Aboriginal & Culturally Responsive Pedagogies - Essay

’Knowledge of the racism encountered by Indigenous children and young people in schools is
essential for understanding the changes needed and how to bring them about. Students may
experience racism in schools in a number of ways and from a range of sources including
harmful assumptions, paternalism, prejudice, low expectations, stereotypes, violence and
biased curriculum materials’ (Hickling-Hudson & Ahlquist, 2003).

Over the years, Aboriginal people have been frowned upon for being different. Different in
the way they look, and their understanding of the world around them. Only recently,
Australian society are now starting to see them as equals, but still have a long way to go.
Some schools in Australia have started to incorporate aspects of Aboriginal culture into their
lessons to create more of an inclusive environment for young Aboriginal students, and to
provide an understanding of the culture to non-Aboriginal students. There are also schools
who are ensuring that Aboriginal students are reaching academic achievement by applying
strategies to promote high-expectations. Again, this is only happening in some schools. The
above statement made by Hickling-Hudson and Ahlquist (2003), suggests how Indigenous
children and young people in schools have experiences with racism in their school. In order
to improve school’s culture and minimising racism is by incorporating the Stronger Smarter
Institute approach. In this essay, we will discuss how the Stronger Smarter Institute high
expectations relationships framework improve educational outcomes outlined in the closing
the gap report for Aboriginal young people. We will also go into depth of how effectively
does the Stronger Smarter Institute approach address the key issues concerning Aboriginal
student’s achievement, and the possible challenges and limitations associated with
implementing the Stronger Smarter Institute approach in schools.

According to the Closing the Gap 2019 report, there are a few major key points that raise
issues in closing the gap and help young Aboriginal people reach academic achievement
(Australian Government, 2019). The report admits to the goal of closing the gap is not on
track. Major concerns of this is school attendance, and literacy and numeracy skills. In the
report, attendance rates drop gradually during secondary school which has widen the gap to
14% since 2018. In remote areas, the gap is even larger with attendance rates for Aboriginal
students ranged from 86% in Inner Regional areas to 63% in Very Remote areas. The
reasons for Aboriginal students to be skipping school could be a number of reasons.
Referring to Hickling-Hudson and Ahlquist’s (2003) statement, students may experience
racism in various ways such as stereotypes, and low expectations. This statement can be
one of the many reasons why young Aboriginal people may be reluctant to attend school
leading to an increase of widening the gap. However, this is just one of the many reasons
Aboriginal students may not attend school every day. It may be that the student is bullied
and is not respected, but it also can be the struggle to find a way to get to school whether
by transport or walking (Stronger Smarter Institute, n.d.e), (Vass, 2013). It could also be a
personal matter of a relative being sick or has recently passed. However, in this essay our
focus is in the classroom and the school as a whole. Due to this it is important to re-evaluate
how to help young Aboriginal people achieve academic success by providing opportunity
and understanding in their classes.

The Stronger Smarter Institute approach is all about creating positive relationships of high
expectations to help build places of learning and to help expectations exist and grow
(Stronger Smarter Institute, n.d.a). It is to reject the negative ‘deficit’ thinking for both
teachers and students, and promote the same high-quality teaching strategies for all
students (Stronger Smarter Institute Limited, 2014). I believe that incorporating this
approach into schools may effectively help students thrive in gaining academic
achievement. Again, schools are beginning to improve young Aboriginal people’s
performance by using the Stronger Smarter approach. One of the key aspects in the
Stronger Smarter approach is understanding school cultures. School culture can have a huge
impact on students in their learning. This is because culture can be developed through how
people may judge, perceive, think, respond or behave around a particular group of people.
Depending on what group you may be a part of, there is an increased chance of the groups
experiencing racism. A way to minimise this is through intercultural understanding. The
Stronger Smarter approach focuses on developing collaborative and cultural competence
through the realms of intercultural understanding model. The model provides four stages;
cross-cultural awareness, cross-cultural sensitivity, cultural competence, and cultural
proficiency. Cross-cultural awareness looks at gaining knowledge of the groups culture by
understanding their belief system, their language, their home, etc. Cross-cultural sensitivity
focuses on empathy which correlates with emotional understanding of a student’s culture.
The last two focuses on the changes in behaviour, skills and practices by embedding this
cultural shift in the school. Using this framework can be evidence in ticking off the
Australian Professional Standard for Teachers standard 1.4. Targeting in improving the
school’s culture can be the first step into minimising racism, understanding, and providing
opportunity for all students to achieve.

