Learning Through Country: Competing Knowledge Systems and Place Based Pedagogy’
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'Learning through Country: Competing knowledge systems and place based pedagogy’ William Patrick Fogarty 2010 'Learning through Country: Competing knowledge systems and place based pedagogy’ A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The Australian National University William Patrick Fogarty September 2010 DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I, William Patrick Fogarty, declare that this thesis contains only my original work except where due acknowledgement has been made in the text. This thesis contains an extract from a jointly authored paper (Fordham et al. 2010) which I made an equal contribution to and is used here with the express permission of the other authors. This thesis does not exceed 100,000 words in length, exclusive of footnotes, tables, figures and appendices. Signature:………………………………………………………… Date:……………………… Table of Contents LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND PHOTOGRAPHS..................................................................III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………………………………V DEDICATION .................................................................................................................................... VII ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................... VIII LIST OF ACRONYMS.........................................................................................................................X CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND METHOD ..............................................................................1 Method ............................................................................................................................................8 An Anthropological Approach ......................................................................................................11 Fieldwork......................................................................................................................................12 The Intervention............................................................................................................................15 Caveats..........................................................................................................................................20 ‘Indigenous’ ..................................................................................................................................20 ‘Community’ .................................................................................................................................21 ‘Remote Indigenous Development’ ...............................................................................................22 ‘Pedagogy, pedagogic discourse and the pedagogic device’........................................................23 Style and Tone...............................................................................................................................25 CHAPTER 2 POLICY AND PEDAGOGY........................................................................................26 Policy and Pedagogy ....................................................................................................................40 From School to Work ....................................................................................................................45 Reconnecting School, Work and Indigenous Communities...........................................................49 CHAPTER 3 INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE, DEVELOPMENT AND PEDAGOGY ................51 Knowledge and Education ............................................................................................................52 Indigenous Knowledge, Education and Development...................................................................53 What is Indigenous Knowledge?...................................................................................................54 Indigenous Knowledge and Anthropology ...................................................................................55 Postmodernism and Anthropology................................................................................................57 Indigenous Knowledge and Development.....................................................................................59 Remote Development and Indigenous Knowledge ........................................................................61 Knowledge Foundations of a Sustainable Wildlife Development Enterprise................................62 Summary of Indigenous knowledge about Species Used in the Wildlife Development .................65 Indigenous knowledge: Cosmological importance of turtle and spider........................................65 Indigenous knowledge: Language and the differentiation of species............................................68 Indigenous knowledge: Distribution and abundance....................................................................69 Indigenous knowledge: Life cycle of the species...........................................................................71 Indigenous knowledge: Customary use.........................................................................................72 Indigenous knowledge: Access issues ...........................................................................................72 Western scientific knowledge ........................................................................................................74 Combining knowledge systems for the successful development of the wildlife enterprise ............76 Development and the transmission of knowledge .........................................................................77 Formal education and training.....................................................................................................78 The pedagogic needs of a remote Indigenous development ..........................................................80 CHAPTER 4 PEDAGOGY AND PLACE..........................................................................................85 A Pedagogy of Place.....................................................................................................................86 Maningrida ...................................................................................................................................89 Social and Linguistic Organisation ..............................................................................................91 Kin, Clan and Estate .....................................................................................................................94 Physical and Environmental Features of the Maningrida Region..............................................101 Flora ...........................................................................................................................................104 Fauna..........................................................................................................................................107 Climatic Influence.......................................................................................................................110 Colonial History and the Development of a Township ...............................................................111 i CHAPTER 5 COUNTRY AS A ‘PEDAGOGIC DEVICE’............................................................122 Gamardi Country program .........................................................................................................145 CHAPTER 6 CARING FOR COUNTRY AND WORKING ON COUNTRY.............................149 Training and Pathways ...............................................................................................................165 PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY DJELK RANGERS ............................................................................181 CHAPTER 7 LEARNING THROUGH COUNTRY……………………………………………..18 7 The Anindilyakwa Junior Ranger Program ................................................................................202 Tangentyere Land & Learning Project .......................................................................................205 The Kakadu National Park School Based Junior Ranger Program............................................207 Towards a Model of Pedagogic Design for ‘Learning though Country’ ....................................210 Policy and Resourcing Issues .....................................................................................................213 Policy Context.............................................................................................................................215 CONCLUSION: THE POTENTIAL OF LEARNING THROUGH COUNTRY……................216 A Final Note................................................................................................................................222 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................223 APPENDICES ...........................................................................................................................…….245 ii List of Tables Table 1 List of organisations ................................................................................... 10 Table 2 Indigenous names attributed to Chelodina rugosa and Selenothulus sp from language groups interviewed .................................................................................. 69 Table 3 Summary of IEK information for each of the two species gathered during semi-directive