WEBVTT
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.640
Welcome to Good Samaritan Education's Podcast.
00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:03.919
Community Calling.
00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:06.959
My name is Gabriel Sinkler and I'll be your host.
00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:20.239
Today, our episode brings you the first keynote from the Good Samaritan Education Triennial Conference with Kelly Humphreys.
00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:24.719
Kelly Humphreys is the ACU Pro Vice Chancellor Indigenous.
00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:37.359
She's the first one to hold this role and brings you the story behind her research and a really eloquent, beautiful way of sharing her own story and her authentic way of entering into research.
00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:41.119
It's a great opportunity to reflect on how we do the same.
00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:49.520
Thank you.
00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:57.359
As mentioned, my name is Kelly, and I am a Gomroy woman from the northern part of New South Wales.
00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:02.640
My country is where the water runs hot underground.
00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:18.319
My family comes from a small town called Maury, and I have cultural and ancestral ties to another small part of New South Wales called Warholow, which is near Tamworth for anyone who knows this area well.
00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:31.200
I would like to acknowledge this country, the Camaragal people, the elders from the time before, at this very time, and those that are yet to come.
00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:37.439
It is with deep esteem I also acknowledge my own ancestors with gratitude and respect.
00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:45.760
My office actually overlooks Brangaroo, so I have this spirit of women with me every day telling me not to mess it up.
00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:47.120
So thank you.
00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:53.200
I am very excited to be here and share a little bit about my research and my passion for education.
00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:57.120
And I would really like to thank Fran and the organizing committee for the invitation.
00:01:57.280 --> 00:02:02.480
And as the Pro Vice Chancellor Indigenous here at ACU, I get to welcome you to this place.
00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:09.759
And it is lovely to have our partners, our people in mission, enriching our spaces whenever we have the opportunity.
00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:15.599
So I'm so grateful I get to be the one that says, hello everybody, and welcome to ACU.
00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:24.800
This presentation is a little centered around my research and a little around the thinking about the possibilities post-my current research topic.
00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:35.120
And I'll take you through a weaving framework that I've developed and its application, and hopefully, you will leave today with a few thoughts for you to build upon across this conference.
00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:38.879
Now I just want to talk about the image that you see on the screen here.
00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:42.159
I have to acknowledge Harriet Goodold who took this photo.
00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:48.960
And it was taken during a weaving circle at Brungle, which is a little community outside of Tumet on Radri Country.
00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:57.520
All the hands you see here are Aboriginal women who are teaching andor learning the cultural practice of traditional basket weaving.
00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:06.080
On this day, women sat in a circle telling stories of their lives, yarning, and creating baskets.
00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:20.400
Their baskets carried those stories shared and those yarns home, a physical representation of the day, these conversations, and their moments of their lives.
00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:24.879
And my mum's hands are in that photo, so I love to put that one up.
00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:31.439
My mum is a master leaver, and I'm just trying to hold on to a coattail and follow along.
00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:34.319
Well, let me tell you a little bit about myself.
00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:38.800
It's a proper way when we stand in front of crowds to tell you who I am and why I'm here.
00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:45.439
So as mentioned, I am Gomeroy, but I am also a daughter, a mother, a wife, and an educator.
00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:54.240
And I want to acknowledge that I am here with you today from the opportunities that I have had through education that have been provided to me.
00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:56.400
And this isn't lost on me.
00:03:56.639 --> 00:03:58.960
It is a position of privilege.
00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:11.520
My parents encouraged me to strive to be a little more than and do a little more than they did, to see different points of view and to be a person of integrity.
00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:19.600
My mum grew up in rural New South Wales in a family exposed to alcoholism and domestic violence.
00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:23.839
She achieved a year eight level of education.
00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:33.839
My dad came from a working class family in southern New South Wales and he completed a trade qualification, but together they made a powerful team.
00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:37.040
They are examples of lifelong learners.
00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:42.560
They both went on to complete certificate and diploma level courses as I was growing up.
00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:47.519
I also had the privilege of being supported by my grandparents.
00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:50.319
And now my auntie is eight years older than me.
00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:54.319
My mother raised my auntie, so I call her my sister as well.
00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:56.000
So the lines blend.
00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:00.800
They've been the people who have championed me in everything that I do.
00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:05.040
I'm also grateful for my husband, Matt, and my beautiful girls.
00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:16.800
And I want to make a better future, not just for those kids on the screen, but hopefully have an impact and a ripple for all young people that step through the gates of any educational facility they choose.
