Rights-based Indigenous education in Australia

This chapter explores the role of education, and more specifically teachers, in Australia. It introduces the schooling and its relationship with Indigenous peoples globally and the protocols of engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The chapter presents a complex problem in Australia in knowing how to approach education, and more specifically teaching, in the 21st century. It provides practical and important first steps for teachers, teacher educators and researchers to begin their journey in understanding, respecting and approaching Indigenous education. The steps provided offer approaches to help develop classroom practices. The recognition of Indigenous rights that flow from the acknowledgement that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are the First Peoples of Australia enables one to consider the roles and responsibilities of a 21st-century Australian teacher from a rights-based perspective. There is a distinct lack of theoretical development in the Indigenous education field and lack of resources to support education systems to preserve and maintain Indigenous systems of knowledge.