We are very pleased to bring you Volume 49 Issue 1 of The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education. This year has been challenging with the COVID-19 pandemic causing significant disruptions to many people's lives. The pandemic has impacted families, schools, universities and countries differently at different times. Foremost in our minds is the significant impact on many in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We appreciate the efforts of authors and reviewers whose commitment has made it possible for the journal to operate as close to normal as possible, with articles continuing to be published online when accepted.
The first suite of articles in this volume focuses on the university context, with articles by Braden Hill et al. and Barbara Hill et al. providing us with insight into the transformative impact of learning on the student journeys of three Aboriginal graduates in the first paper and the impact of self-reflective processes of university staff while undertaking an online Indigenous Cultural Competency Program in the second. Also in the university context but from the perspective of a graduate, Kelly discusses his experiences as an Aboriginal Higher Degree by Research student and the ways he navigated through a Western academic system using Aboriginal ways of knowing, being and doing. The papers by Sarra et al., Knight et al., and Guenther and Osborne take us into the context of schools. Sarra et al. explore the ways high-expectation relationships can promote collegiate staff environments, strong teacher–student relationships and trusting and supportive relationships with parents and carers in schools, while Knight et al. focus on The Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME) and the ways of understanding of ‘shame’ in educational contexts like this mentoring programme can be challenged and transformed for the benefit of Indigenous learners. The paper by Guenther and Osborne focuses on remote schools and explores what education leaders think is important for schooling. Their findings demonstrate the ways school leaders are caught between expectations from communities and system stakeholders.
The second suite of papers has an international focus with papers from the Cook Islands, Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Finland. Te Ave and Page explore an Indigenous research methodology, the tivaevae model, and its application within Cook Islands education, while Webber et al. examine a teacher-led project called the Ruamano Project, which investigated whether Maker and Zimmerman's (2008) Real Engagement in Active Problem Solving model (REAPS) could be adapted successfully to identify talents and benefit the achievement and engagement of Māori boys in two rural New Zealand secondary schools. Hammine explores Sámi language teachers' professional identities through their narratives of language acquisition. The final paper in this volume, by O'Brien and Trudgett, speaks to the links between the over-representation of Indigenous youth in contact with the criminal justice system and the educational exclusion of young Indigenous males from the education system.
We would like to thank the authors and reviewers for their contributions to AJIE. You play a vital role in ensuring the quality and focus of the journal. We hope you enjoy reading the papers in this volume despite these challenging times and hope that we continue to have ongoing dialogue across Indigenous educational research and practice internationally.