00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:26.000
So I did spend most of my schooling in Catholic schools in New South Wales, and I developed a passion for social justice, honouring the dignity of every human being.
00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:31.279
And I'm the first person in my family to have achieved a university level qualification.
00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:39.120
Now saying that I will be the first person to get a doctorate too, but I have my little niece slash sister.
00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:40.720
She is hunting me down.
00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:44.720
There is competition between us at the moment, which I'm very grateful for.
00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:49.600
I'm privileged to be supported by a great family as I pursue this degree in research.
00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:58.079
And who would have thought a little girl born in Moray, raised in northern New South Wales, could have this opportunity to be here speaking to you about what I'm undertaking.
00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:01.040
Now I am pretty much a glass half-full person.
00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:03.199
I always look for silver linings.
00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:14.560
But I was discussing one day with my mum the notion of racial injustice in educational workspaces, and mum handed me a book and she said, I didn't really like it that much, but you might like it.
00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:18.720
And the book was called Why I No Longer Talk to White People About Race.
00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:22.720
It's by a British author named Rennie Edo Lodge.
00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:36.079
And I had a quick flip through the book and I connected to a reflection on one of the pages, and she had said that she was confronted by the daily costs and costly round trip of a commute to work.
00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:43.680
So she decided to keep her costs down, this is in London, and to take the train halfway and then cycle for the rest of the journey.
00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:55.680
She talks about an uncomfortable truth that dawned on her as she lugged a bike up and down the flights of stairs at train stations and how the majority of public transport she had been travelling on was not accessible.
00:06:55.920 --> 00:07:08.720
She reflected on the lack of lifts, ramps, and the impossible feat that it would be to access this type of transport for parents with prams or people in wheelchairs or any person who may have a mobility issue.
00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:15.839
And it's here Edo Lodge stated that before she had to carry her own wheels, she had never noticed the problem.
00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:27.199
Before this time of her life, Edo Lodge had been oblivious to the lack of accessibility for thousands of people, and it's only as she became close to it she became angered by it.
00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:38.959
Now, I am an Aboriginal researcher and I came to this research problem like Edo Lodge because I had something that was niggling at me, something that was making me a little bit angry.
00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:54.639
Throughout my educational career as teacher and principal, as an education officer and a director in public education, I watched Aboriginal colleagues who aspired and applied for leadership positions not be successful candidates over and over and over.
00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:59.680
Feedback for unsuccessful candidates was often confusing and sometimes contradictory.
00:07:59.839 --> 00:08:05.920
There was no offer of constructive feedback for next time, all pathways planning for future successes.
00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:12.560
And as a result, I'd often question whether identity played a role in the Aboriginal educator being unsuccessful.
00:08:12.800 --> 00:08:15.279
So my journey into research began with question.
00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:20.560
What are the barriers and enablers for Aboriginal people to progress to school leadership roles?
00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:37.600
With only 1 to 2% of the teaching population identifying as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers, and even though there had been significant interventions across the nations to attract Aboriginal teachers to the profession, there was not something to elevate those teachers into leadership opportunities.
00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:50.080
And I wanted to amplify the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers, identifying the personal, school, and system structures that empower or perhaps disempower career progression to school leadership.
00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:55.200
And as I wove my way deeper into this inquiry, it became so much more.
00:08:55.440 --> 00:09:05.039
The stories that have been gifted by my participants are not just career pathways, they are a lived experience, bound with tension and strength and challenge.
00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:12.399
To honor the stories, I began to weave them, both metaphorically and then eventually physically, into baskets.
00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:16.159
Each basket story is a career journey.
00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:19.200
The knots and ties speak of barriers and enablers.
00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:21.919
The structures may be strong but flexible.
00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:28.080
These baskets aren't just holding stories, they're holding truths and resistance, insight and hope.
00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:35.200
So I brought this method to the Academy and I ended up developing a framework which was published in 2023.
00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:46.320
And it came about because I was really struggling with academic theory and trying to apply something from a Western lens in an Aboriginal context for Aboriginal people.
00:09:46.559 --> 00:10:01.440
And this happened to dawn on me one day as I was sitting and I was watching my mother weaving a basket, and I was reading the work of Engstrom, and this is from 1999, and he defines the term not working.
00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:05.679
So not not working as in tying not workings.
00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:14.000
He defines this process as the tying, the untying, and the retying of separate threads of activity.
00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:22.159
So here I am watching my mother pulling the fibers through, knotting and connecting them and continuously adding more.
