I drafted this comic not long after finishing my job as a content producer for the Burra Learning Place at the Australian Museum. The learning space was a blend of Western science and First Nations knowledge systems with a strong leaning towards emphasising how specific, practical, diverse, and unrecognised First Nations learning and knowledges are.
Unfortunately, creating this space also came with some really ugly discrimination towards the fair treatment of both First Nations and differently-abled educators and education styles.
The main point I wanted to get across in both the exhibition and this comic is that western education is only one way of doing things - and it doesn't work for everyone. During and since the Burra exhibition, I have had my mind blown so many times by so many incredible people who have demonstrated this with amazing passion, determination, commitment, and enthusiasm.
People are being left behind by the strangle hold western education systems have on knowledge and teaching. These people are bright, curious, intelligent, creative, thoughtful, imaginative, strong, capable, and more. The time for defining a person's intellect and ability on their test scores and how many useless facts they can regurgitate is over - and my comic is a comment on valuing practical, experience-based and Country-informed learning as just one of many non-Western ways of knowing the world.
*Artworks and images of artworks belong to Sara Kian-Judge 2022.
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