ID: 110200914 Teaching and learning in Aboriginal Education

Assessment 2: Essay

1. Harrison (2011, p. 168) argues that 'Memories of bad laws and regulations make many Aboriginal parents
feel uncomfortable about coming to school'. Discuss this argument and suggest ways that schools can
effectively build community trust and collaboration.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been treated unfairly by western society. Western
society created bad laws and regulations built to help Aboriginal people, laws that were humiliating
to their culture. Between 1788-1967 policies such as Social Darwinism, The White Australian Policy
with the forced removal of Aboriginal children from parents, the relocation of Aboriginal people and
assimilation were put into place by white Australians to rid the Aboriginality from Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islanders (Price 2012). There are many policies which still affect the Indigenous
community today because of how confronting they were. Consequently aboriginal people are
uncomfortable with government policies and organisations this includes the education system and
schools. . It is understandable that Aboriginal people resent the schooling system run by the white
government. As a proper education is a key to success, schools need to create environments that
are welcoming for Aboriginal people. Teachers need to implement strategies to build community
trust and collaboration. This paper will discuss the poor education system designed for Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander people in the past which still affects Aboriginal people today this includes
assimilation, programs and projects, non-Indigenous educators (Price 2012). The unequal
relationship has been passed down through generations affecting the education of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander students (Harrison 2011). Multiple strategies will be discussed within the
paper which suggests ways schools and teachers can build effective community trust and
collaboration.

Between 1788 and the 1800’s European settlers decided that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people were uneducable. Before the 1967 referendum the government had control over education
for all Australian people. A very poor standard of education was offered to Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islanders (Price 2012). Westernised society tried to eliminate the Aboriginality out of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Missions were built and Aboriginal children were
removed from their families and placed in these missions far from their homes. It was said that
‘Missionaries were built to civilise the savage through Christianity’ (Rose 2012, p. 72). White
Australians created these missions to help the Aboriginal community assimilate (Rose 2012). These
missions and assimilation processes still hold bad memories with Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people. Today’s students will have families that are still affected by these processes,
making Aboriginal parents uncomfortable about sending their child to school.

By the 1920s Australian history was told incorrectly and taught through schools. The incorrect
history was told in a way which excluded Aboriginal and Torre Strait Islander people. True Aboriginal
history had disappeared. The new history stated that Aboriginal people were helpless and primitive,
Europeans were further civilized so it was inevitable that the Aboriginals had to be taken over and
guided (Carter 2006). History being taught incorrectly is disrespectful and it is understandable that
parents feel uncomfortable about the schooling system when incorrect information about their
history has been taught.

Programs and projects were put into place after the 1967 referendum between 1980-2000 to
improve and assist education for Aboriginal and Torre Strait Islander people (Price 2012). Some of
these programs are Aboriginal Students Support and Parental Awareness, National Indigenous
ID: 110200914 Teaching and learning in Aboriginal Education
Assessment 2: Essay

English Literacy and Numeracy Strategy, Strategic results project, Parents School Partnership
Initiative, Indigenous Education Ambassadors Program and Parental and Community Engagement
Program (Price 2012, p.2-16). While these programs had good intentions they weren’t widely
supported and had limited resources put into them. This demonstrates that the westernised society
didn’t care or fully understand about the Indigenous culture (Buckskin 2012; Price 2012).
Westernised schools were not accepting of difference and despite the fact that they thought they
were helping the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, these programs and projects were
build to assimilate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to become Westernised (Price 2012).
This is humiliating and disrespectful for a culture. Education was focused on religion, priests were
teachers therefore the content of education was religious, not many could read or write. Still today
quality education for Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander students is making slow progress.
Teachers are the key component to making change and programs have largely been aimed at
Aboriginal and Torre Strait Islander students and parents and not directed at the actual teachers.
Programs that have involved teachers have had the most impact, making them aware of cultural and
language differences, valuing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and raising attendance
(Price 2012). Some Aboriginal parents feel uncomfortable about coming to school due to the
schooling system, support by the westernised community and their limited knowledge of Aboriginal
and Torre Strait Islander people.

Still today there is a massive gap in the education system, it is important to have more Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander educators as decision makers. They are the ones who understand what it
feels like and know what needs to occur for educational support and success, for so long it has been
non-Aboriginal people making decisions. Teachers make the difference so a change needs to occur
with the schooling system to support teachers in educating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people. (Buckskin 2012). Teachers have a challenge to bring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people back into main stream education. The education system has failed to provide support to the
educators of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students resulting in their parents having concerns
with mainstream education. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities want their children
to succeed the reality though that the mainstream education system has struggled to engage
Indigenous children (Buckskin 2012).

When the national apology took place in 2008 it seemed as though the Indigenous culture would
finally be respected and given the chance to gain pride and contribute to Australian society however
it is still a slow process (Buckskin 2012). In 2007 Rudd said there needed to be more resources
provided to Indigenous children, to increase the numbers meeting national literacy and numeracy
standards. The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Action Plan came up with
more culturally inclusive education outcomes for Indigenous students (Buckskin 2012). As educators
it is important to be aware of the plan and policies, and to make parents feel welcomed in schools.
Educators and the government need to show leadership to the rest of the Australian community by
demonstrating respect toward the Indigenous cultures by basing actions on closing the gap (Buckskin
2012).

