Conducted 10/11/2015 10am
In the class room
L2 is one of the tutors of Class1
[…]
| LE: | To begin with would you like to tell me from which Aboriginal nation you are and what cultural background- what your cultural background means to your job? You don’t have to do this. |
| L2: | Ok. That’s fine. E::hm () I was born in in Moree in the north-west of New South Wales and it ehm ehm my family are from ehm around the Moree area ehm a few different little towns there, Narrabri, Gurley Station ehm a::nd depen- Because it’s such a large country depending on who you talk to is how the name of the nation, the language group is pronounced. Ehm so my elders taught me Gomeroi. In most English ehm readings or pronunciations you will see Kamilaroi ehm but there is no K in our language and the K actually sounds like a G. And some people will also say Gamilaraay ehm and Gamilaroi. So there is there is quite a few different pronunciations but it’s the second largest Aboriginal nation in New South Wales but it also crosses over the border into Queensland because Aboriginal nations had different borders to what the ehm colonial government did. Ehm |
| (LE: | ok) |
| L2: | What was the rest of the question? @(.)@ |
| LE: | E::hm what does your cultural background mean to you in your job? |
| L2: | Ehm () It means everything becau::se I () ehm am able to:: relate to what I’m teaching. () Ehm I’m able to remember the stories of my elders to what academics have researched and written. Ehm I’m able to put a number of social justice issues in context. For students. Ehm () a:nd I do remember a long time ago that a student said to me:: ehm I’m here to learn about Aboriginal health, not your family. And I said to the student that my family is Aboriginal health. Ehm and I think it makes learning easier if it’s in a personal context && |
| LE: | mhm (positive) () ok, e::hm, so what in your opinion is the most effective form of teaching and learning? () () Or which method? |
| L2: | @Storytelling@ |
| (LE: | ((laughs))) |
| L2: | Ehm as an Aboriginal person, storytelling is very, very important. Ehm that’s how we learn traditionally. Was from the Dreaming stories and the storytelling. A::nd quite often I’m able to () tell a story about each topic ehm that that we discuss in class. |
| LE: | mhm (positive) Ehm () So would you say that’s also the most important aspect about how you teach? |
| =L2: | Yes! Yeah I think so, yeah. And () and not ehm () and I guess being part of the group rather than in front of the group. |
| (LE: | mhm (positive)) |
| L2: | Ehm and ehm most teachers have a table set up at the front of the room and separate themselves from their students. () Ehm and even though I’m qualified to teach ehm or facilitate tutorials or give lectures e::hm I find that sitting amongst the students I learn so much from the students as I’m- yeah () () |
| LE: | Ok () ehm so you already mentioned storytelling – is there any other methods you use in class, you consciously decide to use? |
| L2: | I haven’t used them much lately ehm () but ehm but the majority of Aboriginal people are visual learners a::nd I love concept maps () where () you just write in a circle in the middle of your paper or board the topic and then out from that circle will come just one or two words that relate to that topic. And then you can look at it and you can see the big picture a::nd ehm that’s how I studied. […] So, so yeah visual learners very important as well as storytelling yeah. |
| LE: | mhm (positive) yeah. In the student interview that I’ve already done ehm the student also said ehm she rea- she noticed that we watch a lot of ehm YouTube videos, so |
| (L2: | Hm, yes, yes) |
| LE: | I guess that’s also visual learning |
| L2: | Yes yeah so […] that was the one that we always watched the new TV series |
| (LE: | mhm (positive)) |
| L2: | Which only ran for 23 minutes e:hm and it gave the students ehm some idea of Aboriginal youth today. |
| LE: | mhm (postive)) |
| L2: | Ehm and some of the issues that they might face. |
| LE: | () () ok so ehm are there any differences between how you teach our class and other classes? |
| L2: | No. |
| LE: | All the same. Ok. |
| L2: | No:: I’m I’m the same whether it’s Class 1 whether it’s ehm () well, maybe there is a little difference. Ehm if I’m teaching education students only – ehm I’ve taught Indigenous education policies and issues for a third year class – ehm so I will tend to provide more ehm of my experiences as an Aboriginal teacher and teaching in a school that was ehm from five years to 18 years ehm with 98 per cent of the students Aboriginal. So I’d give them some – put their their teaching into context again. Yeah so that would that would probably be the only differences |
| (LE: | Ok) |
