Charles Sturt University's [CSU] Gulaay First Nations Curriculum and Resources Team and the Bathurst Wiradyuri elders have received joint recognition nationally for their adaptive online cultural immersion program for staff and students across the tertiary sector.
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The program won the Council of Australian University Leaders in Learning and Teaching's [CAULLT] overall award for Advancing Academic Development, beating a strong field of nominees.
Wiradyuri elder Mallyan [Uncle Brian Grant] said the program has exponentially expanded opportunities for staff and students at CSU, as well as other universities, to be welcomed onto Country for a rich First Nations cultural learning experience.
"The online program has allowed us to readily share our culture with students who are non-ambulant, are living with a disability or cannot physically come and visit us at the CSU Elders hub," Mallyan said.
"Its also provided a welcoming and culturally safe environment for participants to ask any questions they wish regarding our culture, which has enabled us to further enhance their knowledge and clarify certain things about Country they've never had a chance to comfortably discuss."
Gulaay First Nations Curriculum and Resources Team lead Associate Professor Barbara Hill said due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the program was transformed into an online environment in a way that still allowed the rich transfer of information and a sense of importance of Country from a First Nations People's perspective.
"Transforming the experience to online has allowed significantly increased reach in a cost-effective way and facilitates the inclusion of Indigenous content into curriculum in an authentic way," she said.
"Development of cultural competence and the journey to providing culturally-safe environments in teaching, as in all environments, requires not just knowledge, but engagement of attitudes, values, and skills."
The program has engaged with staff and students across a range of degrees, including law, engineering, psychology and geoscience [Sydney University].
"We've had some staff and students come on Country with us to some of the places we now present digitally, and the feedback has been very positive," Wiradyuri elder Yanhadarrambal Jade Flynn said.
"The online experience has allowed participants to engage from the comfort of their own homes, free from the distraction of outside stimulus."
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Sam Bolt
"I'm not in the business of telling people what to do. I'm much more in the business of describing things, situations and stuff like that and leaving them out there, and you can make up your minds about them." -Nick Cave
"I'm not in the business of telling people what to do. I'm much more in the business of describing things, situations and stuff like that and leaving them out there, and you can make up your minds about them." -Nick Cave
