WEAVING THE PAST INTO THE PRESENT: INDIGENOUS STORIES OF EDUCATION ACROSS GENERATIONS Robyn Amy Sandri M. Fine Arts (Vermont College of Fine Arts); M. Education (Early Childhood Special Education) (University of Washington); B. Education (Griffith); Dip Teach (Primary & Preschool) (BCAE) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Education Queensland University of Technology April 2013 Keywords Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal education, Aboriginal families, decolonisation theory, Indigenist research, Indigenous education, Indigenous narratives, Indigenous methodologies, intergenerational narratives Weaving the past into the present: Indigenous stories of education across generations i Editorial Acknowledgement Ms Charlotte Cottier, AE, provided expert editorial assistance for the final version of this thesis. This editorial assistance included: a review of the final thesis document on language usage; checks for completeness and consistency in the content; and a review of the references in the document to ensure that they met APA citation style standards. Charlotte has editorial experience in reviewing work for Indigenous students and is familiar with Indigenous terminology. ii Weaving the past into the present: Indigenous stories of education across generations Abstract In Queensland, there is little research that speaks to the historical experiences of schooling. Aboriginal education remains a part of the silenced history of Aboriginal people. This thesis presents stories of schooling from Aboriginal people across three generations of adult storytellers. Elders, grandparents, and young parents involved in an early childhood urban playgroup were included. Stories from the children attending the playgroup were also welcomed. The research methodology involved narrative storywork. This is culturally appropriate because Aboriginal stories connect the past with the present. The conceptual framework for the research draws on decolonising theory. Typically, reports of Aboriginal schooling and outcomes position Aboriginal families and children within a deficit discourse. The issues and challenges faced by urban Murri families who have young children or children in school are largely unknown. This research allowed Aboriginal families to participate in an engaged dialogue about their childhood and offered opportunities to tell their stories of education. Key research questions were: What was the reality of school for different generations of Indigenous people? What beliefs and values are held about mainstream education for Indigenous children? What ideas are communicated about school across generations? Narratives from five elders, five grandparents, and five (urban) mothers of young Indigenous children are presented. The elders offer testimony on their recollected experiences of schooling in a mission, a Yumba school (fringe-dwellers’ camp), and country schools. Their stories also speak to the need to pass as non-indigenous and act as “white”. The next generation of storytellers are the grandparents and they speak to their lives as “stolen children”. The final story tellers are the Murri parents. They speak to the current and recent past of education, as well as their family experiences as they parent young children who are about to enter school or who are in the early years of school. In order to gather the narrative data, I immersed myself for three years within an Indigenous playgroup. The playgroup was located in a school. It created an informal “grass roots” experience for families as their children were making the transition into school. This playgroup story offers a strength-based teaching resource for Indigenous transformation, healing, and self-determination. The playgroup Weaving the past into the present: Indigenous stories of education across generations iii community was situated in a rural urban town just outside the metropolitan area in south-east Queensland. Storywork interpretation assumes the strength-based “story” as an Indigenous resource to deal with community issues and issues that emerge in contemporary Aboriginal urban lives. The narrative process and protocol was collaboratively designed with the Murri Mums of the playgroup. It re-positioned the “researcher” as an equal, rather than an “expert” or “authority” figure within the playgroup. The tenets of this research align with the post-colonial literature and decolonising research principles that seek to fully engage and empower the typically oppressed and marginalised. These directions align with decolonising theory of Linda Tuhiwai Smith (1999). The research is also informed by Western scholarship that creates the engaged dialogue of this thesis across different worldviews. Indigeneity and a colonised worldview remain points of difference between Western and Indigenous methodologies and research. The storytellers identified and described negative experiences and inhumane treatment in their childhood and school experiences. Nonetheless, their stories speak to Aboriginal strength, survival and resilience. In each generation the storytellers spoke to the value of school, despite difficult experiences. Each generation raised the issue of racism. This research project is significant because it explains from the Aboriginal worldview the reasons for the education gap, which contrast to mainstream deficit thinking about Aboriginal education. Transformation needs to be shaped by humanity and healing. New stories of successful and supported healing and education can teach our families and children the ways forward. Education systems need to show greater understanding of the broader social constructions of Aboriginality that continue to fail this generation of Indigenous families and their children. iv Weaving the past into the present: Indigenous stories of education across generations Contents Keywords ................................................................................................................................................ i Editorial Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................... ii Abstract ................................................................................................................................................. iii List of Tables ........................................................................................................................................ ix List of Abbreviations .............................................................................................................................. x Statement of Original Authorship ......................................................................................................... xi Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................. xiii Glossary ............................................................................................................................................... xv Our Stories Protect Us ....................................................................................................................... xviii Preamble .............................................................................................................................................. xix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1 Aboriginality and Disadvantage ............................................................................................................. 2 Closing the Gap ................................................................................................................................ 3 The Indigenist Thesis ............................................................................................................................. 5 Research Problem and Objectives .......................................................................................................... 8 The Playgroup as the Story Space for the Research ............................................................................. 10 Research Framework and Methodology ............................................................................................... 11 Justification for the Research ............................................................................................................... 13 Ethics .................................................................................................................................................... 14 Overview of the Thesis ........................................................................................................................ 14 Conclusions .......................................................................................................................................... 16 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................... 19 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 19 The Wagalak sisters ........................................................................................................................ 22 Consequences