00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:38.960
And it was at that moment my personal paradigm was revealed, and I finally figured out how I could connect Western structures to the voices of Aboriginal people through Indigenous standpoint and allow myself to make sense of what my theoretical framework would be.
00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:47.440
So this framework is a decolonizing response to research conventions, drawing from indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing.
00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:54.000
And it allows me to walk within both worlds, Western and Indigenous research, while never letting go of who I am.
00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:59.679
So I'm going to show you two examples of it because some people I understand like a bit more logic.
00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:05.200
I'm a bit of a creative fluffy person myself, so I've got a lovely, beautiful picture of how I've represented it as well.
00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:08.639
But there are five elements to weaving a basket.
00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:16.000
There's the core, there are the grasses, there are the hands, you need your mind.
00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:20.720
And then a recently introduced process would be adding a needle.
00:11:20.799 --> 00:11:23.679
And my mum uses a needle, a silver needle.
00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:31.120
So across this framework, I've tried to articulate what are the research terms from Western lenses.
00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:36.159
So you'll see those big words: axiology, ontology, methodology, epistemology.
00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:43.279
Students, if you can tell me what they mean, I will buy you all a Marsbar because it took me a long time to figure out what they were meaning.
00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:50.720
Then I've aligned that to current Aboriginal Toshlander researchers and the way in which they express these words.
00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:55.200
And then looking at the way in which methodologies can be used to explore it.
00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:57.360
Let me show you my favourite picture.
00:11:57.679 --> 00:12:06.000
So I want to walk through the basket weaving methodology with you and then talk about its applications post-my research.
00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:10.879
So at the core of this framework, we talk about ethical foundations.
00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:15.360
It represents the ethical and moral compasses of the research.
00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:23.120
It embodies principles that guide inquiry, emphasizing the importance of addressing inequalities and centering Indigenous perspectives.
00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:29.440
The foundation ensures the research remains grounded in respect, responsibility, and relational activity.
00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:33.360
The grasses is this relational knowledge.
00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:37.600
It symbolises the aspects of knowledge gathering.
00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:45.120
Harvested sustainably, it reflects the interconnectedness between the researcher, the community, and the environment.
00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:53.679
This element underscores the significance of relationships, cultural practice, and the cyclical nature of knowledge transmission with indigenous communities.
00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:57.840
The hands, the action, the methodological practices.
00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:03.600
This talks about, for my research, the use of storying and the use of yarning as a method.
00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:15.120
These practices facilitate the sharing of experience and knowledge in a respectful and culturally responsive manner and allow participants to guide the direction of the content and the discourse.
00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:22.559
The mind, this is the epistemological insights, represents the ways of knowing and understanding the world.
00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:30.559
It acknowledges that knowledge is contextual, experiential, and deeply connected to one's background and experiences.
00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:37.360
This element highlights the importance of reflexivity and recognizing multiple truths within Indigenous paradigms.
00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:39.200
And as mentioned, the needle.
00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:46.720
The needle serves as a tool that weaves together the various components of this research.
00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:58.799
It is the tool that helps me integrate different theoretical perspectives, including indigenous, post-structural, and transformative paradigms, to create a cohesive and holistic framework.
00:13:58.960 --> 00:14:04.480
This element emphases a dynamic, evolving nature of Indigenous research and methodologies.
00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:16.480
For me, this framework is also how I am starting to story my participants' career journeys, what lies at their core, what have been the connective and relational knots.
00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:22.879
But coming to higher education, I've been doing lots of reflecting on educational impact in general.
00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:29.440
And I've been schematizing about what this framework could look like for teachers, educators, and educational systems.
00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:31.600
And this is really just my rambling.
00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:33.279
So don't take it as gospel.
00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:36.240
If you're interested, let's work on a research topic together.
00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:37.360
This will be fantastic.
00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:44.480
But I wanted to offer some thoughts to you below, and I'd be really interested in how you pick this up and if that if this is something that you think is worthwhile.
00:14:44.720 --> 00:15:01.200
So if I think about moving beyond this research and weaving educational baskets with students and teachers and systems, I might ask myself, what might it mean to offer the basket weaving framework as a guide for educators and school systems?
00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:02.720
And here we go.
00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:04.480
What's at the core?
00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:07.840
Well, that would be embedding the ethical purpose.
00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:14.240
The core of the basket would symbolize ethical, moral, and religious foundations for education.
00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:20.240
For educators, this might mean embedding respect, equity, and cultural safety values into their practice.
00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:28.559
By acknowledging and addressing systematic inequalities, educators can create environments that honour students' identities and promote social justice.
00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:33.360
The grasses is where we can build relationships and cultural connections.
00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:36.799
They represent the relational aspects of education.
00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:43.519
Teachers can support young people by fostering strong connections with their students, their families, and their communities.
00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:52.080
This involves integrating Indigenous perspectives and knowledge systems into the curriculum and validating students' cultural identities and promoting their sense of belonging.
00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:57.360
At the hands, I'm talking about employing cultural responsive pedagogies.
00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:01.440
The hands signify the pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning.
00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:07.360
Educators can adopt culturally responsive pedagogies like storying and yarning to facilitate learning.
00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:15.039
These approaches honour indigenous ways of knowing and allow students to engage with content in a more meaningful and culturally relevant way.
00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:20.720
The mind could talk about valuing diverse ways of knowing.
00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:24.960
The mind embodies those epistemological understandings of education.
00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:31.519
Educators recognise the values and diverse ways of knowing that each student brings to the classroom.
00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:39.279
This includes creating spaces for students to share their experiences, knowledges, and enriching the learning environment for all.
00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:47.279
Again, the needle, that foreign tool, is the tool that we're going to use to integrate structural frameworks for transformation.
00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:54.320
It represents the integration of various structural education frameworks to guide transformative education.
00:16:54.559 --> 00:17:03.679
Educators can draw upon indigenous, educational, and pedagogical theory, data, and student and family stories to inform their practice.
00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:15.359
This holistic approach enables education systems, schools, and teachers to challenge dominant narratives and support students in navigating and reshaping their educational journeys.
00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:20.799
So the metaphor isn't just soft language, it's actually a structural critique.
00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:26.720
If we begin with ethical purpose, we stop confusing diversity for equity.
00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:32.240
And if we center relationships, we stop assuming connection is optional.
00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:37.200
If we teach with our hands, we honor culture as a pedagogy.
00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:43.279
And if we expand our mind, we allow different knowledges to lead.
00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:50.400
And when we use a needle, we don't just stitch up the system, we re-weave it.
00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:56.480
So what happens if we invite teachers and educators to weave?
00:17:57.039 --> 00:17:58.720
What if we asked?
00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:02.799
What is at the core of you being an educator?
00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:08.079
How do you gather grasses of relationships with your students and communities?
00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:13.279
How do you foster those relationships and know your students truly?
00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:20.000
What do your hands do each day in pedagogy that is culturally responsive?
00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:26.559
What are you doing with your mind to hold and honour different ways of knowing and being and doing?
00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:29.920
How does building this basket challenge you?
00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:34.640
And how are you creating a space to understand these challenges?
00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:41.920
How do you hold and use your needle, the systems and the structures around you to weave change?
00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:56.000
How do the structures of your educational system, the practices of your school, the approach of your teaching enable and challenge the dominant narratives to work to being better for your students' educational journeys?
00:18:56.400 --> 00:18:57.920
And how do you know?
00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:11.440
So, across this conference, you are going to have the opportunity to hear from an impressive lineup of speakers and voices and the voices of your students, which is just fantastic.
00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:24.319
And I hope that you will weave a basket of knowledge, of insight, and of practice, not as a framework and not as a checklist, but one that you'll carry long after these days end.
00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:31.279
As the conference unfolds, I hope that you will be asking yourself, what will you be weaving?
00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:38.160
What knots are tied tightly and which ones need to be undone?
00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:39.839
Loosened a little.
00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:42.880
And who are you weaving for?
00:19:43.519 --> 00:20:01.680
Because when you teach a student, you hold their story, and when you lead a school, you shape a system, and when you weave with care, you pass something strong, something sacred, onto the next or another set of hands.
00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:12.000
In my research, I've seen how stories have become leadership, how weaving becomes a theory, and how culture becomes a method.
00:20:12.240 --> 00:20:22.000
And I truly do believe that together we can weave educational baskets that hold not just knowledge, but transformation.
00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:28.960
So let us not just fill our baskets, let's create, reshape, and transform them.
00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:31.039
Thank you very much.
00:20:53.759 --> 00:21:04.559
And I guess it is an opportunity for us to think about how we engage in all things, how we approach the way we do our research, the things that are important to us.
00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:23.599
But although Kelly is bringing a very specific indigenous perspective, it really gives us an opportunity to think about what we bring to our work or how are we showing up authentically with our whole person in what we bring into the world.
00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:38.720
I hope that the table of hospitality is wide and that you may continue to go and do likewise in your own community.
