ERIC Number: EJ1460946
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Mar
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0311-6999
EISSN: EISSN-2210-5328
Available Date: 2024-06-11
The Impact of Learning from Country on Teachers' Understandings of Place and Community: Insights from the Culturally Nourishing Schooling Project
David Coombs1; Shanna Langdon2; Zana Jabir1; Cathie Burgess1; Rose Amazan2
Australian Educational Researcher, v52 n1 p665-686 2025
In this paper, we present findings from the Culturally Nourishing Schooling (CNS) project data, collected during and after a series of experiential and immersive Learning from Country (LFC) activities with teachers working in New South Wales (NSW) schools in Australia. LFC is positioned as the critical first step in the CNS whole-school reform project, which seeks to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students' educational experiences and outcomes by developing teacher capacity to deliver culturally responsive curriculum and pedagogies. By centring Country and community, LFC, along with four other CNS strategies, encourages teachers to think, act and relate differently with respect to First Nations students, families, communities and the places and histories in which they are grounded. Drawing on Burgess et al.'s LFC framework, we found evidence of teachers: professing an ethical commitment to respecting and honouring local Aboriginal knowledges and knowledge holders; understanding the importance of connectedness and relational practices in their teaching; reflecting critically on their pre-existing ideas about Aboriginal students and communities and developing 'place-consciousness' or 'Country consciousness'. We conclude that the LFC strategy is influencing the ways that teachers conceptualise and enact education in relation to Country and community, with the potential to deliver significant benefits to First Nations students, families and communities.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Experiential Learning, Culturally Relevant Education, Educational Change, Place Based Education, Indigenous Populations, Student Experience, Faculty Development, Capacity Building, Educational Experience, Indigenous Knowledge, Teacher Attitudes, Learning Activities, Community Involvement, Teaching Methods
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1University of Sydney, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, School of Education and Social Work, Camperdown, Australia; 2University of New South Wales, Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture, School of Education, Kensington, Australia