Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-jr42d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T21:22:02.442Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Driving Transformative Learning within Australian Indigenous Studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2018

Jonathan Bullen  and
Lynne Roberts
Jonathan Bullen*
Affiliation:
Curtin Learning and Teaching, Curtin University, Perth 6845, Western Australia, Australia
Lynne Roberts
Affiliation:
School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth 6845, Western Australia, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Jonathan Bullen, Curtin Learning and Teaching, Curtin University, Perth 6845, Western Australia, Australia. Email: jonathan.bullen@curtin.edu.au
Get access

Abstract

Australian undergraduate programmes implementing Indigenous studies courses suggest transformative educational outcomes for students; however, the mechanism behind this is largely unknown. To begin to address this, we obtained baseline data upon entry to tertiary education (Time 1) and follow-up data upon completion of an Indigenous studies health unit (Time 2) on student learning approaches, student-teacher rapport, classroom community, critical reflection (CR) and transformative experiences within the unit. Three-hundred-thirty-six health science first-year students (273 females, 63 males) completed anonymous in-class paper questionnaires at both time points. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that (a) CR was the strongest predictor of transformative learning experiences, (b) the relationship between deep learning approach upon entry to tertiary education and transformative learning experiences was mediated by CR and (c) rapport and classroom community accounted for significant variance in CR. These results suggest that students benefit from tutors’ ability to develop rapport and classroom community, leading to greater capacity for student CR. This in turn promotes transformative learning possibilities within the Indigenous studies learning environment. These findings provide a further rationale for institutions to embed Indigenous knowledge into courses and highlight the importance of evaluating their effect and quality.

Keywords

learning approachcritical reflectiontransformative learningclassroom communityrapportIndigenous studies
Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 48 , Issue 1 , August 2019 , pp. 12 - 23
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aberdeen, L., Carter, J., Grogan, J., & Hollinsworth, D. (2013). Rocking the foundations: The struggle for effective indigenous studies in Australian higher education. Higher Education Review, 45 (3), 36–55.Google Scholar
Allport, G.W. (1979). The nature of prejudice. New York, NY: Basic books.Google Scholar
Asmar, C., & Page, S. (2009). Sources of satisfaction and stress among Indigenous academic teachers: Findings from a national Australian study. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 29 (3), 387–401.Google Scholar
Aveling, N. (2002). Student teachers’ resistance to exploring racism: Reflections on ‘doing’ border pedagogy, Asia-Pacific. Journal of Teacher Education, 30 (2), 119–130, doi: 10.1080/13598660220135630.Google Scholar
Baeten, M., Kyndt, E., Struyven, K., & Dochy, F. (2010). Using student-centred learning environments to stimulate deep approaches to learning: Factors encouraging or discouraging their effectiveness. Educational Research Review, 5 (3), 243–260.Google Scholar
Battistich, V., Solomon, D., Watson, M., & Schaps, E. (1997). Caring school communities. Educational Psychologist, 32 (3), 137–151.Google Scholar
Benson, A.T., Cohen, L.A., & Buskist, W. (2005). Rapport: Its relation to student attitudes and behaviors toward teachers and classes. Teaching of Psychology, 32, 237–239.Google Scholar
Betancourt, J.R. (2003). Cross-cultural medical education: Conceptual approaches and frameworks for evaluation. Academic Medicine, 78 (6), 560–569.Google Scholar
Biermann, S., & Townsend-Cross, M. (2008). Indigenous pedagogy as a force for change. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 37 (S), 146–154.Google Scholar
