Stories from the river: Thematic analysis of non-Indigenous health students’ free-text survey responses about Australian cultural safety education

Kyly Mills, Naomi Sunderland, Jyai Allen, Debra K. Creedy, Amanda Carter

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This article aims to interpret and theorise non-Indigenous health students’ emotional learning experiences within a cultural safety course from an Australian First Peoples’ perspective. All undergraduate health students enrolled in a First Peoples’ health and cultural safety course were invited to complete a post-course online survey. The survey included quantitative items along with six free-text responses about students’ emotional learning experiences. The free-text comments provided by 72 health students are the focus of this article. Drawing upon Kamilaroi Country and the metaphor of the river in drought, flood and when waters become clear, this research provides a synthesis of non-Indigenous health students’ emotions in the cultural safety classroom. Students acknowledged the powerful impact of work undertaken by First Peoples educators in sharing their narratives, creating safe spaces and bearing witness to students’ emotions. The analysis informs an understanding of student learning and recommendations for teaching practice.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)32 –41
Number of pages10
JournalAlterNative
Volume19
Issue number1
Early online date1 Dec 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2023
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and publication of this article: The Lowitja Institute and Griffith University under the Griffith University Lowtja PhD Scholarship.

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022.

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Stories from the river: Thematic analysis of non-Indigenous health students’ free-text survey responses about Australian cultural safety education'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this