Beginning in 2016, the Aboriginal Voices project emerged from Kevin Lowe’s (Gubbi Gubbi) doctoral research. It was conducted as a two-phase investigation: a multi-site, whole-of-school empirical study and an extensive set of systematic reviews.
The empirical study of the Aboriginal Voices project was conducted as a whole-of-school qualitative research investigation to identify the underpinning issues affecting relationships between schools and Aboriginal communities. The purpose was to provide a deeper understanding of how Aboriginal students make sense of their everyday experiences of schooling. Conducted across six (6) high schools in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, the project team yarned (conversed) with 186 participants, made up of 100 students, 48 family and community members, 32 teachers and 6 principals, to argue that a new era of responsive schooling is required to transform the schooling experiences and envision success of Aboriginal students, as a sovereign Aboriginal person.
A collective of 14 researchers, across 10 Australian universities, came together to conduct a series of systematic reviews on 13,000 empirical publications in the field of Indigenous education, between 1989-2016, to identify deeper insights into the complex issues seen to affect the educational opportunities of Indigenous students. The reviews strongly identified the impacts of racism, community engagement, teachers professional learning, leadership, and curriculum practices the teaching and learning of Indigenous students across Australia. The body of evidence argued that action is required by teachers, school leaders, bureaucrats, politicians, and all those with a stake in education, to actualise sovereignty as outlined in the Mparntwe (Alice Springs) Education Declaration.
