Griffith University School of Education and Professional Studies academics Dr Alison Sammel, Dr Greg Vass and Dr Tasha Riley recently attended a curriculum planning session with teachers from a cluster of Gold Coast schools. The schools involved were Bellevue Park State School, Southport State School, Southport State High School, Benowa State School,Benowa State High School, Surfers Paradise Primary School, Ashmore State School, Benowa Hills Early Learning, and Keebra Park State High School.
The planning session was an important step in progressing the Kombumerri Together Project, a collaborative initiative involving the Griffith School of Education and Professional Studies, Gold Coast schools and the Gold Coast City Council.
The aim of the project is to gather and share local Indigenous knowledge with the support of Uncle Graham Dillon, a Kombumerri elder and Co-Chair of Griffith University’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Council of Elders.
This information will be collated in the form of a digital resource, allowing educators in Kombumerri Country to access cultural knowledge as opportunities arise within unit planning and embedding local Indigenous perspectives within their own school context.
A School of Education and Professional Studies team is currently considering how to use the resource to benefit the preservice teacher experience.
For further information about this initiative, please contact Associate Professor Judith Kearney.