Assignment 2: Aboriginal Education

Imogen Carruthers
Student ID No: 110162614
What are some of the key issues teachers need to consider for working successfully with Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander students?

It is exceptionally important for educators to learn and understand how to work with each individual
student in their classroom. Without teachers being confident, student success rates would be lowered
as learning needs of students would not be met. For this essay the focus question will be “What are
some of the key issues teachers need to consider for working successfully with Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander students?” Through research undertaken outside of the course as well as tasks and
readings completed within the course, key issues including history of education, racism and
combating racism, characteristics of a good teacher and how to teach Aboriginal students as well as
other key issues will be spoken about to address the focus question.

From what is known from history and the history of Aboriginal Education it is clear that Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Island people have been treated both poorly and unfairly in the past 100’s of years
since colonisation by non-Aboriginal people occurred. It is of great importance as not only a non-
Aboriginal person but also a future teacher, to acknowledge, what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island
people have endured and have had taken away from them over the years in order to understand and
effectively teach about Aboriginal history, language and cultures. When looking at the history of
education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people it can be seen how they were excluded in
being allowed to have a right to an education. “Although in 1814, the first school of Indigenous
students was established in Sydney by Governor Macquarie, the aim was to try and ‘civilise’
Aboriginal people away from the customs of their tribe by impressing the wider values of Europeans”
(Beresford, 2012). This shows that even then, it wasn’t about allowing them the right to learning how
to read and write but instead to change who they were as people and seperate them from their cultures
and customs of their heritage. It wasn't until 1948, that Education became compulsory for Aboriginal
children meaning Aboriginal children were denied their right to an education some 160 years post
invasion.

It is important for teachers in todays society to ensure there is appropriate support given to Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Island students to have the necessary means to succeed in school. For example
ensuring the school uses organisations such as the Workabout program and AIME allows for
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island students to have opportunities not only outside of school but also
give them extra help and support with their schooling and post schooling opportunities. Harrison
suggests that in order for teachers to effectively work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island
students, teachers must become involved in the community and learn about Aboriginal culture, history
and language which will allow for teachers to feel more comfortable in teaching both Aboriginal
students and non-Aboriginal Students about Aboriginal people and their histories (Harrison, 2011).
Teachers must be aware that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island students bring with them a different
set of learning skills to the school and classroom environment. It is within both the teachers and
students best interest to understand and work to the strengths of the skills in order for them to achieve
their educational goals. As a future educator it is important in contributing to the growth of Aboriginal
education in future years to come.

“Across the nation there has been minimal resourcing of relevant and on-going professional
development towards building cultural competency amongst teachers and education workers”
(Buckskin, 2012). It has been proven that having a teacher who is culturally competent along with
more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people working in schools will help with engagement and
participation in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island students. “Each child’s identity is ‘a construction,
a product, and an effect of social and historical relations” (St. Denis, 2007). Teachers need to be
culturally competent in order to understand that all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island students as
well as people have different identities, belong to different tribes and have different stories. Teachers
also need to understand how this in turn has an impact on their learning within schools. Being
culturally competent will also allow teachers to build effective learning relationships with their
students. “The revolution for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children will not happen without
culturally competent teaching, and it is the responsibility of governments to ensure that this training
is both resourced and accessible, and to provide appropriate reward structures for teachers who
acquire the competencies” (Buckskin, 2011).

To be culturally competent within the classroom allows students to have a teacher who applies
knowledge and skills learnt in the classroom in order to provide an environment that allows students
to succeed on their journey through their education and proves to the students a willingness to learn
about their culture, histories, and stories. According to Gollan, “Educators should celebrate and
embrace student’s Aboriginality, their values, customs, beliefs, culture and language (Gollan, 2012).
By including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island culture within the classroom allows students to
understand beliefs, histories and customs beyond the negative stereotypes said and spoken about in
Australian society by non-Aboriginal people and by involving family and community members of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island decent allows students to have real-life encounters and hear first
hand stories that are told from generation to generation.

“Aboriginal children gain their understanding of this world through their connections to country and
the values and beliefs of the country that they are born into” (Gollan, 2012). While being a culturally
competent teacher is exceptionally important, it is also important for teachers to understand that there
are many different ways in which they can promote Aboriginally within the classroom. This can be
done through “music, dance, story-telling and also allowing guest speakers to come in and not only
talk but teach activities from Aboriginal culture to the students” (Korff, 2016). This is an important
thing in ensuring students who are of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island background feel as though
they aren’t being left out. Involving Aboriginal students who are in the class or school in terms of
providing their own stories and knowledge of their histories also allows them to feel powerful and
proud in educating other peers of what they have been taught about their heritage and lives.

“Studies have found that racism is common occurrence in schools” (Gollan, 2012). Racism in the
classroom and society is still very much real in Australia today. It is important as a future educator to
acknowledge that racism will be brought into the classroom by students and their parents as well as
other staff members. The racist views children have are very much learnt from what they see and hear
from their parents or friends outside of the classroom and it is important to diminish these remarks in
order to educate those students about the effects racism can have on Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Island people as well as other cultures. Gollan states that, “Because of such experiences of racism,
young Aboriginal children may be distrusting of non-Aboriginal people” (Gollan, 2012). By making
a stop and taking control of racism and racist remarks within the classroom creates a safe and equal
learning environment and experience for all students.

