Lecturer guidebook: Cultural responsiveness and First Nations student engagement

This guidebook explains how lecturers can be culturally responsive when teaching and engaging with CDU’s First Nations undergraduate students to increase their engagement, retention, and completion rates. It was developed using information gathered from First Nations undergraduate students, CDU staff, and aggregate-level CDU statistics obtained through the 2022 – 2024 “Higher Education and First Nations Students: The CDU Story” project. The guidebook uses the terms First Nations, Indigenous and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander interchangeably, reflecting the original language in cited and paraphrased sources as well as the language used by participants in “Higher Education and First Nations Students: The CDU Story.”
Contents
1. Cultural responsiveness and its importance in Higher Education 1.1. What is cultural responsiveness? 1.2. What are my responsibilities as a CDU lecturer? 1.3. What are the corresponding professional standards? -- 2. A First Nations focus 2.1. Who are Australian First Nations undergraduate students at CDU? 2.2. Why do I need to embed First Nationscontent? 2.3. What is a First Nations pedagogy? -- 3. Defining lecturer best practice 3.1. What does the literature recommend? 3.2. Evidence from CDU research -- 4. What helps students succeed? 4.1. Student examples of success and lecturersupport 4.2. Content 4.3. Pedagogy -- 5. Relevant CDU support services 5.1. CDU support services.