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Becoming Knowledgeable Embodied Activist Pedagogy: Educational Praxis from an Aṉangu Woman’S Standpoint

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Becoming Knowledgeable Embodied Activist Pedagogy: Educational Praxis from an Aṉangu Woman’S Standpoint PUḺKARA NINTIRINGANYI – BECOMING KNOWLEDGEABLE EMBODIED ACTIVIST PEDAGOGY: EDUCATIONAL PRAXIS FROM AN AṈANGU WOMAN’S STANDPOINT by Simone Ulalka Tur Thesis Submitted to Flinders University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (CHASS) 20 November 2018 CONTENTS This thesis was written on Kaurna Country1. SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................. 6 DECLARATION ............................................................................................................................ 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .............................................................................................................. 10 Contributions by others.................................................................................................................. 11 PREFACE .................................................................................................................................. 13 Conversation: Wapar Munu Mantaku Nintiringanyi – Learning about the Dreaming and land ... 13 The Conversation ........................................................................................................................ 14 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION: SINGING THE THESIS INTO BEING ................................................. 18 Thesis Song: A beginning ................................................................................................................ 18 What is ‘Becoming Knowledgeable’? A narrative response .......................................................... 21 The thesis narrative, chapter by chapter ................................................................................... 21 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW A DECOLONISING CRITIQUE: THEORY, COMMENTARY, PRACTICE ................................................................................................................................. 33 PART ONE ................................................................................................................................ 35 Indigenous Decolonising Methodologies: International and Australian paradigms and structures ........................................................................................................................................................ 35 A summary of useful methodological ‘framework’ approaches ................................................ 41 Equivalent approaches ............................................................................................................... 42 A closer look at the concept of decolonisation: standpoint and the ‘Cultural Interface’ .......... 42 Cultural Interface and gender .................................................................................................... 44 Deep listening and deep thinking: a starting point .................................................................... 47 Black feminist, Indigenous feminist and Women of colour critiques and feminist critiques ........ 49 Situated knowledges .................................................................................................................. 50 Indigenous resistance, embodiment and activism ..................................................................... 52 Activism: an embodied educational approach ........................................................................... 52 Indigenous activism: past and present expressions ................................................................... 53 PART TWO ............................................................................................................................... 55 Critical Embodied Pedagogy: Turning the ‘what and why’ of theory into the ‘how’ of Critical Pedagogy – constructing meaningful educational narratives ........................................................ 55 Critical Race Theory ........................................................................................................................ 57 Storytelling as decolonising praxis: Towards a common narrative ............................................... 58 Embodied Pedagogy ....................................................................................................................... 59 Narrative: Indigenous Australian contexts ..................................................................................... 63 Narrative: International First Nation examples ............................................................................. 65 Shared Conversations with Elders: Privileged narratives............................................................... 67 Wapar Munu Mantaku Nintiringanyi: Learning about the Dreaming and Land ........................... 68 Writing forward, writing back, writing black.................................................................................. 69 Ethnomusicology: Providing a context and problematic discourses ............................................. 71 PART THREE ............................................................................................................................. 76 2 Indigenous education: An overview ............................................................................................... 76 Aboriginal Pedagogies .................................................................................................................... 80 8 Ways of Learning ......................................................................................................................... 82 Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) ................................................................................ 84 Aṉangu education today ................................................................................................................ 84 Red Dirt Curriculum .................................................................................................................... 85 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 89 CHAPTER 3 INDIGENOUS RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES ............................................................. 90 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 90 Decolonising Methodologies .......................................................................................................... 91 Puḻkara Nintiringanyi ‘Becoming Knowledgeable’: An Aṉangu methodology .............................. 95 Critical methodologies, intersecting approaches ........................................................................... 97 Methods ...................................................................................................................................... 99 Other related methods ............................................................................................................. 100 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 101 CHAPTER 4 ON COUNTRY ....................................................................................................... 103 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 103 Beginning with Wapar .................................................................................................................. 104 Part one: Connections to Country: Remembering and reminding .............................................. 106 Remembering ........................................................................................................................... 107 Stories of Country: keeping strong and staying together ........................................................ 109 Learning on Country: travel all over ......................................................................................... 110 Following footsteps: teaching future generations ................................................................... 113 Part two: Doing what should be done ‘proper way’ .................................................................... 114 Looking to the future: Conversations with Mona Ngitji Ngitji Tur, Kami Lucy Waniwa Lester and Senior Knowledge Holders from the Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuṯa ............................................ 114 Cultural protocols and their influences ........................................................................................ 115 The structure of Conversations ................................................................................................ 115 Learning through Conversation: protocols and practices ........................................................ 116 A Conversation with Mona Ngitji Ngitji Tur ................................................................................. 117 Conversations with the Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuṯa ........................................................................... 118 A Conversation with Kami Lucy Waniwa Lester........................................................................... 120 Kami Lucy Waniwa’s story: a thematic approach .................................................................... 121 Learning through songs ...........................................................................................................
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