“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) is a world-renowned research, collections
and publishing organisation. We promote knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander cultures, traditions, languages and stories, past and present” (AIATSIS, 2016). One of
the main aims of AIATSIS is to allow people to undertake and promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander studies. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies is good for all students as well as
the wider community to experience as it educates them in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
cultures, traditions, languages and stories, both past and present. The AIATSIS is also exceptionally
useful in educating students, teachers and staff within schools about the true stories and histories of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people rather than through the stereotypes they would be
exposed to, as well as Australian history both before and after colonisation.
Schools taught about colonial history from the 1700’s. They never talked about history prior to this
as it was Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and cultures that they would have had to have
taught (Price, 2012). An example from the Carter reading shows the exclusion of Aboriginal people
“Australia is an ‘empty land’ or ‘blank space on the map”(Carter, 2006) which suggests why they
would not have taught about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and cultures as they
wouldn’t even acknowledge what occurred before they ‘settled’. According to the Australian
Curriculum or ACARA, they have acknowledged that there is a gap in learning outcomes between
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and non-Indigenous students and hence this is why
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures are an Australian cross curriculum
priority, highlighting the importance and relevance of teaching this within schools. The aim for
having Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander histories and cultures as a cross curriculum priority is
one, to allow “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to see themselves, their identities and
their cultures reflect in the curriculum in all learning areas and are able to fully participate in the
curriculum and build their self-esteem” and two “that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Histories and Cultures cross curriculum, priority is designed for all students to engage in
reconciliation, respect and recognition of the world’s oldest continuous living cultures” (Australia
Curriculum, 2016). Through this students will gather a true understanding about Australia’s and
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture and in turn will hopefully diminish the poor
stereotypes and racism created about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (Evans, 2012).

Both the characteristics of a good teacher as well as knowing how to teach Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Island students are both as important as the other. According to creative spirits, there are many
things that need to be considered when teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island students. These
include knowing cultural behaviours, not expecting the students to underperform, including
community spirits and understanding that for some students English is a foreign language and relating
examples to the real world. Understanding things like cultural behaviours may help with management
of students for instance “Aboriginal student can avoid direct eye contact to an adult as it is considered
rude in Aboriginal culture” (Korff, 2016), by understanding it gives the teacher the opportunity to not
get angry when thinking a student isn’t paying attention and demonstrates that even if they don’t look
at you doesn’t mean they aren’t learning or acknowledging what you are saying to them. As talked
about throughout this essay, including community spirit within the classroom is key in ensuring
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island student success within the classroom. Remembering that English
is a foreign language for some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island students allows for maximum
learning to take place. “Teachers should explain things in more than one way and more than once to
enable Aboriginal students to understand and learn. In Aboriginal culture knowledge was passed on
through repetitive story-telling” (Korff, 2016). This in the same way is like how all students learn
differently and teachers must work out the most beneficial way of teaching every student with-in their
classroom. Although these seem some of the most important things to consider in order to teach
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island students their are still other factors that teachers may need to
consider in achieving success with-in the classroom.

In order for a teacher to be a good teacher they first must need to know what to do in order to become
one. When researching the characteristics of a good teacher many university or education groups list
10 top characteristics on their websites but all are very different from each other. According to
(Scherer, 2016), teachers should have an effective classroom management style, positive relationships
with other adults, in-depth content knowledge, capacity for growth as well as the general personal
warmth, supportiveness and having and maintaining an effective teacher-student relationship are all
characteristics good teachers need. While these are all good characteristics for teachers to have it does
not suggest a teacher needs be culturally aware of their students, be able to differentiate lessons and
tasks to match the needs of their students and to teach with diversity.

The implications for my future teaching practice will ensure that the above will be considered. I feel
that through reading the Buckskin reading it is clear that in order for me to understand cultural
competency, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, their culture, history and language as
well as ensuring I have the right tools to assist myself in teaching my students and also having the
right tools set up to help my students succeed, I will have to go off on my own accord in order for me
to feel comfortable and competent in teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
successfully. As stated within Harrison, “It is known that Aboriginal students will in turn relate more
towards Aboriginal educators over non-Aboriginal educators” (Harrison, 2011). This means that as a
future non-Aboriginal educator I must learn and use guidance from Aboriginal educators in order to
understand the correct teaching methods I should use when teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander students. As a teacher in the future some of the other implications I will ensure to use with-
in my teaching and classroom include, making the classroom a safe environment for all students,
combatting racism and teaching about the affects racism can have on people and cultures and teaching
students about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and heritage. As a teacher I must also
understand in the future that “The sense of self gets interrupted on entering the schooling system
where they are quickly introduced to another set of values and beliefs, another set of experiences,
language, and processes that are so different from their own” (Gollan, 2012). I believe to implement
these things within my classroom will ensure student success for all students but especially Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander students and I will as a teacher use what I have learnt within this course
and outside to make certain of this.

As discussed throughout this essay it is clear that their are many key issues teachers and other
educators need to consider for working successfully with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
students in order for students to have every success possible in the classroom and beyond. As
discussed it is exceptionally important for educators to learn and understand how to work with each
individual student in their classroom and understand how to teach with differentiation and diversity.

Reference List:

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<https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/education/teaching-aboriginal-students>.
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