Positive Outcomes in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Higher Education and the Visual Arts

Abstract

Teaching and learning success rely on effective communication in a style which will enhance enquiry and engage the learner in developing self-confidence and self-worth. This is a space which respects the prior knowledge and culture of the learner. Many have written and theorised with regard to the importance of a culturally inclusive curriculum, which in effect should incorporate decolonising methodologies in the multifaceted pedagogical landscape. Education has been structured on a Western scaffold which has gone unchallenged over decades. Interculturality with regard to Indigenous pedagogy must be recognised and identified to move forward. Teaching in the area of the creative arts is a diverse learning environment. Creative works are culturally informed and are closely connected to the individual’s sense of identity, cultural values, spiritual beliefs and traditional expectations. Visual arts are a point of intercultural communication, where traditional artistic expressions connect with those around us, informing and expressing our ‘Being’ to a wider audience. This chapter will provide an exploratory discussion of the historical and sociocultural facets of Australian Aboriginal Knowledge Systems and how this relates to an emerging scholarly Indigenous Knowledge system. The aspects of this chapter are: it will focus on the colonisation of Australia; a review of Indigenous and Western theoretical perspectives; and the importance of traditional practice, such as yarning and cultural values in relation to creative arts. This expands on possibilities and creative ideas, informing the various ways expression can be developed. These can be both traditional and contemporary in origin. This chapter will bring reference to these in the particularistic sense of creative expression and its correlation with teaching in higher education for Aboriginal students.

Citation

Murray-Jones, J. (2021), "Positive Outcomes in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Higher Education and the Visual Arts", Kumar, M. and Welikala, T. (Ed.) Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: The Context of Being, Interculturality and New Knowledge Systems, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 209-222. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80043-006-820211016