Assessment 2: Essay

2. What are some key issues teachers need to consider for working successfully with
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students?

Generations of Aboriginal people have suffered from a loss of sense of self, trauma and
destroyed identities, from the on-going issues that occur from years ago till now. Educators
need to adapt respectful and approachable characteristics and consider history, racism, media
and education when working closely with Aboriginal people to assist them to grow, develop,
learn and strive to represent who they are in their own unique way.

Prior to the European invasion of Australian in 1788, Aboriginal people lived orally with
strong beliefs, family dynamics, tradition and had a deep connection with the land they lived
and built their lives on (Clarke, 2002 p.12). The impact of the British colonisation destroyed
Aboriginal families and eliminated many people from lethal diseases (Carter, 2006 p. 68).
The settlers believed that Aboriginal people could be driven off their land and took their
traditional lands, food, water resources and identities (Carter, 2006 p. 66). The impact of
disease, violence and death, wiped out majority of the Aboriginal people from different tribes
and communities, as multiple remained the years went on and despite Aboriginal people’s
commitment, rights and hard work, it was unnoticed (Carter, 2006 p. 66). Aboriginal people
desired to be considered, valued, recognised and respected on the land that was their own
(Carter, 2006, p. 68). After years of agony, between 1910-1970, Aboriginal families had their
children forcibly removed as result of government polices made (Williams-Mozley, 2012 pp.
22-27). Children taken were taught to adapt white culture and disregard whom they were.
Sadly, many Aboriginal people suffered psychological, physical and sexual abuse from their
adopted families (Williams-Mozley, 2012 pp. 22-27). The removal of children left families
with severe trauma and loss, families could not cope with it and it resulted to alcoholism,
depression and suicide (Williams-Mozley, 2012 pp. 22-27).

History is an important key issue that educators need to consider for working successfully
with Aboriginal students. As stated above, Aboriginal people lived orally and suffered years
of pain and educators need to consider that students will have family members that lived
through the impact of the British colonisation and the Stolen Generation. Stories and
expression of pain has been passed on to students and educators need to be mindful and
understand the deep issues relating to past that affects the present. Educators need to develop
a sensitive approach when speaking about Aboriginal history and instead of steering away

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from the topic, educators need to display confidence, empathy and display standard 1.4,
‘demonstrate board knowledge and understanding of the impact of culture, cultural identify
and linguistic background on the education of students from Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islanders backgrounds’ (Australian Professional Standards for Teachers [AITSL], 2017). The
history of Aboriginal people is important and a sensitive subject, however, teachers can
create fun and engaging lessons for students that can open their minds. Depending on the age
teachers can get students to create small timelines on Aboriginal history or their own culture
and other students can learn off each other and discover more about their peers’ values and
cultural diversities.

Racism is one’s discrimination directly against someone off a different race, based on the
belief that one’s own race is superior (Paradies, Harris & Anderson, 2008 p. 7). Racism can
occur at three conceptual levels, these levels are; internalised racism, the acceptance of
attitudes and beliefs by an individual’s racial group, interpersonal racism is people
experiencing racial abuse, and systemic racism is the requirements, conditions and policies
that reproduce unequally and unfairly across racial groups (Paradies, Harris & Anderson,
2008 p. 4). A recent survey conducted by Beyond Blue, found a lack of consideration
regarding racism and discrimination among Australians, aged 25-44 towards Aboriginal
people (Beyond Blue, 2014). Key findings include, that 40% of people avoid Aboriginal
Australians on public transport, 38% of people have been witnessing verbal abuse towards
Aboriginal people on several occasions and more than 56% of people believe, that being
Aboriginal makes it harder to succeed in life (Beyond Blue, 2014). Following that survey,
Aboriginal people took part in a survey conduction by Beyond Blue and key findings
discovered that 67% of Aboriginal people had been spat on or had something thrown at them
and 84% of Aboriginal people reported being sworn at or verbally abused (Beyond Blue,
2014). From these studies, it has shown that many Australians are unaware or do not
understand that the words and actions towards other individuals leaves a severe damage to
their mental health (Bodkin-Andrews & Carlson, 2016 p. 797). Racism occurs every day to
many people and is a sensitive topic for many. It occurs through the media, community and at
school (Bodkin-Andrews & Carlson, 2016 p. 798). Racism leaves an increased risk of health
and mental wellbeing issues such as alcohol and drug consumption, social anxiety,
depression, isolation, behavioural difficulties and suicide (Bodkin-Andrews & Carlson, 2016
p. 797).

