Monique Eggers Critical Review

Student ID: 110231658

Critical Review
Introduction

The relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people has been strained due to key events in Australian
history that significantly changed the lives of Aboriginal people (Harrison, 2011, pg.8). Therefore, it is understandable
that many Aboriginal people resent the ways in which they have been treated and has been built up and passed down
through the generations (Harrison, 2011, pg.8). This would have impacted the lives of everybody in Australia,
therefore this critical review looks at some critical issues in Aboriginal’s lives and how it differs from my personal
experience.

Reading 1- Harrison, 2011

Unequal power

According to Harrison (2011), ‘As teachers we need to remember the history between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal
Australians and the unequal power relationships that exists between them. I was never taught about the history of
Aboriginal people in primary school, apart from the fact that they lived here before Captain Cook ‘discovered’ the
land, which I now know that that is not true. So when I become a teacher I would want my students to know and
understand the history of Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal people. I will also want my students to learn the
original Aboriginal names of places because that is something that I never learnt and I think it would have been
interesting to research about.

Deficit Discourse

Deficit discourse: ‘is the social, economic standing of an individual or certain group which can change according to
race, religion, or background. It allows the education system to ‘pre-determine’ the outcomes of an individual and has
the power to position people in a negative place’ (Beard, 2013). This is something that is very active in some schools
and it is noted that your choice of language can rub off on others and create an impression for anybody who listens
(Harrison, 2011, pg.9). This can lead to parents, as well as children, not trusting you because for parents and children,
it’s not about who they talk to at a school, but about perceptions such as how the parents and child interpret the
teachers to be perceiving them, such as being perceived in negative ways (Harrison, 2011, pg.9). This is something
that I did not notice at all during my placement, or even while attending school, however these discussions could and
would be discussed outside of class time, away from students. Harrison (2011) states ‘Aboriginal kids, like non-
Aboriginal kids, come in all shapes and sizes and have different experiences…however for all these children, learning
becomes significant in the context of the community in which they live’ (pg.10) I believe that this statement is very
true because my schooling experience was in the country so one of our main subjects was Agriculture, and we all
knew the language and jargon that came with this subject, however a city school may not know any of this language,
and would have found this subject difficult to start with. Another example of this is more of a stereotype, but is a great
example still but it is about certain suburbs and schools outside of Adelaide such as Elizabeth and Salisbury, where
students have a harder time at school compared to some school’s closer to the city, and this is because of the
community in which they live and their experiences. But this does not mean they are not as smart, just that they may
have to struggle for longer at school, but will still get the same result as other students at different schools. Once
again, this could possibly be a stereotype, but Aboriginal students usually have different views on schooling and will
therefore think differently about school work. Aboriginal students will rarely attack their school work with a passion,
rather they will work at it more quietly, slowly and carefully, while observing how others are doing it (Harrison, 2011,
pg. 11). I believe that there is nothing wrong with this at all because I was, and still am, a student who would prefer to
watch first to understand, then give it a go myself.

Stereotyping and Generalisation

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Monique Eggers Critical Review
Student ID: 110231658
There are many articles and reviews about Aboriginal education that represent Aboriginal students as being not as
smart and constantly falling behind non-aboriginal students (Harrison, 2011, pg.9). This is creating a stereotype, as
well as a generalisation because from my experience at school, some Aboriginal Students were just as smart, if not
smarter than some non-Aboriginal students. This shows that people find it easy to produce stereotypes and
generalisations about Aboriginal people and through our own discourse, we can find ourselves starting to talk about all
Aboriginal students as a group, hence all these people become the same (Harrison, 2011, pg.14). As a teacher, I hope
to be able to minimise the stereotypes and generalisations at my school and in my classroom because I feel that it is
quite unfair for those people and depending on how it affects them, could start acting the way that people stereotype
them. A practical implication that I would like to implement is taking my students to see Aboriginal Elders in the
community or local areas to find out about the traditional owners of the land that the school is placed on because this
information is extremely superior for some people and I believe that it is something that needs to be acknowledged,
and it will teach students that not all Aboriginal people are the same and to not stereotype them as one type (Harrison,
2011, pg.14). During my schooling, we were introduced to the Aboriginal community in which my school was placed,
however I do not remember actually learning about that community and spending time with the Elders of that
community, which I think could have been quite interesting.