Biggs, J. (1987). Student Approaches to Learning and Studying. Research Monograph. Australian Council for Educational Research Ltd., Radford House, Frederick St., Hawthorn 3122, Australia.Google Scholar
Biggs, J. (1989). Approaches to the enhancement of tertiary teaching. Higher Education Research and Development, 8 (1), 7–25.Google Scholar
Biggs, J. (1994). Approaches to learning: Nature and measurement of. The International Encyclopedia of Education, 1, 319–322.Google Scholar
Biggs, J., Kember, D., & Leung, D.Y. (2001). The revised two-factor study process questionnaire: R-SPQ-2F. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 71 (1), 133–149.Google Scholar
Bornholt, L.J. (2002). Thoughts, feelings and intentions to learn: Attitudes by beginning teachers towards Aboriginal peoples. Social Psychology of Education, 5 (3), 295–309.Google Scholar
Brock, S.E. (2010). Measuring the importance of precursor steps to transformative learning. Adult Education Quarterly, 60 (2), 122–142.Google Scholar
Brookfield, S.D. (1986). Understanding and facilitating adult learning (p. vii). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Brookfield, S.D. (2000). Transformative learning as ideology critique. In Mezirow, J., & Associates (Eds.), Learning as Transformation: Critical Perspectives on a Theory in Progress (pp. 125–148). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Bullen, J., & Roberts, L. (in press). Transformative learning: a precursor to preparing health science students to work in Indigenous health settings? The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education.Google Scholar
Bullen, J., Roberts, L., & Hoffman, J. (2017). What predicts health students’ self-reported preparedness to work in Indigenous health settings?. The Australian Educational Researcher, 44 (1), 71–87.Google Scholar
Buskist, W., Sikorski, J., Buckley, T., & Saville, B.K. (2002). Elements of master teaching. The teaching of psychology: Essays in honor of Wilbert J. McKeachie and Charles L. Brewer, 1, 27–39.Google Scholar
Cacioppo, J.T., & Petty, R.E. (1982). The need for cognition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42 (1), 116.Google Scholar
Chick, N.L., Karis, T., & Kernahan, C. (2009). Learning from their own learning: How metacognitive and meta-affective reflections enhance learning in race-related courses. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 3 (1), 16.Google Scholar
Clifford, A., McCalman, J., Bainbridge, R., & Tsey, K. (2015). Interventions to improve cultural competency in health care for Indigenous peoples of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA: A systematic review. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 27 (2), 89–98.Google Scholar
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Evans, C.J., Kirby, J.R., & Fabrigar, L.R. (2003). Approaches to learning, need for cognition, and strategic flexibility among university students. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 73 (4), 507–528.Google Scholar
Freeman, T.M., Anderman, L.H., & Jensen, J.M. (2007). Sense of belonging in college freshmen at the classroom and campus levels. The Journal of Experimental Education, 75 (3), 203–220.Google Scholar
Frisby, B.N., & Martin, M.M. (2010). Instructor–student and student–student rapport in the classroom. Communication Education, 59 (2), 146–164.Google Scholar
Frisby, B.N., & Myers, S.A. (2008). The relationships among perceived instructor rapport, student participation, and student learning outcomes. Texas Speech Communication Journal, 33 (1), 27–34.Google Scholar
Gimmestad, B.J., & De Chiara, E. (1982). Dramatic plays: A vehicle for prejudice reduction in the elementary school. The Journal of Educational Research, 76 (1), 45–49.Google Scholar
Granitz, N.A., Koernig, S.K., & Harich, K.R. (2009). Now it's personal: Antecedents and outcomes of rapport between business faculty and their students. Journal of Marketing Education, 31 (1), 52–65.Google Scholar
Gunstone, A. (2009). Whiteness, indigenous peoples and Australian Universities (Doctoral dissertation, Australian Critical Race and Whiteness Studies Ass).Google Scholar
Habermas, J. (1984). The theory of communicative action, volume I. Boston: Beacon.Google Scholar
