Abstract:
Presenters: Tracey Bunda, Jackie Wurm
Authors: Tracey Bunda, Jackie Wurm
The paper draws on research that forms part of the national initiative for More Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Teachers. This Initiative derived and funded by the federal government aims to increase the number and retention of Indigenous people within the teaching profession. A problematic is therefore raised from the outset -how can the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers be increased and what conditions promote retention? The focus of this paper is the project - Tellin' the Stories of Teachers: Tellin' the Stories of Teaching which has sought to create and disseminate a digital and historical archive of Indigenous teachers. Drawing on the ‘voice' of 15 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who present perspectives as students, graduate teachers and experienced academics the paper speaks into the interpolation of teachers' work and lives and what it means to be an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person in the profession. Each of the project participants have grounded connection with an Indigenous Higher Education Centre of a university that formed both the basis of participant recruitment but importantly is the lens through which this paper is developed. Additionally the paper uses critical theoretical frames to analyse the data/stories of the project participants to extrapolate out key themes. Specifically these themes are analysed for the way in which attention is given to the capabilities of educational systems to respond to meeting the needs of Indigenous students; the performance of resilience as a coping tool for entering and maintaining location within the profession; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge transmission as an expression of trans-generational agency at all educational levels; and the value of embodied connections to Indigenous Communities. The paper also points to the need for further research development.
The paper is presented in concert with the promotional video for the abovementioned project.