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Racism is a crucial key issue educators need to consider for working successfully with
Aboriginal students. Many students with different backgrounds are bullied and suffer racism
every day at school, in the community and online (Bodkin-Andrews & Carlson, 2016 p. 798).
If educators can minimise and make awareness in a school environment, it reduces the
pressure on students, because children spend majority of their time at school and interact with
peers multiple times a day. Teachers need to not apply stereotypes and collectively recognise
cultural differences without questioning students about their differentiation in their
community or collective rights. Educators should be approachable and implement
characteristics such as kindness, active listening, respect and accepting students for their
diversities. Because students are facing the impacts of racism, adapting these qualities will
encourage students to speak out and come to you regarding any issues. Educators can adapt
principle 1, recognition of the diversity and uniqueness of people, as well as of individuals is
essential (Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies [AIATSIS],
2017). Promote individuality and make it aware to the class that everyone has a meaning to
the world, and to value their identities. Raising awareness to students can be simple and
productive. Students can create their own posters in groups, or get into pairs with someone
that possesses a different cultural background and together they can share their views and
means of diversity and racism and create a poster to display around the school and in the
classroom.

Media is a mass communication collectively through broadcasting, publishing, the internet

and social media networks (Langton 1993, p. 24). Although the media is amusing and
engaging for some, it is dark and traumatising for others, especially Aboriginal people
(Langton 1993, p. 24). Across the nation, media perceives Aboriginal people differently to
others, the issue has improved over the years as people display acceptance, but stereotypes
and racism will continue to be epidemics for the media (Langton 1993, p. 32). There is a
sense of major offensive and appalling representation of Aboriginal people (Langton 1993, p.
24). Aboriginal people have been represented through the media as the stone savage age, the
dying race, violent, unpredictable, dirty, drunk and useless people who are going to die
(Harding, 2005 p. 316). Successful Aboriginal Australian celebrities such as Jessica Mauboy,
Cathy Freeman and Eddie Betts had to work extra hard to be given a chance not and to not be
viewed negatively by the media and the community, but even issues arise from comments

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through social media regarding their race. In many films, Aboriginal actors are more than
likely to be portrayed as the survivor or the villain, rather than the person living in luxury and
success (Harding, 2005 p. 321). Another major problem in the media is the minimal news
coverage of ongoing issues, sudden devastations, deaths and positive accomplishments within
Aboriginal people and communities (Harding, 2005 p. 323). When you see coverage of
Aboriginal people, most of the time it is extremely negative and highlights conflicts between
Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal people. It is commonly to be Aboriginal peoples fault
in most circumstances and this is demeaning and destroying Aboriginal people’s identities
and community (Harding, 2005 p. 322).

Media is an important key issue that educators need to consider for working successfully with
Aboriginal students. Many students watch the news with their families or are on social media.
Considering educators cannot change the media and what people say, they can raise
awareness and have a class discussion, talking about the major issues that come out of the
media such as racism and stereotypes. The educator should keep up to date with the media
just not through the common channels, but consider ABC online and NITV as it covers the
latest views and news. Teachers need to covey a relatedness approach which is a key feature
of Aboriginal peoples’ world views as it stems from the connectedness to everyday living,
tradition, culture and spirituality (Harding, 2005 p. 321). An educator could get a well-known
Aboriginal role-model to come into the school and discuss their positive and negative
experiences with the media, how it affects them and the correct way to handle it and
communicate respectfully via social media.

Aboriginal people identified the skills that communities believed to be important and valued,
communities worked together to maintain and develop those skills and not to hinder them
(Price, 2015 p. 2). Aboriginal people’s education was different to education known now, but
it was important to the community (Price, 2015 p. 2). Children learnt to make a knife or
spearhead and for each child there was a teacher, a mentor and a peer whom to learn with and
they were taught the essentials of life and history (Price, 2015 p. 3). Aboriginal people were
deemed to not be worthy of a quality education and they were only fit to learn to sew,
launder, cook, clean, garden and build fences (Price, 2015 p. 4). Throughout the 1970’s a
significant growth in the involvement of Aboriginal people in education was acknowledged
and many Aboriginal people entered the workforce not long after (Price, 2015 p. 7). The

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years went by and various strategies were introduced and implemented, to support Aboriginal
people’s goals and assist with their funds to further their education. Some of these include the
Aboriginal Student Support and Parent Awareness Program, National Indigenous English
Literacy and Numeracy Strategy and the Indigenous Education Ambassadors Program (Price,
2015 pp.11-13).