In the Stronger Smarter approach, there are five Stronger Smarter meta strategies. They
are, (1) positive student identity, (2) indigenous leadership, (3) high expectations, (4)
staffing models, and (5) school models (Stronger Smarter Institute and AITSL, n.d.c). The
third meta-strategy, high expectations is another important factor in improving Aboriginal
student’s academic success. Participants in the Stronger Smarter Leadership Program
address their unconscious beliefs of high-expectations in the classroom. It was found that
these participants unconsciously lower their expectations when working with Aboriginal
students, as well as those with a disability (Stronger Smarter Institute and AITSL, n.d.d). Due
to this, the negative portray of Aboriginal students can affect their identity and their ability
to reach academic achievement. With teachers thinking and teaching like this in their
classrooms, a sense of racism occurs with the lowered expectations. This may be the result
of an increase of absence from school. The Stronger Smarter philosophy again is to reject
these ‘deficit’ ideas and to find ways to promote high-expectations for all students and not
just Aboriginal students. According to Sarra (2014), he explains the differences between
high-expectations rhetoric and high-expectations relationships. High-expectations rhetoric is
when a child is suspended for using inappropriate language towards a teacher. A high-
expectations relationship will attempt to understand the cause of the incident and look for
solutions. This may lead to the student to still be suspended but it may result in teaching the
student that speaking this way is not acceptable in school, or for a teacher to apologise to
the student for making them feel small. To make a change in improving young Aboriginal
people’s opportunity to learn effectively, we must promote high-expectations relationships.

The Stronger Smarter Institute has developed a framework for High-Expectations

Relationships. There are three factors in the framework; understanding personal
assumptions, engaging in challenging conversations, and creating spaces for dialogue.
Understanding personal assumptions focuses on how we as teachers need to develop their
own personal leadership skills to fully understand how their own beliefs impact their
teaching. The Stronger Smarter approach challenges teachers to ask themselves the
confronting questions of what is valuable to Aboriginal students in the classroom? What am
I doing that contributes to failure to absence or disengagement? (Sarra, 2011). A teacher
with high expectations will expose students to various tasks that challenges the students in
complex tasks, clarify expectations and direction of the requirements in activities. Creating
spaces for dialogue, focuses on understanding the student’s talents, interests, knowledge,
and their current situations. Teachers also need to understand their culture through
research to help Aboriginal students make connections in the work they conduct. Students
are more likely to engage in the classroom if the teacher is from the same cultural
background as them, or at least has an interest and knowledge of their background (Delpit,
1988). This can lead to positive connection with the student promoting positive cultural
identity. For engaging in challenging conversations correlates with the others of positive
connections. However, this section focuses on students, parents, and the community.
Conversational circles are used as a process where group members can work towards a
space of equal power, safety and trust (Stronger Smarter Institute Limited, 2014). This can
allow everyone to safely express their feelings, perceptions and experiences which
eventually can progress in spaces of where ideas are challenged in a non-judgemental and
productive manner (Stronger Smarter Institute Limited, 2014).

As explained, the Smarter Stronger Institute addresses key issues concerning Aboriginal
student’s achievement and ideas in how we can combat these issues. As I am becoming a
teacher, it is important to ensure all students feel safe and comfortable in my classroom,
and are given the opportunity to succeed academically. In the music syllabus, students are
to experience various types of music from different style, genres, and cultures for a deeper
understanding. Personally, I feel it is important to start the year off with a time to get to
know the students. Using the High-Expectations Relationship framework, a strategy
mentioned previously is the conversational circles. Firstly, I would go around to each
student in the room and have them say their name, their culture or background, and of
course the music they like to listen too. Secondly, using this strategy, you can then take it
further by applying it to analysing music. For example, listening to a piece of music or an
artist that everyone’s familiar with. Going around to each student and allowing them to
explain what they hear, what it means to them, etc. I feel that doing this gives the teacher
an idea of the student’s interaction with music, and what their strengths are in music.
Strengths includes, instruments heard, the meaning of the song, or understanding rhythm.
In most cultures, music is a way to connect with each other and have fun. Incorporating a
unit that focuses on experiencing music from different cultures, especially Aboriginal
culture, can help students understand each other and minimise racial stereotypes.
Limitations with implementing this framework may be that students may not feel safe to
respond. The student may experience anxiety and may not express their feelings fully during
this time. The student may also copy a person’s answer in fear that their own answer may
be wrong. I think discussing with the student their concerns and explaining the importance
of the activity may help resolve the issue.

