Global exchange of theory, research and practice in Culturally Nourishing Schooling

Lead researchers from the Culturally Nourishing Schooling project are presenting their findings to colleagues from Europe, the UK, and Canada.

Associate Professor Kevin Lowe (UNSW), Professor Annette Woods (QUT), and Dr Greg Vass (Griffith) will attend the European Conference on Educational Research, where presentations include an overview of the CNS project and the need for a fundamental shift in teaching and learning practices to improve outcomes for Indigenous students.

The European Educational Research Association EERA is made up of more than 40 leading national and regional education research associations from across Europe. The theme of the conference, being held in Glasgow, Scotland, is the value of diversity in education and educational research.

The CNS team will focus on the work of teachers as they look to affect changes to their understanding of curriculum, how it positions First Nations knowledges and experiences and how they can better reflect on how this can be taught.

Professor Annette Woods (QUT), Associate Professor Kevin Lowe (UNSW), and Dr Greg Vass (Griffith University)

“We will participate in a series of discussions about our curriculum and pedagogical work,” A/Prof Lowe said. “We are keen to broaden our conversations about whole-of-school change and to learn about work others are doing in this space.”

The CNS team will also visit The Institute of Education (IOE) at University College London to spend time working with the eminent scholar Prof Zongyi Deng and staff at IOE ⎼ sharing work from the CNS project and the ARC Indigenous Discovery project led by Associate Professor Kevin Lowe, which investigates teachers' capacities to engage with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content in the Australian Curriculum and how this relates to teachers dispositions and related issues of disciplinarity.

They will also meet with experts in Indigenous educational research at the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University, in Canada. Dr Vass and A/Prof Lowe will present to staff and HDR students on the findings of both the ARC Indigenous and CNS projects and discuss matters that are common across both educational jurisdictions.