Marni naa pudni – ‘Welcome’ to an exploration of an Indigenous and international cultural exchange (IICE) pilot program

Ms Shawna Hooton¹, Ms Teegan Bryant

¹The University Of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia

The University faces an ongoing conundrum of integrating international students and domestic students. While various strategies exist to resolve the ongoing conundrum of integrating international students and domestic students this, the Indigenous and International Cultural Exchange (IICE) program IICE at the University of Adelaide bridges this gap in a creative way , simultaneously whilst simultaneously reaffirming the University’s reconciliation framework and students-as-partners commitment. In 2018, an International Peer Mentor recognized a cultural exchange gap on campus: the University had a number of a few initiatives to share international cultures and develop global IQs, however, programs tailored for cultural exchange with indigenous students were non-existent. He determined to initiate a conversation with the Indigenous Student Ambassadors, and that was the inception of the Indigenous and International Cultural Exchange (IICE) program. This program achieves the internationalizing of the Indigenous cohort of students in an accessible and effective way –an economically viable, locally sourced solution. Harnessing the diverse cultural landscape of our current international student body, the program facilitates an innovative intercultural engagement opportunity for Indigenous students, while providing international students the opportunity to engage in local cultural insights, leveraging our Indigenous students’ life experience and backgrounds. Through a high touch application and selection process, 30 international students and 6 indigenous students were chosen to participate in the full day program. Activities were designed to give each student a hands-on and interactive approach to learn and share culture; this included a Smoking Ceremony, small-group cultural discovery, weaving workshops, and historical guided tours. The presentation will share information on the sessions and feedback from participants on the potential of this pilot program can open up exciting new avenues, ranging from a model for other universities, to creating more pathways between international and domestic students

Biography:

Shawna Hooton coordinates the International Peer Mentor program at the University of Adelaide. She is passionate about empowering students to take ownership of the program and loves hearing her mentors enthusiastically brainstorm ideas and generate new initiatives. With a Masters of Educational Leadership, Shawna continuously seeks growth opportunities and explores collaborations.

Teegan is a Ngarrindjeri woman born and bred in South Australia but her family come from Raukkan community. She started out a cadet at The University of Adelaide whilst completing her Bachelors of Psychological Science and moving on to work as a Student Support Officer and enrol in a Masters of Business Administration. Her current role is the Student Services Coordinator at Wirltu Yarlu Aboriginal Education – managing the student support team, delivering individually tailored support and developing and implementing support models and strategies to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait People in higher education.