'Aboriginal learning style' and culturally responsive schooling: Entangled, Entangling, and the possibilities of getting disentangled

Abstract

Arising from the author's experiences as a high school teacher, and now teacher educator and education researcher, this article is motivated by concerns to do with 'good' schooling practices in connection with Indigenous education in Australia. More specifically, the paper critically considers the enduring and worrying influences of 'Aboriginal learning style theory', alongside considering the possibilities of culturally responsive approaches. While interest in culturally responsive schooling is growing, the argument put forward here is that concomitant with these efforts, more attention needs to be invested into teasing out how and why this approach differs from learning styles in significant ways, such as by focusing on the sociopolitical consciousness of students in schooling. Thus, a deeper engagement with the cultural politics of education itself may make a useful contribution to the changes needed if education practices are to genuinely move beyond attempting to 'fix' the Indigenous 'problem'.