This research project found that enabling programs, from the perspective of com- pleted and continuing students, were an ‘important’ and ‘exciting journey’ that brought about transformation of the inner self through building ‘resilience’,
‘strength’, ‘confidence’, ‘self-esteem’, ‘self-worth’, ‘cultural understanding’ and
‘identity’. Success for students in enabling programs can be viewed as a multi- layered construct experienced as increased ‘cultural identity’ and the development of ‘voice’, self-realisation, self-acceptance and ‘pride’. These outcomes were attrib- uted to enabling programs with supportive environments. Strength-building strate- gies included discussing Indigenous culture in course content and gaining input from Elders. Strategies that constrain learning include having a lack of cultural understanding in the program. For the completed students involved in this project, enabling programs provided a stepping stone to further education.
The research revealed that staff considered the learning journey to be a holistic pathway. Apart from delivering practical skills, staff felt that enabling programs revealed an ‘underlying layer’ of skills such as ‘resilience’ and ‘strategic aware- ness’, and that including Indigenous culture in course content was imperative because it built ‘strength’, ‘culture’ and a sense of ‘place and identity’. Staff felt that the curriculum needed to be delivered in plain English, in a way that recognised Indigenous people as ‘yarners’ and ‘story tellers’. They also felt that ‘both-ways’
methodologies and recognition of ‘cultural differences’ needed to be taken into account when developing enabling programs. Staff argued that ‘face-to-face’ deliv- ery of enabling programs was the most effective teaching method.
While the size of this research may be viewed as a limitation, and findings from this study are context- and situation-specific (Collis & Hussey, 2009), future research could move to extend the sample to a greater number of participants and universities. The results of this study suggest that in developing a best-practice framework for Indigenous enabling programs, considerations of pedagogy, curricu- lum and mode of delivery will be understood within the framework of the institu- tional ethos and drivers for implementation. These will, in turn, be framed by local, regional and national Indigenous perspectives and deliberated on in conjunction with the research outcomes. Support structures for staff and their professional development needs will be considered as part of the best-practice framework.
Ultimately, the strengthening of enabling education for Indigenous Australians is regarded as an excellent platform for offering Indigenous students the best chance
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of ‘success’, with ‘success’ having a multi-layered interpretation that includes impacts on participation (for the institution), reaffirming personal identity and con- fidence (for the learner) and broader community and indirect benefits.
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J. Frawley et al. (eds.), Indigenous Pathways, Transitions and Participation in Higher Education, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-4062-7_9