EDUC2420 Teaching Indigenous Australian Students - 2018 NS2

Reading engagement task- Daniel Barker

Around Australia there are massive disparities between indigenous and non indigenous Australians
in regards to level of education and educational outcomes. There are currently a variety of policies in
place to attempt to close this gap however most have yielded poor results (Patrick, 2016). This
review will focus on the key social conditions that heavily impact the experiences of an indigenous
student in our current Australian educational system, rather than the deficits themselves. Some of
the key conditions that will be discussed include race, racism, whiteness and the ways in which these
three are connected as well as a lack of cultural understanding and how these aspects result in
massive inequities.

Racism is a negative connotation associated with race and is often defined in different ways. While a
majority of the general public view racism as an action of hatred towards someone of a different
race or a belief that one’s race is superior than others, some alternative viewpoints are portrayed
within the work of Tannoch-bland (1998) where the author describes this understanding of racism to
be defined as racial hatred. Tannoch-bland states that although this racial hatred is no longer
accepted in our society, forms of true racism are still are going unnoticed, sometimes even by the
people who are committing them. The author then discusses the fact that many white Australians
feel as though racism does not affect their lives and instead only impacts the indigenous people,
however this is incorrect. When looking at racism as racial oppression it becomes clear that for one
side to be the oppressed the other must be considered the oppressor, this then sheds light on white
race privilege, as the disadvantage of the indigenous people inherently provides white Australians
with an advantage.

Nicoll (2004) discusses the fact that more and more teachers are now educating their students
around the fact that racism is not as simple as guilty or not guilty and instead, everyone is affected
by it and consequently everyone sits somewhere on the privilege scale that makes up our society.

White race privilege leads directly into the topic of whiteness. Whiteness can be defined by the
inherent privilege that white Australians are born with, it is often both unearned and invisible but
still plays a huge role in the disadvantage of the indigenous people (Riggs, 2007).

After considering the provided information on race, racism and whiteness some clear connections
between the three can be made and all of which link back to white privilege and indigenous
disadvantage. These are some of the key social issues that directly affect indigenous educational
outcomes and success rates and all bring with them the wildly untruthful and yet common theme
that indigenous people are somehow inferior to white Australians.

After discussing race, racism and whiteness along with the key links between them it becomes clear
to see the obvious disadvantage indigenous students face and helps to paint the picture of why their
educational outcomes could be so very different to those of the white Australian students.

A prime example of these social factors affecting indigenous students can be found in the work of
Vass (2014). This paper describes the experiences of a teacher within the educational setting and
their experiences of racial discrimination and negative stereotyping. These mistreatments are visible
from the actions of not only the other students but also the educators themselves. Examples of this
are making negative assumptions or holding judgments and beliefs prior to understanding and/or

Daniel Barker Student ID: 2186451 Word Count: 997

EDUC2420 Teaching Indigenous Australian Students - 2018 NS2

getting to know their indigenous students. This article ties in very heavily with another by O’Brien
(2007) which also delves into the negative assumptions made by educators towards indigenous
students. In this document the author speaks of his own childhood and in particular the fact that he
had jaundice, a medical condition that caused him to miss quite a lot of schooling. O’Brien discusses
the fact that although he was a relatively good student and was not intentionally missing school time
he had educators who didn’t take the time to understand or even question this and just assumed it
was because he was indigenous. These examples mark a clear point that negative assumptions
towards indigenous people can have very harmful effects on their educational outcomes and
achievements. As demonstrated by O’Brien’s teacher’s lack of effort with regards to both learning of
his illness and then helping him to overcome the educational disadvantage it was putting on him.

These cases of teachers going into their classrooms with negative assumptions already made
towards indigenous student’s, shows a clear example of them not achieving one of the crucial focus
areas of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. When referring to focus area
2.4 it can be seen that teachers should “Understand and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people to promote reconciliation between indigenous ad non-indigenous Australians”. Therefore an
educator who is achieving this would instead take on indigenous students with the assumption that
they are just as capable as any other students and if/when any issues do arise they would make a
conscious effort to understand the individual student and the problem. This would allow them to
identify the issue and assist the student to work through it (AITSL, 2017).

Another key focus area provided by AITSL in regards to teaching indigenous students is focus area
1.4, which is as follows “Implement strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
students”. This focus area refers to the differing strategies that a teacher may use to ensure they are
incorporating or at least acknowledging the indigenous students culture, background and the affects
that these can have on their interactions with the content being taught (AITSL, 2017).

Overall it is clear that indigenous students are at a large disadvantage in terms of their educational
experience. These disadvantages can come in varying forms with one of the main social conditions
discussed in this paper being negative assumptions made towards the indigenous students. These
assumptions limit the assistance, understanding and compassion shown towards the student and are
extremely damaging to their experiences as a student.

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EDUC2420 Teaching Indigenous Australian Students - 2018 NS2

Reference list

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, (2017). Australian Professional Standards
for Teachers. Retrieved from http://www.aitsl.edu.au/

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, (2017). Australian Professional Standards
for Teachers. Retrieved from http://www.aitsl.edu.au/

Nicoll, F 2007, '’Are you calling me a racist?', Teaching critical whiteness studies in Indigenous
sovereignty' in DW Riggs (ed), Taking up the challenge: critical race and whiteness studies in a
postcolonising nation, 1st edn, Crawford House Publishing, Belair, SA, pp. 17-33.

O'Brien, Lewis Yerloburka & Gale, Mary-Anne 2007, 'My difficult childhood', in O'Brien, Lewis
Yerloburka & Gale, Mary-Anne, And the clock struck thirteen: the life and thoughts of Kaurna Elder
Uncle Lewis Yerloburka O'Brien, 1st edn, Wakefield Press, Kent Town, S. Aust., pp. 102-122.
My difficult childhood.pdf

Patrick, R & Moodie, N 2016, 'Indigenous Education Policy Discourses in Australia', in Barkatsas, T &
Bertram, A, Global Learning in the 21st Century, Sense Publishers, Rotterdam, pp. 165-184.
Indigenous Education Policy Discourses in Australia

Riggs, D. (2007). Taking up the challenge: critical race and whiteness studies in a postcolonising
nation. Crawford House Publishing.

Tannoch-Bland, J 1998, 'Identifying white race privilege ' in Bringing Australia together: the structure
and experience of racism in Australia, Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action,
Woollongabba, Qld., pp. 33-38.

Vass, G 2014, The racialised educational landscape in Australia: listening to the whispering elephant,
Race Ethnicity and Education, 17:2, 176-201.

Daniel Barker Student ID: 2186451 Word Count: 997