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| Indigenous Education Research Forum | |
|---|---|
| Name | Indigenous Education Research Forum |
| Formation | 1990s |
| Type | Research network |
| Headquarters | Canberra |
| Region served | Australia, New Zealand, Canada, United States |
| Language | English, Indigenous languages |
Indigenous Education Research Forum The Indigenous Education Research Forum is a multidisciplinary network that convenes scholars, elders, educators, and policymakers to advance research on Indigenous learning, curriculum, and pedagogy. It functions as a hub for collaborative projects, conferences, and publications connecting participants from institutions such as the University of Melbourne, University of British Columbia, Australian National University, University of Toronto, and Harvard University. The Forum emphasizes Indigenous-led inquiry, ethical protocols, and capacity building across settler-colonial contexts including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States.
The Forum operates as a consortium linking partners like the Lowitja Institute, First Nations University of Canada, Māori Education Trust, National Congress of American Indians, and the Reconciliation Australia network. It brings together contributors who have affiliations with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Australian Research Council, and philanthropic funders such as the Wenner-Gren Foundation and the McConnell Foundation. High-profile convenings have featured speakers associated with the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium, and the International Indigenous Research Conference.
Origins trace to community-based initiatives in the 1990s influenced by reports like the Bringing Them Home inquiry and policy shifts following the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Early formative gatherings included collaborations between the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, the Assembly of First Nations, and university research centres such as the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research and the Native American Studies Program at Harvard. The Forum evolved through linkages with projects funded by the Australian Research Council and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council that foregrounded Indigenous methodologies championed by scholars associated with Linda Tuhiwai Smith and institutions like Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.
The Forum adopts a federated governance model incorporating representative advisory boards with Elders and community leaders from groups such as the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, Haida Nation, Navajo Nation, and Ngāi Tahu. Academic partners include departments at the University of Sydney, McGill University, Stanford University, and the University of Auckland. Funding and oversight have involved bodies like the Australian Human Rights Commission and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, while ethical guidance draws on protocols exemplified by the OCAP principles and Indigenous research ethics projects associated with the National Aboriginal Health Organization.
Prominent themes include language revitalization with connections to work by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and organisations like Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, land-based learning linked to the Uluru Statement from the Heart and treaties such as the Treaty of Waitangi, culturally responsive assessment influenced by reports from the Education Review Office (New Zealand), and intergenerational knowledge transmission studied alongside programs at the Smithsonian Institution and the National Museum of the American Indian. Methodologies emphasize Indigenous research paradigms popularized by scholars associated with Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Eve Tuck, Taiaiake Alfred, and collaborative action research practised within centres like the First Peoples' Cultural Council.
The Forum hosts annual conferences, doctoral workshops, and curriculum labs that co-produce resources with partners including the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, BC Ministry of Education, Ministry of Education (New Zealand), and tribal colleges such as Diné College. It publishes edited volumes and special journal issues alongside publishers like Routledge, Cambridge University Press, and journals including AlterNative, Canadian Journal of Native Education, and the Australian Journal of Indigenous Education. Capacity-building initiatives often draw on models from the Indigenous Teacher Education Program and collaborative scholarships connected to the Fulbright Program and the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan.
Partnerships extend to Indigenous corporations and organisations such as the Land Back movement, cultural centres like the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence, and international bodies including the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the World Bank when engaged in comparative studies. Community engagement prioritizes memoranda of understanding with tribal councils, Indigenous school boards, and language nests modelled on Kōhanga Reo. Training programs have been run in partnership with institutions such as Charles Darwin University, University of Saskatchewan, and community colleges including Yellowhawk Tribal College.
Outcomes attributed to the Forum include curriculum frameworks adopted by ministries in Victoria (Australia), policy briefs informing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, enhanced teacher preparation programs at universities like Monash University and Queen's University, and documented improvements in language retention in initiatives linked to Hawai'i Papa o ke Ao and Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust. The Forum's collaborative research has contributed to changes in accreditation standards at professional bodies such as the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership and informed public inquiries including commissions similar to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Category:Indigenous studies Category:Research networks