Hayes, A.F. (2012). PROCESS: A versatile computational tool for observed variable mediation, moderation, and conditional process modeling [White paper]. Retrieved February 2, 2017, from http://www.afhayes.com/public/process2012.pdfGoogle Scholar
Immekus, J.C., & Imbrie, P.K. (2010). A test and cross-validation of the revised two-factor study process questionnaire factor structure among western university students. Educational and Psychological Measurement.Google Scholar
Indigenous Higher Education Advisory Council. (2006). Improving Indigenous outcomes and enhancing Indigenous culture and knowledge in Australian higher education including the IAHEC Conference Report 2005 and the IHEAC Strategic Plan 2006–2008. Retrieved January 21, 2017, from http://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv%3A30547Google Scholar
Jackson, D., Power, T., Sherwood, J., & Geia, L. (2013). Amazingly resilient Indigenous people! Using transformative learning to facilitate positive student engagement with sensitive material. Contemporary nurse, 46 (1), 105–112.Google Scholar
Kember, D., Leung, D.Y.P., Jones, A., Loke, A.Y., McKay, J., Sinclair, K., Tse, H., Webb, C., Wong, F.K.Y., Wong, M., & Yeung, E. (2000). Development of a questionnaire to measure the level of reflective thinking. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher education, 25 (4), 381–395. DOI: 10.1080/713611442Google Scholar
Kernahan, C., Zheng, W., & Davis, T. (2014). A sense of belonging: How student feelings correlate with learning about race. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 8 (2), 4.Google Scholar
Kickett, M., Hoffman, J., & Flavell, H. (2014). A model for large scale, interprofessional, compulsory cross-cultural education with an Indigenous focus. Journal of Allied Health, 43 (1), 38–44.Google Scholar
King, K.P. (1997). Examining activities that promote perspective transformation among adult learners in higher education. International Journal of University Adult Education, 36 (3), 23–37.Google Scholar
Leung, D.Y., & Kember, D. (2003). The relationship between approaches to learning and reflection upon practice. Educational Psychology, 23 (1), 61–71.Google Scholar
Little, R.J. (1988). A test of missing completely at random for multivariate data with missing values. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 83 (404), 1198–1202.Google Scholar
Lundgren, H., & Poell, R.F. (2016). On critical reflection: A review of Mezirow's theory and its operationalization. Human Resource Development Review, 15 (1), 3–28.Google Scholar
Mann, K., Gordon, J., & MacLeod, A. (2009). Reflection and reflective practice in health professions education: A systematic review. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 14 (4), 595.Google Scholar
Marton, F. (1983). Beyond individual differences. Educational Psychology, 3 (3–4), 289–303.Google Scholar
McDermott, D. (2014). 2014 OLT National Senior Teaching Fellow. Retrieved January 24, 2017, from http://altf.org/fellows/mcdermott-dennis/Google Scholar
McDermott, D., & Sjoberg, D. (2012). Managing a diverse student discomfort with an Indigenous health curriculum. Leaders in Indigenous Medical Education Network, editor. LIME good practice case studies. Melbourne: Onemda VicHealth Koori Health Unit, The University of Melbourne.Google Scholar
Merriam, S.B. (2004). The role of cognitive development in Mezirow's transformational learning theory. Adult Education Quarterly, 55 (1), 60–68.Google Scholar
Merriam, S.B., & Caffarella, R.S. (1999). Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive guide. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Meyers, N.M., & Nulty, D.D. (2009). How to use (five) curriculum design principles to align authentic learning environments, assessment, students’ approaches to thinking and learning outcomes. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 34 (5), 565–577.Google Scholar
Mezirow, J. (1978). Perspective transformation. Adult education, 28 (2), 100–110.Google Scholar
Mezirow, J. (1998). On critical reflection. Adult Education Quarterly, 48 (3), 185–198.Google Scholar
Mezirow, J. (2000). Learning as Transformation: Critical Perspectives on a Theory in Progress. The Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series. Jossey-Bass Publishers, 350 Sansome Way, San Francisco, CA 94104.Google Scholar
