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Commitments
QUT's Reconciliation Statement contains the following commitments in
relation to teaching and learning.
In consultation with Indigenous Australian people, QUT will:
- recruit Indigenous Australian students, provide opportunities for
them to access a wide range of academic programs, and provide academic,
social and cultural support services
- incorporate Indigenous content and perspectives as appropriate into
the University's curriculum and teaching practices
Progress
Recruitment & support of Indigenous students
- Recruitment of Indigenous students is primarily undertaken by the Oodgeroo Unit in partnership
with QUT's faculties. Aboriginal students and Torres Strait Islander
students currently represent approximately 1.14% of the student body;
this is an increase on previous years, and in contrast to declining
trends across Queensland, Australia and other Brisbane universities.
QUT’s goal is to achieve 2.6% of its enrolment share as Indigenous
students, to reflect the proportion of Queensland citizens who are Indigenous.
The national all-university average for commencing Indigenous students
is 1.52% of the overall student population. The success rates and
retention rates of QUT’s Indigenous students are above the national
average.
More information (including comparative data) on the trends in access,
participation, success and retention of Indigenous students in higher
education across state and national universities can be accessed in
the Department of Education, Science and Training’s annual reports on Indigenous programs focussed on access and participation.
- Enrolled Indigenous students at QUT are given academic, social and
cultural support by the Oodgeroo Unit. Indigenous students are in all
QUT faculties. For the distribution of Indigenous students across the
faculties see the latest Student
Equity Update report.
- QUT’s scholarship program has been strengthened to include significant
scholarships for commencing and existing Indigenous students, and the
Faculties of Education and Law, and the Schools of Design and Built
Environment, and Learning and Professional Studies have introduced fee
relief initiatives and scholarships for Indigenous students.
Incorporating Indigenous content & perspectives
- QUT's Vice Chancellor's Advisory Committee (VCAC) endorsed a document
from the University's Teaching and Learning Committee which outlined
how Indigenous perspectives might be embedded in the curriculum of QUT.
For more details, see the discussion paper.
- The Faculty of Education has introduced a new core unit, Culture
Studies: Indigenous Education in all strands of the Bachelor of Education.
This unit was developed in consultation with academic staff from the
Oodgeroo Unit who also form part of the teaching team.
- The Oodgeroo Unit has appointed a Lecturer to develop a suite of resources
(including templates for embedding Indigenous perspectives and models
for teaching teams) for use by faculties undertaking curriculum review.
- Several faculties have been successful in acquiring large grants to
pursue issues related to incorporating Indigenous perspectives in their
curricula. These projects are outlined briefly below. More information
can be obtained by following the individual project links:
Education
Reconstructing
teaching and learning through assessment: Using an outcomes-based framework
to shape student learning experiences (Project in progress)
This project is centred on learning outcomes assessment. It takes place
within a whole-of-course renewal for the Bachelor of Education which
was guided by a set of design principles endorsed by the Faculty, an
outcomes orientation and a commitment to equity and diversity.
Health
Towards
cultural competence: An innovative strategy for incorporating Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander perspectives within health professional curricula. (Project in progress)
This project proposes to build on the Faculty’s record of sustained
achievement in recruiting, retaining and graduating Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander students with an explicit strategy to systematically
promote students’ understanding and appreciation of Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander perspectives and their application within
health care practice settings. The Strategy moves beyond a good citizenship
model of Indigenous knowledge to one of professional competence in
students.
Law
Assuring
Quality in the Assessment of Social, Relational and Cultural Generic
Capabilities in the Faculty of Law
This project’s aim was to develop an assessment framework to
inform the Faculty's quality assurance of the development of social,
relational and cultural generic capabilities. The Faculty has identified
four areas of generic capability development (project areas) that
have proved extremely challenging in terms of developing valid and
reliable assessment practices: (i) the embedding of Indigenous content
and perspectives; (ii) the development of oral communication (with
particular emphasis on negotiation, advocacy and interviewing for
externally enrolled students); (iii) the infusion of ethical values
and knowledge; (iv) teamwork in large classes where students are enrolled
externally and internally.
QUT Carseldine and Creative Industries
Developing
and Enhancing Indigenous Perspectives in the Curriculum - An Initiative
of QUT-Carseldine and Creative Industries
(Project in progress)
This three year project is designed to embed Indigenous perspectives
in the curricula of courses in the two faculties of QUT Carseldine
and Creative Industries. The project addresses the significance of
Indigenous perspectives in a range of teaching and learning contexts
and aims to ensure that students are continually apprised of the importance
of such perspectives and come to recognise them as both integral to
their learning and central to the development of a number of generic
and professional competencies.
-
QUT’s Oodgeroo Unit developed a CD-ROM - The Wayi-Erwer - about
Aboriginal and Torres Strait people, culture, rights and events. It
is designed to give an understanding of Australia's Indigenous people,
historical and contemporary issues and the interrelationships that
exist between Indigenous people and the broader community. For more
information please visit: http://www.oodgeroo.qut.edu.au/about/oodgeroounit.jsp
Contacts
For more information contact:
Victor Hart
Manager
Oodgeroo Unit
Phone: (07) 3138 3610
Email: v.hart@qut.edu.au
Mary Kelly
Equity Coordinator
Equity Section
Phone: (07) 3138 2699
Email: ma.kelly@qut.edu.au
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