Placing First Nations knowledge at the centre of Australian doctoral education using time mapping

First Nations knowledge systems can enrich doctoral research in Australia to cultivate new and dynamic thinking and to inculcate respect for Country (Moreton, 2006; Hendry, 2010; Phillips and Bunda, 2018). One way to place First Nations knowledge systems at the centre of Australian doctoral education is through the power of stories. Telling and retelling stories are central to First Nations knowledge systems as sharing the truth of our lives serves to embody the cultural power and offer it as a gift to others (Pawu-Kurlpurne et al., 2008; Dion, 2009). Stories weave past, present and future into an intergenerational ‘infinite present’ (Moreton, 2006, pp. 276). The power of story can be captured through the time mapping methodology developed by Manathunga and colleagues (2019). Time mapping charts the impact of First Nations and transcultural (e.g., new migrants and refugees) histories visually and aurally to create a story-based representation of the intersection of those moments when race, gender, class, geography, and cultures meet, interact, clash or synthesise. These stories and moments all impact upon knowledge production and can transform Australian doctoral education by displacing colonialist and Euro-centric research practices as the basis for knowledge assemblage and production (Vass, 2013; Moodie et al., 2018).