| L2: | and if it was a health class I’d relate more to to the health in my family so it depends on () the topic, I guess, of the subject. |
| LE: | mhm (positive) ok. A:::nd would you say tha:t your classes are different from other classes here at the Institute or other classes at the university in general? |
| L2: | () () () I:: I can only ehm () () go by what I’ve experienced. And I would say that my classes are less formal @(.)@ |
| LE: | @ok@ |
| L2: | And ehm more ehm more about a group of people coming together and sharing some information and having a joke and e::hm () ehm I gue:ss I would see it as myself as an auntie looking after the kids and sharing the knowledge with them {Click here for analysis}. |
| LE: | @mhm(positive)@ |
| L2: | rather then, you know, a formal teaching () ehm and ehm yeah so that’s how I’d see that yea::h |
| […] | |
| LE: | () () ok () The next is a:: statement from from a class I had last year. E::hm we said that many methods used in universities worldwide can be described as Western and provide little room for, for example, storytelling and spirituality. Do you agree? |
| L2: | Yes yeah yeah no ehm () () () some () some classes are very, very structured and organised and I think that while you need to, you need to be – you know, you need to have some organisation () but you also need to have a little bit of flexibility in there that if you maybe wanna throw in a story or |
| (LE: | mhm (positive)) |
| L2: | Ehm and I don’t () think () I can’t yeah – I don’t think that any of our classes ran over time and I think that we always covered the topic that we were meant to cover. So:: that little bit of flexibility () ehm fitted in ok. () Without me organising @for it to be fitted in@ |
| =LE: | Yeah yeah ((laughs)) Ok so do you think it’s problematic that ehm other classes don’t provide that flexibility? |
| L2: | () It, it can be because it may::, it may mean that students don’t have time to e:hm express their thoughts and ideas. Ehm it may mean that there may be ehm an incident or an event that was relevant to the topic – that ehm it doesn’t allow for that discussion to happen. Mhm (positive) so I think ehm () yeah and it’s just a shame that we’re in a Western class room with the way the tables and chairs are are set up and ehm you know ideally you’d be sitting outside in the shade in a circle – said that if you’re in a circle there’s no leader |
| LE: | Mhm (positive) ok yeah |
| L2: | And everybody is equal () ehm including the teacher {Click here for analysis} and I think that’s why I sort of sat in the class cause ehm ehm I consider the students to to be my peers cause we’re all students. |
| […] | |
| LE: | E::hm is there anything that could be done for other classes to ehm include more alternative methods, more flexibility? |
| L2: | () () I, well, I think () it it depends on the size o::f ehm the classes and with this particular class I think there were over a hundred students [taking the class/in the lecture]. There were like five tutorials ehm () and () the the course coordinator is the one that would e:hm say that, you know, this is how- this is what I want you to discuss. But there was no structure in ehm in the way that the class was taught. Ehm but if it’s just a small class of like twenty students, go to the lecture, twenty students ehm I think there is () there is room there that () it’s- I think it’s easier ehm and that all the students get the same information whereas all these tutorials – I think it makes it very hard for the students to all get the same information ehm and I don’t know how you would overcome that. Ehm unless you were to bring in more structure () yeah |
| LE: | Ok. E::hm () yeah that was, that was it from my questions. Ehm is there anything else you would like to say about the topic? |
| L2: | Ehm () () () I enjoy teaching ehm and I think that ehm ehm () () And like I said I just, I love it because I’ll always be a student and I love learning from the other students ehm and listening and talking and sharing knowledge. Ehm I think the biggest issues that I have with teaching is that when students are doing a presentation if they’re presenting the wrong information () ehm I () am in dilemma whether to shame them – which is an Aboriginal expression, to shame them – and say ‘oh you’re wrong’ @(.)@ |
| (LE: | Yeah) |
| L2: | Ehm or just to let it go and and talk to them later. But they’ve told the whole class some wrong information so ehm () In one particular class here I did actually pull a student up and and I think I did it nicely that ‘oh hang on a minute’ and () ehm but also hopefully the student understands that it’s important that () you do get the right information {Click here for analysis} |
| (LE: | Definitely.) |
| L2: | and that you share the right information. () |
[…]
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