Unit rationale, description and aim
The Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration commits Australian educational systems to celebrating and learning from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledges and histories. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ensures that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are supported through education to imagine, discover and unlock their potential. This introductory unit in the Indigenous Education minor equips First Nations’ preservice teachers to develop personal connections with Country and community through learning, knowing and celebrating identity, heritage and culture.
Through this unit preservice teachers will critically examine policies associated with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identity, government and community, as well as Indigenous Peoples’ responses over time. The unit is embedded within Australian First Peoples’ ontological frameworks to develop awareness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Knowings. A range of expressions of Australian First Peoples’ cultures and identities through visual and performing arts will be explored.
The aim is for First Nations’ preservice teachers to explore and critically reflect on their conceptions of identity, heritage and culture within diverse Australian contexts. It develops preservice teachers’ personal conceptions, cultural identities and personal wellbeing to support them to become exceptional teachers and role models within community.
Campus offering
No unit offerings are currently available for this unit.Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Contextualise First Nations’ peoples relationship ...
Learning Outcome 01
Apply the concepts of identity and heritage for Fi...
Learning Outcome 02
Identify key features of culture and understand th...
Learning Outcome 03
Analyse interrelationships between past and presen...
Learning Outcome 04
Create within genres and expressions of First Nati...
Learning Outcome 05
Content
Topics will include:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander understandings of and relationships to Country
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander world views, Knowings and identities
- Indigenous Theories of identity; national and global.
- Concept of Culture, what is meant by culture and how do we identify
- Language/land/lore and their relationships to cultures and identities
- Diversity of contemporary Indigenous cultures and identities, considering rural, remote/isolated and urban communities
- Contemporary expressions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and identities in the visual and performing arts and elsewhere
Assessment strategy and rationale
The assessment strategy is designed to honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of learning, valuing personal reflection, storytelling, and community dialogue. It supports preservice teachers to explore and articulate their identities, heritage, and cultural knowings through multimodal and collaborative approaches.
Task 1 fosters critical engagement with scholarly and community-based texts through online discussions, encouraging reflective practice and peer learning. This supports the development of academic voice and cultural reflexivity. Task 2 invites preservice teachers to express their identities through creative storytelling, using culturally relevant mediums such as song, dance, art, or digital media. This task affirms diverse cultural expressions and strengthens confidence in sharing within a supportive cohort. Task 3 deepens critical thinking by analysing the evolving concept of Aboriginal identity in contemporary Australia and its significance in Indigenous education. This reflection integrates personal insights with academic and community perspectives.
The three assessment tasks are sequenced to allow feedback and progressive development of knowledge and understanding of the content. The assessment tasks are designed to demonstrate achievement of each learning outcome.
To pass this unit, preservice teachers are required to complete all required assessment tasks and gain an overall pass mark.
Overview of assessments
Assessment Task 1: Online Discussion Posts Read...
Assessment Task 1:
Online Discussion Posts
Read and reflect personally on one reading selected for their focus on the concepts of identity, heritage and culture. You will be provided the readings and reflective prompts to scaffold your thinking. Collate your reflections and the issues raised in discussions to prepare an online post about your reflections. Respond thoughtfully and respectfully to posts from at least two other preservice teachers.
20%
Assessment Task 2: Presentation- Identity, herit...
Assessment Task 2:
Presentation- Identity, heritage and Culture
Develop and reflect on personal knowledges through yarns with your peers. Present your understandings of personal identity through story using a variety of mediums. You may use film, digital technology, song, dance, art and/ or any other medium to explore your own personal feelings about identity. Upon review of all presentations, identify the differences and similarities in understandings and experiences of Indigenous identities’.
40%
Assessment Task 3: Contemporary Perspectives on ...
Assessment Task 3:
Contemporary Perspectives on identity, Culture and 'Country'
Critically analyse and reflect on the question of First Peoples’ identity locally, in Australia including your own context, and globally. Consider the significance of identity, culture and ‘Country’ to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners and their learning. Use relevant scholarly and community-based texts to support your discussion. Then, develop a multimodal presentation - using written, oral and/or visual modes - to share your research findings and personal reflections about First Peoples’ identity in relationship with educational contexts and experiences.
