Abstract

Slipping and Sliding: Knowledge production, innovation, and creativity from an Indigenous educational perspective.

As a Mamu/Djirribal woman from North Queensland, a student, teacher and, since 1991, a Lecturer in Teacher Education at Batchelor Institute, I have long been interested in learning, communication and knowledge creation. In my recent doctoral work, I have investigated these topics, collaboratively, deeply, and from within. A key concept that has risen from my work is slipping and sliding. Slipping and sliding is a phenomenon that looks beyond the spoken language to understand how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students draw upon their social, cultural and linguistic repertoires to make meaning of new professional constructs and academic concepts. My study shows that within a both-ways educational approach, teachers and learners are afforded the opportunity and potential for Indigenous and western academic knowledge systems to merge in the form of stories, metaphors, and reflective accounts. This form of knowledge production, innovation and creativity is gaining momentum in Australia and globally to bring a greater awareness and recognition of Indigenous ways of being, doing and knowing within Indigenous educational diverse contexts.