Unit rationale, description and aim
This capstone unit consolidates students’ learning across the Indigenous Education Minor sequence by deepening engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, perspectives, and educational practices within global Indigenous contexts. As the culminating unit, it supports preservice teachers to integrate and extend earlier learning, enabling them to critically examine how diverse Indigenous knowledge systems and historical processes shape contemporary education. Developing these capabilities is essential for educators working respectfully with Indigenous learners and communities.
Delivered through two intensive residential blocks combined with supported online learning, the unit provides opportunities for relational, dialogic, and inquiry‑based learning consistent with Indigenous pedagogies. Preservice teachers explore traditional educational practices, key historical events, colonisation processes, resistance, and policy developments affecting a range of international Indigenous groups. This is reflected in light of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ experiences. Learning activities scaffold students as they engage reflectively and reflexively with scholarly literature, contemporary Indigenous voices, case studies, and collaborative yarning experiences.
The aim of this unit is to enable preservice teachers to integrate global and Australian Indigenous histories and perspectives, and to apply these insights to develop culturally responsive approaches that strengthen educational relationships and practices across diverse contexts.
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.
Explain traditional Indigenous educational practic...
Learning Outcome 01
Analyse how historical forces, colonisation, and p...
Learning Outcome 02
Compare the experiences, challenges, and strengths...
Learning Outcome 03
Synthesise global Indigenous perspectives and the ...
Learning Outcome 04
Content
Topics will include:
- Traditional Indigenous educational practices across international borders
- Comparative Indigenous epistemologies, pedagogies, and worldviews
- International perspectives on Indigenous identity, language revitalisation, and cultural continuity
- Global histories of contact, colonisation, and resistance
- Case studies of contact and invasion for international Indigenous groups
- Movements of resistance, survival, and sovereignty across different Indigenous nations
- Intergenerational impacts of historical processes
- Indigenous experiences of schooling and policy
- Colonial education systems: missions, reserves, segregation, and assimilation
- Global Indigenous schooling experiences: discrimination, exclusion, language suppression
- Comparative analysis of policy developments affecting Indigenous education internationally
- Contemporary policy landscapes and Indigenous self-determination in education
- Current experiences, strengths, and challenges
- Educational strengths and innovations within Indigenous communities
- Social, cultural, and systemic challenges impacting Indigenous learners today
- Indigenous community voices regarding current educational needs and aspirations
- Culturally Responsive and Relational Pedagogies
- Indigenous pedagogical principles (e.g., yarning, deep listening, relational accountability)
- Culturally sustaining and decolonising educational practices
- Comparative perspectives on culturally responsive pedagogy globally
- Strategies for strengthening Indigenous education in Australia and internationally
- Positionality, reflexivity, and ethical engagement with Indigenous knowledges
- Critical reflections on global Indigenous histories and education
- Integrating international and Australian perspectives for educational practice
- Developing educator capabilities for respectful and culturally safe teaching
Assessment strategy and rationale
The assessment strategy is designed to progressively develop students’ understanding of global Indigenous histories and their ability to synthesise these understandings into educational practice. Generative AI may be used ethically to support idea generation, planning, and proofreading but must not replace original analysis or reflective writing. Guidance will be provided on appropriate and transparent use, including citation requirements.
Assessment Task 1 uses a yarning circle to allow preservice teachers to orally explore and compare the historical experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with one international Indigenous group. This collaborative and dialogic method reflects Indigenous pedagogies and supports relational learning. Assessment Task 2 is a reflective research essay that requires preservice teachers to integrate historical analysis, comparative insights, and contemporary experiences of at least two international Indigenous groups. This task develops higher‑order synthesis and extends preservice teachers’ capacity to reflect critically on educational responsibilities.
To pass this unit, preservice teachers must submit all assessment tasks and must pass Assessment Task 2, as it is the only task fully aligned to LO4.
Overview of assessments
Assessment Task 1: Yarning Circle- Comparison of...
Assessment Task 1:
Yarning Circle- Comparison of histories of indigenous peoples
Facilitate a yarning circle that compares the historical experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with one international Indigenous group not covered in class. You should draw on timelines of contact, colonisation, resistance, educational histories, and key figures to explore similarities and differences.
40%
Assessment Task 2: Critical Analysis - contempora...
Assessment Task 2: Critical Analysis - contemporary implications of historical practices
Write a reflective research essay analysing how historical processes shape contemporary educational relationships with Indigenous peoples. Use examples from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and at least two international Indigenous groups not used in Task 1, to critical evaluate the lasting effects of historical practices that continue to shape educational relationships, expectations, and responsibilities today and propose implications for educators to engage respectfully with Indigenous learners, communities, and knowledges.
