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Developing culturally relevant and collaborative research approaches: A case study of working with remote and regional Aboriginal students to prepare them for life beyond school

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Abstract

For millennia, stories and oral histories have been a fundamental way of sharing knowledge in many Aboriginal cultures. Honouring the role of stories can address a continuing lack of Aboriginal voices in Australian educational research literature. In this paper, we describe the philosophical underpinnings and methodology of our research, which aimed to learn from Aboriginal people about their post-school experiences, particularly in remote communities. The uniqueness of the project included training currently enrolled students as researchers to interview past students through yarning and storying. The collected stories were then interpreted and represented in audio recordings later developed into podcasts, writing, and through art. The aim of these research outcomes is to inform relevant policies and the development of teaching and learning resources for Aboriginal students. The way the methodology of our study evolved in response to the participants’ input is another key focus of this paper as well as having implications for future research.

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Funding

This study was supported by ARC Linkage (DLP180100331) awarded to Professor Rhonda Oliver and Dr Marnee Shay.

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Correspondence to Marnee Shay.

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The names “Rhonda Oliver” and “Helen McCarthy” were incorrectly swapped in the sentence “One member of the research team (Rhonda Oliver) was invited to visit the school weekly over a considerable period of time; others (Helen McCarthy and Boori Monty Pryor) also had a longstanding record of relationships with the school, having completed other workshops and projects there before…”. The correct statement is “One member of the research team (Helen McCarthy) was invited to visit the school weekly over a considerable period of time; others (Rhonda Oliver and Boori Monty Pryor) also had a longstanding record of relationships with the school, having completed other workshops and projects there before...”. And the author’s name “Helen McCarthy“ was published without the middle name initial. The correct name is “Helen CD McCarthy”.

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Shay, M., Oliver, R., McCarthy, H.C. et al. Developing culturally relevant and collaborative research approaches: A case study of working with remote and regional Aboriginal students to prepare them for life beyond school. Aust. Educ. Res. 49, 657–674 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-021-00459-3

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