Working the gap: Negotiating private troubles, public issues in Northern Territory Indigenous Australia

This is a theoretical and methodological analysis of the positions and assumptions about Indigenous and non- Indigenous culture which currently form the basis of both policy and practice in Northern Territory settings concerned with 'closing the gap' in the fields of education and health services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, starting from the point of the experiences and narratives of individual professionals working in these fields. In order to critically analyse these practice settings, the authors introduce a theoretical and methodological toolkit to help 'make sense' of the policy and practice environments they work in and their own professional positions and sense of identity in these particular contexts, starting from the point of the position of the individual, through the use of narrativity. This toolkit builds on CW Mills' "sociological imagination." Both authors bring their New Zealand research, teaching and practice experiences to this analysis and to their daily work, working in these fields, first in New Zealand and currently in the Northern Territory of Australia and argue that through reflexivity or narrative research these often personal professional experiences can be considered in contexts of wider narratives and lines of inquiry to create possibilities for different perspectives and ultimately, resilience building and improved outcomes in this space.