Professor Lester-Irabinna Rigney has worked in Aboriginal Education for over 20 years. His previous appointment was the Dean Indigenous Education at the University of Adelaide.
Past positions include Director of Wirltu Yarlu Aboriginal Education and the Director of the Yunggorendi First Nations Centre at Flinders University. He has a Doctorate PhD by Research and is a Professor of Education. In 2011 he won the National Aboriginal scholar of the Year NAIDOC. In the same year he was appointed by the Australian Government Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth, The Hon Peter Garrett to the First Peoples Education Advisory Group that advises on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander early childhood and school education. In... Read more
About me
Professor Lester-Irabinna Rigney has worked in Aboriginal Education for over 20 years. His previous appointment was the Dean Indigenous Education at the University of Adelaide.
Past positions include Director of Wirltu Yarlu Aboriginal Education and the Director of the Yunggorendi First Nations Centre at Flinders University. He has a Doctorate PhD by Research and is a Professor of Education. In 2011 he won the National Aboriginal scholar of the Year NAIDOC. In the same year he was appointed by the Australian Government Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth, The Hon Peter Garrett to the First Peoples Education Advisory Group that advises on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander early childhood and school education. In 2011 he was appointed by the same Minister Australian Ambassador for Aboriginal Education. In 2009 he received an honorary United Nations award from the Australian Chapter for his work on Indigenous Education.
He has been a member of several high profile expert committees including the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare COAG 'Closing the Gap' Scientific Reference Group, the National Aboriginal Reference Group 25 year Indigenous Education Plan and Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority, National Languages Curriculum Reference Group. Professor Rigney was the inaugural Co-Chair of Ethics Council for the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples. In 2009 Professor Rigney was co-author of the review of the National Indigenous Education document Australian Directions for the Federal Government.
He was been working across the Pacific on Indigenous Education in New Zealand, Taiwan and Canada. Professor Rigney was a member on the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Research Advisory Committee as expert on education and cultural transmission. His professional standing in education saw him inducted into the Australian College of Educators (ACE) in 1998. He is recognised as a national and international authority in the area of Indigenist Research Methodologies. Interest in his work by National and International universities has seen him uptake several prestigious Visiting scholar invitations including Cambridge University, UK; Fort Hare University, South Africa; and University of British Columbia, Canada.
He has also been chief/co-investigator, led research teams for reports and policies for key benchmarking research/government agencies including: United Nations; DEEWR; NCVER; AIATSIS; The office of the SA Premier and Cabinet; SA Department of Education and Children's Services. Similarly, Professor Rigney is an active editorial board member on several national and international Indigenous Studies journals. Professor Rigney is in constant demand as a commentator on national and international Indigenous matters and has published widely on Education, Languages and Knowledge transmission. His 2006 co-edited book titled Sharing Spaces: Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Responses to Story, Country and Rights, is an Australian text on Indigenous and non-Indigenous race relations and how this converges in the vulnerable, vital and contested space called 'education'.
About me
Australian Association for Research in Education
Australian College of Education
American Educational Research Association
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
Member of the Federation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages
About me
Doctorate of Philosophy Flinders University
Master of Education (Curriculum Leadership) University of South Australia
Bachelor of Education (Secondary Physical Education) University of South Australia
Research
Excludes commercial-in-confidence projects.
Culturally responsive schooling, ARC - Discovery Projects, 01/01/2022 - 31/12/2024
Toward an Australian culturally responsive pedagogy, ARC Discovery Indigenous, 01/03/2017 - 30/11/2020
Children learning to live together in a diverse community: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in Reggio Emilia inspired Early Learning Settings, Department for Education, 04/06/2018 - 20/02/2020
Addressing the gap between policy and implementation: Strategies for improving educational outcomes of Indigenous students, OLT-Grants - Innovation & Development, 10/02/2016 - 24/08/2018
Provision of creative and body based learning professional development program, SA Dept for Education and Children's Services, 02/05/2016 - 31/12/2017
Research
Research outputs for the last seven years are shown below. Some long-standing staff members may have older outputs included. To see earlier years visit ORCID, ResearcherID or Scopus
Open access indicates that an output is open access.
