Our team of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal teachers and esearchers share a commitment to reshaping power relationships through privileging Aboriginal voices to affect Aboriginal student learning outcomes, curriculum and community engagement. We acknowledge that Aboriginal sovereignty has never been ceded and as we work on Aboriginal Country we believe that this ‘place’ should be the focus of our efforts to reshape power relations.
Dr Katrina Thorpe
Chancellors Postdoctoral Indigenous Research Fellow
Associate Professor Katrina Thorpe is a Worimi woman and Academic Lead of Indigenous Studies at Nuri Gili: Centre for Indigenous Programs, UNSW, Sydney, Australia. Katrina has extensive experience teaching mandatory Indigenous Studies within the fields of education, social work, nursing, health and community development. Drawing on these diverse teaching experiences, Katrina’s research has engaged with the voices of Aboriginal community members and university students to provide deeper understandings of the educational experiences that support student learning and development of a personal and professional commitment to centring Indigenous Knowledges in university and school curriculum.
Email me: katrina.thorpe@uts.edu.au
Professor Cathie Burgess
Professor Cathie Burgess is a Professor in Community-led Education in the Sydney School of Education and Social Work, The University of Sydney leading Aboriginal Community-led Education, Learning from Country and Leadership in Aboriginal Education programs and is currently the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences Associate Dean Indigenous Strategies & Services. Cathie has extensive teaching and leadership experience in secondary schools and maintains strong connections with school-communities through teacher professional learning and research projects. Cathie’s work is acknowledged through an Honorary Life Member, NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group, Life Member, Aboriginal Studies Association NSW and 2024 Teacher Educator of the Year.
Email me: cathie.burgess@sydney.edu.au
Professor Valerie Harwood
Professor Valerie Harwood, is a Professor of Sociology and Anthropology of Education at the Sydney School of Education and Social Work, The University of Sydney, Australia. Valerie’s research is centred on a social and cultural analysis of participation in educational futures. This work involves learning about collaborative approaches and in-depth fieldwork on educational justice with young people, families and communities.
Email me: valerie.harwood@sydney.edu.au
Dr Suzanne Egan
Dr. Suzanne Egan is a lecturer in the School of Social Sciences, University of Western Sydney, Australia, and prior to this a research associate on the ‘Learning from Country in the City’ research project. Suzanne comes to higher education with a history of direct practice, advocacy and activist work on issues of gendered violence, social exclusion and marginalisation. She aims to use her work in higher education to contribute to a recentering of community-based ways of knowing, doing and being in research and in teaching and learning.
Email me: s.egan@westernsydney.edu.au
LEARNING FROM COUNTRY IN THE CITY 