Listening differently: an exploration of grey literature about Aboriginal teacher education in the Top End of the Northern Territory

This paper was initiated as part of a project undertaken in Arnhem Land, inspired by a range of conversations with Yolnu women and men who reflected on their experiences as Yolnu educators working in Northern Territory schools, mostly on or near their own country. In the initial stages the conversations were aimed at understanding the ways in which Yolnu people enter, progress and complete an initial teacher education (ITE) qualification. As the project proceeded it became clear that these ways of doing teacher education differed markedly from the individual achievement approach exemplified by the 'attract, develop, recognise and retain' (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL], 2011, p.1) discourses that are to be found in much of the current documentation about ITE. Furthermore, it became apparent quite quickly that the participants in the project knew there to be a substantial body of knowledge that explained the core principles, beliefs and experiences of their Yolnu engagement with teaching and teacher education. However, little of this work seemed to have found its way into contemporary studies about remote teacher education. Nor did it seem to have been worthy of inclusion in a wider body of work on Australian teacher education.

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