Reading Engagement Task EDUC2420

This essay is going to explore the intersections between race, racism and whiteness and how these
ideas have played a key role in creating unequal outcomes for Indigenous and non-indigenous
Australians. I will be exploring this in relation to education and the Australian Institute for Teaching
and School Leadership (AITSL). I will consider the concept and implementation of race, racism and
whiteness throughout Australian history and society and how this has an ongoing impact today.
Acknowledging this will give a clearer insight on what can be done now and in the future to generate
equitable social change through education and the AITSL standards. I will argue that a firm and
elaborate understanding of the theories of race and whiteness and the impact this has is necessary
in conducting an educational environment that genuinely wants equal outcomes.

Race is a socially constructed concept that has no biological significance. The creation of race has
created hierarchies that seek to marginalise and oppress some groups of people and privilege
another group, meaning that your ‘race’ determines your position in society. This results in racism
and whiteness. ‘The Great Chain of Being’ first dictated these ideas and was later developed by
Charles Darwin and other theorists (Tur 2018 & Beresford 2012). Social Darwinism and Evolutionary
Theory strongly influenced the way countries were colonised and the mindsets of the majority in
justifying their actions for the ways that Indigenous Australians were treated (Tur 2018).
Colonisation has had disturbing and long lasting effects on Indigenous Australians. From the
beginning Australia was determined as Terra Nullius and Indigenous peoples were not considered
humans and were denied their claims to land and basic rights within Australia (Schulz 2018).
Massacres and overwhelming mistreatment were inflicted on Aboriginals, as well as the introduction
of new diseases, commodities and racism (Schulz 2018). Initially, with the belief of social Darwinism
and ‘survival of the fittest,’ non-Indigenous Australians believed that Aboriginals were inferior and
didn’t have the mental capability to survive (Beresford, 2012, p. 86). The idea of race has continually
structured the division between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, and until this false
notion is acknowledged the division will continue.

Racism is a result of the creation of race, and wrongly validates the connection of culture and
characteristics to a particular group of people. Racism has become normal and common in Australian
society. Whilst previously acts of racism have been overt, they are now invisibly a part of everyday
society. In teaching, overt acts of racism are widely known and perhaps explored, however, it is the
covert acts of racism that need to be recognized and discussed. Unfortunately, every day in Australia
serves to fit a white society perfectly and marginalised perspectives are not considered. The
privileged are often oblivious to their advantages and are unintentionally ignorant or oblivious of the
minorities perspective and this results in covert acts of racism. There are various types of racism
including individual, internalised, institutional and structural which all contribute to the oppression
of Indigenous people (Schulz 2018). Racism has impacted immensely on Indigenous people in all
aspects of life and it is something that is continually impacting on lives today.

Whiteness or white race privilege is recognising that racism doesn’t just oppress a certain group of
people, it also privileges another. Racialisation and whiteness can be challenged in an education
setting through critical race theory (CRT) and critical whiteness studies (CWS). It is often taught in the
school setting that racism oppresses but students are rarely taught that it also serves as an
advantage to white society. CRT recognises the ways in which covert acts of racism oppress
Indigenous people and works to acknowledge marginalised perspectives in order to move forward
and make a change. This concept can be introduced in the classroom through critical self-reflection
and counter stories which offer differing perspectives and broader understanding of Indigenous
culture (Schulz 2018). CWS puts the focus on the privilege of being white, rather than just the issues
of the oppressed. It questions societal values and how they assist the wants of white people.

Mia Richardson
 Reading Engagement Task EDUC2420

Critically thinking and identifying the issues that have created discourses of oppression in the
classroom is one way to challenge these ideas. Furthermore, in the curriculum you can include
Indigenous knowledge every day to disrupt the normative teachings of white education (Shulz 2018).
Talking about whiteness in the classroom can be an uncomfortable topic, but it is these open
conversations that are going to generate genuine change and denying inequality is creating further
dominance (McIntosh, 1990, p. 36). Incorporating these pedagogical structures works towards the
advancement of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, which is what
AITSL (2018) standard 2.4 outlines.

The social construction of race, the ignorance of whiteness and the ongoing mistreatment of
Indigenous people has impacted negatively on the education system. The first school for Indigenous
students opened in 1814 with the intentions of ‘civilising’ Aboriginals and assimilating them into a
white society, this was then followed by missionaries (Beresford, 2012, p. 85). It was believed that
Indigenous people did not have the mental capacity to survive or be educated because of ‘the
perceptions about the limitations inherent in their race’ (Beresford, 2012, p. 87). The government
worked to detach children from their parents and families in an attempt to remove them from their
cultural identities. Indigenous students had minimal education as it was believed that they couldn’t
be educated beyond early primary (Beresford, 2012, p. 91). Kaurna Elder Uncle Lewis Yerloburka
O’Brien discusses the misunderstanding he endured from white teachers who didn’t believe in his
ability to pursue an academic pathway (O’Brien & Gale 2007). The action of forcibly removing
children from family and their land for an ‘education’ has resulted in understandable trust issues and
disapproval in the education systems ability to provide for young Indigenous Australians (Beresford,
2012, p. 86). AITSL standard 1.4 outlines the need to have an extensive understanding of the ‘impact
of culture, cultural identity and linguistic background on the education of students from Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds’ (AITSL 2018). Understanding and having a critical pedagogy
on the conditions impacting on Indigenous students is crucial in creating equitable change. Unequal
treatment and opportunities results in unequal outcomes, and this has resulted in intergenerational
disadvantage.

The social construction of race and the further development of racism and whiteness has impacted
negatively on Indigenous Australians and the education system. The discourses of marginalisation
imposed by the majority and the privileged has had intergenerational effects on Indigenous
Australians and has privileged the majority. Applying a critical pedagogy that acknowledges and
understands the impacts that are inflicted on Indigenous students will help create a better
educational environment for all students.

Works cited:

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (2017). Australian Professional Standards for
Teachers. Retrieved from https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards

Beresford, Q. (2012). Chapter 3: Separate and unequal: An outline of Aboriginal education 1900-
1996 in Q Beresford, G Partington & G Gower (eds), Reform and resistance in Aboriginal education,
Fully rev. ed edn, UWA Pub, Crawley, W.A., pp. 85-119.

McIntosh, Peggy (1990). White privilege: unpacking the invisible knapsack in  Independent School, no.
Winter, pp. 31-36

Mia Richardson
 Reading Engagement Task EDUC2420

O'Brien, L. Y & Gale, M. A. (2007). My difficult childhood in MA Gale & LY O'Brien, And the clock
struck thirteen: the life and thoughts of Kaurna Elder Uncle Lewis Yerloburka O'Brien (pp. 102-122).
1st edn, Wakefield Press, Kent Town, South Australia

Schulz, S. (2018). Critical race theory (CRT) and critical whiteness studies (CWS) [Lecture PowerPoint
slides]. Retrieved from https://flo.flinders.edu.au/course/view.php?id=44010.

Tur, S. U. (2018). Race and the Nation [Lecture PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from
https://flo.flinders.edu.au/mod/lecture/view.php?id=2035940

Mia Richardson