Aboriginal Design Process

Working within the transdisciplinary framework of a Higher Education Institution (HEI), the authors have introduced First Peoples’ perspectives to the teaching of design across various faculties, with a particular focus on technology case studies. Building on existing practices in design teaching, new perspectives have been provided by Aboriginal and other First Peoples. This design teaching has been developed as a process of knowing, learning, and being. Our technology design students are encouraged to question many assumptions about values and beliefs through their experience of sustainability and reciprocal relationships in action through Aboriginal ways of knowing, as an example of First Peoples’ approach. This chapter discusses how design is used as a boundary object for intercultural learning and how our design process is expanded for co-creation with Aboriginal communities to enhance student learning. Illustrative examples are provided to demonstrate how the embedded nature of culture, relationships, and sustainable practices impact students’ learning of innovative technological designs. We explain this in the context of Aboriginal perceptions of learning and place.