The vision

A nation-building project

Ngarrngga (pronounced "Naan-gah") is a Taungurung word meaning to know, to hear, to understand. To achieve the Ngarrngga vision, we are creating innovative curriculum resources and Professional Development (PD) made by educators, for educators, in collaboration with Indigenous Knowledge Experts.

These resources are rigorously tested and evidence-based. They are piloted in classrooms and refined based on teacher feedback. This means educators can have confidence in the quality and integrity of the Ngarrngga resources, knowing that they have direct links to the Australian Curriculum. Read more on research here and access Ngarrngga's Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property declaration here.

As a Signature Project at the University of Melbourne, Ngarrngga is a collaboration between the Faculty of Education, Indigenous Studies Unit and Indigenous Knowledge Institute. It is led by the University of Melbourne and is also proudly supported by BHP. 

The three interrelated nodes of Ngarrngga

Ngarrngga comprises three interrelated nodes:

Indigenous Knowledge in Curriculum provides a suite of rigorous and evidence-based educational resources designed by educators for educators in collaboration with Indigenous and non-Indigenous experts in Indigenous knowledge across the breadth of learning areas.

Indigenous Knowledge in Schools provides opportunity to trial and garner feedback on resources and products to better support educators and address their needs to showcase Indigenous knowledge in their teaching and learning.

Indigenous Knowledge in Teacher Education provides opportunity to engage academics and pre-service teachers with Indigenous knowledge to confidently showcase Indigenous knowledge in their pedagogy and practice.

Supporting and empowering educators

Ngarrngga’s curriculum is informed by the Australian Curriculum’s Organising Ideas. Each Organising Idea has been broken down into explicit Elements. These broad Elements showcase Indigenous Knowledge in curriculum

• Fire

• Water

• Sky

• Kinship

• Communications

• Deep History

Ngarrngga supports educators in understanding the delineation between showcasing Indigenous Knowledge and teaching Indigenous Culture, offering a way for teachers to identify where showcasing ends and there is a need to start inviting respective community voices into the classroom.

A diversity of learning experiences are provided, including (but not limited to):

• Lessons: a defined learning experience with a clear anticipated learning outcome.

• Assessment: the use of a range of formative and summative assessments that engage the learner

• Hands-on inquiry activities

• Contextualised learning stimuli

• Place-based learning

Professional Development

Ngarrngga’s Professional Development introduces Ngarrngga’s resources and outlines teachers' responsibilities to deliver this content and pedagogy according to curriculum outcomes and professional standards.

There is an opportunity for schools to collaborate with Ngarrngga to create bespoke professional development to address their needs. Principals are welcome to contact ngarrngga-team@unimelb.edu.au to register interest.

Themes within the professional development include:

• Building familiarisation with Indigenous-specific education policy

• Ways of interacting with Indigenous Knowledge

• Engaging with Indigenous Knowledge with confidence

Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property

Written in collaboration with Terri Janke and Company, Ngarrngga’s work is informed and guided by the Ngarrngga Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) Declaration. The ICIP Declaration is an internal and public-facing resource. It provides an overview of the ICIP standards and principles which inform all areas of the Project (e.g. project operations, curriculum and education team, research conduct and practice, data collection, evaluation, etc.) and engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, Elders, Knowledge Holders, materials and cultural expressions.

To view the full declaration please click here.