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This is “Education in Review” – episode 1 – Indigenous education

Hosted by Jessica Moore

Hello everyone, my name is Jessica – I would like to begin by acknowledging the

Gadigal people of the Eora nation, on whose land I am broadcasting from today. I
wish to pay my respect to their Elders both past and present, and further extend this
respect to any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People who may be listening.

According to the Australian Bureau of statistic, in 2013 there were 3,645,519

students attending school in Australia, of those 184,213 were Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander. Mainly attending government schools, Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander full-time students accounted for just over 5% of all full-time students
(Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2013). In fact, 1 in every 15 students attending
government school is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, compared to 1 in
every 40 students in Catholic schools and 1 in every 52 students in independent
schools", (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014).

De Bortoli & Thomson,(2010) upon review of data collected from The Programme for
International Student Assessment (PISA) between 2000-2006, summarised that in
Australia students in rural and remote communities, with lower socioeconomic
status, and Indigenous students have lower academic performance than their peers.

McInerney (2007, pp 3.) highlights, that pre-school participation by disadvantaged

groups from poorer communities is low by international standards, which
subsequently leads to lower levels of achievement throughout the schooling years.

To provide some insight into previous and current fields of thought, I have
interviewed two women regarding their experiences and outlook in relation to
education. Both women are of a similar generation and currently work with
Indigenous and low socioeconomic students.

The first woman interviewed is Aunty Elsie Smith, an Aboriginal elder from my local
community. Aunty Elsie grew up as part of a large family in an area highly populated
by Indigenous people. Her work within the community now is fundamentally focused
on supporting the younger generation to achieve their full potential. She is
passionate about both indigenous and non-indigenous students receiving adequate
support from the school and the community to enable them to thrive in an
educational setting.

She spoke to me about her schooling experience and how she feels educational
opportunities have changed vastly since her time at school.

Though Aunty Elsie had declined to be recorded for this podcast, she has given
permission to repeat her transcript words.

"There wasn't much for us to do, you know? Especially as women... even the boys...
they didn't really have much chance. We all left you know... there was 7 in my
house... and we all left school. Some of 'em got a job... but, nah. Not many had a
'career' as you'd say. I think the teachers, they would just go ‘oh, you black fellas,
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youse can’t read and youse can’t write... so we didn’t try. ‘Cause they said we can’t,
so we can’t. "

Do you think education and the opportunities provided have changed for indigenous
students? How so?

"These days they love school, the kids... they know they can go in there and they
can do something... and they can do the work, and they can understand it. It wasn't
like that before, you know? Sometimes the teacher would say "oh. You. You don't
know nothing, and you never will!" But they don't say that to 'em now. They say "
"gee, you're doing real well my boy, real deadly" and those little fellas, they know it
too.. that's why they get up in the morning and they get excited and they go. They
come straight round here too and we all sit up and do the homework. More and more
kids come round. I think the teachers are telling 'em they can, so they know they
can"

Do you think teachers have a larger role to play in supporting students than they did
previously?

"It's the teacher who show them that they got it. You see all these black fellas all over
the TV living up large and you know these little fellas are thinking that can be them,
and they can, they know they can. But even a big footy star is nothing these days if
he didn't go to school and learn. And they know it. They need the support and these
teachers here know it too."

The second woman interviewed for this podcast is Diane Lake, a principal at a
primary school known to be affiliated with the local school in Aunty Elsie's
community. Diane grew up in a wealthier community before moving to a rural
location to begin teaching. Diane has been teaching for over 25 years, many of
which were spent teaching in rural and outback communities. She has also has
extensive experience working with Indigenous students.

Can you tell me how you feel education has changed since you first began working?

"Yes. Obviously you are aware of the changes in policy and curriculum, but I feel the
greatest change relates to teacher mentality. All the young teachers coming through
now, are so passionate – that would be the main the difference currently. When I first
began teaching, many other teachers didn’t choose this career for the passion of
education; they either fell into the field, or were enticed by the holidays. But now, with
the amount of work that teachers have to do, you would have to be crazy if this
wasn’t something you really cared about.”

And what about Indigenous students? Do you feel they are currently given the same
opportunities as non-indigenous students? How much closer are we to ‘closing the
gap’?

"Closing the gap, in my opinion, is rubbish. I read somewhere at the rate we are
going, it could take something ridiculous like Four hundred and ninety two years to
actually achieve gap closure between non-indigenous and indigenous student
achievements. Yes, the opportunities should be, and most likely are there for all
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students should they wish to take advantage of them. Maybe – It’s just about the
teachers finding a way to cater to each student’s individual needs without taking
away from teaching the class as a whole. Some teachers struggle with that”

Also, I think that historically we have been conditioned to have low expectations of
indigenous students. Whereby we expect mainstream success at best for these
students. I think now, and moving forward, we are to play a vital role in promoting
diversity, while encouraging and even demanding higher expectations of indigenous
students. I think we need to continue to provide adequate resources, particularly
relating to lower socio-economic areas; through information, planning and dedicated
teachers, while working with the communities to promote suitable opportunities for
all. I believe that we can move forward more quickly by raising expectations of
indigenous students from both within and through external forces.

