| Summary: | Abstract
Indigenous students everywhere are known to require
particular types and levels of support as they enter, and
continue their studies within universities. Such support is
often provided by designated support workers employed for
that purpose. Our study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander academic staff around Australia, however, found
that teaching staff also spend considerable time and effort
supporting their students' learning experiences both in and
out of the classroom. Our findings suggest that this issue
is multi-dimensional and complex. Outwardly, visible
dimensions of Indigenous academic support roles, we found,
are often just the tip of an iceberg. We argue that, while
students' need for support is increasingly well documented,
the informal support roles played by the few Indigenous
academics have been under-reported and may not be visible,
or recognised. Going further, we propose a new conceptual
framework for analysing the unique context in which
Indigenous academic work occurs.
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