Vol. 17 No. 2 (2026): Special Issue [SI_TGEO]
Research Article

Teaching-in-Relation: Reflections from and with Gumbaynggirr Country

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Aunty Shaa Smith
Gumbaynggirr Country, Australia
Uncle Bud Marshall
Gumbaynggirr Country, Australia
Paul Hodge
School of Education and the Arts, Central Queensland University, Australia
Lara Daley
Discipline of Geography & Environmental Studies, University of Newcastle, Australia
Sarah Wright
Discipline of Geography & Environmental Studies, University of Newcastle, Australia
DOI: https://doi.org/10.48088/ejg.a.sha.17.2.359.372
Categories

Published 2026-08-18

Keywords

  • relationality,
  • Indigenous geographies,
  • geography education,
  • Aboriginal epistemology,
  • Australia

How to Cite

Smith, Shaa, Herbert Marshall, Paul Hodge, Lara Daley, and Sarah Wright. 2026. “Teaching-in-Relation: Reflections from and With Gumbaynggirr Country”. European Journal of Geography 17 (2):S.359-S.372. https://doi.org/10.48088/ejg.a.sha.17.2.359.372.

Copyright (c) 2026 Aunty Shaa Smith, Uncle Bud Marshall, Paul Hodge, Lara Daley, Sarah Wright

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Received 2026-02-16
Accepted 2026-07-19
Published 2026-08-18

Abstract

This paper reflects on what it means to teach-in-relation from and with Gumbaynggirr Country, guided by Aboriginal Elders Aunty Shaa Smith and Uncle Bud Marshall alongside non-Indigenous collaborators from Australia. Teaching-in-relation emerges through our relationships and is grounded in Country and our human and more-than-human kin. We offer six reference points that for us orient teaching-in-relation: Coming from your own place; Living non-linear time; Relationships with and as Country; Making mistakes and being vulnerable; Sharing, reciprocity and limits; and Connection and respect. These teachings speak back to Western educational norms and hierarchies, urging relational accountability, vulnerability, and deep listening as a decolonising practice for geography education. Through our research collective’s relationships as gunganbu – beings who belong together – we show how learning on, with and as Country creates both possibilities and responsibilities for transforming educational practice. Rather than offering a prescriptive model, the reference points invite educators to cultivate an ethical responsiveness to place. We argue that teaching-in-relation contributes to geography education by encouraging teachers and students to engage with colonial legacies, socio-environmental uncertainty, multiple ways of knowing, and their responsibilities to human and more-than-human communities.

Highlights:

  • Indigenous peoples’ knowledge provides a counterpoint to colonising educational hierarchies.
  • Gumbaynggirr Elders and Custodians offer reference points to guide teaching-in-relation.
  • To transform educational practice, we must heed the call of Country.

Contribution to the Special Issue Topics: Responding directly to the Special Issue theme of powerful teaching in uncertain times, this article explores how Indigenous-led teaching-in-relation can support transformative geography education. Drawing on teachings from Gumbaynggirr Country, we offer six reference points that encourage relational accountability, deep listening, and respect and responsibility for more-than-human worlds. The paper contributes to scholarship on decolonising geography education, place-based pedagogies and powerful geographical knowledge by offering alternative ways of understanding learning, responsibility and belonging.

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