Indigenous education and
multiculturalism
Indigenous students are statistically shown to
achieve lower academic results than Non-Indigenous students in education. Due
to the history of Australia, many Indigenous families are still suffering from
dispossession making it difficult for students to attain education as a result
of psychological difficulties within the family. Aboriginal children whose primary carer had been
victims of the stolen generation are 2.34 times more likely to have clinically
significant emotional or behavioral difficulties than children whose caregivers
were not forcibly separated.
According to whatworks with
the Closing the Gap campaign retention rates for beginning of secondary school
of year 12 has shifted from under 10% in 1970, to 47% in 2008. Now this is a
significant increase, however Australia still has a long way to go in closing
the gap to achieve academic equality.
I currently study at UNSW
as an Indigenous student, and when Indigenous education comes into topic in my
classes the most common thing around the classroom is a lack of awareness. Many
of my peers are unaware of the issues among Indigenous children, how to
approach Indigenous people, or even why Indigenous people are showing these
statistics. A question I asked my class was who the traditional custodians of
the land they were standing on were, only 1 student was confident enough to
answer, but had the wrong answer. For teachers to improve Indigenous education,
they first need to be aware of, have an understanding of Australia’s dark
history, acknowledge the fact that Australia only officially reconciled in
1997. Indigenous families still suffer in consequence of colonization today.
The answer is
— both. Acknowledge and support the background, cultures and identity of
students. But be cautious in your assumptions.
I can relate to this
question as, I had teachers ask me during high school how to say certain words
in “Aboriginal” completely oblivious to the fact that colonisation happened and
most languages were diminished. Simple assumptions like this show that
awareness needs to be made to Indigenous culture to make a difference.
Multiculturalism
preserves a right for individuals, as Moran, A. 2011 would say “… to free enjoyment and
expression of culture, rather than group rights”. In regards to that question
on whatworks, individuals can still express their culture without being put into a
social-group. Teachers need to be aware of Indigenous history, however not to
make assumptions based on limited historical knowledge. Every student is an individual with his/her own
cultural rights; teachers need to acknowledge that not all Indigenous people
are the same.
In terms of education,
although statistics are showing that Indigenous people “achieve less” than
non-Indigenous people, teachers should be aware not to assume every Indigenous
student is an under-achiever and needs support in the classroom.
Moran, A (2011) Multiculturalism as
nation-building in Australia: Inclusive national identity and the embrace of
diversity DOI:10.1080/01419870.2011.573081
Whatworks.edu.au
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