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About the Kinship Module

Funded by an Office for Learning and Teaching (OLTC) grant, the Kinship Module is a free online resource providing participants with an understanding of Aboriginal Kinship systems.

Vision

The Kinship Module is an educational resource that promotes cross-cultural understanding by explaining the intricacies of the Aboriginal Kinship system. It also incorporates video interviews and conversations with Aboriginal community members from western New South Wales (NSW). The module is open to all and aimed at providing foundational information on how Aboriginal Kinship systems operate.

Decolonise mainstream curriculum
By enabling educators, particularly in the humanities and social-science related subjects, to teach in a way that respects and allows Aboriginal voices to be highlighted.

Provide empowerment to Aboriginal people
Who, through this online module, were given the opportunity to voice their thoughts and experiences in ways meaningful to them.

Research framework

The Kinship Module is based on a pre-existing presentation developed and delivered by Dr Lynette Riley since 1987.

The project design and delivery utilised complementary Aboriginal, social constructionism and critical methodologies. To develop the online material, the teaching framework took into account Aboriginal knowledge, cultures and identity and aimed to embed this into university teaching. The module was created at the University of Sydney where both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal academics worked closely with Aboriginal communities, enabling them to share their stories and cultural knowledge, to inform the module content.

Testimonials

Participants who attended the original face-to-face Kinship presentation delivered by Dr Lynette Riley have described their personal views of the presentation and the value of the content for their discipline or field of work.

The content of the face-to-face Kinship presentation has now been modified to form the basis of the online Kinship Module.

Presentation vox pops

Publications

Book chapters

Embedding Aboriginal Cultural Knowledge in Curriculum at University Level through Aboriginal Community Engagement (pdf, 656KB), Riley, L., Howard-Wagner, D., Mooney, J. & Kutay, C. (2013), Seeding Success in Indigenous Australian Higher Education (Diversity in Higher Education, volume 14).

Conference - referred papers

Teaching through story mapping (pdf, 453KB), Kutay, C., Mooney, J., Riley, L. & Howard-Wagner, D. (2013), International Journal of Technology, Knowledge and Society.
Experiencing Indigenous knowledge on‐line as a community narrative (pdf, 1MB), Kutay, C., Mooney, J., Riley, L. & Howard-Wagner, D. (2012), The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, University of Queensland.
The Kinship On-Line Project and Aboriginal Community Engagement (pdf, 916KB), Riley, L., Howard-Wagner, D., Mooney, J. & Kutay, C. (2013).
Decolonising Sociology Curriculum: using an online immersive learning environment to deliver cross-cultural training (pdf, 176KB), Howard-Wagner, D., Kutay, C., Riley, L., & Mooney, J. (2012), Emerging and Enduring Inequalities.
Teaching Culture as Social Constructivism (pdf, 1MB), Kutay, C., Howard-Wagner, D., Riley, L., & Mooney, J. (2012), Advances in Web-based Learning.
Teaching Aboriginal Culture Online (pdf, 629KB), Riley, L., Mooney, J., Howard-Wagner, D., & Kutay, C. (2012), Future Challenges / Sustainable Futures, Australian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education.