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Dr.
Wendy Hanlen was the first Aboriginal
person to be conferred with a PhD at the Central Coast Campus
of the University of Newcastle during the University's graduation
ceremony in October 2003. Wendy's thesis attempts to fill the
void currently being experienced in literacy outcomes in Indigenous
populations.
Thesis title:
Emerging literacy in New South Wales rural and urban Indigenous
families
Dr. Hanlen is a Kamilaroi woman living in Darkinjung
country on the Central Coast of NSW. Wendy is a member of the
Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council, the Kuriwa Aboriginal
Education Consultative Group and Woodport ASSPA. Dr.
Hanlen is also a research academic at Umulliko.
Wendy undertook a PhD over three and-a-half years
completing her doctorate in 2002 and graduating in 2003. She was
a full time student with a University of Newcastle Research Scholarship
and received funding from the Australian Research Council - Indigenous
Researchers Development Scheme. Prior to her postgraduate studies,
Wendy participated in the 1996 NSW Aboriginal Education Policy
in-service training for teachers in the Sydney's Ryde and Northern
Beaches Districts and the Central Coast as both a community member
and in as an Independent Consultant.
Wendy's research sought to understand the literacy
beliefs, values, goals, expectations,experiences, practices and
access to resources from the perspectives of the four rural and
five urban NSW Indigenous families. The research also explored
how families perceived their roles in the children's early literacy
learning. It was Wendy's intention from the beginning to conduct
the research from Indigenous perspectives. This produced a number
of challenges in the research process and it soon became clear
that she needed to develop an appropriate theoretical approach
and methodology. Wendy used Yarn Times as means of gathering data
in consultation with the communities and the participants. This
proved to be successful not only for the research process but
it was valuable in a very personal way for the participants. They
revisited their own childhood from their perspectives as Indigenous
parents and they could see real value in their own contribution
to their children's literacy development. In the past teachers
have not seen value in the parents'contributions and this was
reinforced to the families with the annual results of the Basic
Skills Test which continue to focus on the poor outcomes for Indigenous
students without producing answers for parents to understand why
and what can be done to improve them.
The research provided information that is useful
in a number of fields including the development of curriculum
and policy planning; community based early literacy and community
family workshop programs. One of the most important outcomes was
a contribution to the development of Indigenous theoretical perspectives
and research methodology.
Examiners' Comments
'This is approach [yarning] enabled
her to meet the rigorous requirements of University academic conventions,
be true to her own Indigeneity and be a voice for the Indigenous
communities she worked with… I am extremely impressed with
the thesis as a study that demonstrates a deep knowledge of several
fields of knowledge namely, Education, Indigenous Studies, Sociology,
History, Anthropology and Sociolinguistics. It is then by definition
an amazingly eclectic work'. (Professor Tania Ka'ai, University
of Otago, NZ)
'The yarning approach that Ms Hanlen developed
for gathering her data was most effective in gaining contextual
and important information on literacy and family literacy development.
The voice of the Indigenous families was always present as a result
of the yarning approach… The methodological implications
of her work are enormous… Ms Hanlen should also undertake
the task of re-theorising early childhood education in Australia'.
(Professor Marilyn Fleer, Monash University, Peninsula Campus)
'These case studies clearly illuminate the large
body of theoretical work Ms. Hanlen has done… and… offer[s]
convincing evidence for many of the claims that follow from that
theoretical work… Her call for research based on indigenous
[sic] cultural perspectives and Western academic traditions…
is particularly telling. Her call for research based on indigenous
perspectives is, while, of course, controversial, since many believe
that scientific research has no cultural perspectives, is responsibly
and intelligently done'. (Professor James
Gee, University of Wisconsin, USA)
Dr.
Brooke Collins-Gearing
 Thesis
title:
When the Hairy man Meets Blinky Bill: The representation
of Indigenality in Australian Children's Literature.
I am a Kamilaroi woman from Moree and have been
living in Newcastle now for ten years. I met Professor John Lester
in 1997 while I was completing my Bachelor of Arts Honours. He
encouraged me to undertake a PhD. I finally finished it and graduated
in 2002.
My PhD thesis examined Australian children's
literature and how Indigenous peoples, cultures and issues had
been represented by non-Indigenous authors since colonisation.
I wasn't just concerned with stereotypical representations but
how and why those representations were created, for instance,
to justify acts of protection and assimilation. I was also concerned
with how non-Indigenous authors only spoke to non-Indigenous child
readers, positioning them as future cultural keeps of Indigenous
knowledge. A focus of my thesis was the implicit ways in which
these Australian children's books spoke about and for Indigenous
peoples but never to them. I also wanted to deconstruct the myth
that Indigenous peoples have had very little significance in Australian
literary traditions, as a major underlying element of Australian
literature is the uneasy cognisance non-Indigenous Australians
had of Indigenous peoples and their need to either deny or marginalise
Indigneous presences.
To finally complete my doctorate was a huge relief
but could not have been achieved without the love and support
of my Umulliko family, in particular Professor Lester, Associate
Professor Nerida Blair and Suzi Cole.
Examiner's comment
This thesis is to be commended on many levels. Firstly it is a
significant and valuable piece of work, considering the role of
non-Indigenous authored children's literature in precribing Indigenality
while"attempting to "colonise" the child reader"
Donna
(Odegaard) Robb
 Thesis
title:
Law & Aboriginal Land Claims
In Australia: Justice In Black & White
I am a Larrakia woman from the Darwin region
of Northern Territory. I graduated in Masters in Philosophy (Law)
through Umulliko and the Law School, the University of Newcastle
in 2002. I chose Umulliko to undertake my research Masters degree
after searching for a university willing to offer a program, the
expertise and an environment conducive to progressing specific
Indigenous research issues, which I believe, led to the successful
completion of my work.
