Unexpected journeys : life's lessons from remote Australian Aboriginal and Native American communities / Julie Retallick
- Bib ID:
- 8414284
- Format:
- Book
- Author:
- Retallick, Julie, author
- Description:
-
- Melbourne : Julie Retallick, [2020]
- ©2017
- 213 pages : 1 portrait ; 23 cm
- ISBN:
- 9780648798705 (paperback)
- Summary:
-
In January of 2002, Julie Retallick drove out of suburban Cairns, with no idea of what lay ahead. She left the comfort and familiarity of urban life to travel to the unknown and work as a teacher in a geographically isolated environment in the Australian outback. The journey didn't just involve travelling to a different location; it took her on an eye-opening adventure that challenged her usual way of thinking. Her approach to education changed as did her ideas around student behaviour. Ingrained ideas and attitudes were turned on their head by the people whose paths she crossed and events stumbled upon. They all helped her to see life from a new point of view - one that required the suspension of judgement of differences. At first there were new languages and alternative ways of living, different values and interesting viewpoints. Later, the child-rearing practices of Aboriginal people led her to study the principles and practices of Dr Maria Montessori. Julie's teaching philosophy of strict behaviour management changed as a greater understanding developed around the reasons for a child's misdemeanours. Seeing the pain in a child's eyes required a different response from this teacher. The art of letting go and guiding students, rather than force feeding them evolved as did working with the whole child. After studying in St Paul, Minnesota, in the USA, Julie went on to experience the joys of living in the 'American outback', on Standing Rock Reservation. She learnt about Lakota traditions, travelled to sacred sites and attended pow-wows. The challenges that her young students faced as part of life on the Reservation, made evident the cumulative effect that colonization had on successive generations. The incidence of self-harm, suicide, feelings of hopelessness and subjugation, forced her to reconcile the differences between assumptions and reality. Returning to Australia to teach on the edge of the Tanami Desert in 2013, she saw the manifestation of childhood trauma in adults, which forced her to discard any pre-held ideas around substance abuse, mental health and behavioural issues. It became evident that there was a need to address the underlying issues that perpetuated the cycle of despair and that the ability to solve problems lay with the people most affected and not with the 'educated' outsider. This journey, that lasted nearly two decades, had the unexpected consequences of leading Julie away from the insular world that she was once a part of to one of a deeper understanding, one that revealed the other side of the story. She credits her evolution to the consistent love and understanding of both Aboriginal and Lakota people. They helped her move from her mainstream comfort zone to look at the lives of others through new lenses.
- Notes:
-
- Includes bibliographical references (page 210).
- NLApp89313
- Subject:
-
- Retallick, Julie
- Teachers -- Northern Territory
- Teachers -- South Dakota
- Children, Aboriginal Australian -- Education -- Northern Territory
- Lakota children -- Education -- South Dakota
- Aboriginal Australians -- Northern Territory -- Social conditions
- Lakota Indians -- South Dakota -- Social conditions
- Montessori method of education
- Education
- Education - Primary
- Education - Primary - Students
- Education - Teachers
- Northern Territory -- Description and travel
- South Dakota -- Description and travel
- Yarralin (Victoria River Downs North NT SE52-04)
- Mapuru (Elcho Island East Arnhem Land NT SD53-03)
- Willowra (Central NT Tanami Desert SF53-05)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander content
- Australian
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
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Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary Dramatic Musical
- Published status:
- Published
- Publication date:
- 2017
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