Acknowledgement Of Country Analysis
In the future I will have a level of authority in students’ lives as their teacher. I believe the best way to encourage positive values in my students is to not just state my own values but truly embed these values in my identity and exhibit this in everything I do. I affirm, given the following definition of an acknowledgement of Country that I will do an acknowledgement in my classroom in order to represent the importance of valuing culture and relationships. I will incorporate my own narrative and experience of connection to place to enable students to recognise the role place, space and dominant representations of culture have on the development of their own identities. By using knowledge gained as a listener of Aboriginal authors, and knowledge sought from other sources I will not speak of or for Aboriginal culture, but represent aspects of this culture I have been privileged to experience with authority and the appropriate respect. I use the terminology of ‘do an acknowledgement’ over the more formal ‘perform an
…show more content…
acknowledgement’ in order to recognise that an acknowledgement is a true belief, not an action to be performed at the right time.
My understanding of an acknowledgement of Country has been informed by multiple definitions. I define it as a short, often verbal action given at the beginning a meeting or gathering. It is an action a person can undertake to ensure they are practicing cultural awareness, and are expressing their identity defined by their position within a culture and Country. An acknowledgement recognises the way in which we are all connected by space, relationships with each other and the land we live on and in. Most importantly, an acknowledgement of Country is not a token to use in order to be politically correct (Blair 28). The Department of Community Services (DoCS) states it is important to recognise the special position of Aboriginal peoples as the first and traditional custodians of the lands of Australia,
and this acknowledgement both enables all people to pay their respect to Aboriginal people, and further helps create relationships with, and share in Aboriginal culture (DoCS 14 & Dpartment of Education and Communities 2). I will do an acknowledgement of country within my classroom at the beginning of each term, for each different class I teach. I believe this will help centre my students within the Country we are privileged to be meeting on, and to remind them of the values and beliefs I bring to my teaching and expect to be respected by all members of the class. By doing an acknowledgement after school holidays I hope to connect this acknowledgement to stories of other places my students have visited over the holidays and the connections they formed with that place, whether it was far or near to their home. I will have my own stories of places and connections experienced to help them shape their own responses. I strongly believe that all people have a connection to place and environment even if they do not realise it themselves, as country or place is more than a “passive backdrop for human experience” (Bawaka Country, Wright and Suchet-Pearson 22). Personally for the last four generations my family have lived and worked in the lands of the Darkinyung people giving me a strong sense of connection to this area, along with the lands of the Ngāpuhi people in New Zealand. This sense of connection to place has always played a large part in shaping my identity as a citizen of both countries. By doing an acknowledgement of Country I hope to demonstrate that respect of culture and Country are a part of my identity and core values, to create space for a dialogue about Aboriginal culture and heritage, and to model the way in which students can also integrate respect, appreciation and connection in their own identity.
An individual’s identity is shaped by many factors, such as the context of the time, place, space and environments it exists within. In her essay Well, I heard it on the radio and I saw it on the television... Langton emphasises the importance of creating an intersubjective dialouge between Aboriginal people and culture, and others that seek to represent those identities without authentic thought or collaboration(6). She further identifies that if part of your identity is represented in popular culture, the media and other literature in a negative way, future generations who subscribe to these medias as their only source of information will continue to speak for and about Aboriginal people in a damaging way; by simply accepting these negative and incorrect representations as “what is” (5). One thing I wish to avoid at all costs is performing an acknowledgement of country in a tokenistic way, hence my plan to incorporate narrative that directly relates to the students and myself. By positioning myself as the listener and engaging with dialogue from Aboriginal authors such as Bill Neidjie and his work Story about Feeling I am entering into a two way dialogue instead of passively viewing information. In listening to Neidjie I felt an unimposing power and wisdom in his words, and felt the underlying message was that I didn’t have to listen, but if I did the knowledge came with responsibility to really hear the words and feel the connections he was speaking of. I feel I have been privileged by receiving knowledge that has empowered people for thousands of years to make meaningful connections with Country; however, with that privilege comes responsibility to value and share this knowledge and speak about Aboriginal culture with an appropriate level of authority about my experience.
