Title Publisher Year Source Title Pages Total Pages Description (note) ISBN Lecturer Unit Codes
Indigenous perspectives and cultural identity (Chapter 4) / Clair Anderson and Maggie Walter. South Melbourne, Vic. : Oxford University Press, 2010. 2010 Diversity and inclusion in Australian schools / edited by Mervyn Hyde, Lorelei Carpenter and Robert Conway. 63-87 25 396 p. 9780195558838 Slee, June ETL414
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Chapter 4
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
To identify ways to develop inclusive educational settings and foster educational achievement To understand the difference between difference and deficit To consider the nature of culture and identity for Indigenous students To reflect on alternative ways to address inequalities To understand the context of Indigenous education in Australia To identify the impediments to successful education To consider the impact of poor teacher-student relationships on learning To reflect on five examples of working differently
KEY TERMS
absenteeism IESIP (Indigenous Education Strategic Initiatives Programme) mentoring NAEC (National Aboriginal Education Committee) NAEP (National Aboriginal Education Policy) NATSIS (National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Survey) NIELNS (National Indigenous English Literacy and Numeracy Strategy) otitis media RCADC (Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody) tutoring two-way education
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Introduction
Current estimates put the number of Indigenous people at 458,500 people, or 2.4 per cent of the total Australian population. Two distinct groups-Australian Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders-make up this total, with 90 per cent identifying as Aboriginal, 6 per cent identifying as Torres Strait Islander and 4 per cent as both (ABS 2008). These populations are not homogeneous and have significant demographic, social and cultural differences. In contrast to the wider Australian population, the Indigenous population is a young and growing one. Almost 40 per cent of Indigenous people are aged below 15 years, compared with 20 per cent of the non-Indigenous population, and Indigenous young people make up around 5 per cent of the schoolage population (ABS 2008). This means that on average about one in every 20 Australian school students is Indigenous and, if distributed evenly, every classroom in Australian would contain at least one Indigenous class member. Indigenous students, however, are not distributed evenly across the Australian school population-geographically, socio-economically or by educational achievement. Geographically, Indigenous students are more likely to live in remote or rural areas, isolated from educational services, although a full third of the Indigenous population resides in our capital cities. In socio-economic terms, marginalisation, poverty, poor health and difficult home circumstances, among other disadvantages, cumulate to restrict and frustrate the access and successful participation of Indigenous students in education. These distributional elements are vitally important to understand the educational position of Aboriginal children today and to develop strategies for maximising their educational outcomes. A crucial element is the place of, and practices around, Indigenous culture and identity within the Australian educational system. For many Indigenous students and their families there is a clash between dominant educational culture and curriculum and their own culture and identity. Not only is English not always the first (or even second) language of many Indigenous students, but for those who predominantly speak English, the cultural use and meanings of language can be very different. Indigenous ways of learning and interacting and non-Indigenous ways of learning and interacting also do not necessarily coincide. The result of such cultural differences can be an exclusion of the Indigenous student from the effective work of the classroom, even if the student is still actually attending class. A lack of recognition of Indigenous culture and identity from the school culture and identity can result in the effective exclusion of the Indigenous student and their family from the school community. This chapter is centrally about the place of culture and identity for Indigenous students in Australia and the ways to develop, foster and encourage educational
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participation and success. The purpose is to provide educators with tools and strategies to develop Indigenous inclusive educational practices and settings. To achieve this task we begin by outlining the current socia-demographic and economic position of IndigenousAustralians and also the evidence around Indigenous education participation and success. Within this we pay special attention to Indigenous child health and how this may impact on learning and participation. While these sections necessarily highlight the vast social and economic inequities currently experienced by Indigenous people, we do not want the focus to be on the negatives. Rather, in the major sections relating to Indigenous culture and identity within education we concentrate on tried and tested strategies for engaging students.
CASE STUDY
Absenteeism in Tasmania
On anyone school day in Tasmania, 22 Aboriginal children are at home under school suspension orders, according to figures released by the Education Department in 2005. While 103 schoolchildren are suspended daily in Tasmania, Aboriginal children are three times more likely to be suspended. The Education Minister said Aboriginal children were suspended more often and for longer periods because they were more violent in the playground, or for swearing or rudeness to teachers. However, the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre claimed the 'shocking' number of suspensions was due to entrenched prejudice and intolerance. The Centre's legal director Michael Mansell said, 'These students cannot hope to get an education if they are continually being suspended from schoo!.' He also said, 'The issue here is not the kids' behaviour; it's about whether the education system can adjust to people being different.' The answer, he believes, lies in making school more attractive and relevant to Aboriginal children and that means teaching Aboriginal children more about their history, their culture and their families.
Source: The Mercury, 30 August 2005, pp. 1-2.
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