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.640
Welcome to Good Samaritan Education's Podcast.
00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:03.919
Community Calling.
00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:06.959
My name is Gabriel Sinkler and I'll be your host.
00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:20.239
Today, our episode brings you the first keynote from the Good Samaritan Education Triennial Conference with Kelly Humphreys.
00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:24.719
Kelly Humphreys is the ACU Pro Vice Chancellor Indigenous.
00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:37.359
She's the first one to hold this role and brings you the story behind her research and a really eloquent, beautiful way of sharing her own story and her authentic way of entering into research.
00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:41.119
It's a great opportunity to reflect on how we do the same.
00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:49.520
Thank you.
00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:57.359
As mentioned, my name is Kelly, and I am a Gomroy woman from the northern part of New South Wales.
00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:02.640
My country is where the water runs hot underground.
00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:18.319
My family comes from a small town called Maury, and I have cultural and ancestral ties to another small part of New South Wales called Warholow, which is near Tamworth for anyone who knows this area well.
00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:31.200
I would like to acknowledge this country, the Camaragal people, the elders from the time before, at this very time, and those that are yet to come.
00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:37.439
It is with deep esteem I also acknowledge my own ancestors with gratitude and respect.
00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:45.760
My office actually overlooks Brangaroo, so I have this spirit of women with me every day telling me not to mess it up.
00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:47.120
So thank you.
00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:53.200
I am very excited to be here and share a little bit about my research and my passion for education.
00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:57.120
And I would really like to thank Fran and the organizing committee for the invitation.
00:01:57.280 --> 00:02:02.480
And as the Pro Vice Chancellor Indigenous here at ACU, I get to welcome you to this place.
00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:09.759
And it is lovely to have our partners, our people in mission, enriching our spaces whenever we have the opportunity.
00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:15.599
So I'm so grateful I get to be the one that says, hello everybody, and welcome to ACU.
00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:24.800
This presentation is a little centered around my research and a little around the thinking about the possibilities post-my current research topic.
00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:35.120
And I'll take you through a weaving framework that I've developed and its application, and hopefully, you will leave today with a few thoughts for you to build upon across this conference.
00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:38.879
Now I just want to talk about the image that you see on the screen here.
00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:42.159
I have to acknowledge Harriet Goodold who took this photo.
00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:48.960
And it was taken during a weaving circle at Brungle, which is a little community outside of Tumet on Radri Country.
00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:57.520
All the hands you see here are Aboriginal women who are teaching andor learning the cultural practice of traditional basket weaving.
00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:06.080
On this day, women sat in a circle telling stories of their lives, yarning, and creating baskets.
00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:20.400
Their baskets carried those stories shared and those yarns home, a physical representation of the day, these conversations, and their moments of their lives.
00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:24.879
And my mum's hands are in that photo, so I love to put that one up.
00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:31.439
My mum is a master leaver, and I'm just trying to hold on to a coattail and follow along.
00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:34.319
Well, let me tell you a little bit about myself.
00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:38.800
It's a proper way when we stand in front of crowds to tell you who I am and why I'm here.
00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:45.439
So as mentioned, I am Gomeroy, but I am also a daughter, a mother, a wife, and an educator.
00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:54.240
And I want to acknowledge that I am here with you today from the opportunities that I have had through education that have been provided to me.
00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:56.400
And this isn't lost on me.
00:03:56.639 --> 00:03:58.960
It is a position of privilege.
00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:11.520
My parents encouraged me to strive to be a little more than and do a little more than they did, to see different points of view and to be a person of integrity.
00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:19.600
My mum grew up in rural New South Wales in a family exposed to alcoholism and domestic violence.
00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:23.839
She achieved a year eight level of education.
00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:33.839
My dad came from a working class family in southern New South Wales and he completed a trade qualification, but together they made a powerful team.
00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:37.040
They are examples of lifelong learners.
00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:42.560
They both went on to complete certificate and diploma level courses as I was growing up.
00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:47.519
I also had the privilege of being supported by my grandparents.
00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:50.319
And now my auntie is eight years older than me.
00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:54.319
My mother raised my auntie, so I call her my sister as well.
00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:56.000
So the lines blend.
00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:00.800
They've been the people who have championed me in everything that I do.
00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:05.040
I'm also grateful for my husband, Matt, and my beautiful girls.
00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:16.800
And I want to make a better future, not just for those kids on the screen, but hopefully have an impact and a ripple for all young people that step through the gates of any educational facility they choose.