I plan on continuing to embed stories connected to places in my teaching to demonstrate that there are always more ways of knowing things in today’s world, for example when teaching geomorphic processes in geography, to also include elements of creation stories with current explanations and show that these explanations are contextualised by the time, place and culture they are centred in. It is by embedding Aboriginal knowledge’s within my teaching practice I will help break down the existing dichotomy of Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal and us/them by simply presenting information as ‘this is one way’ and ‘this is another way’ of knowing about a particular concept or place such as notions of time and the formation of landscapes. I also hope that by beginning to break down this dichotomy I am creating an inclusive and relatable learning environment for all students that bring a diverse cultural experience into the classroom, including my Aboriginal students. Whilst I feel at the moment I am not enough of an authority to incorporate Aboriginal knowledges into all areas of my teaching, I am looking forward to making contacts within and outside of the school community to help me practice authentic ways of integrating these knowledges. Authors such as Laklak Burrawanga and Max Harrison are powerful examples of speakers who position the listener within their culture and Country in order to empower the listener with knowledge, and let the listener experience first-hand the rich culture of the communities within those Country’s. Engaging with these texts are examples of how I can experience and integrate this feeling and knowledge into my teaching. Groups like Bara Barang, the Darkinjung Land Council and parents and elders of students within the school community are also sources I can seek help from to incorporate knowledge in meaningful and appropriate ways in my classroom.
Based on my understanding of what an acknowledgement is and what an acknowledgement does, I firmly support doing my own acknowledgement of Country. By positioning myself as a listener and engaging in dialogue with Aboriginal authors I will uphold the responsibility of recognising and representing the importance of Aboriginal culture and connection to Country in my classroom, and demonstrate to my students that place, space and personal connection to those places and spaces are an important part of your identity. Finally, the following acknowledgement is a representation of how I will acknowledge Country in my classroom, and has been informed by two main sources as cited.
“I wish to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we are meeting on, the land of the Darknyung people.
I pay respect to these lands that provide for us and pay respect to the ancestors that cared for this land before us.
I wish to acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and region, and the love they have for this place that we all seek to share and nurture.” (Darkinjung Land Council n.p.) (Kowal 173-174)
acknowledgement’ in order to recognise that an acknowledgement is a true belief, not an action to be performed at the right time.
My understanding of an acknowledgement of Country has been informed by multiple definitions. I define it as a short, often verbal action given at the beginning a meeting or gathering. It is an action a person can undertake to ensure they are practicing cultural awareness, and are expressing their identity defined by their position within a culture and Country. An acknowledgement recognises the way in which we are all connected by space, relationships with each other and the land we live on and in. Most importantly, an acknowledgement of Country is not a token to use in order to be politically correct (Blair 28). The Department of Community Services (DoCS) states it is important to recognise the special position of Aboriginal peoples as the first and traditional custodians of the lands of Australia,
and this acknowledgement both enables all people to pay their respect to Aboriginal people, and further helps create relationships with, and share in Aboriginal culture (DoCS 14 & Dpartment of Education and Communities 2). I will do an acknowledgement of country within my classroom at the beginning of each term, for each different class I teach. I believe this will help centre my students within the Country we are privileged to be meeting on, and to remind them of the values and beliefs I bring to my teaching and expect to be respected by all members of the class. By doing an acknowledgement after school holidays I hope to connect this acknowledgement to stories of other places my students have visited over the holidays and the connections they formed with that place, whether it was far or near to their home. I will have my own stories of places and connections experienced to help them shape their own responses. I strongly believe that all people have a connection to place and environment even if they do not realise it themselves, as country or place is more than a “passive backdrop for human experience” (Bawaka Country, Wright and Suchet-Pearson 22). Personally for the last four generations my family have lived and worked in the lands of the Darkinyung people giving me a strong sense of connection to this area, along with the lands of the Ngāpuhi people in New Zealand. This sense of connection to place has always played a large part in shaping my identity as a citizen of both countries. By doing an acknowledgement of Country I hope to demonstrate that respect of culture and Country are a part of my identity and core values, to create space for a dialogue about Aboriginal culture and heritage, and to model the way in which students can also integrate respect, appreciation and connection in their own identity.
