The Discourse Of Whiteness Has Impacted On The Educational Outcomes For Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Peoples

This essay will analyse the contested concepts of social inclusion and exclusion in education. While there are numerous social groups whom experience the impact of educational inclusion and exclusion the essay will particularly focus on what these concepts entail for indigenous students within the Australian schooling system. The essay will examine the multifaceted nature of social inclusion and exclusion in education by utilising the contested grounds, which substantiate debate surrounding these concepts. Relying on a number of academic literature and evidence to explore discourse surrounding how policy which governs institutions, pedagogy and curriculum, has constituted social inclusion and exclusion within Indigenous contexts. As well as how intergenerational experiences and issues have disadvantaged the outcomes of Indigenous students in engaging in a ‘Eurocentric’ education environment. Concluding the essay will discuss practical suggestions, which would in theory enhance the effectiveness of the current education policy and teacher practice towards including indigenous cultures and learners within the classroom. Considering mechanisms to increase the potential to include and engage a broader scope of indigenous learners across the board.

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

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.

Embedding Indigenous perspectives are paramount for all students to advance as learners/active participants within society. Entrenching Indigenous perspectives via our mandated curriculum and three cross-curriculum framework concepts simultaneously helps learners develop a sense of identity. Students’ will build connections to ‘country/place’, ‘people’ via language and experiences, and ‘societies’ through the contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Through my life, I have seen several different approaches to Indigenous people’s rights and importance in Australia. I have been fortunate enough to visit Ayers Rock and undertake a tour which allowed me to see Aboriginal culture in art and drawings as well as hearing Dreamtime stories from guides. I have also witnessed family friends who have been severely racist and disrespectful of Indigenous heritage and history. I also was lucky to work with some Indigenous students who were in Reception during my Professional Experience 1, and I was able to see first-hand how a culture clash can affect a student’s behaviour. I feel that even before entering this course, I have had the privilege of being able to observe both positives and negatives

Improving academic outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders is mired in inherited and contemporary difficulties. Because of poor policies and pedagogy, generations fear and lack confidence in the education system (Harrison and Sellwood, 2013). It is, therefore, imperative that teachers have a range of resources and strategies for adapting the curriculum to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. This should include fostering pride in identity, making connections to community and land, and respecting language variation and culture. In doing so, teachers meet expectations for Australian professional teaching standards and the community.

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.

The education system which has been operating in Australia and in New South Wales since the time of white settlement has failed to meet the minimal needs of Indigenous Australians. There is a long history of inadequacies in educational programs where Aboriginal Australians are concerned. Unfortunately, it has only been extremely recently (in approximately the last decade), that the importance of adapting the teaching styles in the classrooms to meet the needs of the Aboriginal children of New South Wales and Torres Straits Islanders has begun to be realised (Perry, 2006, 1-2). Part of this has been an acknowledgement that there are fundamental differences existing between the values of the Indigenous and the non-Indigenous Australian. To wit, Australian Aboriginal communities tend to make their focus the welfare of the group, while non-Indigenous Australians tend more to concern themselves with their own individual wellbeing (Harrison, 2004,

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.

In modern day, it is time to recognize the misjudgments and shed light to Indigenes representation. A poem written by Jack Davis named “Integration” illustrates how Australia needs to improve from their black history and start to allow for “two worlds to combine” (Davis). Australia has created a distinction between these two worlds. They claim to show acceptance and therefore must carry their promises into reality and allow for two cultures to unite. The poet includes phrases in the form of reality. “There is no need for mocking” (Davis), this must be taken into strong consideration, especially by the Caucasian people. They have spent centuries mocking, judging and insulting the vulnerable. If they want to express their acceptance and acknowledgment, they must start to educate young minds, impact how they view Indigenes and represent them in positive ways even if there were some wrong actions. They seem to extract the smaller percentage of negatives and exaggerate them in a form to allow for white people to create a preconceived and racist view on Indigenes. Australia needs to represent themselves with a positive outlook and start to develop their actions that they have undertaken, such as saying an acknowledgment to Indigenes during school, work and in relevant times. It is vital to view and study the past to be able to learn from the recognized mistakes. “The past is done” (Davis), although the past won’t come back for them to act differently, they must choose to change their ways now. Choose to take away their bias minds. Take away their brutal words and actions, to develop a lasting combination of both cultures in which they represent in a positive and influential way. Indigenes have shown to be positively influential role models and figures that young and mature minds should aspire to be

This essay aims to discuss school and classroom best practice to support Indigenous Australian students. The impacts of past policies and legislation still affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders today, and it is important for teachers and whole schools to consider issues relating to these. Indigenous placement and displacement, the impact of socio-economic status on Indigenous students and the health and well-being of Indigenous students can be contributing factors to the education outcomes of Indigenous students and this essay will discuss these. In addition, effective teaching strategies and examples of resources that can help promote and provide quality educational services are included.

The structure of this paper will follow the Cultural Competency Framework as a means for exploring the above stated speeches. This framework moves through knowledge; informed practice/informed decision; and positive/effective learning and development. At the knowledge stage the content, importance and effect of the speeches will be explored, as well as their context. To address informed practice/informed decision the paper looks more closely at the issues which are raised in the speeches and their impact on Indigenous Australians. Finally positive/effective learning and development will be acknowledged through the exploration of the education implications that these issues can have in the classroom.

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.