Reflective Journal Writing in Indigenous Australian Studies

Katelyn Barney and Liz Mackinlay

Reflective journal writing is acknowledged as a powerful method for promoting student learning in higher education contexts. Numerous scholars highlight the benefits of reflective writing and journaling for students and teachers in a wide range of teaching areas. There is however, little discussion of how reflective writing is used in teaching and learning in Indigenous Australian studies. The following activities were developed for an Aboriginal Music course at The University of Queensland. Students were required to write a reflective journal as a compulsory part of the course to give students a space to develop their ideas; to personally engage and reflect on their experiences at an Indigenous music festival; help them think about their positioning in relation to Indigenous Australian performers; work through difficult issues surrounding working in Indigenous studies, and consider their expectations and assumptions of Indigenous Australian performance. We developed reflective writing learning activities to provide students with the opportunity to practice reflective writing during class. These reflective writing activities were then discussed together as a group and students were invited to share their reflections. The activities used were mostly adapted from suggestions and methods for working on journals and reflective writing exercises found in the educational literature.

Reflective Writing Activities

Reflection 1

Create “footprints” by listing 3 experiences or memories of Indigenous Australian performance from your earliest to latest recollection.

Pick one item from your list to share.

Reflection 2

Look at the photograph of the Doonoch Dancers.

Guiding questions: What can you see? What can’t you see?

Reflection 3

 You now know a little bit more about this song – what it looks like, what it sounds like, how it was made.  Spend 5 minutes reflecting on what this information tells you about the way that people frame their understandings and knowledge of performance.

Guiding questions: How does it confirm and/or challenge what you already knew about Indigenous Australian performance more generally?

What questions do you have about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander song and dance which remain unanswered?

Reflection 4

Guiding questions: What do you understand by the term “reflection”? What does the term “reflective writing” mean to you?

Reflection 5

Listen to the George Rrurrambu version of “My Island Home”. As you listen, doodle on this page.

Guiding questions: What words come up as you look back over your “doodle”? What thoughts does the “doodle” draw from within you?

Reflection 6

Guiding questions: What did you see? How do you feel after watching Gladys dance? Why do you think she danced?

Reflection 7

Think back to one image presented and consider the messages it brings to you about rights, ownership, authority and representation in relation to Indigenous Australian performance

Reflection 8

“Quick think”

Discuss as a group how you would respond.

After five minutes stop and write an individual reflection on the discussion.

Reflection 9

Putting gender at the centre of your diagram, develop a concept map which links to following issues: Power and performance

Authority and performance

Ownership and performance

Knowledge and performance

Share your map and discuss the differences in your perception with others.

Reflection 10

Generate a list of questions that you have about the Dreaming Festival as a “field experience”

Reflection 11

Review your initial questions and reflect upon the one that remains unanswered and raises the most anxiety and concern for you.

Reference

Barney, K.. and Mackinlay, E. (2010). Creating rainbows from words and transforming understandings: Enhancing student learning through reflective writing in an Aboriginal music course. Teaching in Higher Education 15(2):161-173.