Analysis Of Indigenous Literacy Strategies

In regards to the AITSL standard 1.4, it is essential to include a curriculum and teaching practices, which respects Indigenous peoples perspectives in order to build positive learning relationships between educators and their students in the classroom. Educators can incorporate various approaches in many ways; however, they must ensure that the curriculum is applicable and respectful towards Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander knowledge, ensure they continuously develop and release engaging and culturally inclusive curriculum in learning environments. As for literacy and numeracy accomplishments, it is essential to advance in teaching practices of valuing and respecting the knowledge of including Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander language.

The reading focuses on two main points regarding Indigenous students school attendance. The first of which calls attention to the fact that Aboriginal students are at the highest risk of regular non-attendance due to a range of cultural, medical and school-based related issues. This is a statement that is supported by numerous journals and articles including, but not limited to; ‘School attendance and retention of Indigenous Australian students’ (Purdie & Buckley, 2010) and ‘Indigenous school attendance: Creating expectations that are ‘really high’ and ‘highly real’.’ (Dreise, Milgate, Perrett, & Meston, 2016). The 2006 Australian census also found an alarming difference in attendance between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students that only grew as the children aged (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2010).

The Australian Curriculum currently is struggling with incorporating indigenous perspectives as a key focus in the curriculum properly. It is lacking the ability to normalise indigenous knowledge and instead represents

60% of aboriginal children are significantly behind non-indigenous Australians by the time they start years one. Only 40% of aboriginal children stay at school through to year twelve. Causes of this include language because English is their second language, inappropriate context; material being taught does not relate to the aboriginals lives. Over crowed house where aboriginal children cannot learn to do homework is a big factor in them being behind in education.

In this essay we will try to provide a brief overview of educational issues of Aboriginal communities in Australia and Victoria and the elements that influence the educational outcomes of young Aboriginal people, such as culture and contemporary challenges. In addition to this, the inclusion of Aboriginal content in the Victorian curriculum and classroom practices will be explored as well as contemporary government policies.

Teachers in Australia have the responsibility of catering to the learning needs and abilities of the students in their classroom. Additionally they are also responsible for catering to the unique cultural backgrounds of each student, in particular the cultures of Indigenous Australians. The teacher can cater to the diverse and complex Indigenous cultures by creating a learning environment that is based on effective student engagement for Aboriginal students. Studies have shown that Aboriginal students are currently not academically achieving as well as non-Aboriginal students (What Works: Core Issue 5). Closing the academic performance gap is considered a national priority. As a result, the Aboriginal Cultural Standards Framework has been developed to ensure that schools are delivering the best possible education to all students, specifically those who identify as Aboriginal. During term 3, 2017, I completed my final practicum at Baler Primary School in a year 4 classroom. The students in my class came from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds, many of which identified as Aboriginal. Throughout this essay I will use examples from my final practicum at Baler Primary School in South Hedland to discuss how to make learning engaging, accessible and culturally responsive for Aboriginal students.

Perhaps it is no surprise that, not providing libraries etc. within the Attawapiskat temporary schools due to poor funding, leads Indigenous student to have a low academic achievement. Therefore, poor funding and under resources of schools on reserves like Attawapiskat is another direct reason why Indigenous students are more likely not to finish high school in comparison to non-indigenous (Pidgeon, 2015). Hence, their inability to finish high school will affect their ability to obtain greater life chances of employment.

Embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in the curriculum has now become a high priority amoungst schools across the nation. The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) (2013), recognises “that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures cross-curriculum priority is designed for all students to engage in reconciliation, respect and recognition of the world’s oldest continuous living cultures”. By including this, the curriculum will continue to see Indigenous culture throughout school become part of the norm. Furthermore Indigenous Australian perspectives can and should be included in the classroom and any barriers that arise can be overcome.