Reading 2- Behrendt, 1995

Cultural differences

According to Behrendt (1995) ‘The relationship between Aboriginal men and women was one of partnership rather
than subservience’ (pg.13). this was very similar to how I was brought up because my mother had just as much say in
my life as my father did. In a classroom, I would like to be able to teach students to be equal and treat people with
equity because I believe that having these traits will help you become a better person. Aboriginal cultural values are
very elder-oriented which is not seen in non-Aboriginals, and includes believing in custodianship of the land, having a
sense of equality with all other creatures on the land (Behrendt, 1995, pg. 13-17). I see respecting your Elders as being
highly important and as time goes on, it is being seen less and less by non-Aboriginals. I would also like to bring back
to the classroom a sense of equality and equity because there are more and more disputes happening involving these. I
believe that children should be seen as equal and should be treated the same, within reason however. My parents
taught me to treat everyone equally, however my schooling experience was anything but. I was always the student
who finished work and assignments on time and my friends always handed them in late, but they were never penalised
for it and I see this as being unequal because I was working a lot harder and still getting the same results as others who
failed to hand assignments in on time. I found it interesting that Behrendt (1995) believes that Aboriginal people have
a value of co-operation whereas non-Aboriginals are more competitive (pg. 18). I agree with this and think that in a
classroom there should be a mix of both where students can get along and work together, but also can have a
competitive nature during tasks.

In the table below are some examples of the cultural differences between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians:

Traditional Aboriginal Values Non-Aboriginal Values

Belief in custodianship of land Land viewed in proprietary way
Equality with all other creatures Superiority to all other creatures
Oral culture Written tradition
Taught by example Harsh disciplinarians
Reluctant to change Openness to change
Communal Individual
Co-operation Competition
Consensus Authoritarian
Respect for Elders Youth oriented
(Behrendt, 1995, pg. 18)

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Monique Eggers Critical Review
Student ID: 110231658
Power- Dispute Resolution

The way that Aboriginal people resolved conflicts has changed since the British came to Australia. Aboriginal people
mostly only had conflicts surround breach of marriages, offence against a person, sorcery, breach of kin obligations,
and a failure to observe sacred law or ceremonies (Behrendt, 1995, pg.19). In today’s world, there are disputes over
who parks where in a staff car park! However, the way in which Aboriginal people resolved grievances is similar to
the way disputes, mainly large disputes however, are dealt with nowadays. If a dispute had not been resolved between
the family member, they would have to have a meeting with the Elder, which would most of the time lead to involving
community members and councils, much like a court today, however far more informally and less systematically
(Behrendt, 1995, pg.19). Grievances between Aboriginal people at an individual were resolves almost the same as
non-Aboriginal people where the two people would air the grievances publicly by shouting or yelling (Behrendt, 1995,
pg.20). From what I can remember, I have never been in a grievance with anyone so I have no opinion on this, but
from the media and friends, I have seen that most people start yelling when they are angry. Some differences in the
way that Aboriginal people resolve conflicts compared to the British legal system are shown in the table below:

Aboriginal Disputes British Legal System

Emotional response Controlled response
Oral Written
Disputants live together Disputes often strangers
Experience as training Formal legal training
No rules of evidence Strict rules of evidence
Time not an issue Deadline intensive
Informal Formal
Communal Hierarchical
Disputants speak Use of Advocates
(Behrendt, 1995, pg.22). A practical implication of this would to be taking the students out to talk to the Elders of the
local community and have the students ask if the Elders could share stories about how disputes were resolved, and
then have them compare the answers to how non-Aboriginal people resolve conflicts.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I believe that Aboriginal people have been given unequal power in the past, but my goal is to teach the
future generations how this can be resolved and also the history behind it all because what matters the most is children
understanding and acknowledging the history of this land. I also believe that Aboriginal people should not be
stereotyped and generalised because nobody is the same and each Aboriginal community is different. The Cultural
differences between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people are quite different, yet similar and many of the Aboriginal
values are what I would like to implement and see in my future classroom. The ways in which disputes were resolved
were also quite different, with non-Aboriginals being stricter with rules and regulations. I believe that this is
something that students should be taught about.

Reference List

Beard, H.R 2013, Deficit Discourse, The Education Business Model, Accessed 25 August 2017, <http://education-
business-model.weebly.com/deficit-discourse.html>

Behrendt, L. 1995. ‘Dispute Resolution in Traditional and Contemporary Aboriginal Society’. Aboriginal Dispute
Resolution. Maryborough, Victoria: Federation Press, 12-30.

Harrison, N 2011 ‘Starting out as a teacher in Aboriginal education’, Teaching and Learning in Aboriginal Education,
Oxford University Press, Australia, pp. 1 – 15.

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