How Will You Teach for Social Justice?

The concept of social justice within Australia means that society needs to recognise
that as a nation we have been guilty of undervaluing and degrading one of the oldest
human cultures on the planet. Indigenous Australians have a right to be recognised
as the traditional custodians of our country, with their own cultural identities and
languages and a claim to have those values represented within the education
system that aims to teach Indigenous students. Teachers should be able to provide
all students with a way to look at Australian society and highlight areas that need
action to bring about fairness and equity. Teachers will use practical pedagogies and
design class activities within the framework and match them with educational
standards to highlight social justice issues.

The concept of “teaching to resist” or the “resistance model” is one of a number of

critical pedagogies (Rigney, 2016) designed to advocate for educators and education
being at the forefront of the drive for equity and social justice. Teachers have the
ability to educate for changes in social and cultural norms and the resistance model
provides a framework to generate a course of study that promotes social justice by
looking at issues relevant to students and their peers at the local, national and global
levels.

The model highlights phases that initially introduce a social justice issue to raise
consciousness, explain the struggle for justice by positioning students to make
contact with the community and activist groups where possible and use the
information they acquire to explain the perceived injustice in their own words, take
action and have ownership of the social justice issue (Brougham, 1994). Brougham
focuses heavily on the use of writing as a form of resistance and political act.

As a critical pedagogy, it is intended to promote the questioning of experiences,

texts, school rules and even the teachers approach to treatment of people in class
(Duncan-Andrade & Morell, 2008).

The teaching for resistance model can be used across curriculum areas and across
year levels as highlighted by a project at Le Fevre High School. The curriculum
areas they used included English, Women’s Studies, Home Economics, Social
Studies, Science, Maths and Technical Studies. The alternative program was the
development of two units within a Catholic school, one focusing on racism and the
other on sexism and presented under the umbrella subject of “Pastoral Care”
(Brougham,1994).

The first program addressed writing as a political act and a way to resist oppression,
which when combined with the idea of “questioning all that we ‘think’ we know”, gives
you access to the idea of counter-stories. We are told, even within the “banking”
style of education, that there are always two sides to every story or fact, but then we
are generally presented with only one!

Students should be trained to critically analyse source material and discuss any
biases present. Teachers should be able to present Indigenous Australian written,
oral and visual texts or materials which have been created for the purpose of telling a
particular alternative perspective of historical events or the current day issues which
arise from those events. In Rigney & Hemming (2014) three counter stories are
presented which show that Indigenous culture has established a long tradition of
using stories (oral and pictographic, now written) to share their knowledge’s and
traditions across generations. They have established a system of morals/ethics
linked to places and regions that are every bit as valid as the Christian ethos or state
laws and regulations. Misinterpretation or simply ignoring these “values” throughout
white Australian history is at the heart of the reconciliation issue. Autobiographies of
Indigenous people (Tur, 2010 ; O’Brien & Gale, 2007), share a view of society that
most students would never encounter. The acts of covert racism that are still
endemic within Australian institutions but hidden from “White” Australia by the fact
that it doesn’t affect us.

Hip Hop music has “recently” become a new form of storytelling. Despite my dislike
of Rap as a musical form, it is popular with students and in particular its ability to
present a story of resistance seems to resonate with indigenous students. “Here
music is not mere entertainment but ideological weaponry! It promotes a political
stand of disturbance and disruption, a destabilisation of the moral majority’s
complacency” (Cooper in White,2009). Having students write music and lyrics is an
extremely effective way to get students to engage with a task. Having students
perform their “rap” gives them complete ownership of the issue.

According to the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL
2014), standard 1.4 involves demonstrating broad knowledge and understanding of
the impact of culture, cultural identity and linguistic background when implementing
strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) students. The
AITSL (2014) standard 2.4 asks me to understand and respect ATSI people to
promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.

Both of these standards are supported by the “resistance model”. The model also
requires that a teacher develop a good knowledge of the history, culture and values
of Indigenous people and the impact this may have on the education of students. As
part of the process of identifying and taking action against social injustice, the model
fits well with the definition of understand and respect indigenous people to promote
reconciliation.
In order to raise awareness of social justice and equality issues that affect
Indigenous students and their local communities, it’s important that the teacher be
aware of and/or involved with the groups in the area, whether activist groups,
community and social, or Indigenous cultural centres such as the “Living Kaurna
Cultural Centre” in Bedford Park, South Australia. Stage two of the resistance model
states students should be making contact with local community groups and this can
be facilitated by a teacher who already knows and is known by the Indigenous
community. For most teachers this would be easiest at a local level, given that a
teacher should be engaging with students and their parents or care-givers and along
with the support of school Aboriginal Education Workers (AEW’s) can be in contact
with local community groups or Indigenous organisations that would be willing to
speak with students about social justice issues.

The AITSL site itself is a bit short on “Illustrations of Practice” having only 6 ideas for
Standard 2.4, out of a total of 103 for the whole of “Standard 2 – Know the content
and how to teach it”. The focus is on utilising Indigenous resources, both people and
texts/artwork/song, to show how understanding Indigenous culture and language
aids in the process of reconciliation by recognising the significant impacts that
indigenous cultures and practices have had on Australia in the past, and the
contributions they are making now. (Cross-curriculum priority #3 - ACARA)

The Resistance Model states that its purpose is firstly to “Raise Awareness” of social
justice issues. Australia as a society has been “aware” of injustice directed at
Indigenous people for decades. We [society] acknowledged this formally in 1967.
That was 50 years ago and society still seems to be generally stuck at the “raising
consciousness” phase of the model. Admittedly the model itself is only about 30
years old having appeared in the early 1990’s (Brougham, 1994) so it probably
deserves to be mentioned that only one or two generations of Australians may have
even heard of the resistance model.