My thesis arose from being Larrakia and my participation
in the Larrakia, Kenbi Aboriginal Land Claim, which is famous
for being the longest running land claim in the history of land
claims in Australia and, the first and last claim under the Aboriginal
Land Rights Act (Northern Territory) (1976).
In this thesis I examine the 'measure of justice'
attributed to Aboriginal Australians in the context of debates
that arise from Aboriginal claims against the State. Central to
these debates is the legal relationship between Aboriginal peoples
and the State and the State's response.
This work explores power relations in Australia
and the legal and conceptual difference between Australian law
and Aboriginal law regarding land ownership and issues of identity
through the development, process and practice of the Australian
legal system. It is within this framework that Indigenous peoples
confront the court's interpretation of Aboriginal law, spirituality,
connection to lands, waters, kinship and cultural traditions.
More over this process and practice directly influences the judges'
determinations of not only Aboriginal title or native title but,
more importantly clarifies Indigenous rights in Australia and
Indigenous peoples' ability to protect and preserve everything
that encompasses their cultural heritages.
Dr.
John Maynard
 Thesis
title:
Fred Maynard and the Awakening of
Aboriginal Political Conciousness and Activism in Twentieth Century
Australia
John Maynard's traditional roots lie with the
Worimi people of Port Stephens. His thesis titled Fred Maynard
and the Awakening of Aboriginal Political Consciousness and Activism
in Twentieth Century Australia, examines the rise in the mid 1920s
of the first organised Aboriginal political protest movement.
"This all-Aboriginal organisation called the Australian Aboriginal
Progressive Association, or AAPA was headed by my grandfather
Fred Maynard. The AAPA's demands centred on Aboriginal rights
to land, stopping the government practice of taking Aboriginal
children from their families, acquiring citizenship rights, and
defending Aboriginal cultural identity", John explains. "Aboriginal
heroes and heroines were erased from Australian history - my work
sets to bring them back".
The awarding of his doctorate held special significance on several
fronts. It marked the culmination of several years' intensive
study within the university environment. He had ventured to Wollotuka
in 1994 as a mature age student and progressed with a Diploma
of Aboriginal Studies in 1996, a BA with the University of South
Australia in 1999 and his PhD in 2003. John became the first male
to graduate with a PhD from the Umulliko Indigenous Higher Education
Research Centre. John believes that being the first male PhD to
graduate from Umulliko is something to be proud of and hopes that
it will inspire other Aboriginal men to similar academic achievements.
John had juggled his studies with work within the university as
research assistant and associate lecturer at Wollotuka, research
officer with Aboriginal and Islander Health at the University
of Newcastle, Visiting History Fellow at ANU, Visiting History
Fellow with Flinders University and research academic with Umulliko.
He has had sustained success with competitive grants. His areas
of research expertise include the rise of the Aboriginal political
movement in the 1920s, the history of Aboriginal jockeys, Aboriginal
involvement in the steel industry, inter-relationships between
Aboriginal men and white women, and traditional Aboriginal life
in Newcastle and the Hunter Valley. He has conducted archival
and oral historical research on behalf of several major institutions
including the National Library of Australia, State Library of
New South Wales, State Library of Victoria, The University of
Newcastle, Australian National University and National Museum
of Australia. He has held several important fellowships including
- the Stanner Fellow (ANU), NSW Premiers Indigenous History Fellow
and Australian Research Council Indigenous Research Cadetship.
"Umulliko is an inspirational environment", John says.
"Its Director John Lester, has been a constant source of
inspiration and support". Dr.
Maynard is now a research academic with Umulliko.
Examiner's comment
The candidate has made a major contribution to Australian
historiography. He has brought to life several major figures of
the 1920s and has discovered much hitherto unknown material about
Aboriginal politics. Interpretations can never be the same again.
Mr Maynard has found this material by carrying out extensive research
often among sources not hitherto used. This is a major achievement.
This thesis should be published. (Professor Henry Reynolds)
This thesis fulfils the requirements for acceptance
for the award of the degree. It is the result of sustained and
tenacious research in both documentary and oral evidence, with
the results that it has significantly increased our knowledge
of the AAPA and of Fred Maynard's life. While these are the focus
of the thesis, it contains a number of sub themes, which allow
the work to offer a panorama of related activity among both Aboriginal
and non-Aboriginal activists in the 1920s… This thesis should
be offered for publication. (Associate Professor Heather Goodall)
This is a very significant thesis, addressing
as it does the history of Aboriginal activism in the 1920s, a
matter too often forgotten in other histories. It uses a combination
of sources, newspaper, government archives, and oral history interviews
to establish a good deal about the life and activism of Fred Maynard
and of the organisation he helped to found the Australian Aboriginal
Progressive Association.
The thesis is significant also in being by an Indigenous author,
not just because Indigenous historians are rare and much needed
in this country, but because his background enables him to provide
some new insights and perspectives.
One aspect of the thesis is of special interest the balanced and
subtle discussion of the role of non-Aboriginal people in the
Aboriginal political movement of the 1920s. It seems to me they
are given full attention and credit without diminishing the role
of the Aboriginal activists in any way. This is not an easy thing
to do and the author is to be congratulated on his approach and
insight. (Professor Ann Curthoys).
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