Abstract:
Notwithstanding it being a contentious concept, ‘reconciliation’ is an important goal for Australia’s maturity as a nation state. While significant policy such as AC:HPE provides a framework where attention might be paid to reconciliation there is no evidence to suggests HPE is equipping all students with an understanding of indigenous knowledges, cultures and contemporary issues or making significant and widespread change to the lives of indigenous peoples or working towards reconciliation. This paper works with phematerialism concepts such as Karen Barad’s intra-action and Donna Harraway’s response-ability to explore how Australian HPE might take responsibility for reconciliation and better educational outcomes for Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, other First Nations people and all students participating in Education and a desire for co-existence in the future. Evidence draws from an investigation of colonial pasts working through a (not)diverse range of higher education students and their lecturer engaged with HPE teacher education intra-acting as pedagogical attempts at decolonizing HPE. This paper asks of ‘us’ ‘what are ‘we’ becoming?’ in terms of the HPE field’s vision, engagement and response-ability for ‘reconciliation’.