Reconciliation on the other hand is the resistance model in action in society; it

appeared formally in 1991. Pat Dodson said that “reconciliation can be something as
simple as a handshake with an Aboriginal neighbour to some complex agreements
that deal with the legacies of our shared history” (RRR.edu.au. n.d.). Reconciliation
is concerned with social justice and constructions of cultural identity. Reconciliation
pedagogy in schools may be used as a means to overturn the impact of racialisation
that continues to identify Indigenous people as ‘the Other’. It is necessary to engage
students in a deeper understanding of shared cultural heritage in Australia that
challenges the distorted elevation of an homogenous Anglo-Australian identity
(Reconciliation Australia, 2011).

Tristan Kennedy (2016) consolidated Reconciliation under three steps –

Acknowledge, Unite, Commit.
This means that as a teacher it should be in society’s best interests for us to be open
to all versions of history. We are able to provide students with the skills and
resources to be able to interpret and understand those resources from multiple
points of view. With the understanding of all viewpoints we develop a sense of unity
with an event and “all” the people involved. A greater understanding of the makeup
of the community we live in comes from talking to people who live in it, and who lived
in it historically. The benefits of having a connection with a culture other than your
own have been demonstrated for decades with the learning of a second language in
our schools. Invite a local Indigenous language speaker into your classroom and by
learning increase the number of speakers of a truly ancient language. Having a class
that is learning a local language may give them an additional sense of community
and commitment.

The resistance model is a framework that helps to identify and raise awareness of
social justice issues that arise in our classrooms or communities. It helps us
encourage students to contact members of the community (in this case Indigenous
Australians) affected by injustice. Students are given multiple avenues of expression,
particularly writing and rap, to show how they have understood the issue by
showcasing it in their own words. The Australian political system still “likes” the
written word, so the action phase of the model can be sending letters explaining
grievances to local politicians or performing a rap or art show for local community.
Students acquire the ability to question the rationale behind the presentation of
information, such as who gains / loses in this version of events. The ultimate aim of
our education system is equity in learning. The resistance model and the
reconciliation pedagogy, hands the reins of social change over to those who have
the greatest opportunity to affect it, current students.
Brougham, BL 1994, “Appendix D: teaching programs and resources”, in BL Brougham (ed),
Teaching for resistance: report of the Education for Social Justice Research Project, Texts in
Humanities and the Centre for Studies in Educational Leadership, Adelaide, S. Aust., pp. 113-117.

Brougham, BL 1994, 'Structure of the draft model', in BL Brougham (ed), Teaching for resistance:
report of the Education for Social Justice Research Project, Texts in Humanities and the Centre for
Studies in Educational Leadership, Adelaide, S. Aust., pp. 34-43.

Rigney, D & Hemming, S 2014, “Is 'closing the gap' enough? Ngarrindjeri ontologies, reconciliation
and caring for country”, Educational Philosophy and Theory, vol. 46, no. 5, pp. 536-545

Duncan-Andrade, J.M.R & Morrell, E 2008, ‘Contemporary Developers of Critical Pedagogy’ in The
Art of Critical Pedagogy: Possibilities for Moving from Theory to Practice in Urban Schools, Peter
Lang, New York, pp. 23-48.

O'Brien, LY & Gale, MA 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, 1st edn, Wakefield
Press, Kent Town, Sth. Aust., pp. 102-122.

Tur, NN 2010, 'Fringe to town dwellers - Oodnadatta: 1943-1950', in NN Tur, Cicada Dreaming, Hyde
Park Press, Adelaide, S. Aust., pp. 22-42.

White, C 2009, ‘"Rapper on a rampage": theorising the political significance of Aboriginal Australian
Hip Hop and Reggae’, Transforming Cultures eJournal, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 108-130.

Kennedy, T 2016 “Reconciliation Pedagogy and Inclusive Practices”, lecture notes distributed in the
topic EDUC2420 Teaching Indigenous Australian Students, Flinders University, Bedford Park, 29
August.

Rigney, D 2016, “Critical Pedagogy”, lecture notes distributed in the topic EDUC2420 Teaching
Indigenous Australian Students, Flinders University, Bedford Park, 22 August.

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership 2014, Australian Professional Standards for
Teachers, Standards List, viewed 06 November 2016, http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-
standards-for-teachers/standards/list

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership 2014, Australian Professional Standards for
Teachers, Standard 1 – Focus 1.4, viewed 06 November 2016, http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-
professional-standards-for-teachers/search?&fc=Standard!standard-
1&fc=Scope!Iop&t=2&fc=Focus!1.4

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership 2014, Australian Professional Standards for
Teachers, Standard 2 – Focus 2.4, viewed 06 November 2016, http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-
professional-standards-for-teachers/search?&fc=Standard!standard-
2&fc=Scope!Iop&t=2&fc=Focus!2.4

Reconciliation Australia 2010, Reconciliation Action Plans, viewed 07 November 2016,

http://www.reconciliation.org.au/raphub/

Respect, Relationships, Reconciliation n.d., Visions of Reconciliation, viewed 07 November 2016,

http://rrr.edu.au/unit/module-1/topic-1/reconciliation-vision/

City of Marion n.d., Living Kaurna Cultural Centre, viewed 07 November 2016,
http://www.marion.sa.gov.au/living-kaurna-cultural-centre
Board of Studies Teaching & Educational Standards NSW 2010, Why learn an Aboriginal language,
viewed 07 November 2016, http://ab-ed.bostes.nsw.edu.au/go/aboriginal-languages/practical-
advice/why-learn-an-aboriginal-language