International Journal of Education & the Arts

Citation: Fritzlan, A. (2017). A personal story of teaching Aboriginal art as a non-Aboriginal person. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 18(20). Retrieved from http://www.ijea.org/v18n20/.

This is an autoethnographic reflection of teaching Aboriginal art as a non-Aboriginal person. Over a period of ten months, a class of grade seven students was led through an inquiry into Aboriginal art including research and the creation of individual and group art pieces. The evolving curriculum was shaped by considerations of respect for individuals or groups, working with partial knowledge, as well as personal stories and histories. New perspectives emerge through re-examination of this experience through a metaphor of walking and wandering. This a/r/tographic treatment explores approaches for teaching in unfamiliar territories of cultural difference and acknowledges complicated conversations along the way.