The curriculum in Australian schools is a highly contentious and political issue. For remote indigenous communities this is even more so. School curriculums in Australia are western culturally based and thus this effects the learning capabilities of indigenous students in remote communities. “Most indigenous Australians living in the Northern Territory want their children to go to school and get an education. They also want their children to learn the ways of their ancestors, to be strong in the knowledge of their indigenous laws and beliefs.”(Linkson, M. 1999, pp. 41-48) School curriculums are for the majority of students, which in Australia is mainly western. The cultural bias in our school curriculums is inextricably linked to the progress of the western civilization and thus rarely takes into account any other cultures. Students of indigenous background often have to cross between cultural confines of school and home. “The role of schools reflect embedded cultural attitudes, expectations and representations about indigenous people.” (Tess Lea, Aggie Wegner, Eva McRae-Williams, Richard Chenhall & Catherine Holmes 2011, pp 265-280) Many remote schools curriculums are principally prejudiced to western cultures and thus have a negative impact on the indigenous students, and thus will consequently affects their level of academic achievement.
Indigenous Australians students cannot possibly learn a non-indigenous curriculum without being aggravated by the western culture taught within. “From the day they begin their formal schooling, Aboriginal children have to confront another world. This is a world in which their own values and culture are denied, their language and communication strategies are challenged and their identity and se...
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Pat Torres & Allan Arnott (1999) Educating for Uncertainty in a Changing World: Issues within an Australian remote indigenous context, Comparative Education, 35:2, 225-234.
Prior, M 2013 'Language and literacy challenges for Indigenous children in Australia', Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 123-137.
Reynolds, R. J. (2002). The search for relevance and identity: The education and socialization of Australian Aboriginal students. International Education, 31(2), 18-32
Richard J. Reynolds (2005) The Education of Indigenous Australian Students: Same Story, Different Hemisphere, Multicultural Perspectives, 7:2, 48-55.
Tess Lea , Aggie Wegner , Eva McRae-Williams , Richard Chenhall & Catherine Holmes (2011) Problematising school space for Indigenous education: teachers’ and parents’ perspectives, Ethnography and Education, 6:3, 265-280.
Educational systems are one of the primary foundations in the development of early childhood teachings and beliefs. “It has been argued that there is an essential relationship between students' culture and the way in which they acquire knowledge, manage and articulate information, and synthesize ideas.”(Barnhardt, 1999; Bell 2004; Kanu, 2005). Lessons taught to young school children are first fundamental steps in shaping their future ideas, opinions, thoughts and behaviors and how that influences how they view the world and those around them. One of the simplest ways to properly educate Canadians about the lives, history and accomplishments of Aboriginal people is through introducing Aboriginal history beginning in early childhood education. Children are the future; if they are given the proper education and tools to correctly inform future generations they hold the power to correct the impact that decades of stigmatization, marginalization, inequality, colonialism, and denial of responsibility has had on Aboriginal life and spirituality. In order to properly educate these children, educators too must be informed. Previously in Canada, Indigenous education was not discouraged but was also not a required mandate in the curriculum. Pa...
What is the connection between official education policies and key events in Aboriginal Australian history? How have Aboriginal people responded to these policies?
A graduate teacher should have a broad knowledge and understanding of cultural differences, including the impact of culture, cultural identity and linguistics backgrounds and the implications of these differences for students from Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal backgrounds. A graduate teacher, when leading discussions or questioning students must consider how they will be received. Korff (2014) provides the example, “Aboriginal students can avoid direct eye contact with an adult as it is considered rude in Aboriginal culture” (para 3). Korff (2014) also suggest that many Aboriginal students do not ask or answer questions, because traditionally, Aboriginal culture is handed down from generation to generation in the form of song, poetry, dance and story- telling. Establishing rapport, celebrating diversity and respecting differences in the classroom e.g., cultural awareness activities and knowing how to talk to and build relationships with students of all cultures and backgrounds, would be an example of how a graduate teacher can demonstrate their understanding of Focus area
In the article by Erica Neeganagwedgin she examines aboriginal education from pre contact, through the Residential Schools and concludes with contemporary issues in education, focusing on women in multiple sections. Neegangagwedgin argues how colonial education curriculum in Canadian schools are marginalizing and oppressing aboriginal students by rarely including their history, heritages and cultural antecedents therefore creating a ‘denial of the selfhood of aboriginal students” (p.28). She starts by comparing the pedagogy differences between Aboriginals and Eurocentric students the stem of differing worldviews which have created this problem as Canada denies to recognize the Aboriginal worldview as legitimate. Bringing light to the idea that
The first Australian Professional Teaching Standard is ‘Know students and how they learn’(AITSL, 2011). Understanding how students learn is a significant component of effective teaching (1.2 AITSL, 2011). Furthermore, effective teachers require an understanding of students physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics (1.1 AITSL, 2011). In addition, APST Standards require teachers to demonstrate both content and pedagogical knowledge through lesson plans (2.1 AITSL, 2011) with the curriculum content being structured and sequenced to facilitate effective learning (2.2 AITSL, 2011). However, it is also critical to have a repertoire of teaching strategies which are responsive to a diverse range of student backgrounds, including linguistic, cultural, religious, and socioeconomic (1.3 AITSL, 2011). An effective learning, in accordance with The Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority, provides learners with general capabilities (knowledge, skills, behaviours and characteristics) and include understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island students learning needs and incorporate differentiated teaching methods to meet the needs of specific
This essay will discuss the Aboriginal Education policies in Victoria and Federally and how these policies impacted upon the children of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. This essay will further analyse the impact these past policies had on the Aboriginal and Torres strait Islanders’ families and children’s education and how current policies were put in place to assist indigenous students’ access to education. Further to this an analysis of how teachers can implement these changes in the curriculum and classroom.
