnicas e no diálogo contínuo entre saberes locais e universais na formação de professores. Entretanto, ainda há muitos obstáculos para a efetivação de uma formação docente indígena intercultural, haja vista que nem sempre a interculturalidade tem conseguido dar conta da complexidade de pensar a formação de professores marcada fortemente pelo modelo colonialista e pelas ideologias hegemônicas neoliberais. Contudo, a partir dessas reflexões tecidas, ressalta-se que o momento sócio-histórico necessita do fortalecimento da luta dos povos indígenas na construção de uma educação superior diferenciada, intercultural e bilíngue diante dos retrocessos impostos pela atual política governamental.

Looking forward looking black: making the case for a radical rethink of strategies for success in Indigenous higher education

Abstract This study takes a retrospective look at the educational experiences of Indigenous health professionals who graduated from The University of Queensland's Indigenous Health Program between 1994 and 2005, to understand the enablers for growing an Indigenous health workforce capable of advancing the health of Indigenous peoples. Drawing on the qualitative accounts of 31 students and 9 staff members, this paper examines the enablers to educational success at this time, juxtaposed against current Indigenising agendas in higher education, of aspiration and capacity building alongside the task of embedding Indigenous knowledges within curricula. We look back not as a call to return to Indigenous-specific cohort courses but rather reconsider both the measures of and strategies for success in Indigenous higher education, within health and beyond, interrogating the ideological assumptions that inform them.

O que é ser um acadêmico indígena de administração?

Resumo Historicamente, a educação superior, em especial nos cursos de administração no Brasil, foi criada e aperfeiçoada pelas classes dominantes e seus interesses políticos e desenvolvimentistas. As iniciativas de reserva de vagas para indígenas estudarem nas universidades públicas brasileiras, como no caso das universidades estaduais do Paraná, a partir de 2001, passaram a ser uma novidade questionada por esses estudantes, por meio de barreiras levantadas na estrutura educacional não contemplativas do chamado pertencimento étnico-comunitário e acadêmico dos estudantes. O objetivo geral deste estudo é identificar e analisar quais as compreensões, expectativas e os dilemas presentes nos percursos formativos dos estudantes indígenas dos cursos de administração das universidades estaduais paranaenses. Em busca desse conhecimento, a história de vida, por meio da estratégia do testemunho, foi utilizada para compreender e analisar as experiências dos indígenas relativas aos seus percursos formativos. A pesquisa indicou pistas do que é ser um acadêmico de administração indígena no espaço acadêmico e étnico-comunitário, além de apontar anseios com relação ao mundo do trabalho. Teoricamente, o estudo trouxe uma perspectiva mais restrita ao duplo pertencimento, saindo de uma visão macro.

Exploring definitions of success in Northern Territory Indigenous higher education policy

ABSTRACT This article critically examines definitions of policy ‘success’ in the context of historical Indigenous higher education policy in the Northern Territory (NT), Australia. We begin by summarising applications of the often-used but arbitrary, rarely-critiqued terms ‘policy success’ and ‘what works’. The paper chronologically articulates what ‘policy success’ has looked like in the context of historical Northern Territory higher education, based on a critical analysis of policy documents. We then apply Critical Race Theory and Indigenous research theories to highlight the power processes that are attached to representation of policy issues, creation of policy goals, and ultimately definitions of ‘success’. We also consider the role of ethical principles in framing conceptions about what constitutes a worthy policy goal. We suggest expansion and resourcing of formalised Indigenous governance mechanisms is needed to create more productive dialogue about Indigenous higher education policy goals and, ultimately, discussions around what ‘works’.

Indigenous higher education in Mexico and Brazil: between redistribution and recognition

Indigenous groups in Latin America face a double exclusion from higher education, with low levels of access to institutions and little acknowledgement of their distinctive cultural and epistemological traditions within the curriculum. This article assesses current policies in Mexico and Brazil towards indigenous populations in higher education, considering the various responses to the challenge, including affirmative action programmes in mainstream universities, intercultural courses and autonomous institutions. These policies and initiatives are analysed using the theoretical frames of redistribution and recognition, focusing on demands for formal equality and material wellbeing on the one hand, and a distinctive cultural and educational space on the other. While state-sponsored policies focus primarily on the redistributive element, initiatives based on recognition come largely from autonomous organisations, raising a series of dilemmas and tensions around educational justice for indigenous populations in the region.

Engaging Indigenous Communities in Higher Education: An Analysis of Collaboration and Ownership in Alaska Native Teacher Preparation

In 2008, our institution was awarded an Office of Indian Education pre-service teacher preparation grant intended to increase the number of Alaska Native/ American Indian teachers in Alaska. Our research examines grant objectives and outcomes, specifically related to the institution’s stated focus on “culturally responsive teacher preparation” and “preserving and advancing” Alaska Native languages and cultures. We also explore challenges and opportunities encountered during the development of a cultural mentoring community for Alaska Native pre-service teachers, facilitated through collaboration with two Alaska Native teacher community organizations. Our work is informed by foundational literature in Indigenous culture-based pedagogy (Demmert & Towner, 2003), Indigenous higher education (Brayboy, 2012), and culturally responsive/ culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1994). Decolonizing methodologies and TribalCrit (Castagno, 2012) are particularly significant in our analysis, as the institution’s mission, vision, and strategic directions initiatives appear to be at odds with outcomes that suggest a continuation of top-down, colonized practices that perpetuate marginalization of Alaska Native students.

Indigenous Higher Education and Research in Norway

Indigenous Higher Education and Research in Norway

China's Policies for Minority Nationalities in Higher Education: Negotiating National Values and Ethnic Identities

China's Policies for Minority Nationalities in Higher Education: Negotiating National Values and Ethnic Identities