40%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit is grounded in Australian First Peoples’ pedagogies, centring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing. Learning is designed to be relational, reflective and responsive, enabling preservice teachers to explore identity, heritage and culture through personal and community experiences. The unit is delivered through a blended model of online learning from Country and intensive residentials, supporting deep engagement with local knowledges and community contexts.
Aligning with the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, this unit affirms the right of First Nations peoples to access education that strengthens cultural identity and wellbeing. Teaching strategies include yarning circles, storytelling, arts-based inquiry, and critical reflection, fostering a culturally safe space for First Nations’ pre-service teachers to share, listen and grow. Preservice teachers will engage with policy texts, community voices, and creative expressions to critically examine the shaping of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identities and responses to colonisation. Learning is scaffolded to support students in connecting personal and collective histories with broader socio-political contexts. While learning is focused on in-person connection, preservice teachers will be supported to use and critique digital tools, including generative AI, when considering cultural identity and wellbeing.
Representative texts and references
Recommended references
Andersen, C. (2019). Exploring Aboriginal identity in Australia and building resilience. In L. Klain-Gabbay (Ed.), Indigenous, Aboriginal, fugitive and ethnic groups around the globe. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.86677
Battiste, M., & Henderson, J. Y. (2000). Protecting Indigenous knowledge and heritage: A global challenge. Purich Publishing.
Bird Rose, D. (1996). Nourishing terrains: Australian Aboriginal views of landscape and wilderness. Australian Heritage Commission.
Bishop, M. (2024). Envisioning Indigenous education sovereignty through story: Our education, our way. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 53(2). https://doi.org/10.55146/ajie.v53i2.1105
Blair, N. (2015). Aboriginal education: More than adding perspectives. In N. L. Weatherby-Fell (Ed.), Learning to teach in the secondary school (pp. 189–208). Cambridge University Press.
Fatima, Y., Cleary, A., King, S., Solomon, S., McDaid, L., Hasan, M. M., Al Mamun, A., & Baxter, J. (2022). Cultural identity and social and emotional wellbeing in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. In Life course research and social policies: Foundations, turning points and outcomes (pp. 57–70). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12224-8_4
Grossman, M. (Ed.). (2003). Blacklines: Contemporary critical writing by Indigenous Australians. Melbourne University Press.
Heiss, A. (2012). Am I black enough for you? Random House Australia.
Heiss, A. (Ed.). (2018). Growing up Aboriginal in Australia. Black Inc.
Heiss, A., Minter, P., Birch, T., & van Neerven, E. (Eds.). (2020). Guwayu – For all times: A collection of First Nations poems. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.
King, T. (2003). The truth about stories: A native narrative. University of Minnesota Press.
Moreton-Robinson, A. (2000). Talkin’ up to the white woman: Indigenous women and feminism. University of Queensland Press.
Oxenham, D. (1999). A dialogue on Indigenous identity: Warts ’n’ all. Curtin University.
Prehn, J., Guerzoni, M., & Graham-Blair, J. (2025). Nurturing cultural identity: Creating an inclusive school environment for Indigenous youths. The Australian Educational Researcher, 52, 1685–1705. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-024-00781-6
Rey, J. A. (2021). Indigenous identity as Country: The “Ing” within connecting, caring, and belonging. Genealogy, 5(2), Article 48. https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy5020048
Shay, M., Sarra, G., & Lampert, J. (2022). Indigenous education policy, practice and research: Unravelling the tangled web. The Australian Educational Researcher, 50, 73–88. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-022-00581-w
Taylor, K. (Ed.). (1998). Story about feeling (B. Neidjie). Magabala Books.
Terare, M., & Rawsthorne, M. (2020). Country is yarning to me: Worldview, health and well-being amongst Australian First Nations people. The British Journal of Social Work, 50(3), 944–960. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcz072
Walke, E., Townsend-Cross, M. L., Garay, J., Matthews, V., Dickson, M., Edwards, D., & Angelo, C. (2024). Where our identity lies: Confirmation of Aboriginality—Narratives of colonial and lateral violence. AlterNative, 20(1), 3–11. https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801241235756