Barriers to decolonizing mental health training and dismantling institutionalized racism are multifaceted and involve institutional and individual factors. For example, non-Indigenous academics may lack the confidence and capability to develop and/or to teach decolonized curricula and may be reluctant to reflect on ways they may inadvertently perpetuate institutionalized racism. In 2021–2022, two Australian higher education institutions worked to decolonize two accredited Level 2 (‘pre-professional’) psychology programs. The process involved institutional reform of curriculum development procedures through co-design with Aboriginal knowledge holders. This process and the resultant curricula and assessment were co-designed by a panel of Aboriginal expert partners that included one clinical psychologist and academic, three graduate students, and an Honours student; as well as four non-Indigenous academics. We engaged in the co-design process from the perspective of ‘two-way’ learning, recognizing we were meeting at what Nakata refers to as a cultural interface, a complex space where knowledge systems were converging. We provide educators with a model to inform how they might approach efforts to decolonize curricula and examples of resources we introduced in the curricula. This model has cross-disciplinary applicability for undergraduate and graduate-level courses in mental health disciplines.
The information contained on this website has been sourced by the Australian Indigenous Psychology Education Project (AIPEP) and AIPEP 2. The first AIPEP was funded by the Australian Government Office of Teaching and Learning. AIPEP 2 is part of the Transforming Indigenous Mental Health and Wellbeing Project, funded by the Million Minds Mission Grant. The views expressed in this website do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Government Office of Teaching and Learning or the Million Minds Mission Grant.
Several of the images used throughout this website are credited to Chris Lewis