Kokotinna: A staff development program on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and health

Introduction

In 1998, the Discipline of Public Health and Yunggorendi First Nations Centre for Higher Education and Research developed a submission to the Committee for University Teaching and Staff Development (CUTSD), Canberra seeking funding to produce and implement a staff development package focussing on raising awareness of issues in Indigenous health. The group that developed the submission primarily included representatives from the Discipline of Public Health and Yunggorendi and also included representatives from the School of Nursing and the Medical Education Unit in the School of Medicine.

The project was designed to raise awareness of Indigenous health perspectives and issues to enable staff to take more account of these perspectives as an everyday part of their administrative, clinical, course development, research and teaching responsibilities. It was hoped that the program would equip staff to involve Indigenous peoples more effectively in University and Faculty initiatives.

Aims and Objectives

The project had the broad aim of exposing Faculty of Health Science staff to Indigenous health perspectives and related aspects of Indigenous histories and cultures in ways that enhance their capacities to:

incorporate Indigenous health perspectives into their practice; and
relate with Indigenous peoples as colleagues and students

By achieving the above aims it was envisaged the program would also contribute to:

strengthening Faculty support for Indigenous staff and teaching of Indigenous students, both at the university and, in the Northern Territory programs
advancing the health of Indigenous peoples.

Summary Description of Project

The Kokotinna Project evolved during its implementation into two distinct stages.

Stage One – the development and of workshop materials and running of workshops on Cultural Awareness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures

Stage Two – the development of a web based staff development program on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures and Health

Issues of the sustainability of the program beyond the project completion date also became paramount and additional initiatives and recommendations to Faculty of Health Sciences and University management have been suggested based on the experiences during these two stages.

The University is committed to providing a work and study environment in which the social, cultural and linguistic diversity of the University community is recognised, valued and respected. As part of this commitment, the University has adopted principles of effective teaching and learning intended to ensure that all teaching will "encompass a range of perspectives from groups of different ethnic background, socio-economic status and sex". The University expects that these principles be reflected in all educational programs and that "respect for diversity should influence the curriculum, teaching philosophies, teaching methods and teaching practices" to ensure that values such as "inclusivity, tolerance and fairness" are encouraged and advanced. The Kokotinna project was developed to contribute to and enhance the University’s overall commitment to cultural inclusivity.

This program is an expression of the Faculty's practical commitment to the above principles. It is important not only in terms of educational appropriateness and institutional need, but also in terms of equity, social justice and moves towards reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

The program is designed to foster individual, group and institutional mores and values that ensure staff acknowledge and include Indigenous health perspectives as an everyday part of their administrative, clinical, course development and teaching responsibilities. It is also designed to equip staff to work collaboratively with Indigenous people, at the each campus of Flinders University including the Bedford Park, Darwin Clinical School and as part of the remote and rural program in Alice Springs.

Less directly, but equally important, the project is designed to make courses in the Faculty of Health Sciences more acceptable to and accessible by staff and students from Indigenous backgrounds; to promote the greater and more equitable representation of Indigenous peoples in the health workforce; and, to contribute to the creation and strengthening of a health workforce that is better able to work with Indigenous peoples to achieve improved health outcomes.