Education is fundamental to growth, the growth of the individual, and the growth of a nation. Anthropologically this can be seen from the earliest of developments of human societies where practices emerge to ensure the passing of accumulated knowledge from one generation to the next. In the centuries since the invasion and colonisation of Australia in 1788, colonist authorities and governments have dominated the making of policies regarding most major aspects of Australian life, including the lives of Indigenous Australians. The enactment of these policies and legislation, whether targeted at society as a whole or directly at education, has had significant and most often negative causal impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, resulting in not only poor educational outcomes, but the loss of cultural identity, the development of serious issues in health and wellbeing, and the restriction of growth of Aboriginal communities. Moreover, there has been an ongoing pattern of the adoption of ill-informed policies in Australia, resulting in these poor outcomes and cultural decimation. Aboriginal people have developed a wariness, a mistrust, and even an attitude of avoidance to engage with non-Indigenous officials and those who they associate as their representatives, i.e. personnel working within

It is vital for teachers to recognise indigenous literacies and aboriginal English in all classrooms as it builds a sense of equality and a non-discriminating environment. As a future teacher I believe that it is my role to create a classroom that mirrors these key factors, as it will build the foundations for a nourishing learning environment. This type of learning environment will aid in linking the students parents and the surrounding community together that encourages an equal society.

Throughout the last fifty years two diametrically opposed views have played out. H.C. Coombs argued that the priority was to use the curriculum and teaching methods to rebuild and sustain traditional Aboriginal culture destroyed by colonisation, racism and oppression. He supported Moira Kingston’s view that all Aborigines had a “world view derived from the Dreaming and irreconcilable with the demands of a modern industrialised market economy.” Sir Paul Hasluck represented the opposing assimiliationist view that schools should give priority to literacy, numeracy and technical and scientific knowledge to asssist integration in the workforce.Many theorists and practitioners have focused on the one third of students in Aboriginal schools with a specifically Aboriginal education rather than the majority attending the same schools as non-Indigenous children. In either case major problems were indentified with Aboriginal education by 2000.

As an Indigenous Education Advisor, I’ve witnessed a shift in the commitment to educate non-Indigenous students about First Nation, Métis and Inuit people in post-secondary institutions. My experience in developing an Indigenous Awareness Week and conducting assessments to measure the learning outcomes of non-Indigenous students has led me to want to do research in this area. I would like to further look at long-term effects of Indigenous programming for non-Indigenous students to determine how to develop effective and valuable Indigenous programming in higher education. What attracts me to the Department of Integrated Studies in Education are the positive experiences and interactions I’ve had with students and professors from the department. Both Dr. Claudia Mitchell’s and Dr. Naomi Nichols’s research appeals to me and I believe can give a unique perspective to my work.

Prior to the implementation of First Four Hours Policy in 2009, the Northern Territory had initially introduced Aboriginal bilingual education in 1972 with the election of Gough Whitlam’s Labor Government. Over the course of its entirety, including through the 1999 name change to ‘Two-Way Learning’, thirty bilingual schools operated in the Northern Territory at different times, supporting up to thirty-four different languages and dialects (REFERENCE). In 1992, a house of Representatives Standing Committee released A matter of survival, its report of the Inquiry into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language maintenance. This report emphasised the value of bilingual education, especially through section 6.52 which stated that “the Committee

By the late 70s, the government had moved towards a hybrid system of having bilingual educators use indigenous language in primary schools to teach the national Spanish-based curriculum with Spanish materials (Hamel, “Indigenous Education” 275). After failing once again to produce positive educational outcomes, the government moved to a “bilingual and bicultural” model in the 80s, then an “intercultural” one in the 90s that is still in use today (Hamel, “Indigenous Education” 275). In 1991, the Mexican constitution was amended to explicitly recognize indigenous rights for the first time by promising to “protect and promote the development of [indigenous] languages [and] cultures” (Hamel, “Indigenous Education” 276). This right was further elaborated

Schools do this by promoting attendance, ensuring literacy and numerical skills are at a standard level, ensuring that indigenous students are completing year 12 and supporting indigenous students who wish to achieve higher education qualifications. (Department of Indigenous affairs, 2014) As well as the $17.5 billion in funding that the Australian government provides to public schools, the Australian government gave $23.8 million to the Flexible literacy for Remote Primary School programme, which helps all students in remote areas but assists indigenous students primarily as there are higher concentrations of aboriginal communities in remote areas. (Department of Education and Training, 2016)