Implementing Both-ways Science Education Teaching in an Indigenous Tertiary Institution.

This paper examines the both-ways nature of science education courses in the undergraduate education program
presented at the Batchelor Institute in 2010. Both-ways education refers to a philosophy and practice of education which merges Indigenous Australian and Western academic disciplinary traditions of knowledge. The underlying both-ways philosophy of the Institute is examined and how it was implemented in two preparatory courses (a science education course and a science content course) for primary and middle school teaching is described. The role of the author as a non-indigenous lecturer in implementing both-ways philosophy in these courses is examined using examples from his teaching and assessment. Two alternative conceptions of both-ways are identified. Firstly it is conceived as a practice related to the steps of the teaching and learning process. Secondly, it can be seen through a sociocultural lens as involving the cultural identities of the students. For the lecturer, an identity learning model enables the theorising of meaning-giving and sense-making over time, leading to effective both-ways teaching and learning.