The opinions of both these woman interviewed coincide with the beliefs of Chris
Sarra, the founder of the Stronger, Smarter Institute for indigenous students.

Sarra believes that the use of language giving the perspective that indigenous
students are continually falling behind due to shortfalls in their external situation
negatively impacts on students self esteem and self awareness (Sarra, 2008). This
train of thought is also held by McNaughton & Mei Kuin Lai (2008), who feel that
agendas echoed such as "closing the gap" whereby resources are specifically
allocated to schools for indigenous students to "catch up", promotes negative
assumptions. In fact, such stereotypes have been so heavily socialized through the
community it has become part of the indigenous communities identity (Gorringe et al,
2011; Sarra 2005).

Sarra conducted research, revealing the negative and inaccurate perceptions held
by mainstream Australia of what being Aboriginal means. He found assumptions of
alcoholism, laziness, welfare dependency and violence (Sarra 2005, 2011a p.77).
This was vastly contrasting to Aboriginal self-perceptions. He found communities and
individuals felt pride and respect for traditions and family. He saw ways of linking the
land and spirituality (Sarra, 2011a p.102). He found that existing thoughts tended
towards best practices in helping Indigenous students to fit into mainstream
Australia, which lead to these students being taught differently and allowing for lower
expectations of success. His Stronger Smarter philosophy in comparison, allows for
indigenous students to believe in themselves, encourages a sense of cultural identity
and belonging that some students lacked.

De Bortoli & Thompson, (2010. pp 96) also confirm that a sense of belonging at
school for non-indigenous students does affect learning outcomes.

Perso, (2012, pp 17) said in regards to classroom relationships, that students

respect teachers; however, if the teacher does not embrace the student’s world as
stated previously a loss of respect may occur. This is particularly true of Indigenous
students who may feel that their culture and way of learning is not valued. It is also
recommended by Perso, (2012, pp 70) to achieve a culturally responsive school, that
teacher’s, interact with the community and become aware of its identity in order for
authentic cross-cultural teaching to occur.
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I will leave you with this short message Uploaded to YouTube on Jun 4, 2011 from
Sarra which sums up his view on classroom relationships and achieving success.

I hope this podcast was beneficial for those of you seeking to learn more about the
topic

My name is Jessica Moore, Thank you for listening.

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References

Australian Bureau of Statistics, (2013). Statistics, Students. Retrieved from

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4221.0main+features42013

Australian Bureau of Statistics, (2014). Media Release. Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander students staying at school longer; national student/teacher ratios
stable. Retrieved from
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/4221.0Media%20
Release12013?
opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=4221.0&issue=2
013&num=&view=

De Bortoli, L., & Thomson, S. (2010). Contextual factors that influence the
achievement of Australia’s Indigenous students: Results from PISA 2000–
2006: Camberwell, Victoria: Australian Council for Educational Research
Press. Retrieved from http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1006&context=ozpisa

Gorringe, S., Mithaka, Ross, J., Bunuda, & Fforde, C. (2011). Will the real Aborigine
please stand up': stereotypes and changing the conversation. Retrieved from
http://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/products/discussion_paper/gorringe-
ross-fforde-dp28-real-aborigines-stereotypes.pdf

Harrison, N. E. (2004). Indigenous education and the adventure of insight: Learning

and teaching in Indigenous classrooms. Flaxton: Post Pressed.

McConaghy, C. (2000). Rethinking Indigenous education: Culturalism, colonialism

and the politics of knowing. Flaxton: Post Pressed.

McInerney, P. (2007) From Naive Optimism to Robust Hope: Sustaining a

commitment to social justice in schools and teacher education in neoliberal
times, Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 35:3, 257-272, DOI:
10.1080/13598660701447213

Perso, T. (2012) A review & synthesis of the literature, cultural responsiveness and
school education, with particular focus of Australia's First People. Retrieved
from http://ccde.menzies.edu.au/sites/default/files/Literature%20review
%20Cultural %20Responsiveness%20and%20School%20Education%20March
%202012% 20FINAL.pdf

Sarra, C. (2014). Stronger Smarter, High-Expectations Relationships A

Foundation for Quality Learning Environments in all Australian Schools.
Retrieved from
http://strongersmarter.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/SSI-HER-Position-
Paper-Final-lowres.pdf

Sarra, C, (201, June 4). The importance of teacher expectations. Retrieved from
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https://youtu.be/oP_JoO7lc0o