Non-Indigenous Initial Teacher Education students navigating the cultural interface

Abstract

Despite strong policy impetus to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content across all levels of education in Australia, it is frequently reported that these aims are not being met. Settler ignorance and resistance are key contributing factors. However, recently, in our experiences teaching Initial Teacher Education (ITE) courses in the university sector, we found students who are, without being required to, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content into their lesson plans, representing a shift from this dominant discourse about teachers and students. In this small-scale qualitative study, we sought to expand the dialogue from why non-Indigenous teachers do not include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content to a strengths-based understanding of why others do. Using ‘yarning’ approaches we interviewed four non-Indigenous ITE students to understand the factors that shaped their decisions and how they navigated the cultural interface. We put forward that students felt morally compelled to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content in their lessons. They were deeply concerned with ethics, actively positioned themselves as ‘learners’ and privileged First Nations voices to mitigate their positioning as non-Indigenous teachers. We conclude with implications for policy responses and questions about institutional responsibility.