Indigenising the curriculum: Transcending Australian geography’s dark past

Abstract

Australian geography has been implicated in the White settler colonial project, including in the dispossession of Aboriginal peoples from their lands and the denigration of Aboriginal knowledges. Recognising the harm caused by this racist past is crucial if geography education is to play a stronger role in decolonisation. Much work is already underway. This article reports on a process to Indigenise the curriculum, building a partnership between Aboriginal people and Australian geography educators at the University of Tasmania. Tasmanian geographers and spatial scientists have begun working with Aboriginal people to come to terms with the discipline’s history of genocide, dispossession and cultural politics of extinction. A workshop that was the foundation for this process generated valuable insights into how to include the knowledge and practices of Aboriginal peoples in geography and planning curricula; build communities of practice; and learn to live lawfully and lore‐fully on Country. Lessons learned have informed curriculum renewal and are helping to build new relationships.

Navigating intercultural competence at home

“…Efforts towards the internationalisation of curriculum and integration of intercultural perspectives is also evident with Indigenisation of the curriculum (Williams et al, 2022;Williamson & Dalal, 2007). Indigenisation of curriculum intends the culturally appropriate use of First Nation theories and practices as a means to transform the deeply embedded Westernised values, norms and philosophies (Bennett & Gates, 2021).…”

“…The development of Indigenous cultural competence is a process of learning to understand and respect Australian Indigenous worldviews and ways of knowing, being and doing (Bennett et al, 2016;Martin & Mirraboopa, 2003). Documented examples of indigenised curriculum in Australia are provided by Romano et al's (2023) indigenisation of a capstone Information Technology unit, Williams et al's (2022) Indigenisation of geography curriculum and Bodle and Blue's (2020) indigenisation of business curriculum.…”

Responsibilities of geographers: Are we role models or hypocrites?

“…The same may be said of diversity. Head (2016, p. 170), for example, has encouraged us to find and build community in flexible ways, so we can “maximise the conditions under which diverse life can flourish.” Examples also include decolonising through diversity (Lobo, 2021; Williams et al, 2021), teaching about more‐than‐human communities and community‐based approaches to environmental management (Davidson et al, 2023), and increasing bush fire preparedness by raising neighbourhood communication and awareness (Lucas et al, 2022). Surely we have some responsibility to act on such knowledge as those calling for diverse communities.…”

“…This trend is not helped by geography’s imperial legacy, particularly from the British Empire. Dorling (2019, p. 2) has shown how geography was the “discipline for young men drawn from the upper orders of society, those destined to rule over the lower orders.” Even today, geographical curricula merit reparative actions, including in relation to decolonising and Indigenising knowledge, such as is the case in Australia (Lobo, 2021; Williams et al, 2021).…”

Beyond Green: Human–environment geographies for the ‘new’ century

“…Geographers working with Indigenous pedagogies are making similar arguments. It is not simply a matter of inserting knowledge about Indigenous peoples into the curriculum (Williams et al, 2021). Aboriginal voices and the agency of Country are centred, even when teaching online (Atchison and Kennedy, 2020).…”