Credit Points 10

Legacy Code 102114

Coordinator Julie Lennon Opens in new window

Description The subject is only offered to students enrolled in the Bachelor of Education (Primary) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education program. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's identities are depicted in a wide range of texts pertaining to expressions of and about Aboriginality. These various representations form the way Indigenous identities are constructed, projected and reflected in society often through the media. Students will examine how we then set in motion a better understanding of this phenomenon using carefully selected texts, the diverse nature of them and compare the outcomes; particularly the way they affect relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The subject explores genres, voice, authority, identity, the complexities surrounding these debates and discourses, and how teachers are the advocates for negotiating power, space and voice for communities into the future. The examination of the portrayal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in texts in a school context will be deconstructed so students understand the process of producing current and future identities.

School Education

Student Contribution Band HECS Band 1 10cp

Check your HECS Band contribution amount via the Fees page.

Level Undergraduate Level 1 subject

Equivalent Subjects EDUC 1003 - Indigenous Cultural texts in Education

Restrictions

Students must be enrolled in 1717 - Bachelor of Education (Primary) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education. Students enrolled in the Indigenous Studies major can enrol in this subject in Summer if available. Contact the subject coordinator for enrolment details.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:

1. Identify the significance of story and narratives in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures
2. Identify and describe representations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians in a range of texts produced by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people composed for different audiences.
3. Identify and explain the ways different cultures, cultural stories and icons, including Australian images and significant Australians, including Aboriginal Australians, are depicted in texts
4. Outline debates around the politics of representation using theoretical frameworks;
5. Explain the role texts play in the construction, expressions and representations of cultural identity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
6. Analyse the role of the texts in relation to continuity and change in cultural assumptions.

Subject Content

1. The essence of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander story and narratives
2. Texts and their readings; examine how to undertake a textual deconstruction.
3. How do we understand cultural meaning; who constructs it? Examine theory: level of significations; function of the metaphor; genre and inter-texuality; narrative form and the 'realism' effect; grand narratives and ideology; narrator function and audience positioning.
4. Identity and representations the politics of representation - Aboriginal people as ?eOther?f; decolonization; 'colonial gaze'; neo-colonialist texts; postcolonial texts; postcolonial critical practice.
5. Analysis of a variety of primary and secondary sources which depict Aboriginal peoples and identity (children?fs literature; films, television dramas, music videos; advertisements; musical/theatrical productions, photographic works, and other visual art