Abstract:
I welcome you to take a journey with me, as I story through the past, present and future of Indigenous education our ways. The stories of our education started a long, long time ago, more than 65000 years in fact. This is when our education was grounded in Indigenous ways of knowing being and doing. We lived on Country and spoke our languages. Knowledge was passed down from generation to generation which taught us how to take care of our communities and our Country. Our children were happy with strong minds, strong hearts and learning in our ways. But then everything changed, the violence of colonisation started. Our children were taken from their ancestral lands and education was disconnected from Country. By attempting to assimilate, rather than celebrate who we are and where we come from, settlers have tried to reshape what we know Indigenous education to be, and how it is done. This has caused a break in the cycle of knowledge, language, and cultural transmission in connection with Country, now Country is out of balance too. But this is not where our story ends. Indigenous education sovereignty, that is our right to ‘do’ education our ways, does exist in NSW, albeit in small pockets. My research (re)views current approaches to Indigenous education in NSW as possible pathways to (re)claim Indigenous education as that which is teaching and learning on Country by us, for us and from us.