In Aboriginal culture, music is used in rituals and to tell stories. Tjapukai, located in Cairns,
Tropical North Queensland, is the most accessible venue that shares the authentic culture
and traditions of the local Djabugay people for the past 28 years. When attending this venue
recently, I attended the night fire ceremony where the performers explained what it takes
to perform the ceremony, with much focus on the music. Learning about their culture
through an interactive experience was something I’d like to incorporate in the school/s I will
teach in the future. Of course, if teaching in New South Wales, finding an Elder from the
land the school is built on to explain how music is used in their culture and its importance
would be most logical. A limitation for this could be that the Elder may not be available in
the times your available. What could be considered would be to arrange a time personally
with the Elder before conducting the topic to ensure your students are getting the best
experience. These ideas may help young Aboriginal people succeed academically and slowly
increase attendance rates.

In conclusion, the Stronger Smarter Institute provides an approach that can help Aboriginal
students achieve academic success through different strategies. With school attendance at
a low it is important to promote positive school culture and high-expectation relationships.
The Stronger Smarter Institute philosophy is all about promoting quality relationships and
allowing all students the opportunity to achieve. One aspect that incorporates this is by
using the realms of intercultural understanding to improve school’s culture of acceptance.
This can be a positive attribute to young Aboriginal people in making them feel safe and
provide opportunity to learn efficiently. Another aspect is by incorporating the Stronger
Smarter high-expectations relationships framework in creating quality relationships with
Aboriginal students that may contribute to improving the student’s attendance and
minimise racism. It is important as teachers, that we know our students through their
interests, their culture, and their perceptions. Knowing our students through conversational
circles can allow students to feel safe and speak their mind. Of course, it is important to
respect student’s space and discuss their concerns of the task while also explaining the
importance of it. Lastly, incorporating interactive experiences in understanding Aboriginal
culture, can help students deeply connect and understand. This may contribute to also
minimise racism and decrease attendance rates in the change of respecting the student’s
culture and creating connection to the work they need learn.
Resources:

Australian Government. (2019). Closing the Gap: Education. Retrieved from

https://ctgreport.niaa.gov.au/education.html

Delpit, L. (1988). The Silenced Dialogue: Power and pedagogy in educating other people’s
children. Harvard Educational Review, 58(3), 280 – 299

Rose, M. (2012). The ‘Silent Apartheid’ as the Practitioner’s Blindspot. In: Price, K (ed).
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education. Cambridge University Press.

Sarra, C. (2014). Beyond Victims: The challenge of leadership. 2014 Griffith Review Annual
Lecture. Delivered 7 August 2014. griffithreview.com/wp-content/uploads/Chris-
SarraBeyond-Victims.pdf

Sarra, C. (2011) Strong and Smart – Towards a Pedagogy for Emancipation. Education for
first peoples. Routledge: New Studies in Critical Realism and Education.

Stronger Smarter Institute Limited (2014). High-Expectations Relationships: a foundation for

quality learning environments in all Australian schools. Stronger Smarter Institute Limited
Position Paper.

Stronger Smarter Institute and AITSL. (n.d.a). Part 1 – The Stronger Smarter Approach.
Retrieved from http://www.strongersmarterplm.edu.au/content/index/part-1

Stronger Smarter Institute and AITSL. (n.d.b). Intercultural Understanding. Retrieved from
http://www.strongersmarterplm.edu.au/content/index/cultural-analysis

Stronger Smarter Institute and AITSL. (n.d.c). Strategies for Change. Retrieved from
http://www.strongersmarterplm.edu.au/content/index/part-3

Stronger Smarter Institute and AITSL. (n.d.d). Meta-Strategy 3: High-Expectations

Leadership. Retrieved from http://www.strongersmarterplm.edu.au/content/index/meta-
strategy-3

Stronger Smarter Institute and AITSL. (n.d.e). The Curriculum. Retrieved from
http://www.strongersmarterplm.edu.au/content/index/the-curriculum

Vass (2013). ‘So, what’s wrong with Indigenous education?’ Perspective, position and power
beyond a deficit discourse. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 41(2), 85-96.