Ikc101: Indigenous Australian Cultures, Assessment Answer

:

• Institutionalised ideas and taken-for-granted assumptions of the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. 

• Constructions of Indigenous Australians in popular and other media.

Use the following guide questions to assist you to focus each critique but do not respond to each question individually. You must provide a synthesised response which considers your own pre-existing knowledge and cultural competence.

1. Thinking about  your knowledge of Australian history, does the author provide all the information required to understand the issue being discussed? What information is missing?

2. Is there a presumption that readers already hold views about Indigenous peoples? What are the taken-for-granted assumptions?

3. What would a reader infer about the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples based on the text of the article? How are Indigenous and non-Indigenous people 

   positioned

    in the article?

4. Is there an Indigenous viewpoint included in the article? If yes, how does the author use Indigenous perspectives to support or contradict the main message? If no, how could this influence a readers' perception of Indigenous people and of the main message in the article? 

5. How might Indigenous and non-Indigenous readers interpret the ideas expressed?

This task 

does not require you to express your opinion on the points made in the articles

. You must critique the article to identify the main ideas that are evident and then analyse the sub-text - ‘reading-between-the lines’ – to investigate the impact of the message in reinforcing ideas about Australian culture and Indigenous peoples and issues.

This task extends on 

Task 1

 to work toward meeting the following 

IKC101 Learning Outcomes

:

LO1: 

Be able to investigate, compare and reflect on standpoint to explain Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples’ historical positioning;

LO2:

 Be able to describe, analyse, and theorise individual and collective standpoint in relation to Indigenous peoples' experience of Australian history.

In 

Task 1

 you focussed on the reflection of your own knowledge and the influences on how you came to know things about Indigenous Australians. If you are Indigenous, or have connections with an Indigenous community or group, you will have access to more social knowledge than those who are not Indigenous or do not have such associations.

Task 2

 requires you to apply your self-reflection to the critique of two media articles. If you lack knowledge about a topic or issue institutions like the media may more easily persuade you to adopt a particular perspective. There is also knowledge that we take-for-granted because powerful institutions like schools, churches, government, the media (and social media) reinforce them.