00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:26.000
So I did spend most of my schooling in Catholic schools in New South Wales, and I developed a passion for social justice, honouring the dignity of every human being.
00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:31.279
And I'm the first person in my family to have achieved a university level qualification.
00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:39.120
Now saying that I will be the first person to get a doctorate too, but I have my little niece slash sister.
00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:40.720
She is hunting me down.
00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:44.720
There is competition between us at the moment, which I'm very grateful for.
00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:49.600
I'm privileged to be supported by a great family as I pursue this degree in research.
00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:58.079
And who would have thought a little girl born in Moray, raised in northern New South Wales, could have this opportunity to be here speaking to you about what I'm undertaking.
00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:01.040
Now I am pretty much a glass half-full person.
00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:03.199
I always look for silver linings.
00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:14.560
But I was discussing one day with my mum the notion of racial injustice in educational workspaces, and mum handed me a book and she said, I didn't really like it that much, but you might like it.
00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:18.720
And the book was called Why I No Longer Talk to White People About Race.
00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:22.720
It's by a British author named Rennie Edo Lodge.
00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:36.079
And I had a quick flip through the book and I connected to a reflection on one of the pages, and she had said that she was confronted by the daily costs and costly round trip of a commute to work.
00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:43.680
So she decided to keep her costs down, this is in London, and to take the train halfway and then cycle for the rest of the journey.
00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:55.680
She talks about an uncomfortable truth that dawned on her as she lugged a bike up and down the flights of stairs at train stations and how the majority of public transport she had been travelling on was not accessible.
00:06:55.920 --> 00:07:08.720
She reflected on the lack of lifts, ramps, and the impossible feat that it would be to access this type of transport for parents with prams or people in wheelchairs or any person who may have a mobility issue.
00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:15.839
And it's here Edo Lodge stated that before she had to carry her own wheels, she had never noticed the problem.
00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:27.199
Before this time of her life, Edo Lodge had been oblivious to the lack of accessibility for thousands of people, and it's only as she became close to it she became angered by it.
00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:38.959
Now, I am an Aboriginal researcher and I came to this research problem like Edo Lodge because I had something that was niggling at me, something that was making me a little bit angry.
00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:54.639
Throughout my educational career as teacher and principal, as an education officer and a director in public education, I watched Aboriginal colleagues who aspired and applied for leadership positions not be successful candidates over and over and over.
00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:59.680
Feedback for unsuccessful candidates was often confusing and sometimes contradictory.
00:07:59.839 --> 00:08:05.920
There was no offer of constructive feedback for next time, all pathways planning for future successes.
00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:12.560
And as a result, I'd often question whether identity played a role in the Aboriginal educator being unsuccessful.
00:08:12.800 --> 00:08:15.279
So my journey into research began with question.
00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:20.560
What are the barriers and enablers for Aboriginal people to progress to school leadership roles?
00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:37.600
With only 1 to 2% of the teaching population identifying as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers, and even though there had been significant interventions across the nations to attract Aboriginal teachers to the profession, there was not something to elevate those teachers into leadership opportunities.
00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:50.080
And I wanted to amplify the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers, identifying the personal, school, and system structures that empower or perhaps disempower career progression to school leadership.
00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:55.200
And as I wove my way deeper into this inquiry, it became so much more.
00:08:55.440 --> 00:09:05.039
The stories that have been gifted by my participants are not just career pathways, they are a lived experience, bound with tension and strength and challenge.
00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:12.399
To honor the stories, I began to weave them, both metaphorically and then eventually physically, into baskets.
00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:16.159
Each basket story is a career journey.
00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:19.200
The knots and ties speak of barriers and enablers.
00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:21.919
The structures may be strong but flexible.
00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:28.080
These baskets aren't just holding stories, they're holding truths and resistance, insight and hope.
00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:35.200
So I brought this method to the Academy and I ended up developing a framework which was published in 2023.
00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:46.320
And it came about because I was really struggling with academic theory and trying to apply something from a Western lens in an Aboriginal context for Aboriginal people.
00:09:46.559 --> 00:10:01.440
And this happened to dawn on me one day as I was sitting and I was watching my mother weaving a basket, and I was reading the work of Engstrom, and this is from 1999, and he defines the term not working.
00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:05.679
So not not working as in tying not workings.
00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:14.000
He defines this process as the tying, the untying, and the retying of separate threads of activity.
00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:22.159
So here I am watching my mother pulling the fibers through, knotting and connecting them and continuously adding more.
