Harrison (2011, p.

168) argues that 'Memories of bad laws and regulations make many
Aboriginal parents feel uncomfortable about coming to school'. Discuss this argument and
suggest ways that schools can effectively build community trust and collaboration.

Introduction:

“Education plays a critical role in shaping the lives of young Australians and contributing to a
democratic, equitable and just society that is prosperous, cohesive and culturally diverse.”
(Australian Curriculum, 2018). In today’s society, the role of education is critically prominent
in not only assisting a child in their own development as a person but to also increase their
knowledge of the world around them. One would suggest that the key stakeholders for a
child’s educational development would require effective involvement between teachers and
parents in order for children to be supported and guided during their educational journey.
Therefore, without the guidance of a parent, then the educational journey of a child would
be impacted. Harrison (2011, p. 168) argues that “Memories of bad laws and regulations
make many Aboriginal parents feel uncomfortable about coming to school”. This statement
will therefore entail that Aboriginal children would not have the ongoing support from their
parents which is vital in facilitating a child’s learning. The question that arises from this
statement is discovering whether bad laws and regulations are the only factors that hinders
parents or are there other factors that occurs today that hinders Aboriginal parents about
coming to school?

This paper will critically analyse the factors that contributes in making Aboriginal parents
feeling uncomfortable in coming to school and the ways in which a collaborative trust
community can be built. The scope of the paper will initiate with the exploration of bad laws
and regulations that has affected Aboriginal people but it will also challenge whether this
statement is purely based on the bad memories that occurred. It will then be followed by
ways in which effective, positive, inclusive and trustworthy communities can be built and
why it is important.

Bad laws and regulations

Numerous individuals in the society and several research papers would identify that
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders has constantly been out casted, discriminated and
mistreated. There are two significant events in Australian History that would be considered
as bad laws and regulations in relation to Harrisons’ statement (2011, p. 168). The first
would be the moment of the colonisation in Australia and the forced removal of Aboriginal
children from their parents. These two events would be considered as “bad” laws and
regulations due to the impact on Aboriginality.

Kylie Rivera | Student ID: 110231567

Teaching and Learning in Aboriginal Education | Tutor: Michelle Simmons
The colonisation of Australia in 1788 would be considered as a remarkable discovery
however, it completely neglected the culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
Although it was a discovery of new land, it was the first event that revealed the unequal
power relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people (Harrison 2011, p.8) In
fact, it completely neglected the respect towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people as the documentation of the colonisation in Australian history was initially written as
peaceful. According to Carter (2006, p.69), the British considered the land as empty even
though they had a clear recognition that a community was already living on the land. This
therefore was initially translated to a peaceful colonisation event in Australian history
(Carter 2006, p.69). This was the first of the many assumptions that was made by non-
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people which is the assumption that they weren’t
utilising the land. The British assumed that Aboriginal people revealed no ownership of the
land due the absence of any civilisation which for them entailed a government, crops,
fences and villages (Carter 2006, p.69). The colonisation of Australia resulted in grief for
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as their sacred sites were destroyed due to the
unacceptance of these sites as showing ownership of the land. Hence, this event impacted
upon destroying Aboriginality and discriminating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

Another essential point to evaluate is the legalisation that occurred in 1910 - 1970 in regard
to the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their Families (Price
2012, p. 26). This event is commonly known as the Stolen Generation, which was another
historic event that was radically discriminative towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander
individuals. Between 1910 – 1970, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were forcibly
removed from their families for them to be raised in a western society (Price 2012, p.26).
This entailed that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were deprived from their
communities, culture and language that is linked to their culture (Price 2012, p. 27).
According to Behrendt (1995, p.23) the action of removing Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islanders from ancestral lands resulted in Aboriginal culture to be forgotten due to the
inability of cultural stories to be transcended upon other generations. Even though this
legislation was repealed in 1960, child removal practices were still in operation in early
1970s (Price, 2012, p. 27). Therefore, it this impertinent practice occurred for 60 years
which resulted in many being deprived of their biological families.

