Enacting socially just and transformative education through classroom pedagogy

In 2018, Australians Together, an organisation committed to promoting reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Australia, commissioned research on a trial programme designed to improve teachers’ confidence teaching the Australian Curriculum’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures cross-curriculum priority. The trial took the form of a two-day professional learning workshop with staff from two independent schools in Victoria, Australia. Both schools have a social justice ethos and are committed to the transformative power of education. The research found that teachers had strong affective responses to the professional learning workshops, which translated into more confident classroom practice. The extent to which increased consciousness translated into more socially just education for the whole school was difficult to ascertain. The authors explore what else is required to build more equitable, just and culturally responsive school cultures, particularly where the voices of First Nations people are rarely heard in the classroom.