Abstract
The Moombaki Research team developed a pilot Cultural Integrity Audit (CIA) that was co-designed with Aboriginal elders and educators as a tool for school leaders to measure the extent of culturally safe and responsive education at three test sites in Perth (Boorloo), Western Australia. This article analyses the political and social contexts and experiences of implementing the CIA as a tool – including the commitment, attitudes and values of school leaders. Observations are primarily informed by the viewpoint and the positionality of the Lead Investigator, an Aboriginal woman who has deep connections with local Aboriginal communities and significant experience working with schools in the study area. We discuss how non-Aboriginal teachers and school leaders fail to manage their own pedagogies of discomfort about Aboriginal people and their culture by adopting stances of neutrality and racially defensive practices. We suggest that non-Aboriginal school leaders and teachers practice educational leadership informed by Noongar reciprocity and acknowledge the Aboriginal identities of Aboriginal students, educators, families and communities. We suggest that school leaders consider processes of truth telling and truth listening that view the inclusion of Aboriginal ways of being, knowing and doing as enriching gifts and not an extra burden.
