ABSTRACT
At the end of what had been a less than productive workshop exploring what “both-ways” meant to a group of Aboriginal early childhood learners, the women suggested we go to the beach for our both-ways workshop instead of meeting as we usually did in the staff room of the child care center. But first we had to get permission to visit this place from the appropriate Elder. One of our Aboriginal mentors, Karrkirr, took us to this Elder’s place and he gave permission. We packed the troopie1 with food and drink and headed out to the long white beach a few miles from the community. As we sat and talked about what it means to teach and learn both-ways, Karrkirr built little stick structures in the sand with her grandson. She explained what she thought about both-ways. “When my shoes are off I am in my own world. My feet are connected to the ground, to the Land, to my knowledge. I can think about my own cultural ideas. It’s hard to connect with that knowledge with shoes on. Shoes on is the learning at school. I learn whitefella way and the way they expect me to learn”.
