1 Traversing the Chasm – Cultural and generational confluence in teaching science Janine Oldfield AIATSIS National Indigenous Studies Conference 2011: Young and Old, Connecting Generations 19-22 September, Canberra How do we support and include entry of young and older Indigenous students into the sciences? This perennial issue for educational institutions across Australia has been met with lamentations in regards to the apparent failure of our Indigenous students to engage successfully with the quintessential elements of Western thought. However, a number of Northern Territory tertiary educators at Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education have adopted a significantly different approach in teacher education with considerable success. The approach usurps the traditional positioning of Indigenous students as the otheƌ iŶ ƌefeƌeŶĐe to aŶ aŶglo Ŷoƌŵ aŶd places Indigenous knowledge and pedagogies at the centre of science studies. It uses narrative (important in external representation; organizational principle and cognitive processes), explicit instruction, collaborative and inquiry learning (from the Academy of Sciences Primary Connections), Indigenous cultural and linguistic knowledge to link elders with youth and allow the transmission of both traditional Indigenous knowledge and the construction of western scientific conceptual understandings. This insures the cultural safety, the maintenance of a strong Indigenous identity and western scientific understandings for current and subsequent generations. In addition, it allows for a confluence of diverse cognitive understandings which both enriches Australias iŶtelleĐtual ŵilieu aŶd ĐoŶfoƌŵs to BatĐheloƌ IŶstitutes philosophLJ of both-ways education. Aboriginality has been regarded too long as a detriment to achievement in western academic institutions. In contrast, at Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Education, we regard Indigenous knowledge as the foundation of academic success. Indigenous identity and knowledge to promote academically successful environments for Indigenous people is linked to the United Nations rights of