From 1991 the Australian nation has been trying to reconcile with Indigenous Australians from how
Aboriginal and Torre Strait Islander peoples were treated in the past. The government released a
report know as Reconciliation this report focused mainly on education (Short 2005). This
reconciliation report is a step up in assisting Aboriginal Students though more needs to be done.
ID: 110200914 Teaching and learning in Aboriginal Education
Assessment 2: Essay

Bad laws and regulations have left unpleasant memories associated with the schooling system for
many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families. It is important as an educator to build
relationships with our Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal families to make them feel welcome in
the school and classroom. This will help to raise participation, community trust and collaboration
with Aboriginal parents. A strategy which schools should implement to build trust is to engage
Aboriginal families with school. Cultural competency is a key component for educators. A culturally
competent educator will engage and participate with the local Indigenous community and this builds
positive learning relationships with Indigenous students. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
need an education which embraces the importance of Indigenous cultures such as their personal
identity and self esteem. Identity is formed by the way the child has been raised through culture and
social setting therefore it is important for educators to see through their own identity in order to see
into the children’s cultures. This is a key component for teachers to build effective relationships with
their learning throughout their whole educational journey. Teachers can do this by getting to know
the students families and their culture better. Teachers in cross curricular situations need to have a
cultural awareness and become sensitive to Indigenous cultural issues. Ongoing professional
training and development is essential. There are many schools where Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander students do not feel included, strategies are needed for educators to promote self esteem,
self confidence and pride enabling them to become successful learners (Buckskin 2012).

A key component too successful learning is having a cultural knowledge base where education is
personal and individual, as all students learn differently (Price 2012). In a classroom some students
may be affected by the assimilation policies within their family so when talking about these issues,
teachers need to be sensitive to the topic. It is essential as a teacher to engage with Indigenous
communities learning knowledge on their individual language, terminology and stolen generation
stories through conversations. Educators need to value the Australian history and how this has
influenced each individual child and family in their setting. Aboriginal Educational Workers (AEW)
are a valuable resource in the educational setting. Many have prior knowledge of local traditional
values and families. They are also a link between families, the school and non aboriginal educators
that the Aboriginal family may feel more comfortable with (Williams-Mozley 2012).

To this day the government has not had much success in Aboriginal Education hence why it is vital
for contemporary teachers to understand the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and cater
for this to build community trust and collaboration. Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals are vastly
different with their cultural values this is why it is important to understand the different cultures and
to teach each child to their needs. These differences are obviously huge and will impact education,
therefore it is vital as a teacher to be flexible with their teaching and use strategies which address all
students for effective learning. Incorporating different ways of teaching is important such as, group
work/individual, videos, guest speaker, written/oral, excursions, and hands on outdoor work for
example will help facilitate learning and demonstrate to parents and caregivers that you are able to
teach to the needs of the students. Understanding how students learn is vital for the teacher to then
plan for multiple ways of teaching to suit and engage all students instead of using one method of
teaching (Behrendt 1995).

Intense community involvement is important such as incorporating parents and elders into the
curriculum to talk to students about their past, place and history. Students are learning about
ID: 110200914 Teaching and learning in Aboriginal Education
Assessment 2: Essay

Aboriginal identity and connecting to the country in real life, learning this way is more engaging
rather than reading about Aboriginal people (Harrison 2011).

Another strategy which teacher should implement is building community trust and collaboration.
Educators need to learn about the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the community, where
they come from and who gets on with whom. Entering into a remote community can be difficult, a
new person is regarded as an outsider and doesn’t understand the ins and outs of the community
making it hard to gain trust and collaborate. It is important to be patient to gain an understanding of
how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people live. Spending time with Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people is a necessity for successful teaching, spending your time with the community will
strengthen the relationships which could be done by going to the footy and simply having
conversations. Teachers need to have a strong understanding of the history between Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islanders and non-Aboriginal people as this understanding has an impact on what is
taught in schools. It is the educator’s job to unite cultures and this is done through communication in
the classroom; teaching, talking and acting in front of the students this models to students how to
get on with one another and develop relationships with all cultures (Harrison 2011). Building
community trust and collaboration may be done through using local resources from the community
and local decision making as Aboriginal Parents may acknowledge that teachers are trying to
incorporate their cultural community into learning. For example in Port Lincoln there is a Port
Lincoln Aboriginal Community Council where the teacher could take the students where they
participate in Aboriginal art and cook outs (Port Lincoln Aboriginal Community 2010).

