‘Working Together’: An Intercultural Academic Leadership Programme to Build Health Science Educators’ Capacity to Teach Indigenous Health and Culture

Progress has been slow in improving health disparities between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) Australians and other Australians. While reasons for this are complex, delivering healthcare respectful of cultural differences is one approach to improving Indigenous health outcomes. T...

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Main Authors: Durey, A., Taylor, Kate, Bessarab, D., Kickett, Marion, Jones, Sue, Hoffman, Julie, Flavell, Helen, Scott, Kim
Format: Journal Article
Published: Cambridge University Press 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29446
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author Durey, A.
Taylor, Kate
Bessarab, D.
Kickett, Marion
Jones, Sue
Hoffman, Julie
Flavell, Helen
Scott, Kim
author_facet Durey, A.
Taylor, Kate
Bessarab, D.
Kickett, Marion
Jones, Sue
Hoffman, Julie
Flavell, Helen
Scott, Kim
author_sort Durey, A.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Progress has been slow in improving health disparities between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) Australians and other Australians. While reasons for this are complex, delivering healthcare respectful of cultural differences is one approach to improving Indigenous health outcomes. This paper presents and evaluates an intercultural academic leadership programme developed to support tertiary educators teaching Indigenous health and culture prepare interdisciplinary students to work respectfully and appropriately as health professionals with Indigenous peoples. The programme acknowledges the impact of colonisation on Indigenous Australians and draws on theories of the intercultural space to inform reflection and discussion on Indigenous/non-Indigenous relations and their impact on healthcare. Furthermore, the programme encourages establishing a community of practice as a resource for educators. Evaluation indicated participants’ confidence to teach Indigenous content increased following the programme. Participants felt more able to create intercultural, interdisciplinary and interactive learning spaces that were inclusive and safe for students from all cultures. Participants learned skills to effectively facilitate and encourage students to grapple with the complexity of the intercultural space, often tense, uncertain and risky, to enable new understandings and positions to emerge that could better prepare graduates to work in Indigenous health contexts.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2016
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-294462017-09-13T16:07:58Z ‘Working Together’: An Intercultural Academic Leadership Programme to Build Health Science Educators’ Capacity to Teach Indigenous Health and Culture Durey, A. Taylor, Kate Bessarab, D. Kickett, Marion Jones, Sue Hoffman, Julie Flavell, Helen Scott, Kim Progress has been slow in improving health disparities between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) Australians and other Australians. While reasons for this are complex, delivering healthcare respectful of cultural differences is one approach to improving Indigenous health outcomes. This paper presents and evaluates an intercultural academic leadership programme developed to support tertiary educators teaching Indigenous health and culture prepare interdisciplinary students to work respectfully and appropriately as health professionals with Indigenous peoples. The programme acknowledges the impact of colonisation on Indigenous Australians and draws on theories of the intercultural space to inform reflection and discussion on Indigenous/non-Indigenous relations and their impact on healthcare. Furthermore, the programme encourages establishing a community of practice as a resource for educators. Evaluation indicated participants’ confidence to teach Indigenous content increased following the programme. Participants felt more able to create intercultural, interdisciplinary and interactive learning spaces that were inclusive and safe for students from all cultures. Participants learned skills to effectively facilitate and encourage students to grapple with the complexity of the intercultural space, often tense, uncertain and risky, to enable new understandings and positions to emerge that could better prepare graduates to work in Indigenous health contexts. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29446 10.1017/jie.2016.15 Cambridge University Press restricted
spellingShingle Durey, A.
Taylor, Kate
Bessarab, D.
Kickett, Marion
Jones, Sue
Hoffman, Julie
Flavell, Helen
Scott, Kim
‘Working Together’: An Intercultural Academic Leadership Programme to Build Health Science Educators’ Capacity to Teach Indigenous Health and Culture
title ‘Working Together’: An Intercultural Academic Leadership Programme to Build Health Science Educators’ Capacity to Teach Indigenous Health and Culture
title_full ‘Working Together’: An Intercultural Academic Leadership Programme to Build Health Science Educators’ Capacity to Teach Indigenous Health and Culture
title_fullStr ‘Working Together’: An Intercultural Academic Leadership Programme to Build Health Science Educators’ Capacity to Teach Indigenous Health and Culture
title_full_unstemmed ‘Working Together’: An Intercultural Academic Leadership Programme to Build Health Science Educators’ Capacity to Teach Indigenous Health and Culture
title_short ‘Working Together’: An Intercultural Academic Leadership Programme to Build Health Science Educators’ Capacity to Teach Indigenous Health and Culture
title_sort ‘working together’: an intercultural academic leadership programme to build health science educators’ capacity to teach indigenous health and culture
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29446