Where knowledge systems converge: collaborating to co-design decolonized psychology curricula in Australia

Abstract

Barriers to decolonizing mental health training and dismantling institutionalized racism are multifaceted and involve institutional and individual factors. For example, non-Indigenous academics may lack the confidence and capability to develop and/or to teach decolonized curricula and may be reluctant to reflect on ways they may inadvertently perpetuate institutionalized racism. In 2021–2022, two Australian higher education institutions worked to decolonize two accredited Level 2 (‘pre-professional’) psychology programs. The process involved institutional reform of curriculum development procedures through co-design with Aboriginal knowledge holders. This process and the resultant curricula and assessment were co-designed by a panel of Aboriginal expert partners that included one clinical psychologist and academic, three graduate students, and an Honours student; as well as four non-Indigenous academics. We engaged in the co-design process from the perspective of ‘two-way’ learning, recognizing we were meeting at what Nakata refers to as a cultural interface, a complex space where knowledge systems were converging. We provide educators with a model to inform how they might approach efforts to decolonize curricula and examples of resources we introduced in the curricula. This model has cross-disciplinary applicability for undergraduate and graduate-level courses in mental health disciplines.