These two-major events illustrated the contribution towards the unequal power
relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. Although a national apology
was made to the Stolen Generation in 2008 (Price 2012, p.28), and the neglected
information regarding the colonisation of Australia were implemented in history books
(p.84), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders can never forget the way they have been
constantly marginalised. According to Harrison (2011, p.8) the resentment that occurred
during these major events has been built up and passed down through generations.
Therefore, it supports the statement that these are considered as memories of bad laws and
Kylie Rivera | Student ID: 110231567
Teaching and Learning in Aboriginal Education | Tutor: Michelle Simmons
regulations that would contribute hindering Aboriginal parents to come to school. However,
the issues today is that Aboriginal parents would still feel uncomfortable to participate in
the education environment due to the issues that still occur today. These issues are the that
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are still perceived as disadvantaged, continuously
been stereotype and are still neglected today. An example of that depicts the assumption
that are still made towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders was the Northern Territory
Intervention in 2007 (Macoun 2011 p. 521). This intervention viewed Aboriginal parents as
inadequate protectors and victims of abuse (Macoun 2011, p.5 21). Aboriginal children were
then viewed as vulnerable and in need for action from the government for colonial practice
approach to occur (Macoun 2011, p.523). Another example that showcases the ongoing
assumption that Aboriginal people are incapable, is in a letter by an Aboriginal mother
pleading the teacher to not classify her child as disadvantage (Gollan 2012, p. 151). The
evidence suggest that bad laws and memories has contributed in the hindering parents to
come to school as well as the ongoing assumption that they are treated as “other”.

Building community and trust

Through the understanding of the issues and events that occurred in the past, educators
now have a critical role in ensuring an effective, trustful and collaborative community is
created and maintained, in particular with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.
Therefore, the union between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities is required for
both educational benefits of children but to also provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islanders a sense of acceptance in the society. Behrendt (1995 p. 29) proposed that the
differences between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people is the main source of conflict.
Hence, to try to resolve that conflict, it provides more reasoning in pursing the
establishment of collaborative communities. In relation to constructing a community of
trust within the school environment, the involvement of Aboriginal parents within the
educational system and in the classroom, would need to constantly occur. The involvement
of parents is not only critical in building a community of trust but it is also important in
supporting and conserving Aboriginality. To parent in Aboriginal culture is to not only
support the child biologically but also in a spiritual sense which assists the child to
understand rhythms and patterns on how he or she lives in relation to the world (Martin
2008, p. 29). Thus, the invitation for Aboriginal parents to be involved within the classroom
will ensure Aboriginality is treasured and supported through the guidance of their own
parents. Some of the ways in which schools can encourage and make Aboriginal parents
participate in the school community to is to schedule parents and Elders into the program to
talk about their place and history (13). By utilising a primary resource, it will permit children
to develop a deeper understanding of place, Aboriginal identity and their connection to
their country. In relation to the parents, it will hopefully create a more inclusive
environment for them to not feel that they are neglected or excluded like the ways that
they have been in the past. It will also provide Aboriginal parents to voice out as their
Kylie Rivera | Student ID: 110231567
Teaching and Learning in Aboriginal Education | Tutor: Michelle Simmons
opinions by sharing their stories and knowledge. Furthermore, it will view them as capable
educators for their child in their learning. The involvement of Aboriginal parents in within
the classroom has proven to result in successful outcomes such as increased attendance and
radically reducing suspensions (Martin 2008, p.13).

According to (Martin 2008, p.38) Aboriginal people are not turning towards the educational
system for it to educate their children on how to be Aboriginal but for them to develop a
respect for Aboriginal ancestry and to understand the uniqueness that it reveals. This leads
into the importance of educators to have respect for Aboriginality and to teach the culture
within the classroom. Through having respect for Aboriginality, parents would have a sense
of acceptance that their child and they themselves can attend school feeling comfortable
and embraced for who they are. First and foremost, it is important for educators be good
role models in building positive relationships with different stakeholders. An illustration of
this is to develop a good relationship with Aboriginal adults inside and outside of school for
students to model the respect towards their own classmates (Harrison 2011, p. 9)

