TEAC7156

Aboriginal Education: Past, Present and Future

Lecture: Module 1

Introduction
Who is an Aboriginal person?
Cultural identity
Respect, Relationships and Reconciliation
Equality and Equity
Values, Whiteness & Cultural Competency.

Unit Coordinator: Dr Michelle Locke

m.locke@westernsydney.edu.au
Unit Modules
Module 1:
Introduction to the unit
Who is an Aboriginal person?
Cultural identity
Respect, Relationships and Reconciliation
Equality and Equity
Values, Whiteness & Cultural Competency.
Module 4:
Impact of government policies and practices
with a focus on the Stolen Generations, Health
and Closing The Gap.
Module 2: Module 3:
A snapshot of black/white relations in An overview of racism, anti-racism,
Australia with a focus on Education. stereotyping, cultural safety and identity.
Modules 6 and 7:
Module 5:
Indigenous Education in Schools – ACARA’s
Engaging with Aboriginal communities with a
cross-curriculum priorities; Indigenous content
focus on Aboriginal languages and School
in KLAs; human resources – use not exploit;
Education.
Review and reflection.
 Assessment 1: ESSAY – INDIVIDUAL – 30% (2000 words)
Critically evaluate culturally responsive approaches for working with
children, families and communities in a school context.
Due – MONDAY 21st August 2023 at 10am – WEEK 5

Assessment 2: REFLECTIVE JOURNAL – INDIVIDUAL – 30%

Short Answer Responses – 2 per module – 14 in total
Assessments (200-250 words per answer)
Due – MONDAY 18th September 2023 by 10am – WEEK 9

Assessment 3: POWERPOINT PRESENTATION – INDIVIDUAL – 40%

PowerPoint presentation – max 24 slides
Due – FRIDAY 6th October – WEEK 11
 Introduction: Two Ways
Western and Aboriginal

WESTERN EDUCATION ABORIGINAL

WSU Yarramundi Lecture 2023 Shaw’s Creek Aboriginal Place. Yarramundi NSW
Content:
by the end of this unit students will have an understanding of:
1. Local knowledge, histories, languages and identities relating to Aboriginal
and Torres Islander peoples. (LO1,2)
2. Social, cultural (including the connections to community, country and kin)
and contextual influences (including media representations) on the identities of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. (LO1,2)
3. Cultural awareness, competence and sensitivity for providing inclusive
educational opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children,
families and communities. (LO1,2,3,4)
4. Culturally appropriate pedagogies, resources, assessments, terminology,
learning styles and communication. (LO3,4,5,6)
Content continued
5. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content in the curriculum.
(LO1,2,4)
6. The importance of building relationships and using appropriate
protocols when working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
students, families, workers and communities. (LO1,7)
7. Current and historical government policies and programs and their
impacts on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
(LO1,2,4,5,6)
By the end of this module you will have an
understanding of:

Myths and Facts about Aboriginal Australians

Aboriginal Australian identity and
nations/language groups
The terms Respect, Relationships, Reconciliation,
Equality, Equity, Values, Whiteness (or White
Privilege) and how they impact the classroom
What is a Culturally and Linguistically
Responsive Teacher?
 Source: Adapted from Mark Rose in Chapter 1 of the text

Think about when the following have occurred:

1788: Arrival of the ‘First Fleet’ (or 14.1 seconds ago)
1905: Einstein’s theory of special relativity published. It transforms
the nature of modern physical knowledge. (or 7.1 seconds ago)
1918: End of the First World War. The Habsburg and Ottoman
empires collapse; maps of Europe and the Middle East are
redrawn. (or 6.3 seconds ago)
1945: End of Second World War; when the first nuclear bomb is
detonated, mankind develops the means to destroy itself. (or 4.7
seconds ago)
1959: Invention of the silicon chip is the major technical invention
of the past century, making possible the computer age. (or 3.8
seconds ago)
2001: George W. Bush, was sworn in as the 43rd President of the
United States. Two hijacked jetliners ram twin towers of World
Trade Centre in worst terrorist attack against U.S.; a third hijacked
plane flies into the Pentagon, and a fourth crashes in rural
Pennsylvania. More than 3,000 people die in the attacks (or 1.3
seconds ago)
2008: Barack Obama becomes the first African-American to be
elected President (or 0.9 seconds ago)
2008: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s Apology to the Stolen
Generations (or 0.9 seconds ago)
 Aboriginal Education: past present and future
WESTERN WORLDVIEW INDIGENOUS WORLDVIEW
future

present

‘Every when’
past
 What does this mean for educators?
The Past
• demands truth telling
• Avoid using the past tense when speaking about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, our knowledges,
practices, Country and Ancestors, continue, we are still here.