An individual’s identity is shaped by many factors, such as the context of the time, place, space and environments it exists within. In her essay Well, I heard it on the radio and I saw it on the television... Langton emphasises the importance of creating an intersubjective dialouge between Aboriginal people and culture, and others that seek to represent those identities without authentic thought or collaboration(6). She further identifies that if part of your identity is represented in popular culture, the media and other literature in a negative way, future generations who subscribe to these medias as their only source of information will continue to speak for and about Aboriginal people in a damaging way; by simply accepting these negative and incorrect representations as “what is” (5). One thing I wish to avoid at all costs is performing an acknowledgement of country in a tokenistic way, hence my plan to incorporate narrative that directly relates to the students and myself. By positioning myself as the listener and engaging with dialogue from Aboriginal authors such as Bill Neidjie and his work Story about Feeling I am entering into a two way dialogue instead of passively viewing information. In listening to Neidjie I felt an unimposing power and wisdom in his words, and felt the underlying message was that I didn’t have to listen, but if I did the knowledge came with responsibility to really hear the words and feel the connections he was speaking of. I feel I have been privileged by receiving knowledge that has empowered people for thousands of years to make meaningful connections with Country; however, with that privilege comes responsibility to value and share this knowledge and speak about Aboriginal culture with an appropriate level of authority about my experience.
I plan on continuing to embed stories connected to places in my teaching to demonstrate that there are always more ways of knowing things in today’s world, for example when teaching geomorphic processes in geography, to also include elements of creation stories with current explanations and show that these explanations are contextualised by the time, place and culture they are centred in. It is by embedding Aboriginal knowledge’s within my teaching practice I will help break down the existing dichotomy of Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal and us/them by simply presenting information as ‘this is one way’ and ‘this is another way’ of knowing about a particular concept or place such as notions of time and the formation of landscapes. I also hope that by beginning to break down this dichotomy I am creating an inclusive and relatable learning environment for all students that bring a diverse cultural experience into the classroom, including my Aboriginal students. Whilst I feel at the moment I am not enough of an authority to incorporate Aboriginal knowledges into all areas of my teaching, I am looking forward to making contacts within and outside of the school community to help me practice authentic ways of integrating these knowledges. Authors such as Laklak Burrawanga and Max Harrison are powerful examples of speakers who position the listener within their culture and Country in order to empower the listener with knowledge, and let the listener experience first-hand the rich culture of the communities within those Country’s. Engaging with these texts are examples of how I can experience and integrate this feeling and knowledge into my teaching. Groups like Bara Barang, the Darkinjung Land Council and parents and elders of students within the school community are also sources I can seek help from to incorporate knowledge in meaningful and appropriate ways in my classroom.
Based on my understanding of what an acknowledgement is and what an acknowledgement does, I firmly support doing my own acknowledgement of Country. By positioning myself as a listener and engaging in dialogue with Aboriginal authors I will uphold the responsibility of recognising and representing the importance of Aboriginal culture and connection to Country in my classroom, and demonstrate to my students that place, space and personal connection to those places and spaces are an important part of your identity. Finally, the following acknowledgement is a representation of how I will acknowledge Country in my classroom, and has been informed by two main sources as cited.
“I wish to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we are meeting on, the land of the Darknyung people.
I pay respect to these lands that provide for us and pay respect to the ancestors that cared for this land before us.
I wish to acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and region, and the love they have for this place that we all seek to share and nurture.” (Darkinjung Land Council n.p.) (Kowal 173-174)