00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:38.960
And it was at that moment my personal paradigm was revealed, and I finally figured out how I could connect Western structures to the voices of Aboriginal people through Indigenous standpoint and allow myself to make sense of what my theoretical framework would be.
00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:47.440
So this framework is a decolonizing response to research conventions, drawing from indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing.
00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:54.000
And it allows me to walk within both worlds, Western and Indigenous research, while never letting go of who I am.
00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:59.679
So I'm going to show you two examples of it because some people I understand like a bit more logic.
00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:05.200
I'm a bit of a creative fluffy person myself, so I've got a lovely, beautiful picture of how I've represented it as well.
00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:08.639
But there are five elements to weaving a basket.
00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:16.000
There's the core, there are the grasses, there are the hands, you need your mind.
00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:20.720
And then a recently introduced process would be adding a needle.
00:11:20.799 --> 00:11:23.679
And my mum uses a needle, a silver needle.
00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:31.120
So across this framework, I've tried to articulate what are the research terms from Western lenses.
00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:36.159
So you'll see those big words: axiology, ontology, methodology, epistemology.
00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:43.279
Students, if you can tell me what they mean, I will buy you all a Marsbar because it took me a long time to figure out what they were meaning.
00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:50.720
Then I've aligned that to current Aboriginal Toshlander researchers and the way in which they express these words.
00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:55.200
And then looking at the way in which methodologies can be used to explore it.
00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:57.360
Let me show you my favourite picture.
00:11:57.679 --> 00:12:06.000
So I want to walk through the basket weaving methodology with you and then talk about its applications post-my research.
00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:10.879
So at the core of this framework, we talk about ethical foundations.
00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:15.360
It represents the ethical and moral compasses of the research.
00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:23.120
It embodies principles that guide inquiry, emphasizing the importance of addressing inequalities and centering Indigenous perspectives.
00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:29.440
The foundation ensures the research remains grounded in respect, responsibility, and relational activity.
00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:33.360
The grasses is this relational knowledge.
00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:37.600
It symbolises the aspects of knowledge gathering.
00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:45.120
Harvested sustainably, it reflects the interconnectedness between the researcher, the community, and the environment.
00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:53.679
This element underscores the significance of relationships, cultural practice, and the cyclical nature of knowledge transmission with indigenous communities.
00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:57.840
The hands, the action, the methodological practices.
00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:03.600
This talks about, for my research, the use of storying and the use of yarning as a method.
00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:15.120
These practices facilitate the sharing of experience and knowledge in a respectful and culturally responsive manner and allow participants to guide the direction of the content and the discourse.
00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:22.559
The mind, this is the epistemological insights, represents the ways of knowing and understanding the world.
00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:30.559
It acknowledges that knowledge is contextual, experiential, and deeply connected to one's background and experiences.
00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:37.360
This element highlights the importance of reflexivity and recognizing multiple truths within Indigenous paradigms.
00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:39.200
And as mentioned, the needle.
00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:46.720
The needle serves as a tool that weaves together the various components of this research.
00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:58.799
It is the tool that helps me integrate different theoretical perspectives, including indigenous, post-structural, and transformative paradigms, to create a cohesive and holistic framework.
00:13:58.960 --> 00:14:04.480
This element emphases a dynamic, evolving nature of Indigenous research and methodologies.
00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:16.480
For me, this framework is also how I am starting to story my participants' career journeys, what lies at their core, what have been the connective and relational knots.
00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:22.879
But coming to higher education, I've been doing lots of reflecting on educational impact in general.
00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:29.440
And I've been schematizing about what this framework could look like for teachers, educators, and educational systems.
00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:31.600
And this is really just my rambling.
00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:33.279
So don't take it as gospel.
00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:36.240
If you're interested, let's work on a research topic together.
00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:37.360
This will be fantastic.
00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:44.480
But I wanted to offer some thoughts to you below, and I'd be really interested in how you pick this up and if that if this is something that you think is worthwhile.
00:14:44.720 --> 00:15:01.200
So if I think about moving beyond this research and weaving educational baskets with students and teachers and systems, I might ask myself, what might it mean to offer the basket weaving framework as a guide for educators and school systems?
00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:02.720
And here we go.
00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:04.480
What's at the core?
00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:07.840
Well, that would be embedding the ethical purpose.
00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:14.240
The core of the basket would symbolize ethical, moral, and religious foundations for education.
00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:20.240
For educators, this might mean embedding respect, equity, and cultural safety values into their practice.
00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:28.559
By acknowledging and addressing systematic inequalities, educators can create environments that honour students' identities and promote social justice.
