Fostering Indigenous intercultural ability during and beyond initial teacher education

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders people have a unique place in Australian history, culture and indeed the psyche, of the nation. However, this uniqueness, as first Australians, is both contested and polarising. Although not universal, racism and stereotyping are not uncommon to interactions between minority Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and dominant fellow Australians (Bodkin-Andrews & Carlson, 2014; Paradies, Harris & Anderson, 2008). In the light of ongoing poor socio-economic and educational outcomes, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, there is a growing consensus in Australian universities that graduates can contribute to improving those outcomes through enhanced service provision to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (Behrendt, Larkin, Griew & Kelly, 2012). This is particularly so in the professions, where curriculum development to ensure graduates are prepared to work effectively with Indigenous Australians has been ongoing. Teacher education has been working for some years now to address deficiencies in both the teaching of Indigenous Australian children and the delivery of Indigenous curriculum to all children. As early as the 1980s the National Aboriginal Education Committee (NAEC) initiated the 1,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Teachers by 1990 project (Hughes & Willmot, 1982) for example. More recently, the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership introduced Indigenous focus areas to the professional teaching standards (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, 2014). Developing intercultural competency is part of this worthy goal for pre-service teachers.