The Present
• is yesterday, today and tomorrow
• Recognise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continue to practice and share cultural
knowledges, values and protocols – they may look different to how they were practiced by our Ancestors but
that makes them no less valid or important today.

The Future
• is shaped by the things we have done and said as well as the things we do and say today
• Understand that the way in which you represent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and knowledges
as an educator (and human being) directly impacts the way in which your students will view and treat
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples into the future.
 Who is an Aboriginal person today?
Currently there is a generally accepted three part definition:
An Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person is
1. a person of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent
2. who identifies as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and
3. is accepted as such by the community in which he or she lives.
https://aiatsis.gov.au/proof-aboriginality

This definition is problematic for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Make
a list of the potential reasons for this and bring them for discussion to your tutorial class.
Are you asked to justify your cultural identity?
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the only peoples in this country who are
forced to justify their identities.

Are Italian Australians asked how much Italian are you? Are Samoan Australians asked
how much Samoan are you? Are Lebanese Australians asked how much Lebanese are you?

“ … no less than 67 identifiable classifications, descriptions or definitions have been used

from the time of white settlement to the present.”
(McCorquodale 1997)
 Indigenous Populations
2021
Statistics of interest:
•As at 30 June 2021 there were 984,000 Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander people, representing 3.8%
of the total Australian population.
•This is an increase of 185,600 people (23.2%) since
30 June 2016.
•One-third (33.1%) of the Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander population was under 15 years of
age.

When looking at the graph and statistics think

about the question:
What are the implications for schools and early
Australian Bureau of Statistics (June 2021), Estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians,
learning services? ABS Website, accessed 10 February 2023.
 What does Aboriginal Australia look like?

If you click on the words

‘Aboriginal Australia’ in the
title you will be taken to the
AIATSIS site where you can
interact with this map
 Key Terms and Resources - 3Rs - Respect,
Relationships and Reconciliation

Respect
Respect refers to the way an individual treats others. Showing respect occurs in many ways,
such as waiting to speak, not asking too many direct questions, ensuring that people are not
made to feel uncomfortable or uneasy, and generally showing regard for the ideas, beliefs
and cultures of others (New South Wales Department of Education and Training 2003, p.
14).
Relationships and interconnectedness underpin Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways
of thinking, being, relating and seeing. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural and
kinship connections are essential to wellbeing.
 Relationships

The way in which two or more people or things are connected, or the state of being
connected. The state of being connected by blood or marriage. The way in which two or
more people or groups regard and behave towards each other (Oxford Dictionary).
All students require an understanding of contemporary, intercultural relationships that
includes:
•relationships to family and community
•relationships to country and place, which includes relationships to sea and sky
 Reconciliation

The action of making one view or belief compatible with another (Oxford Dictionary).
In the 3R’s modules, reconciliation refers to a process of building relationships between
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous peoples that enables us to work
together to close gaps in equality, and to achieve a shared sense of fairness and justice.
Some Aboriginal people are opposed to Reconciliation arguing it is ReCONciliation
because it seems that it is up to Aboriginal people to do the reconciling
 The State of Reconciliation in Australia
To continue it’s efforts in providing a framework for meaningfully defining and
measuring reconciliation, Reconciliation Australia, the national expert body on
reconciliation, released its 2021 report, it which it stated:
‘While we recognise the decades of dedication to the reconciliation process,
Australia needs to move from ‘safe’ to ‘brave’ in order to realise the promise of
reconciliation’
https://www.reconciliation.org.au/2021-state-of-reconciliation-report-released/
 Reconciliation Report 2021:
Five Dimensions of Reconciliation in Australia

