Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T21:17:36.716Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Developing Future Health Professionals’ Capacities for Working With Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2014

Antonia Hendrick ,
Katherine Frances Britton ,
Julie Hoffman  and
Marion Kickett
Antonia Hendrick*
Affiliation:
Occupational Therapy and Social Work, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Katherine Frances Britton
Affiliation:
Discipline of Social Work, School of Population Health, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Julie Hoffman
Affiliation:
School of Nursing and Midwifery, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Marion Kickett
Affiliation:
School of Nursing and Midwifery, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Antonia Hendrick, Occupational Therapy and Social Work, Curtin University, Bentley WA 6845, Australia. Email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

This article details reflections of an interdisciplinary team of educators working with groups of health sciences students in preparing them for working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The first-year common core unit discussed here is one attempt to equip future health practitioners with skills and knowledges to work adequately in this complex area. Processes of engagement, central to critical reflection and learning that is iterative and cyclical, are emphasised here using the authors’/educators’ experiences of teaching in the unit. Within this first-year unit, the content delivered — its underlying processes and principles, and assessment design using reflective journalling — coalesces into what is a valued unit of study in preparing students for practising in this field. While the content of the unit is political, provocative and powerful, which presents challenges for students and teaching staff alike, we maintain here that processes of critical reflection and action learning are central to its success and significantly contribute to enhancing students’ learning and to changing students’ perspectives.

