In Australia, there are two dimensions to Indigenous education. The first and most widely discussed, is that of teaching Indigenous children and associated issues. The second, is the teaching of Indigenous histories and cultures to all Australian children. This study focuses on the teaching of Indigenous histories and cultures to non-Indigenous students by non-Indigenous teachers with a particular concern of education for Reconciliation. It explores how, and to what extent, schools are teaching Indigenous cultures and histories and the conceptualisations of Reconciliation. From this study, there was real confusion in the two schools with regard to what is taught; how it is taught, who has responsibility and what the nature of education for Reconciliation is about. However, the differences between the two schools suggest strongly that school culture, emanating from the Principal and the school’s foundation impact on the received curriculum which is not always as the entitled curriculum suggests or the intended curriculum lays out.

Published in: Canada International Conference on Education, 2017

• Date of Conference: 26-29 June, 2017
• DOI: 10.2053/CICE.2017.0228
• Electronic ISBN: 978-1-908320-83-4
• Conference Location: University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada