Abstract:
As part of the doctoral journey and engaging in the 'doing' of research, I asked how I enter the research ceremony as an Aboriginal woman. What guiding principles do I hold myself accountable, to honour and respect Aboriginal knowledges shared?
My research will explore the self-reported factors that impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers advancing to school leadership roles. I am an Aboriginal researcher, influenced by the 'underrepresented group' of Aboriginal teachers, researching from an Indigenous standpoint (Foley, 2003; Moreton-Robinson, 2013). Within Indigenous Standpoint theory, a relational standpoint, the role of explicitly stating axiology juxtaposes the "default ways of valuing and being in the academy to remain 'Anglo' and colonial" (Yunkaporta & Shillingsworth, 2020, p. 3). This juxtaposition encourages Aboriginal researchers to draw on our own 'ways of doing, 'ways of being,' and 'ways of knowing to produce research (Green et al., 2018, p. 263; Martin-Mirraboopa, 2003; Smith, 2012, p. 30). As a doctoral student, I am eager to ensure culture, language, Aboriginal methodologies, and theories are honoured to acknowledge the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's ways of knowing, ways of doing and ways of being are thriving in the Academy (Martin-Mirraboopa, 2003).
My research is through Aboriginal methodological applications of storying and yarning, embedded through a theoretical framework understood through a cultural metaphor. The Basket weaving theoretical framework in which I enquire comes from the intersecting planes of my mother, my culture, and my privilege in exploring my understanding of Aboriginal research, and this presentation shares how I move from theory to practice.
Building from the Basket weaving theoretical framework, epistemology and ontology are culturally based on my time and place and through relationality. It is important to recognize that Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal cultural knowledge has guided how our societies have formed (Wilson, 2008, p. 97). When stepping into the space as an Aboriginal researcher with those I am privileged to yarn with, I am conscious that I am researching with others and "being in someone else's country is akin to visiting them in their homes" (Martin, 2008, p. 127). Conducting research with Aboriginal people is essential; they learn about me as I learn about them. It is a process of 'coming alongside', and this occurs as our relatedness as Aboriginal educators is strengthened (Martin, 2008). How I hold myself and am guided in the researcher space, in my language, is called Winanga-y, and on the lands I currently live, the Wiradjuri people share this way of being as Yindyamarra.
This presentation will explore the reflections, intentions and responsibilities of being an Aboriginal researcher through the Aboriginal words/philosophies of Winanga-y and Yindyamarra in my research.
My research will explore the self-reported factors that impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers advancing to school leadership roles. I am an Aboriginal researcher, influenced by the 'underrepresented group' of Aboriginal teachers, researching from an Indigenous standpoint (Foley, 2003; Moreton-Robinson, 2013). Within Indigenous Standpoint theory, a relational standpoint, the role of explicitly stating axiology juxtaposes the "default ways of valuing and being in the academy to remain 'Anglo' and colonial" (Yunkaporta & Shillingsworth, 2020, p. 3). This juxtaposition encourages Aboriginal researchers to draw on our own 'ways of doing, 'ways of being,' and 'ways of knowing to produce research (Green et al., 2018, p. 263; Martin-Mirraboopa, 2003; Smith, 2012, p. 30). As a doctoral student, I am eager to ensure culture, language, Aboriginal methodologies, and theories are honoured to acknowledge the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's ways of knowing, ways of doing and ways of being are thriving in the Academy (Martin-Mirraboopa, 2003).
My research is through Aboriginal methodological applications of storying and yarning, embedded through a theoretical framework understood through a cultural metaphor. The Basket weaving theoretical framework in which I enquire comes from the intersecting planes of my mother, my culture, and my privilege in exploring my understanding of Aboriginal research, and this presentation shares how I move from theory to practice.
Building from the Basket weaving theoretical framework, epistemology and ontology are culturally based on my time and place and through relationality. It is important to recognize that Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal cultural knowledge has guided how our societies have formed (Wilson, 2008, p. 97). When stepping into the space as an Aboriginal researcher with those I am privileged to yarn with, I am conscious that I am researching with others and "being in someone else's country is akin to visiting them in their homes" (Martin, 2008, p. 127). Conducting research with Aboriginal people is essential; they learn about me as I learn about them. It is a process of 'coming alongside', and this occurs as our relatedness as Aboriginal educators is strengthened (Martin, 2008). How I hold myself and am guided in the researcher space, in my language, is called Winanga-y, and on the lands I currently live, the Wiradjuri people share this way of being as Yindyamarra.
This presentation will explore the reflections, intentions and responsibilities of being an Aboriginal researcher through the Aboriginal words/philosophies of Winanga-y and Yindyamarra in my research.