Race relations
Equality and equity
Institutional integrity
Unity
Historical acceptance
The following slides share proposed actions for each dimension, from this
report. These actions are relevant to all educators and are worth considering
when completing assessment tasks for this unit
 1. Maintain legal protections against racism
2. Support public campaigns against racism
3. Support public education on First Nations cultures and
histories
Actions - 4. Reform mainstream service delivery, and workplaces, to
Race relations address systemic racism and promote cultural safety and
improve accountability
5. Address justice issues that impact the relationship
between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and
institutions including addressing over-incarceration, rates
of family violence, and children in out-of-home care.
 1. All future policy development, implementation and monitoring of
Indigenous Affairs is done in genuine partnership with Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their representative bodies
2. The calls in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, including for a
constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament, should be
supported by parliaments, corporate and civil society, and the
broader community
Actions - 3. Governments must appropriately resource national, regional, local
Equality and traditional owner, independent, representative bodies for
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
and Equity 4. Governments, working in genuine partnership with Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples, must address each of the social and
economic gaps experienced by First Peoples, including critical
justice issues in relation to over-incarceration, family violence, and
children in out-of-home care
5. Governments must raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10
to at least 14 to bring it into line with international human rights
standards.
Equality and
Equity?
Which is
which?
 1. Governments, corporate organisations, and civil society
must recognise the importance of, and honour
commitments enshrined in, the UN Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples and work proactively with
Actions - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to
incorporate its aims into domestic policy, legislation, and
Institutional business practices that impact First Peoples
integrity 2. RAP organisations should speak up on, and engage with a
range of issues, including those that may attract
controversy, such as constitutional reform, treaties, truth-
telling, over incarceration, children in out-of-home care,
justice reinvestment, and closing the disadvantage gaps.
 1. •Governments, corporate, education and media
institutions should value First Peoples cultures and ways
of doing in governing, education curricula, business
practices, and media representation
2. Governments, corporate, education and media
institutions should support initiatives that celebrate,
Actions - Unity promote and enhance public education about First
Peoples’ history, culture, and achievements
3. Governments, corporate, education and media
institutions should promote discussion about enhancing
our national identity by embedding Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander culture and history into our national story.
 1. Governments at a federal, state and local level, along
with educational institutions, should support truth-telling
in local communities to build national understanding of
our shared past, and build a culture and movement of
truth-telling
2. Governments and institutions should build greater public
Actions - recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
histories and cultures in the public domain including
Historical through memorialisation, plaques, renaming places, and
acceptance sharing and re-storying
3. Governments and universities should support increased
scholarship to investigate Australia’s frontier wars and
massacres
4. Governments, working with our educational institutions,
should work with First Peoples to improve the teaching of
First Nations history and culture in our schools
 What are “Values”?
Values are the principles or standards by which we live. We can use the idea of values and/or morals
to discuss and decide whether something is right or wrong, good or bad.

In the Australian Curriculum, ‘capability’ encompasses

knowledge, skills, behaviours and dispositions.

One of seven general capabilities in the Australian Curriculum is Ethical Understanding.

By examining our own values and the values of others, understanding ethical concepts and issues,
and reasoning in personal decision-making and actions, we can achieve ethical understanding.
 What is Whiteness or White Privilege?
Whiteness involves the marginalisation, discrimination and oppression of non-white
groups and individuals and the privileging of white groups and individuals.

“Although whiteness is a complex and fragmented identity, all white people in Australia benefit from
racial privilege; all receive unearned social benefits as the inheritors of a racially based system of
wealth and privilege.” (McKay 2004: 4. See also Moreton-Robinson 2004; Nicoll 2004)
In Australian universities, as in all other institutions in this country, systemic individual and
institutional practices of whiteness are prevalent and impact significantly upon Indigenous peoples,
whether as students, staff or community members.
“Whiteness confers both dominance and privilege; it is embedded in Australia’s institutions and in the
social practices of everyday life.” (Moreton-Robinson 1998: 11; Moreton-Robinson 2006: 388)
Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teachers
What is our goal with all
of this?
Our endpoint is to have
educators who are
culturally competent or
better still educators who
are able to deliver culturally
and linguistically
responsive pedagogy!

Source: Educators Belonging, Being & Becoming: Educators’ Guide to the Early Years Learning Framework
for Australia 2010
 Conclusion

All of the concepts and information in the slides above will guide
you on your learning journey to becoming a culturally and
linguistically responsive competent educator – remembering it is a
journey, NOT an endpoint!

Whilst the focus for this unit is Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people and communities as with a lot of education content it is
transferable to other contexts – what we refer to as best practice.
Your WSU Aboriginal Education Journey
References
McCorquodale, John. Aboriginal identity: Legislative, judicial and administrative definitions [online]. Australian Aboriginal Studies, No. 2, 1997: 24-35.
Availability: https://search-informit-com-au.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/documentSummary;dn=151432713430267;res=IELAPA [cited 18/11/20]

https://www.alrc.gov.au/publication/essentially-yours-the-protection-of-human-genetic-information-in-australia-alrc-report-96/36-kinship-and-
identity/legal-definitions-of-aboriginality/#:~:text=These%20statutes%20have%20generally%20defined,the%20Aboriginal%20race%20of
%20Australia’. [cited 17/11/20]

https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/Publications_Archive/CIB/cib0203/03Cib10#threepa
rtdefinition
[cited 17/11/20]

https://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/fscp/pdf/Family%20Engagement%20Winter%202013%20handouts.pdf [cited 9/12/20]

https://www.reconciliation.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/State-of-Reconciliation-2021-Summary-Report_web.pdf