Overview of Learning Ecologies

The research project was conducted to establish relevant bridges between higher education students to the professional context beyond study. The cross disciplinary project engaged UNSW Art & Design and Science & Medicine students via online surveys. The data collected through the research focused on perceived and experienced dilemmas of practice.

The project revealed defining moments of intensity which assist in professional identity formation and in developing curriculum interventions such as “Professional Encounters” beyond everyday experience.

The purpose of this study was to engage and interview key professionals in their experience of embedding Indigenous perspectives in tertiary art & design curriculum. This project was multifaceted and included research interviews and a Think Tank at UNSW Australia: Art & Design in order to understand  the complexities and histories of existing practice and possibilities for institutional reorientation. The outcomes linked Indigenous perspectives with curriculum and pedagogy in professional contexts in the field.  Rather than reviewing existing institutional frameworks this project was designed to map the way approaches to Indigenous Knowledge  have been produced in educational and specifically artistic contexts. The research aimed to impact the scope of tertiary art and design programs at UNSW Australia: Art & Design by prioritizing Indigenous Knowledge in terms of re-thinking curriculum, offering instead a starting point for staff and students to examine the extent that educators are affected by dilemmas in practice.

This project revealed complex ecologies of connection to place, community, mentors and teachers as well as the key role of images, language and visual arts curriculum and pedagogy. Initially developed as a teaching and learning resource to assist Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators, this video series captures ideas important in the educational journeys of four young Indigenous Pre-Service Visual Arts teachers and two Art Education Alumni from COFA, as well as the historical perspective of Vic Chapman, an Aboriginal Elder, Artists and Educator.