Contextualising Aboriginal faunal stories with the Linnaean taxonomy - Culturally responsive pedagogy in zoology

Oct 15, 2026

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Explores how local Aboriginal animal stories can be contextualised within a Queensland zoology curriculum for students in years 8–9 at an independent high school. “Contextualisation” connects heritage, cultural knowledge, country, and Linnaean taxonomy to support culturally responsive pedagogy that strengthens learning potential, pride, and knowledge. Documents elders’ storytelling, uses Indigenist research and action research approaches, and examines impacts on students’ culture and understanding of local fauna.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Context and rationale for culturally responsive pedagogy

Methods and approach

Elders’ storytelling and contextualisation

Indigenist research and action research process

Findings and implications

Using local stories to support classification learning

Learning on country vs decontextualised classrooms

Contextualising Aboriginal faunal stories with the Linnaean taxonomy: Culturally responsive pedagogy in zoology Joël Rioux1 and Bronwyn Ewing2 1 Faculty of Tertiary Education and Research, Casuarina Campus, Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, Batchelor, Northern Territory, 0845, Australia, [email:](email: joel. rioux@batchelor.edu.au)[ j](email: joel. rioux@batchelor.edu.au)[oel. rioux@batchelor.edu.au](email: joel. rioux@batchelor.edu.au) 2School of Teacher Education and Leadership, Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice, Queensland University of Technology, 4059, Australia This article explores the contextualising of local Aboriginal animal stories with the zoology curriculum in Queensland within years 8 and 9 of one independent high school, where students’ learning potential often remains untapped. Contextualisation, as used in this article, encompasses heritage, cultural knowledge, country and Linnaean zoology taxonomy to form a culturally responsive pedagogy that supports students’ learning and pride in their heritage. To illustrate how secondary students can learn zoology in culturally responsive ways, a sinuous path encompassing six phases for collecting local faunal stories was necessary, prior to delivering the Linnaean zoology taxonomy. Elders’ animal stories were documented and then contextualised into classificatory materials to integrate local faunal knowledge. Drawing on an Indigenist research framework—including storytelling, yarning, talking circles and interviewing—and action research methodology, transcribing, retranscribing and restorying was used to explore the effect of a culturally responsive approach on students’ pride, culture and knowledge of local fauna. Findings indicated that the local animal stories became the foundation for the development of a first classification of animal kingdom chart from thenon-Aboriginal animal knowledge tradition that tapped into students’ learning potential through elders’ stories about local culture. Real-life storytelling on country is preferable, as such contexts provide meaningful learning for students, rather than in decontextualised classroom spaces. Keywords: Aboriginal stories, zoology, culturally responsive pedagogy Introduction For centuries in Australia, Indigenous and non-Indigenous people have tried and continue to try to reform systems of inequity, such as education (Gray & Beresford, 2008). However, these steps are just the first tugging away at these systems. How do children from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures realise their potential in an education system that measures the knowledge “gap” against a Western curriculum and non-Indigenous children? The gap is not about Indigenous or non-Indigenous children. It is about a history of injustice and oppression. It is the education “debt” that has accumulated over time due to education exclusion and, for this paper, science education. In Australia, Indigenous peoples identify as two distinct cultural groups made up of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with over 250 different language groups spread across the nation. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples also have their own laws and customs to determine the membership of their groups (AIATSIS, n.d.) . In this article we use the term “Indigenous Australian” to encompass both Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people. We recognise that this usage is problematic politically and economically, because to be sovereign peoples they need to be identified separately. Curricula primarily based on Western worldviews work to exclude Aboriginal children and people worldwide (Aikenhead & Ogawa, 2007; Coff, 2021) . Past and present state and federal government policies in Australia have and continue to suppress Aboriginal stories, cultural beliefs, customs and cultural artefacts passed down through generations of Aboriginal Nations (Boon & Lewthwaite, 2016) . Although stud

FAQs

What does “contextualising” Aboriginal faunal stories involve in this paper?

It integrates heritage, cultural knowledge, country, and Linnaean zoology taxonomy into a culturally responsive pedagogy designed to support students’ learning and pride.

How were elders’ animal stories used in the study?

Elders’ animal stories were documented and then contextualised into classificatory materials to incorporate local faunal knowledge into zoology learning.

What impact does a culturally responsive approach have on students’ learning?

Findings indicate that local animal stories became a foundation for developing an initial classification of the animal kingdom chart, supporting students’ learning potential through elders’ local cultural storytelling.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Kurz