Education is a key issue that educators need to carefully consider for working successfully
with Aboriginal students. The way an educator presents themselves towards their students is
crucial and having an approachable, positive and warm chrematistic will make students feel
comfortable in a learning environment. Students will recognise their identities overtime and
develop a sense of self, feel comfortable making positive interactions, can actively
communicate and come to the educator if they have any issues and from this, students will
feel like they are learning and enjoying their time at school. It is important that teachers
understand the past and present and the ongoing issues that impact Aboriginal people’s lives
such as, history, racism. Considerations of how Aboriginal people learn, what they are used
to and that they learn differently need to be recognised. Educators need to consider the
diverse styles in the classroom and how to adapt a different teaching style to all students, that
will cater for their needs and help students succeed, because all students have the right to
learn, succeed and be treated equally. Teachers need to acknowledge Aboriginal culture and
student’s individuality, uniqueness and authentic approach to life. Building trust and positive
relationships with students is vital to their growth, learning and development, embracing all
diversities in the classroom, promoting Aboriginality, embed yourself with Aboriginal culture
and familiarise yourself with the traditional histories and culture so it can be appropriately
presented in the classroom. Adapt a sense of autonomy, be inspiring and deliver that quality
education that all students deserve. Be that teacher that students never forget and impact their
lives significantly. Aboriginal children are less likely to answer questions in the classroom
because they are not comfortable in speaking up, because they are used to a complete
different teaching style (Herbert 2012 p.41). Implementing a pop stick approach to teaching
where red stands for no idea, green stands for understand and yellow stands for unsure and
when the educator is teaching a lesson, instead of students feeling nervous to speak up, they
could be asked to put out a pop stick. This is a comfortable way for students to speak up and
it allows teachers to observe and indicate where students are at. There are multiple ways to
incorporate Aboriginal culture into practice, several subjects have a place for Aboriginal

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culture implemented in. The subject English can allow students can engage in Aboriginal
literature and oral narratives, mathematics provide students to explore between number and
how they relate aspects of counting and relationships to Aboriginal cultures, in science
students can learn that Aboriginal people have longstanding traditions in the world by making
generalisations within contexts such as food, natural materials and sustainability and in
humanities and social sciences students can explore strong connections, and how
communities express their identities, cultural, spirituality and aesthetic value of place
(Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2016).

For working successfully with Aboriginal people, educators need to identify the key issues
that impact Aboriginal people’s lives. History, racism, media and education are necessities
that educators need to carefully consider. Instead of steering away from Aboriginal history
and culture, educators can promote it, bring awareness to students, staff and parents,
implement fun, positive and engaging lessons surrounding the key considerations. It is vital
to enhance students learning, growth and development by being a vibrant, respectful,
culturally considerate and accepting educator. Educators must constantly be catering for
diversities within the classroom, treating everyone equally and giving students the same
opportunities to express their culture, values, uniqueness, individuality and to allow students
to represent themselves for whom they truly are.

Reference list
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) 2016, The Australian
Curriculum v8.2, viewed 13 September 2017, < http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/>.

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies [AIATSIS] 2017, viewed
18 September,<https://aiatsis.gov.au/research/ethical-research/guidelines-ethical-research-
australian-indigenous-studies/rights-respect-and-recognition

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers[(AITSL] 2017, viewed 13 September,

< https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards>.

Beyond Blue 2014, viewed 18 September 2017, < https://www.beyondblue.org.au>

Bodkin-Andrews G & Bronwyn C 2016, The legacy of racism and Indigenous Australian
identity within education, Race Ethnicity and education DOI: 10.1080/1363324.

Carter, DJ 2006, Aboriginal history and Australian history: ‘Dispossession, dreams &
diversity: issues in Australian studies’, The University of Newcastle, pp. 64-85.

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Clarke, FG 2002, The history of Australia, Greenwood Publishing Group.

Foley, D 2008, An Indigenous standpoint theory, ‘History, politics & knowledge: essays in
Australian indigenous studies’, The University of Newcastle, pp. 113-133, 326-329.

Harding, R. 2005 The media, Aboriginal people and common sense, ‘Canadian Journal of
Native Studies’ no. 25 pp.311-335.

Herbert, J 2012 Delivering the promise, ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Education:
An introduction for the Teaching Profession, 2nd edn, Price, K, Cambridge University Press,
pp. 35-51.

Langton, M 1993, The politics of Aboriginal representation, ‘Well, I heard it on the radio
and I saw it on the television’: an essay for the Australian Film Commission on the politics
and aesthetics of filmmaking by and about Aboriginal people and things, Australian Film
Commission, Sydney, pp. 23-43.

Price, K, 2012, ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Education: ‘An introduction for the
teaching profession’ pp. 1-16, 2nd edn, Cambridge University Press, Victoria.
Williams-Mozley, J 2012, The Stolen generations: what does this mean for Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander children and young people today? ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander education: an introduction for the teaching profession’, 2nd edn, Price, K, Cambridge
University Press, pp. 21-33.

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