{"id":6229,"date":"2025-06-12T09:30:06","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T23:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.deakin.edu.au\/article\/?p=6229"},"modified":"2025-07-31T11:26:47","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T01:26:47","slug":"blak-focus-june-2025-edition-indigenous-knowledges-in-higher-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.deakin.edu.au\/article\/blak-focus-june-2025-edition-indigenous-knowledges-in-higher-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Blak Focus June 2025 Edition \u2013 Indigenous Knowledges in Higher Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

Indigenous knowledges are shaped by tens of thousands of years of cultural, environmental, and ancestral continuity. Indigenous knowledges are increasingly recognised as being critical to the intellectual and ethical fabric of Australian Higher Education institutions.<\/p>\n

For all of colonial history, Indigenous cultural heritage and peoples have been excluded, marginalised, fetishised and \u2018othered\u2019 (Bhabha, 1983 & 2004, Fanon, 2007, Hook, 2005,). This exclusion and othering have perpetuated deficit narratives and reinforced epistemological dominance (Rigney, 1999, Moreton-Robinson, 2015). However, the integration of Indigenous knowledges into teaching, research, and governance practices challenges colonial norms of knowledge production, offering a more socially just and relevant education system (Nakata, 2007; Martin, 2008).<\/p>\n

Growing recognition of the significance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges has led to national strategies aimed at redressing these imbalances. The Universities Australia Indigenous Strategy 2022\u20132025<\/a> outlines a sector-wide commitment to embedding Indigenous perspectives and knowledges across institutional practices. It highlights the need for genuine partnerships with Indigenous communities and the recognition of Indigenous knowledge holders as experts in their own right (Universities Australia, 2022). The strategy also calls for the recognition of Indigenous knowledges as a distinct and unique intellectual tradition, yet challenges remain in embedding these knowledges beyond tokenistic curriculum additions. However, Nakata, Nakata, Keech, and Bolt (20212) highlight that there is a tension in embedding Indigenous knowledges in the curriculum without reinforcing colonial logics.<\/p>\n

Through the Deakin Indigenous Strategy 2023\u20132028<\/a>, the university aims to incorporate Indigenous knowledges into the curriculum and seeks to \u201cposition authentic Indigenous Knowledges into the fabric of Australian life.\u201d \u00a0The university aims to inform the teaching and research spaces in ways that respect Indigenous ways of being, knowing and doing, acknowledging epistemological differences while also critically engaging with colonial histories.<\/p>\n

Curriculum Guide<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Australian Council for Dean Sciences research grant project Co-creation of Indigenous Curricular in Science has considered how tertiary students engage with Indigenous knowledges and systems in ways that question the impacts of colonialism. Through the creation of A guide for curriculum development First Nations Australians\u2019 Science,<\/a> teachers can ethically engage with teaching about Indigenous knowledges in science without teaching Indigenous culture. The guide also addresses colonial practices by asking teachers to reflect on their own and their institutions’ positionality (Ah Chee,\u00a0 Bennett, Cirkony,\u00a0 Coutts, Fairbrother, Gunning, Raven, Sambono, Singh, Uink, Ziebell, 2024).<\/p>\n

Elevating Indigenous voices<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Deakin 50th<\/sup> Indigenous Oral History and First Nations Education project aims to \u201cinterrogate the historical marginalisation of Indigenous worldviews and lived experiences in Western education and archival systems\u201d (Raven, Fletcher, Minney, Potter, Lauer, Sabet Collins, Burgoyne, Wain, McCulloch, Catrice, 2025). The project will include:<\/p>\n