There is a vast inequality between the education of an aboriginal and that of a non-aboriginal person. “Only 31 percent – about half the Canadian average – of the Aboriginal on-reserve population has a high school education” (Center for Social Justice, 2011). This is a staggering number when we stop to consider how hard it is in our society to become successful in life when one does not have at least a high school education. In the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms every citizen of Canada is guaranteed an education and yet the students on these reserves...
Though the film mentioned the impact that residential schools had and still has on the aboriginal people, I felt that this issue needed to be stressed further because the legacy of the schools is still extremely prominent in aboriginal communities today. The film refers to the fact that residential schools harmed the aboriginal people because they were not able to learn their culture, which has resulted in the formation of internalized oppression within in the group. “The...
Indigenous students in schools have made it clear as to what they want and need from the education system. Knowledge of Indigenous humanity and diversity, the history of colonialism, local history and contemporary culture, indigenous knowledge, languages and worldviews are topic in which they want to become evident in school system that are able to help with their health and wellness. There has been and there are continuing attempts to reform First Nations education funding. Aboriginal children and adults continue to face these unsuccessful attempts which continue to horrify Canadians.
...digenous students. The historical conditions, combined with the views and attitudes enforced on the Aboriginal race today and generations of low socio-economic status from a lifetime of disadvantage has caused educational disengagement. This essentially culminates in a system where the Aboriginal youth will forever be disadvantaged which has implication for their attainment of higher education, employment and quality of life. Programs to improve the schooling success have demonstrated only small, if any improvements. Greater government focus tailored to the specific cultural needs of the Indigenous students is required as well as better education and training for teachers to manage the diversity in the classroom. Perhaps increasing the skill set in Aboriginal cultural values would place greater importance on their education, leading to increase education outcome,
The education of Aboriginal people is a challenge that has been a concern for many years and is still an issue. However, it remains the best way young people can climb out of poverty. With the colonialization and the oppression of Aboriginals, there have been many lasting side effects that continue to be affecting the Aboriginal youth today. “While retention and graduation rates have improved among urban Aboriginal population, an educational gap still remains between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal youth in urban settings” (Donovan, 127). Many suffer from a diminished self-worth, as they do not feel valued and feel inferior to their classmates. In this essay I am going to outline the reasons Aboriginals are struggling, discuss what is being done
To what extent have the views of the Indigenous population impacted on the educational outcomes for Australian aboriginal teenagers.
(Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2016). As a Pre-Service Teacher specialising in Early Childhood Education, it is imperative to understand how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities were treated in the past and the impact that this may have on Indigenous families in the
CAFCA. (2011). Working with Indigenous children, families and communities Lessons from. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family
The IK embedded in the stories reveal how such knowledge is instrumental in ushering in and mitigating ecological catastrophe (Woollett, 2007). Cajete (2000) observes that “ultimately, the goal of Indigenous education is to perpetuate a way of life through the generations and through time. The purpose of all education is to instruct the next generation about what is valued and important to a society” (p. 184). In Canada, Native schools have begun to emerge where Native people (of particular tribal groups) conduct education for children in their own languages and develop a curriculum which is based on reclaiming traditional knowledges and worldviews, for example, the importance of land and environment and what land and environment means to Aboriginal