00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:33.360
The grasses is where we can build relationships and cultural connections.
00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:36.799
They represent the relational aspects of education.
00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:43.519
Teachers can support young people by fostering strong connections with their students, their families, and their communities.
00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:52.080
This involves integrating Indigenous perspectives and knowledge systems into the curriculum and validating students' cultural identities and promoting their sense of belonging.
00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:57.360
At the hands, I'm talking about employing cultural responsive pedagogies.
00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:01.440
The hands signify the pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning.
00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:07.360
Educators can adopt culturally responsive pedagogies like storying and yarning to facilitate learning.
00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:15.039
These approaches honour indigenous ways of knowing and allow students to engage with content in a more meaningful and culturally relevant way.
00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:20.720
The mind could talk about valuing diverse ways of knowing.
00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:24.960
The mind embodies those epistemological understandings of education.
00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:31.519
Educators recognise the values and diverse ways of knowing that each student brings to the classroom.
00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:39.279
This includes creating spaces for students to share their experiences, knowledges, and enriching the learning environment for all.
00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:47.279
Again, the needle, that foreign tool, is the tool that we're going to use to integrate structural frameworks for transformation.
00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:54.320
It represents the integration of various structural education frameworks to guide transformative education.
00:16:54.559 --> 00:17:03.679
Educators can draw upon indigenous, educational, and pedagogical theory, data, and student and family stories to inform their practice.
00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:15.359
This holistic approach enables education systems, schools, and teachers to challenge dominant narratives and support students in navigating and reshaping their educational journeys.
00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:20.799
So the metaphor isn't just soft language, it's actually a structural critique.
00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:26.720
If we begin with ethical purpose, we stop confusing diversity for equity.
00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:32.240
And if we center relationships, we stop assuming connection is optional.
00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:37.200
If we teach with our hands, we honor culture as a pedagogy.
00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:43.279
And if we expand our mind, we allow different knowledges to lead.
00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:50.400
And when we use a needle, we don't just stitch up the system, we re-weave it.
00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:56.480
So what happens if we invite teachers and educators to weave?
00:17:57.039 --> 00:17:58.720
What if we asked?
00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:02.799
What is at the core of you being an educator?
00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:08.079
How do you gather grasses of relationships with your students and communities?
00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:13.279
How do you foster those relationships and know your students truly?
00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:20.000
What do your hands do each day in pedagogy that is culturally responsive?
00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:26.559
What are you doing with your mind to hold and honour different ways of knowing and being and doing?
00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:29.920
How does building this basket challenge you?
00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:34.640
And how are you creating a space to understand these challenges?
00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:41.920
How do you hold and use your needle, the systems and the structures around you to weave change?
00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:56.000
How do the structures of your educational system, the practices of your school, the approach of your teaching enable and challenge the dominant narratives to work to being better for your students' educational journeys?
00:18:56.400 --> 00:18:57.920
And how do you know?
00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:11.440
So, across this conference, you are going to have the opportunity to hear from an impressive lineup of speakers and voices and the voices of your students, which is just fantastic.
00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:24.319
And I hope that you will weave a basket of knowledge, of insight, and of practice, not as a framework and not as a checklist, but one that you'll carry long after these days end.
00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:31.279
As the conference unfolds, I hope that you will be asking yourself, what will you be weaving?
00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:38.160
What knots are tied tightly and which ones need to be undone?
00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:39.839
Loosened a little.
00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:42.880
And who are you weaving for?
00:19:43.519 --> 00:20:01.680
Because when you teach a student, you hold their story, and when you lead a school, you shape a system, and when you weave with care, you pass something strong, something sacred, onto the next or another set of hands.
00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:12.000
In my research, I've seen how stories have become leadership, how weaving becomes a theory, and how culture becomes a method.
00:20:12.240 --> 00:20:22.000
And I truly do believe that together we can weave educational baskets that hold not just knowledge, but transformation.
00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:28.960
So let us not just fill our baskets, let's create, reshape, and transform them.
00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:31.039
Thank you very much.
00:20:53.759 --> 00:21:04.559
And I guess it is an opportunity for us to think about how we engage in all things, how we approach the way we do our research, the things that are important to us.
00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:23.599
But although Kelly is bringing a very specific indigenous perspective, it really gives us an opportunity to think about what we bring to our work or how are we showing up authentically with our whole person in what we bring into the world.
00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:38.720
I hope that the table of hospitality is wide and that you may continue to go and do likewise in your own community.
