The impact of Learning from Country on teachers’ understandings of place and community: insights from the Culturally Nourishing Schooling project

Abstract

In this paper, we present findings from the Culturally Nourishing Schooling (CNS) project data, collected during and after a series of experiential and immersive Learning from Country (LFC) activities with teachers working in New South Wales (NSW) schools in Australia. LFC is positioned as the critical first step in the CNS whole-school reform project, which seeks to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students’ educational experiences and outcomes by developing teacher capacity to deliver culturally responsive curriculum and pedagogies. By centring Country and community, LFC, along with four other CNS strategies, encourages teachers to think, act and relate differently with respect to First Nations students, families, communities and the places and histories in which they are grounded. Drawing on Burgess et al.’s LFC framework, we found evidence of teachers: professing an ethical commitment to respecting and honouring local Aboriginal knowledges and knowledge holders; understanding the importance of connectedness and relational practices in their teaching; reflecting critically on their pre-existing ideas about Aboriginal students and communities and developing ‘place-consciousness’ or ‘Country consciousness’. We conclude that the LFC strategy is influencing the ways that teachers conceptualise and enact education in relation to Country and community, with the potential to deliver significant benefits to First Nations students, families and communities.