Keywords

critical reflectionaction research and learninginterprofessional educationtransformative learningsocial justiceteaching and learning
Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 43 , Issue 2 , December 2014 , pp. 154 - 164
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aborigines Act 1905 (WA). Act No: 014 of 1905 (5 Edw. VII No. 14).Google Scholar
Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet. (2013). Summary of Australian Indigenous health, 2012. Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet. Retrieved 15 April 2014, from http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/health-facts/summaryGoogle Scholar
Bacchi, C. (2006). Analysing policy: What's the problem represented to be? Sydney, Australia: Pearson Australia.Google Scholar
Beresford, Q., & Omaji, P. (1998). Our state of mind: Racial planning and the stolen generations. Fremantle, Australia: Fremantle Arts Centre Press.Google Scholar
Bessarab, D. (1996). More Than The Colour Of Your Skin: Exploring Aboriginality. A collaborative group inquiry (Unpublished Honours dissertation). Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia.Google Scholar
Booth, A.L., & Carroll, N. (2008). Economic status and the Indigenous/non-Indigenous health gap (Publication no. 10.1016/j.econlet.2007.10.005). Retrieved April 15, 2014, from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165176507003886Google Scholar
Centre for the Advancement of Interprofessional Education. (2002). Definition of Interprofessional Education. Retrieved September 30, 2011, from http://caipe.org.uk/about-us/defining-ipe/Google Scholar
Council of Australian Governments. (n.d) Closing the gap in Indigenous disadvantage. Retrieved April 15, 2014, from http://www.coag.gov.au/closing_the_gap_in_indigenous_disadvantageGoogle Scholar
Dumbrill, G.C., & Green, J. (2008). Indigenous knowledge in the social work academy. Social Work Education, 27 (5), 489–503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duponte, K., & Martin, T. (2010). Ike Hawai'i — A training programme for working with native Hawaiians. Journal of Indigenous Voices in Social Work, 1 (1), 1–24.Google Scholar
Eckermann, A.-K., Dowd, T., Chong, E., Nixon, L., Gray, R., & Johnson, S. (2010). Binan Goonj: Bridging cultures in Aboriginal health (3rd ed.). Sydney, Australia: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Edwards, S., & Hewtson, K. (2008). Indigenous epistemologies in tertiary education. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 37, 96–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fejo-King, C., & Briskman, L. (2009). Reversing colonial practices with Indigenous peoples. In Allan, J., Briskman, L. & Pease, B. (Eds.), Critical social work: Theories and practices for a social just world (pp. 105–116). Sydney, Australia: Allan & Unwin.Google Scholar
Ferber, A.L. (2012). The culture of privilege: Color blindness, postfeminism and christonormativity. Journal of Social Issues, 68 (1), 63–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fook, J. (2002). Social work: Critical theory and practice. London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Fook, J. (2004). Critical reflection and transformative possibilities. In Davies, L. & Leonard, P. (Eds.), Social work in a corporate era: Practices of power and resistance. Burlington, VT: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Fook, J. (2012). The challenges of creating critically reflective groups. Social Work with Groups, 35 (3), 218–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fook, J., & Kellehear, A. (2010). Using critical reflection to support health promotion goals in pallative care. Journal of Pallative Care, 26 (3), 295–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freire, P. (1972). Pedagogy of the oppressed (M.B. Ramos, Trans.). London: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Freire, P. (1974). Education for critical consciousness. London: Sheed & Ward.Google Scholar
Freire, P. (1998). Cultural action and conscientization. Harvard Educational Review, 68 (4), 452–477.Google Scholar
Freire, P., & Moch, M. (1987). A critical understanding of social work. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 1 (1), 3–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Furlong, M., & Wight, J. (2011). Promoting ‘critical awareness’ and critiquing ‘cultural competence’: Towards disrupting received professional knowledges. Australian Social Work, 64 (1), 38–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gomez, M.L. (1994). Teacher education reform and prospective teachers’ perspectives on teaching ‘other people's’ children. Teaching and Teacher Education, 10 (3), 319–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haebich, A. (1988). For their own good: Aborigines and government in the Southwest of Western Australia, 1900–1940. Perth, Australia: University of Western Australia.Google Scholar
Hauser, V., Howlett, C., & Matthews, C. (2009). The place of Indigenous knowledge in tertiary science education: A case study of Canadian practices in Indigenising the curriculum. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 38, 46–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hook, G. (2013). Towards a decolonising pedagogy: Understanding Australian Indigenous studies through critical whiteness theory and film pedagogy. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 41 (2), 110–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howatson-Jones, L. (2010). Multi-layered voices of being a nurse and becoming a nurse teacher. Reflective Practice, 11 (3), 319–329.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howe, D. (1987). An introduction to social work theory: Making sense in practice. Aldershot, UK/Brookfield, WI: Wildwood House.Google Scholar
Howson, P. (1999). Rescued from the rabbit burrow: Understanding the ‘stolen generation’. Quadrant, XLIII (6), 10–14.Google Scholar
Ife, J. (1997). Rethinking social work: Towards a critical practice. Melbourne, Australia: Longman.Google Scholar
Kaur, B. (2012). Equity and social justice in teaching and teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28 (4), 485–492.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kerwin, D.W. (2011). When we become people with a history. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 15 (2), 249–261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kickett, M.(Presenter). (2011). Social determinants of Aboriginal health (Week 6). (Vodcast). Perth, Australia: Indigenous Culture and Health 130 Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University.Google Scholar
McIntosh, P. (1995). White privilege: Unpacking the invisible backpack. In Kesselman, A., McNair, L.D., & Schneidewind, J. (Eds.), Woman: Images and realities: A multicultural anthology (pp. 264–267). London: Mayfield Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Mackinlay, E., & Barney, K. (2012). Pearls, not problems: Exploring transformative education in Indigenous Australian studies. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 41 (1), 10–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLaren, P. (1995). Critical pedagogy and predatory culture. Oppositional politics in a postmodern era. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Menzies, K., & Gilbert, S. (2013). Engaging communities. In Bennett, B., Green, S., Gilbert, S., & Bessarab, D. (Eds.), Our voices: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social work (pp. 50–72). Melbourne, Australia: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Mezirow, J. (1978). Education for perspective transformation: Women's re-entry programs in community colleges. New York: Center for Adult Education, Teachers College, Columbia University.Google Scholar
Moreton-Robinson, A. (2002, April). I still call Australia home: Belonging, place, indigeneity and whiteness in a postcolonising society. Paper presented at the Critical Contexts and Crucial Conversations: Whiteness and Race, Coolangatta, Australia.Google Scholar
Muller, L. (2007). De-colonisation: Reflections and implications for social work practice. Communities, Children and Families Australia, 3 (1), 79–86.Google Scholar
Nakata, M. (2007). The cultural interface. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 36 (5), 2–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nakata, M.N., Nakata, V., Keech, S., & Bolt, R. (2012). Decolonial goals and pedagogies for Indigenous studies. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education and Society, 1 (1), 120–140.Google Scholar
Nurenberg, D. (2011). What does injustice have to do with me? A pedagogy of the privileged. Harvard Educational Review, 81 (1), 50–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ratara, C. (2011, June 7). Let's walk the long road together, elder tells PM as land is handed back. Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/national/lets-walk-the-long-road-together-elder-tells-pm-as-land-is-handed-back-20110607-1fr5m.html#ixzz3C73YlHhTGoogle Scholar
Sands, D., & Tennant, M. (2010). Transformative learning in the context of suicide bereavement. Adult Education Quarterly, 60 (2), 99–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singleton, G.E. (2013). More courageous conversations about race. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Smith, D.E. (2005). Institutional ethnography: A sociology for people. Oxford, UK: Alta Mira Press.Google Scholar
Stringer, E.T. (2014). Action research (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Taylor, E.W. (2007). An update on transformative learning theory: A critical review of the empirical research (1999–2005). International Journal of Lifelong Education, 26 (2), 173–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tilburt, J.C. (2010). The role of worldviews in health disparities education. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 25, 178–181.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Webb, M. (2011). The significance of identity. Perth, Australia: Indigenous Cultures and Health Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University.Google Scholar
Whiteside, M., Tsey, K., & Cadet-James, Y. (2011). A theoretical empowerment framework for transdisciplinary team building. Australian Social Work, 64 (2), 228–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, S. (1999). Not because it's a bloody black issue! Problematics of cross cultural training. In McKay, B. (Ed.), Unmasking whiteness: Race relations and reconciliation (pp. 204–219). Brisbane, Australia: The Queensland Studies Centre, Griffith University.Google Scholar
Young, S. (2004). Social work theory and practice: The invisibility of whiteness. In Moreton-Robinson, A. (Ed.), Whitening race: Essays in social and cultural criticism (pp. 104–118). Canberra, Australia: Aboriginal Studies Press.Google Scholar