Aboriginal ways of seeing and being: informing professional learning for Australian teachers

Abstract

This article describes consolidating elements of professional learning for teachers, increasing their efficacy in incorporating Aboriginal ways of seeing into classroom practice. Included are findings from the first school in the second phase of ongoing research in which the first phase had established what teachers already know and would like provided in professional learning. This stage of the study took place within the theoretical framework of adult education and teacher professional development. Design-based research methodology provided the flexibility of ongoing improvement. Teacher participants evaluated the professional learning that comprised a day on Country providing background concepts. Thereafter, a follow-up day facilitated in-classroom translation of concepts into practice for teachers’ own context and year level. Participants took part in group interviews, providing feedback that has informed incremental changes to the professional learning. The main findings were that teachers recommended 2 days on Country but not at the expense of the in-school follow-up; in addition, they requested ongoing support through a blog.

Keywords

Aboriginal education professional learning classroom practice adult education design-based research connection to country

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