Centring Aboriginal Epistemologies
Development of a 3D Simulation for Social Work Education
Keywords:
Aboriginal knowledges, Social work education, Teaching and learning, Digital learning, Intentional self-harmAbstract
This paper derives from a presentation delivered at the 2018 ANZSWWER Symposium New Technology: Disrupting Social Work Practice and Perceptions. The authors discuss the experiences and challenges of developing a 3D simulation involving an Aboriginal client presenting with suicidal ideation and indicators of self-harm. When completed, the 3D simulation will be used as a key teaching tool in the social work program at the University of South Australia (UniSA). Based on relationships with the Centre for Child Protection at the University of Kent, the simulation evolved into this context for Australian-based social work education and the need to prepare practitioners to develop the knowledge, values and skills for culturally responsive practice when working with Aboriginal Australians. An opportunity presented itself to develop a simulation for teaching that would allow for the development of knowledge and competencies in a digital environment. This simulated environment will afford a safe space within which students will explore themselves in relation to Aboriginal epistemologies and provide opportunities to contextualise that knowledge to fields of practice. The development of this teaching tool has presented a range of unforeseen considerations concerning the politics of representation when utilising new technologies in Aboriginal contexts, which the authors reflect on in this paper.
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