60%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
Teaching in this capstone unit is grounded in Indigenous pedagogies that emphasise relationality, deep listening, community, and learning through dialogue. The unit is delivered through two residential blocks, where intensive face‑to‑face engagement supports yarning circles, collaborative inquiry, and experiential learning. These residential block experiences cultivate the trust, relational space, and embodied learning that are essential for exploring complex Indigenous histories and perspectives. Between residentials, structured online learning activities—including readings, discussions, and guided enquiry—support preservice teachers to consolidate and extend their learning in their own place.
As the culminating unit in the EDAB sequence, teaching strategies intentionally build on preservice teachers’ accumulated knowledge while challenging them to apply, synthesise, and critically reflect on the histories and educational experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and international Indigenous groups. Learning activities are designed for adult learners and incorporate clear structure, accessible materials, and multiple modes of engagement to support students with diverse learning needs.
Through modelling culturally responsive communication, collaborative learning, and ethical engagement with Indigenous knowledges, including with generative AI, the teaching approach prepares preservice teachers to work confidently and respectfully with Indigenous learners, families, and communities.
Representative texts and references
Recommended references
Absolon, K. (2019). Decolonizing education and educators’ decolonizing. Canadian Journal of Education, 42(4), 1210–1233.
Albury, N., & Carter, L. (2019). Language revitalisation and reclaiming identity: Māori experiences. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 40(3), 1–15.
Barkaskas, P., & Gladwin, D. (2021). Pedagogical talking circles: Decolonizing education through relational Indigenous frameworks. Journal of Teaching and Learning, 15(1), 20–38. https://doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v15i1.6519
Bessarab, D., & Ng’andu, B. (2010). Yarning about yarning as a legitimate method in Indigenous research. Indigenous Studies Research Network Working Paper, Curtin University.
Carpena‑Méndez, F., Virtanen, P. K., & Jessen Williamson, K. (2022). Indigenous pedagogies in a global world and sustainable futures. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 53(4), 308–320. https://doi.org/10.1111/aeq.12447
Dei, G. J. S., & Cacciavillani, A. (2024). Actualizing decolonization: A case for anticolonizing and Indigenizing the curriculum. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 58(2–3), 209–226. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopedu/qhae036
Esparrago‑Kalidas, A. J. (2025). Challenges in implementing a culturally sustaining pedagogy in Indigenous formal education. Journal of Indigenous Social Development, 13(3). https://doi.org/10.55016/ojs/jisd.v13i3.81550
Fan, X., & Liu, P. (2020). Exploring Indigenous education leadership research in Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. International Journal of Comparative Education and Development, 22(4), 281–297. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCED-02-2020-0007
Huaman, E. S. (2019). Comparative Indigenous education research (CIER): Indigenous epistemologies and comparative education methodologies. International Review of Education, 65(2), 163–184.
Huaman, E. S. (2022). How Indigenous scholarship changes the field: Pluriversal appreciation and comparative Indigenous education. Comparative Education Review, 66(3), 415–438. https://doi.org/10.1086/720442
Macfarlane, A., Macfarlane, S., & Webber, M. (2020). Sociocultural realities: Exploring new horizons. Canterbury University Press.
McCarty, T. L., & Brayboy, B. M. J. (2021). Culturally responsive, sustaining, and revitalizing pedagogies: Perspectives from Native American education. Educational Forum, 85(4), 429–443. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131725.2021.1957642
Paris, D. (2021). Culturally sustaining pedagogies and our futures. Educational Forum, 85(4), 364–376. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131725.2021.1957634
Pere, R. R. (2019). Te wheke: A celebration of infinite wisdom (2nd ed.). Ao Ako Global Learning.
Smith, L. T. (2021). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples (3rd ed.). Zed Books.
Smith, L. T., Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (Eds.). (2019). Indigenous and decolonizing studies in education: Mapping the long view. Routledge.
Ungunmerr‑Baumann, M.‑R., Groom, R. A., Schuberg, E. L., Atkinson, J., Atkinson, C., Wallace, R., & Morris, G. (2022). Dadirri: An Indigenous place‑based research methodology. AlterNative, 18(1), 94–103. https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801221085353
Webber, M., & Macfarlane, A. (2020). Mana tangata: Reclaiming Māori student success. Set: Research Information for Teachers, 2, 1–7.
Webber, M., McKinley, E., & Hattie, J. (2023). Indigenous education futures: Māori knowledge, global Indigeneity, and educational transformation. International Journal of Educational Research, 119, 102166.