Research story 

Country as Teacher is a growing body of research and practice, deeply informed by the teachings of Damu Paul Gordon. It invites educators to engage with Country not just as a place, but as a living, central knowledge holder.

At the heart of this work are three central stories: Jumbal, Googar, and the 6Ls. These stories offer foundational ways of understanding why and how 

people should build reciprocal relationships with Country. 

A version of these stories is shared in the 2020 paper by Karulkiyalu Country et al.

From 2020-2025, two major research projects engaged more than 120 teachers in Country as Teacher across ACT schools. These projects supported educators to first cultivate their own experiences of 'Relating with Country' reguarly spending time looking and listening with Country, before developing their own pedagogical approaches grounded in these experiences.

The transformative experiences from the first project revealed a key insight that

relating with Country Practice is accessible to all teachers 

and begins with listening, noticing, and being with Country. Read more of the transformative accounts here. 

After these initial experiences Relating with Country,  teachers were supported to build and then enacted their own Country as Teacher pedagogies.

At the conclusion of the first research project, many educators reported:

 'High levels of student engagement'

 'A sense of wellness and connection' 

and that Following Country-led inquiry approaches in their practice, helped teachers feel they had   

‘permission to push back' 

on highly-standardized teaching and learning.

Throughout the process teachers reported feeling 

a growing moral imperative

 a deep sense of responsibility — to continue this the relating with Country learning “for their students.”  Read more of the teacher’s stories in this article. 

There are two forthcoming publications from the second project which explores a whole of school approach. 

Our shared experiences suggested the need for ongoing support for educators to continue building their practice. 

Based on this need we have designed the Country as Teacher Practitioner Network.

We look forward to you walking with us.