Mezirow, J. (2003). Transformative learning as discourse. Journal of Transformative Education, 1 (1), 58–63.Google Scholar
Mitchell, M., Every, D., & Ranzijn, R. (2011). Everyday antiracism in interpersonal contexts: Constraining and facilitating factors for ‘speaking up’ against racism. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 21 (4), 329–341.Google Scholar
Newman, M. (2012). Calling transformative learning into question: Some mutinous thoughts. Adult Education Quarterly, 62 (1), 36–55.Google Scholar
Nicholl, F. (2004). ‘Are you calling me a racist?’ Teaching critical whiteness theory in Indigenous sovereignty. Borderlands ejournal, 3 (2). Retrieved January 28, 2017, from http://www.borderlands.net.au/vol3no2_2004/nicoll_teaching.htm.Google Scholar
Page, S. (2014). Exploring new conceptualisations of old problems: Researching and reorienting teaching in Indigenous studies to transform student learning. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 43 (1), 21–30.Google Scholar
Pettigrew, T.F., & Tropp, L.R. (2000). Does intergroup contact reduce prejudice? Recent meta-analytic findings. Reducing Prejudice and Discrimination, 93, 114.Google Scholar
Pettijohn, T.F., & Walzer, A. (2008). Reducing racism, sexism, and homophobia in college students by completing a psychology of prejudice course. College Student Journal, 42 (2), 459–468.Google Scholar
Phan, H.P. (2007). An examination of reflective thinking, learning approaches, and self-efficacy beliefs at the university of the South Pacific: A path analysis approach. Educational Psychology, 27 (6), 789–806.Google Scholar
Purdie, N., & Hattie, J. (1999). The relationship between study skills and learning outcomes: A meta-analysis. Australian Journal of Education, 43 (1), 72–86.Google Scholar
Ranzijn, R., McConnochie, K., Day, A., Nolan, W., & Wharton, M. (2008). Towards cultural competence: Australian Indigenous content in undergraduate psychology. Australian Psychologist, 43 (2), 132–139.Google Scholar
Rovai, A.P. (2002). Development of an instrument to measure classroom community. The Internet and Higher Education, 5 (3), 197–211.Google Scholar
Sidelinger, R.J., Bolen, D.M., Frisby, B.N., & McMullen, A.L. (2011). When instructors misbehave: An examination of student-to-student connectedness as a mediator in the college classroom. Communication Education, 60 (3), 340–361.Google Scholar
Sidelinger, R.J., & Booth-Butterfield, M. (2010). Co-constructing student involvement: An examination of teacher confirmation and student-to-student connectedness in the college classroom. Communication Education, 59 (2), 165–184.Google Scholar
Sobral, D.T. (2001). Medical students’ reflection in learning in relation to approaches to study and academic achievement. Medical Teacher, 23 (5), 508–513.Google Scholar
Taylor, E.W. (2003). Attending graduate school in adult education and the impact on teaching beliefs: A longitudinal study. Journal of Transformative Education, 1 (4), 349–367.Google Scholar
Taylor, E.W. (2007). An update of transformative learning theory: A critical review of the empirical research (1999–2005). International Journal of Lifelong Education, 26, 173–191.Google Scholar
Taylor, E.W., & Cranton, P. (2013). A theory in progress?: Issues in transformative learning theory. European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults, 4 (1), 35–47.Google Scholar
Tropp, L.R., & Pettigrew, T.F. (2005). Relationships between intergroup contact and prejudice among minority and majority status groups. Psychological Science, 16 (12), 951–957.Google Scholar
Williams, R. (2000). “Why should I feel guilty?”: Reflections on the workings of guilt in white-aboriginal relations. Australian Psychologist, 35 (2), 136–142.Google Scholar
Wilson, J.H., & Ryan, R.G. (2013). Professor–student rapport scale six items predict student outcomes. Teaching of Psychology, 40 (2), 130–133.Google Scholar
Wilson, J.H., Ryan, R.G., & Pugh, J.L. (2010). Professor–student rapport scale predicts student outcomes. Teaching of Psychology, 37 (4), 246–251.Google Scholar
Wilson, K., & Fowler, J. (2005). Assessing the impact of learning environments on students' approaches to learning: Comparing conventional and action learning designs. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 30 (1), 87–101.Google Scholar