Myth-busting in an Aboriginal pre-university bridging program: Embedding transformative learning pedagogy

Abstract

Pre-university bridging programs can address the significant under-representation of Indigenous students in Australian universities by providing culturally supported alternative pathways into undergraduate study. However, successful completion of bridging programs does not always correlate with university enrolment for Indigenous students. This paper offers a pedagogical rationale for an Indigenous bridging program that aims to address this discrepancy. The program curriculum challenges deficit myths about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and education, while developing foundational academic skills for university study. Leveraging Transformative Learning and Cultural Interface theories, the program aims to empower students with the opportunity to develop their own narratives about Indigeneity and university, free from deficit stereotypes. Since implementation of this myth-busting pedagogy, Indigenous student records indicate marked improvement in bridging program pass rates and in transitions into undergraduate study. Additionally, enrolments into Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) tripled. Students’ weekly reflections, collected over seven iterations of the course, suggest that the transformative pedagogy developed students’ self-awareness, self-efficacy, self-confidence and sense of belonging at university.

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

“…While the cultural interface is a complex and contested space, it is also an important site of agency that can foster change. The transformation processes identified by Nakata (2007b) at the cultural interface has potential resonance with Mezirow's (1991) work on transformative learning (Bennett et al, 2022). Mezirow's transformative learning theory (1978;1991;1995;1996) explicates the processes of change that students may experience in engaging with learning that prompts significant shifts in existing perspectives, ideas or worldviews.…”

“…Importantly, within the context of Indigenous higher education, Hall and others (2015) argue that transformative learning experiences for students have the potential to foster academic success, strength and persistence at the cultural interface. An important contribution to the potential nexus between transformative learning theory and cultural interface is provided by Bennett et al (2022) and their findings that intentionally designed curriculum and pedagogy, utilising transformative learning, positively impacts Indigenous students' self-awareness, self-efficacy, self-confidence and sense of belonging.…”