Yolngu Studies: A case study of Aboriginal community engagement

Main Article Content

Michael Christie

Abstract

The Yolngu studies program at Charles Darwin University has been active in the teaching of Yolngu (East Arnhemland Aboriginal) languages and culture, in collaborative transdisciplinary research, and in community engagement for well over ten years. The original undergraduate teaching program was set up under the guidance of Yolngu elders. They instituted key principles for the tertiary level teaching of Yolngu languages and culture, which reflected protocols for knowledge production and representation derived from traditional culture. These principles ensured the continuation of an ongoing community engagement practice that enabled the flourishing of a collaborative research culture in which projects were negotiated; these projects remain faithful to both western academic standards, and ancestral Aboriginal practices. The paper gives details of the program, the underlying Aboriginal philosophy, and some of the research projects. The success of the whole program can be seen to derive from the co-constitutivity of community engagement, research and teaching. In 2005 the program won the Prime Minister's award for Australia's best tertiary teaching program.

Article Details

Section
Research articles (Refereed)
Author Biography

Michael Christie, Charles Darwin University

Michael Christie worked in Indigenous bilingual education from 1972 until he moved to Darwin in 1994 where he started Yolngu languages and Culture stream at Charles Darwin University which won the Prime Minister’s University teacher of the year ward in 2005. He is currently Associate Professor in Education and is working on research into Indigenous community engagement, transdisiplinary research, and digital technology. He is the Australian Learning and Teaching Council Senior Fellow for 2008.