Author Identifier
Date of Award
2026
Keywords
culturally responsive pedagogy, Aboriginal education, teacher professional learning, teacher transformation, Cultural Interface, Culturally Responsive Instruction Observation Protocol, Interconnected Model of Professional Growth, Indigenous knowledges, relationality, on-Country learning
Document Type
Thesis
Publisher
Edith Cowan University
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Integrated)
School
School of Education
First Supervisor
Andrew Jones 
0000-0002-1085-2915
Second Supervisor
Graeme Gower 0000-0003-2624-5922
Abstract
Despite widespread calls for culturally responsive pedagogy in Australia, there is limited empirical evidence on how short-term, on-Country, cultural immersions influence non-Aboriginal teachers’ classroom practice or their capacity to create more welcoming and inclusive classrooms for Aboriginal students. This Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) research project, therefore, investigated how intensive, community-led experiences with Aboriginal community, culture and knowledge can shape teacher transformation.
Using a multi-phase case study design, the project followed four non-Aboriginal teachers from two Western Australian schools located in the Perth metropolitan area. The first phase investigated the baseline classroom practices, asking to what extent their speech and actions aligned with culturally responsive instruction. The second phase centred on a community-led on-Country immersion, during which teachers reflected on their experiences of Aboriginal community, culture, and knowledge. The third phase examined post intervention classroom practice and analysed whether and how the experience translated into observable changes in the classroom.
Drawing on a phenomenological understanding of meaning-making as embodied and intersubjective, alongside culturally responsive pedagogy frameworks and transformative learning theory, the project examined teacher transformation as emerging through direct engagement with lived experience and relational encounter. Data collection systematically documented classroom practice through the lens of established theories of culturally responsive pedagogy, while guided reflective journals captured teachers’ meaning-making processes during the on-Country encounters. The analysis integrated data from the classroom observations with the experiences recorded in the reflective journals to map patterns of change in response to the on-Country immersion.
The project found a significant tension. The on-Country experiences consistently prompted deep personal and epistemological engagement. Teachers came to recognise Aboriginal knowledge as relational, situated, and governed by cultural protocols, rather than as content to be freely transferred into classrooms. Many participants expressed heightened empathy and a willingness to question their previous assumptions. Yet, these were not always translated into changes in classroom practice. Analysis revealed that transformation predominantly remained at the level of reflection and intention rather than observable pedagogical enactment. Where changes in practice did occur, they were typically limited to isolated moments and rarely connected to the deeper reflective insights teachers had developed. The integration of reflection and observable classroom transformation, where teachers both articulated their learning and enacted it in practice, was notably rare. This revealed both the transformative potential of short-term cultural immersion and its limitations when extended support and relational continuity are absent.
The project contributed to educational scholarship by continuing to deepen the evidence for framing professional learning as relational cultural encounter rather than the exchange of knowledge or the development of skills alone. More broadly, it underscored the need for education systems to continue to move beyond curriculum integration toward sustained structural and pedagogical changes that engage with, and value, Aboriginal knowledge as living, relational, and transformative rather than simply content to be ‘embedded’. This requires recognising Aboriginal ways of knowing as equally valid to dominant Western knowledge systems, and capable of fundamentally reshaping educational relationships and practices.
Access Note
Access to this thesis is embargoed until 13th October 2027
Recommended Citation
Stals, R. (2026). Investigating the possibility of teacher identity transformation as a means of creating welcoming and inclusive classrooms for Aboriginal students. Edith Cowan University. https://doi.org/10.25958/t4pe-ws25
Included in
Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons