Acknowledgement of country

In the spirit of reconciliation the authors wish to acknowledge the Giabal and Jarowair peoples of the Toowoomba area, the Jagera, Yuggera and Ugarapul peoples of Ipswich and Springfield, the Kambuwal peoples of Stanthorpe and the Gadigal peoples of the Eora nation Sydney, as the keepers of ancient knowledge where University of Southern Queensland [USQ] campuses and hubs have been built and whose cultures and customs continue to nurture this land.  As authors, we acknowledge the cultural diversity of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and pay respect to Elders past, present and future. We celebrate the continuous living cultures of First Australians and acknowledge the important contributions Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have and continue to make in Australian society. The authors wrote this textbook on the lands of the Giabal and Jarowair peoples of the Toowoomba area.

Editor’s note

As editor I was delighted to have the opportunity to work with such an amazing project team. I would like to acknowledge the hard work of all members of our team who  conceptualised the project and sourced funding. This textbook is an integral part of the project and  involves  the linkage to a website where readers are invited to provide feedback and information with the aim of co-creating knowledge.  Their dedication and commitment to this project are a testament to the passion and belief they have in making the world a better place by identifying and accepting diversity and working inclusively.  As a team they collaboratively invited other experts in various fields to co-write and be a part of the writing team. I offer a sincere thanks to the dedicated project team.

The work of our Research Assistant Jillian Guy, enabled this project to reach fruition. Thank you Jillian for being understanding, supportive and helpful to all authors and for the initiative shown in helping to assemble the final product.

The project team would like to acknowledge and thank USQ for funding and the support provided for this project, facilitated through the Office for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching. Our writing team would like to sincerely thank Cindy Laine, Associate Director of Media Design and Development (MDD), and her talented staff for their support to create media images used in this text and who supported us to achieve the publication timelines. Thank you MDD team! Their expertise in media design has ensured that our book is  more visually engaging.

We also acknowledge the work of the Scholarship support personnel, especially Janice Kann, Coordinator Awards and Grants, Educational Excellence and Innovation, and Adrian Stagg, Manager (Open Educational Practice), Program Quality and Enhancement who assisted us to complete the book and utilise Pressbooks as the publication platform. Adrian thank you for challenging us to embrace new learning and a new platform for publishing.

Our project team offers a heart-felt thank you to members of the community who engaged with us in our research and to the systems that provided permission for the establishment of productive and ongoing research relationships.

The Core Writing Team

Several authors have co-written chapters and we thank all authors for their contributions.  The project team welcome you to contact them about their work and invite you to co-construct knowledge: how can an uncompromising social justice agenda that is inclusive of others and caters for diversity, be anchored to the needs of a changing population? You are invited to  respond  to this question and provide feedback about our textbook at www.usq.edu.au/open-practice .

Name: Professor Lindy Abawi
Position: Co-Head of School (Education – Academic)
School/College/Section: School of Education, Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts (BELA)
Email: lindy-anne.abawi@usq.edu.au

Name: Associate Professor Charlotte Brownlow
Position: Associate Dean (Graduate Research School)
School/College/Section: Graduate Research School
Email: Charlotte.Brownlow@usq.edu.au

Name: Dr Susan Carter
Position: Lecturer Education
School/College/Section: BELA – SoLASE
Email: Susan.Carter@usq.edu.au

Name: Dr Renee Desmarchelier
Position: Acting Associate Dean Teaching and Learning
School/College/Section: BELA
Email: Renee Desmarchelier@usq.edu.au

Name: Melissa Fanshawe
Position: Lecturer
School/College/Section: BELA – SoLASE
Email: Melissa.Fanshawe@usq.edu.au

Name: Dr Kathryn Gilbey
Position: Senior Lecturer CISER
School/College/Section: BELA – CISA – College for Indigenous Studies, Education and Research
Email: Kathryn.Gilbey@usq.edu.au

Name: Professor Jill Lawrence
Position: Head of School (Humanities & Communication)
School/College/Section: School of Humanities and Communication, Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts (BELA)
Email: Jill.Lawrence@usq.edu.au

Name: Dr Michelle Turner
Position: Lecturer B (Early Childhood Education)
School/College/Section: –BELA – School of Teacher Education and Early Childhood
Email: Michelle.Turner@usq.edu.au

Research Assistant and Author
Name: Dr Jillian Guy
Email: jillianguy80@gmail.com