Topic outline
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This section provides a range of suggestions to create and ensure that cultural safety is in place within supervisory spaces and supported within Academic Units and/or Research Centres. Cultural safety is nurtured through: respecting Aboriginal knowledge systems, having a sense of belonging to the university, having strong working relationships and learning together. The process starts from the first conversation with the candidate and continues through to the completion of the research project.
Supervisors have a key role to support ‘cultural safety … (through) recognising Indigenous knowledge systems are associated with ensuring students are respected to maintain their own identities and conduct culturally-sensitive research’ (Hutchings et al. 2019, 259). Thus, if an Aboriginal candidate has an Aboriginal-related topic, a supervisor needs to engage respectfully with the candidate to find out about their background, their topic, why it is important for them to conduct this research and the potential benefit it will have on their community and Aboriginal Peoples. Also, over time, find out about any cultural topics/knowledges or behaviours which might be inappropriate to explore further without proper permission from the Elders in community, for example, taboos about men learning about women’s ceremonies and vice versa.
Sometimes First Nations candidates do not feel physically or intellectually safe due to the colonised space, dominated by Eurocentric thinking and racism. As a supervisor, aim to find out sources of discomfort and resolve ongoing issues experienced by your Aboriginal HDR candidate. Unsafe spaces may be created by not finding out about the Aboriginal candidate both personally and culturally.
Reflection: What principles do you think underpin cultural safety and how can these principles be applied within a supervisory panel?
Strategies to create and nurture culturally safe spaces
The following three sub-sections discuss a range of recommended strategies to create and nurture culturally safe spaces.
a. Cultural safety within your supervisory space
b. Cultural safety within your Academic Unit, Research Centre, campus, university and community
c. Potential challenges for Aboriginal HDR candidates related to cultural safety.