Abstract
The purpose of this thesis was to explore why there are so few young Indigenous people from remote communities in Central Australia pursuing and completing a teacher education pathway. This problem is explored primarily through listening to the experiences of remote Indigenous teachers, including the barriers and supports they encountered in becoming qualified teachers themselves. The stories of the teachers are set against the historical, political and policy context of remote Indigenous teacher education in Australia with particular reference to the Northern Territory.The study was conducted using a qualitative methodology, specifically narrative methodology. The intention of the researcher and teacher participants was to inhabit a Post-Colonial Knowledge space where the process of doing the research work together was equally as important as the research outcomes. What emerged was a generative research method, named here as ‘participatory narrative’. This new method generated specific insights into how to do research together in ‘good faith’. The method itself used a collective analysis process drawing on the teacher narratives. The thematic findings from this collective analysis were then further explored through theoretical and philosophical lenses with a specific consideration of the colonial legacy in Australia and the neo colonial reality.
The research concludes that if we are to responsibly encourage young Indigenous people from remote communities into teacher education pathways then teacher education itself needs to move into a Post-Colonial Knowledge space. The thesis concludes with a proposed framework for conducting teacher education within this kind of knowledge space.
| Date of Award | Aug 2016 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Supervisor | John Henry (Supervisor), Michael Christie (Supervisor) & Linda Ford (Supervisor) |