Another strategy which teacher should apply is meeting and learning from the community. Every
single person is individual therefore it is crucial not to stereotype cultures for example avoid using
language about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students that places them in deficit positions.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students should not be compared with non-Aboriginal students,
teachers should assess students as individuals they have their own background, culture and identity.
Placing people in a negative position does not unite communities and gain trust. Teacher’s language
and actions are vital as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents will interpret how you perceive
their child. It is important not to have fixed ideas of students as every student is different so the
teacher needs to use strategies for success. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are all
different from community to community so it is best to study and get to know the Aboriginal
community in the local area. Teachers should use specific language related to the local Indigenous
community rather than the generic term ‘Aboriginal’. This shows that the teacher is trying to
understand the Aboriginal community and teach students culture which builds community trust and
collaboration (Harrison 2011).

It is important for teachers to understand that many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
have standard Australian English as a second, third or fourth language (Buckskin 2012; Harrison
2011). Their first home language is a traditional language or dialect of Indigenous English. Language
is a big part of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures their identity and self esteem. A
culturally competent teacher will understand that Indigenous English is not a deficient version of
standard Australian English it is a valid language like any other language. As a teacher language
needs to be respected although it is a challenge as the Education systems does not support
Indigenous students as a Language other than English learners (LOTE). The Northern Territory policy
also doesn’t support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as LOTE learning this is the opposite
ID: 110200914 Teaching and learning in Aboriginal Education
Assessment 2: Essay

of closing the English literacy gap, support needs to be implemented in English literacy programs
which also respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s first languages as this is their
culture and identity (Buckskin 2012). As a teacher their role is to enable students to become
stronger and smarter hence the stronger teachers become in understanding Indigenous identity and
build this within school community this will provide better relationships with students, parents and
caregivers (Buckskin 2012). Respect their languages, culture and world views and include Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander resources into the curriculum (Buckskin 2012).

The terrible way Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been treated still lives on today.
Programs which were put in place after the referendum were created by non-Indigenous people
with a lack of knowledge and minimal resources to assist the Aboriginal education community. The
small effort the westernised society made for Aboriginal people and the exclusion of their history
has left an impact which affects the education system. The Australian education system has gone
through; the assimilation process of changing Aboriginal culture, history being taught wrongly in
schools, non-Indigenous people making decisions for Aboriginal Education and designing poor
programs, even after Kevin Rudd stated the need for more resources for Indigenous learning and
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education is still a slow ongoing process. Poor laws and
regulations have made parents feel reluctant about sending their child to school, and trusting the
system. Teachers need to implement strategies to build community trust and collaboration, this can
be achieved through many strategies (Harrison 2011). Engaging Aboriginal families with school is
essential, this can be implemented by including Aboriginal Elders and parents into the curriculum to
talk about past places and histories, students will learn about Aboriginal identity and connect with
the country. Building community trust and collaboration could be applied though taking children to
Aboriginal Community Councils were students participate in Aboriginal Cultural activities with
Aboriginal elders. Meeting and learning from the community may be implemented by understanding
the communities Aboriginal culture and utilizing this in the classroom e.g. language. Using strategies
which demonstrate that you as a teacher are trying to build community trust and collaboration by
respecting, teaching and learning about the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. This may
unite Aboriginal parents in the schooling system resulting in higher participation and engagement.

Word count: 2736

References:

• Behrendt, L. 1995. Aboriginal Dispute Resolution. Maryborough, Victoria: Federation

Press, 12-30.

• Buckskin, P 2012 ‘Engaging Indigenous students: The important relationship between

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and their teachers’ in K Price
(ed), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education: An introduction for the teaching
profession, Cambridge University Press, Sydney, NSW, pp. 164 – 180.

• Carter, D 2006 ‘Aboriginal history and Australian history’ in Dispossession, dreams and
diversity: Issues in Australian studies, Pearson Education, Frenchs Forest, NSW.
ID: 110200914 Teaching and learning in Aboriginal Education
Assessment 2: Essay

• Harrison, N 2011 ‘Starting out as a teacher in Aboriginal education’ in Harrison, Teaching

and Learning in Aboriginal Education, Oxford University Press, Australia, pp. 1 – 15.

• Port Lincoln Aboriginal Community 2010, Port Lincoln Aboriginal Community, Port
Lincoln South Australia, viewed 5 September 2017, <http://www.placc.com/ >.

• Price, K 2012 ‘A brief history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education in
Australia’ in K Price (ed), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education: An introduction
for the teaching profession , Cambridge University Press, Sydney, NSW, pp. 1 – 20.

• Rose, M ‘The ‘Silent Apartheid’ as the Practioner’s Blindspot’ in K Price (ed) Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Education: An introduction for the teaching profession,
Cambridge University Press, Sydney, NSW, pp. 64-79.

• Short, D 2005. ‘Reconciliation as Education: the Council and the ‘Peoples

Movement’, Journal of Australian Indigenous issues, 8(3-4): 33-52.

• Williams-Mozley, J 2012 ‘The Stolen Generations: What does this mean for Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander children and young people today’ in K Price (ed), Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Education: An introduction for the teaching profession,
Cambridge University Press, Sydney, NSW, pp. 21 – 34.