‘Hearing the Country’: Reflexivity as an intimate journey into epistemological liminalities

Presenter Information

John Bradley, Monash University

Start Date

9-8-2011 10:15 AM

End Date

9-8-2011 11:30 AM

Comments

When approached from a critical pedagogical perspective, Indigenous Australian Studies necessarily addresses emotionally difficult topics related to race, history, the ongoing power of colonisation and our indentities as Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. In this paper I will contend that in PBL (problem-based learning) personal and emotional responses become dialogic and discursive, intellectualised and theorised, and that the resulting new awareness translates into positive thought, practical actions and change with the potential to build a more socially just Australian society for Indigenous Australian peoples. This paper explores how PBL is being used in a third year class at Monash University called ‘Hearing the Country’. It discusses how PBL is used to construct scenarios in which the students are not only exposed to forms of Indigenous knowledges but, through guided reflexive practice, become aware of their own ways of knowing themselves as individuals and how they respond to particular and sometimes confronting ways of understanding other ways of knowing Australia. PBL then provides a platform from which students experience decolonising methodologies first hand and this then may challenge their ways of knowing.

Abstract

Concurrent Sessions Block 3

Recommended Citation

Bradley, J. (2011, August 09). ‘Hearing the Country’: Reflexivity as an intimate journey into epistemological liminalities [Paper presentation]. 2011 - Indigenous Education: Pathways to Success. https://research.acer.edu.au/research_conference/RC2011/9august/3