Facilitating dialogue to support Ganma: a methodology for navigating contested knowledge

Abstract

<p>The Ganma (Marika 2000) metaphor can be used to underscore Yolŋu approaches to education that incorporate both Western and Aboriginal epistemologies. Ganma is the point where saltwater (non-Aboriginal knowledge) and freshwater (Yolŋu knowledge) meet to form a lagoon. The different bodies of water churn beneath the foam-striped surface, and this 'great sharing' supports a 'rich habitat of its own' (Bat and Guenther 2013:128), thus revealing the benefits of the collaborative approach to knowledge generation. This metaphor can be used as a foundation for negotiating culturally contested knowledge arenas. This paper reports a study that extended an existing dialogic process to the field of gifted education in an endeavour to realise Ganma. Three Yolŋu elders and three teachers collaborated in a facilitated dialogue to develop an appropriate talent development model for gifted Yolŋu youth at the study site, a boarding school in Darwin. The participant satisfaction with this process demonstrates that the dialogue protocol used is an appropriate tool to facilitate Ganma.</p>