Indigenous perspectives on outdoor learning environments

This chapter provides an Indigenous perspective on the ongoing complexity of achieving equitable outcomes for Aboriginal children in education. It argues that one significant understanding that has been a large part of the early success of this work is the primacy the project places on knowledge that has largely been overlooked by Western education in Australia. The chapter focuses on insights and responses from children, teachers, parents and an Aboriginal Education Officer to identify the benefits of On Country Learning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their classroom educators. Achieving equitable outcomes in education for Aboriginal children is unfinished business, primarily because of the mismatch between what constitutes quality early years pedagogy, the actual delivery of curriculum in Western classrooms and how achievement is measured. Children attending the project needed time and space to adjust to the alternative outdoor ‘classroom’, and initial excitement at the change gave way to a more settled and comfortable disposition