Everyday Reconciliation in Primary Schools: New Celebrations and Ongoing Silences

Messages children receive and interpret about reconciliation, Australian history and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures, and race, racism and whiteness

December 2018

A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of

The Australian National University.

Declaration

I, Talia Avrahamzon, declare that, this thesis, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original, except as acknowledged in the text, and that the material has not been submitted, either in whole or in part, for a degree at this or any other university. This thesis contains extracts from jointly authored papers arising from this thesis in which I made an equal contribution to and is used here with the permission of the other authors. This thesis does not exceed 115,0001 words in length, exclusive of footnotes, tables, figures and appendices.

Signed ………………………………… Date …………………………….

1 Approval for additional words was granted by the Associate Dean College of Arts and Social Science, ANU.

Dedication

I dedicate my PhD to Edin, Noah and Mika. It was always about you, with you, for you, and to find ways to work together to create a better world for now and the future. To Edin thank you for your deep interest in the topic and for playing your guitar and singing Ed Sheeran during the busiest of days to make me stop and catch my breath. To Noah for counting my words and for ensuring everyday ended with cuddles and puzzles and for your gentle but strong courage. To Mika for constantly dancing and singing very loudly, making sure I joined it, but for also making me realise how important this work is when just the other day you told me you wished your skin was lighter. Thank you for always grounding me and being three of my most important teachers who give me laughter, love and hope in bucket loads.

I also dedicate this work to my mum and dad. You taught me to respect, to learn, to question, to be courageous, to listen and to love. You instilled in me both a passion and responsibility to be active in social justice. Thank you for the endless encouragement to dream big dreams, chase them and keep creating them, especially during the past 5 years. Your unconditional love and support was an essential ingredient in the completion of this particular dream.

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Acknowledgements

Acknowledgement to Country

I wish to acknowledge that the research in this thesis and the writing of this thesis occurred on Ngunnawal Country and I pay my respects and gratitude to this Country for nourishing me, my learning, my growth and my family during my PhD. I wish to acknowledge the Custodians, and pay my respect to their Elders past, present and future. This country continues to be their Country, never ceded, and I stand in solidarity listening and learning how to live on and with this Country. I am humbled by the generosity of the Custodians toward me being on their Country.

Other Acknowledgements

It has been an enormous privilege to undertake a PhD that I was and continue to be deeply passionate about. No matter how isolating a PhD can be at times, it is far from being a solo effort. This has been a journey not just for me, but for so many who supported me, and I sincerely thank you all for being part of it.

To all the children, teachers, Principals, and Directorate staff in the study, I am deeply grateful to your willingness to let me take a glimpse into your everyday. My respect, admiration and appreciation for teachers, school leaders and education policy-makers has grown exponentially during the year I was in the field.

To the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, parents, and educators, thank you for entrusting your experiences with me. It was and is a priv