Year | Output |
---|---|
2023 |
1
2
|
2023 |
16
|
2014 |
Open access
|
Year | Output |
---|---|
2023 |
|
2023 |
1
|
2023 |
|
2023 |
18
|
2023 |
4
|
2023 |
2
|
2023 |
|
2023 |
3
|
2023 |
|
2021 |
|
2019 |
|
2018 |
|
2017 |
|
2017 |
Open access
22
|
2016 |
2
|
2015 |
2
|
2014 |
Open access
|
2011 |
|
2011 |
|
2011 |
|
2008 |
|
Year | Output |
---|---|
2024 |
Open access
1
1
|
2024 |
4
3
5
|
2024 |
Open access
1
2
|
2023 |
Open access
8
5
24
|
2022 |
Open access
30
28
8
|
2022 |
Open access
|
2022 |
Open access
1
1
62
|
2020 |
Open access
20
16
52
|
2020 |
Open access
10
8
20
|
2019 |
9
9
4
|
2019 |
Open access
17
8
14
|
2018 |
Open access
13
8
|
2017 |
Open access
16
14
142
|
2016 |
17
14
|
2016 |
18
16
9
|
2015 |
Open access
45
41
1
|
2014 |
13
8
|
2013 |
12
10
|
2010 |
4
|
Year | Output |
---|---|
2020 |
Open access
|
2019 |
Open access
|
2018 |
Open access
|
2017 |
Open access
|
2016 |
Open access
|
2013 |
Open access
|
2011 |
Open access
|
2009 |
Open access
|
External engagement & recognition
Organisation | Country |
---|---|
Arabana Aboriginal Corporation | AUSTRALIA |
AuConsulting | AUSTRALIA |
AuConsulting Adelaide | AUSTRALIA |
Australian National University | AUSTRALIA |
Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education | AUSTRALIA |
Beijing Normal University | CHINA |
Centacare Catholic Family Services | AUSTRALIA |
Central Queensland University | AUSTRALIA |
Charles Darwin University | AUSTRALIA |
Cooperative Research Centre for Remote Economic Participation | AUSTRALIA |
Flinders University | AUSTRALIA |
Griffith University | AUSTRALIA |
James Cook University | AUSTRALIA |
Maynooth University | IRELAND |
Narungga Aboriginal Progress Association | AUSTRALIA |
Open University of Cyprus | CYPRUS |
Southern Cross University | AUSTRALIA |
Telstra Foundation | AUSTRALIA |
University of Adelaide | AUSTRALIA |
University of Auckland | NEW ZEALAND |
University of Lower Silesia | POLAND |
University of Melbourne | AUSTRALIA |
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia | ITALY |
University of New South Wales | AUSTRALIA |
University of Newcastle | AUSTRALIA |
University of South Australia | AUSTRALIA |
University of Southampton | UNITED KINGDOM |
University of Texas | UNITED STATES |
University of Wyoming | UNITED STATES |
External engagement & recognition
Engagement/recognition | Year |
---|---|
FellowAustralian Academy of the Humanities |
2023 |
Ministerial Reference Group MemberUniversities Accord Ministerial Reference Group |
2023 |
Distinguished Contribution to Research in Educational Leadership AwardAustralian Council for Educational Leaders South Australian Branch (ACEL SA) |
2018 |
Distinguished FellowKing's College London |
2018 |
Distinguished FellowKings College, London, Menzies Australia Institute |
2018 |
Hedley Beare Award for Distinguished Educational WritingAustralian Council of Educational Leaders |
2018 |
Member of Scientific CommitteeReggio Children Loris Malaguzzi Centre Foundation, Italy |
2018 |
Recipient: Hedley Beare Award For Educational WritingAustralian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL) |
2018 |
SA Pride of Australia winnerNews Corp |
2018 |
Scientific memberAustralian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) |
2018 |
Aboriginal and Contemporary Australian Studies FellowshipKing's College London |
2017 |
Distinguished FellowKing's College London |
2017 |
MemberAmerican Educational Research Association (AERA) |
2017 |
MemberAustralian Association for Research in Education (AARE) |
2017 |
MemberFederation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages |
2017 |
MemberAustralian College of Educators |
2017 |
Member of Scientific CommitteeReggio Children Loris Malaguzzi Centre Foundation, Italy |
2017 |
Rigney Inaugural LectureKing's College London |
2017 |
Scientific memberAustralian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) |
2017 |
MemberAmerican Educational Research Association (AERA) |
2016 |
MemberAustralian Association for Research in Education (AARE) |
2016 |
MemberAustralian College of Educators |
2016 |
MemberFederation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages |
2016 |
Scientific memberAustralian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) |
2016 |
Scientific memberAustralian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) |
2015 |
Scientific memberAustralian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) |
2014 |
Scientific memberAustralian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) |
2013 |
Scientific memberAustralian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) |
2012 |
Australian Ambassador of Aboriginal EducationDepartment of School Education, Early Childhood and Youth, Australian Government |
2011 |
National Aboriginal scholar of the yearNAIDOC |
2011 |
Scientific memberAustralian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) |
2011 |
Award Honorary for Indigenous EducationUnited Nations, Australian Chapter |
2009 |
Teaching & student supervision
Teaching & student supervision
Supervisions from 2010 shown
Thesis title | Student status |
---|---|
An Investigation of Educational Leadership for Indigenous Engagement in South Australian Schools | Current |
Islam, Muslims, Education, and Schooling | Current |
Weaving affective awareness and culturally responsive pedagogy: an ethnography of teachers in super diverse Australian classrooms | Current |
Culturally responsive pedagogy action research and teacher change: becoming responsive through responsive becoming | Completed |
Culturally responsive pedagogy on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands | Completed |
Culturally responsive possibilities: leaders¿ voices in remote Indigenous schools | Completed |
Educators' understandings and perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural competence: a mixed methods study | Completed |
Just ask us: a study of middle-primary school teachers¿ mathematics pedagogy in rural South Australia | Completed |
Pedagogical possibilities: conceptualisations of professional identity by early career secondary English literature teachers | Completed |
Young children¿s language socialisation in a small, rural, Indo-Fijian community in Fiji | Completed |