Another way to build community and trust with parents is to view their child as capable in
achieving academic excellences and not viewed as different to other students. Harrison
(2011, p.9) explained that Aboriginal children is assumed to lack something and therefore
they are considered as deficient. In addition, this is also proven in several historic events
such as the Northern Territory Intervention which viewed Aboriginal children as “inherently
vulnerable” (Macoun 2011, page 221). Harrison (2011, p.9) also proposed the power of
discourse which impacts on the positioning of people to be either negative or positive. To
apply it into practice, educators should be cautious on the words that they say and avoid
language that excludes, neglects and discriminate Aboriginal parents and children. Martin
(2008, p. 10), also mentioned that Aboriginal children are like non-Aboriginal children who
also comes in all shapes and sizes and therefore they should have the same respect for
them. Based on the ideas of Harrison and Martin, through viewing Aboriginal children as
capable, Aboriginal parents would hopefully see the trust that the teacher has in their
child’s learning which would therefore create a trustful relationship between the teacher
and parent.

Finally, in teaching Aboriginality within schools, it is important to not utilise the same
stereotypical approaches that were taught. Price (2012, p.160) supports this through
providing an example of making didgeridoos. Price (2012, p. 160) explained that the task to
create didgeridoos out of cardboard and decorating them with dot painting does not inform
children about any new knowledge. However, by changing the activity to focus on how
exactly didgeridoos are made, what part of Australia and the language group involved would
be very educational for children to understand Aboriginality (Price 2012, p. 160).
Additionally, it is critical for educators to also demonstrate the stories from the culture and
Aboriginality and to not treat it as something that they must teach (letter, 150). This
Kylie Rivera | Student ID: 110231567
Teaching and Learning in Aboriginal Education | Tutor: Michelle Simmons
confirms the notion of teachers being reflective practitioners to ensure that each lesson is
effectively constructed and be beneficial for students (Groundwater-Smith et al 2014,
p.178).

Conclusion

As educators, there are supported documents such as the Teaching for effective Learning
Framework, Australian Curriculum, Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. These
frameworks all has guidelines that emphasises the necessary respect towards Aboriginal
and Torres strait Islander students and people. For example, strand one of the Australian
Professional Standards for Teachers it proposed the requirement of educators to
“demonstrate broad knowledge and understanding of the impact of culture, cultural identity
and linguistic background on the education of students from Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander background” (AITSL 2011). The Australia Curriculum has a similar statement that
ensures “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Identities tare represented as pivotal to the
priority and are approach through knowledge and understanding of the interconnected
concepts of Country/Place, Culture and People” (Australian Curriculum n.d). These
guidelines emphasise on how critical it is to respect Aboriginality as it takes into
consideration the radically discriminative past. It also accentuates the need for educators to
put into practice all the knowledge that they’ve learnt. In doing so, educators will project
respect and inclusiveness of people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background and
encourage them as parents to come to school. This will therefore provide children more
guidance in their educational journey as extra support will be able to be given by their own
parents.

This paper revealed the truth about the discriminative ways in which Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander has been treated in the past and how it does contribute in making parents
uncomfortable in coming to school. Attitudes of individuals and educators are needed to be
changed in order to continue what the national reconciliation tried to do (Short 2005, p. 33).
The national reconciliation was to raise awareness and facilitate change in regards to the
ways in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders has been treated in the past (Short 200,
p. 33). However, the report revealed that the voices of Aboriginal people were toned down
and softened (Short 2005, p. 35). Hence, educators would need to ensure that Aboriginal
and Torres Islander voices are heard and implemented in the educational system to also
encourage parent’s attendance in school to support their children. Price (2012, p.16)
pointed out that educators has the “opportunity to not only change perspective but to
change lives”. Therefore, through scheduling Aboriginal parents and Elders to take part in
the classroom environment, viewing Aboriginal children as capable and not retrieving back
to old ways of teaching would contribute in building effective trust and collaboration that is
essential in schools and in the society.
Kylie Rivera | Student ID: 110231567
Teaching and Learning in Aboriginal Education | Tutor: Michelle Simmons
Words: 2429

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Kylie Rivera | Student ID: 110231567

Teaching and Learning in Aboriginal Education | Tutor: Michelle Simmons
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Kylie Rivera | Student ID: 110231567

Teaching and Learning in Aboriginal Education | Tutor: Michelle Simmons