Beyond perspectives: Integrating local Indigenous knowledge/s into humanities and social science education

The importance of including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures in mainstream education is highlighted in the current Australian Curriculum. Through inclusion as a cross curricular priority, policy makers and authors of the curriculum aim to address two needs. First, to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students see their cultural identity and knowledge reflected in their school experiences; and second, that all students can engage in reconciliation, respect and recognition of the world’s oldest continuous living culture (ACARA, 2014). These aims are addressed across states and territories through their branding of the curriculum, often with an emphasis on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives for the various learning areas (ACARA, 2014). How these curriculum aims are translated into classroom practice and educational opportunities is as diverse as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, histories and perspectives across Australia.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and histories fall clearly within the domain of the Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) curriculum, which has a historic and contemporary focus to the study of human behaviour and interaction of social, cultural, environmental, economic and political context (ACARA, 2014). The focus of the following paper is on integrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures and HaSS education as outlined in the Australian curriculum in the context of a remote community in the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia called Nauiyu.