Indigenous Students Barriers to Education

 

University Education NECESSARY to Break Through the Barriers of Indigenous Educational Disadvantage

 

As depressing as it may be, I'm sure we are all aware that there is an overwhelming amount of statistics regarding the disadvantages that Indigenous students face compared to non-Indigenous students. These issues are not only in primary and high school but also occur in life after school. In the article Education bar must be set higher to close the gap Bill Lawson agrees that Indigenous students are beginning to better achieve and compete with non-Indigenous students and this is something to be praised, however, Lawson goes on to say that the "big game is university education - the real decisions are made around the table by people with university education." The chair of GenerationOne Warren Mundine reiterates this when he informs us that in the next 5 years 70 per cent of jobs will require at least a certificate III or equivalent (CEDA, 2013)

So as much as we are improving the education of Indigenous students this will come to nothing if they finish school, unqualified, and rely solely on welfare..  What are some of these so called barriers that Indigenous students face you may ask?
The Creative Spirits website offers us a list :
          - English as a second language (most Indigenous students first language is not English, they are instantly put at a disadvantage when attending a school that does not facilitate to this)
          - Inappropriate context (Indigenous students may become very bored and inattentive if the materials do not relate to them or can be useful in their lives, this can include a very 'white' history, and stories focusing on 'white' people)
          - Overcrowded houses (this can be a major issue if a child does not have an appropriate space where they can do their homework, also if there is no support at home such as a parent or sibling who encourages an education)
          - Poor teaching quality (many teachers believe they need more professional development for Aboriginal education)

For a more thorough list see (http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/education/barriers-to-aboriginal-education )

There are many more barriers that Indigenous students face, Greg Vass argues that the school institution itself adopts "inequalities through operating as a function of white property" (Vass, 2012, 2). And through all these disadvantages how can an Indigenous student possibly be meeting Vass' 3rd disposition, the right to use and enjoyment (Vass, 2012, 4).  Poor attendance and poor retention show that Indigenous students are not finding education useful or enjoyable. So this needs to change in order for Indigenous students to reach university or TAFE, get a job and break the cycle of disadvantage.

Back to the newspaper article, Jenny Macklin (the Federal Minister for Families), informs us that the Closing the Gap program has started to see a shift in the expectations of Indigenous peoples themselves. They want to break the cycle, they want to be qualified and want to have a secure job. The Closing the Gap program is helping this happen by introducing employment agencies in remote areas. This allows them to seek help of a professional and achieve economic independence (CEDA, 2013).

I think, doing an education course, I mainly thought about Indigenous students and how to get them through school. But this article has made me realise that congratulating ourselves on getting them through school is not enough, we need to encourage and aid them to make further decisions in life.



References

Creative Spirits, Barriers to Aboriginal education
http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/education/barriers-to-aboriginal-education

Education bar must be set higher to close the gap, Community for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA), Tuesday April 13 2013
http://www.ceda.com.au/news-articles/2013/04/30/wa_indigenoustargets

Greg Vass, (2012): The racialised educational landscape
in Australia: listening to the whispering elephant, Race Ethnicity and Education,

 

 

 

Amanda Brown



DRAFT - Racial Segregation and NAPLAN

Adrian Piccoli (Minister for Education in the O'Farrell government and Deputy Leader of The Nationals) recently said that there is "no evidence that testing makes the slightest difference to student outcomes" (Tebbutt, September 19, 2013) regarding the National Assessment Plan for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). There is a tendency regarding NAPLAN to focus solely on academic indicators and outcomes and not focus on wider social and cultural consequences that result from national testing. I would argue that this is a typical negligent practice, and fits with educational theorist Giroux' (1981) statement that “mainline curriculum theorists rarely understand what the linkages are between curriculum theory and cultural reproduction” (pg. 147). This depoliticises teaching, and ignores that teaching is embedded in a social reality in which hierarchies of power are always enacting relationships of dominance and subordination.

NAPLAN publishes their results to the public on the myschool website, which breaks down data gathered through testing into league tables that compare schools outcomes against each other. This has allowed parents to have more insight and control over their child’s hypothesised future educational opportunities and results. Myschool also releases the percentage of students with language backgrounds other than English (LBOTE) enrolled in each school, which according to the Australian Review has contributed to what appears to be the chosen segregation of students based on cultural background, reflected in the fact that public schools have the overwhelming majority of students with LBOTE whilst Anglo-Australian parents are sending their students to private schools (Australian Review, 2011). Jakubowicz has described this as “…a withdrawal from intercultural interaction, into monocultural isolation with only carefully controlled interactions with ‘Others’” (2009, pg. 4). Educationally this is problematic because Anglo-Australian students at private schools are not being exposed to the culturally diverse make-up of our society and their opportunities to learn acceptance, tolerance and gain valuable cross-cultural insights are significantly lessened. Private schools are widely considered to house better facilities and more highly trained teachers. These perceived educational advantages are less attainable for migrant families who may earn less financial income than native Australians because they are recently settled or may have little or no English. This too contributes to the polarisation of schools based on Anglophone and non-Anglophone cultures.

This form of cultural segregation is not overt, like the ethnic cleansing of the White Australia Policy. Instead it is a subtle phenomena which is perpetuated by individual decisions. Minikel-Lacoque's (2012) break down of the taxonomy of racial microaggression is helpful in considering what psychological underpinnings drive this phenomena of racial segregation based on language backgrounds. This is definitely a case of environmental microaggression at the macro level because this problem is supported by the systemic practice of publishing myschool data. In some cases the racial segregation of students may be perceived as a microinsult regarding the "ascription of intellligence" of LBOTE students: it is possible that English speaking parents are making assumptions that students whose first language is not English are less intelligent and less capable of succeeding in Australian schools. 

The Australian Review has published a table using data gleaned from myschool that shows the top ten selective public schools in NSW and the percentage of students with LBOTE at those schools (see http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2011/05/ho.html table 2). Significantly the top performing selective school has 97% of its students with language backgrounds other than English. I think this information that should be gaining as much acclaim as the myschool league tables, as it undercuts any racial microaggression based on assumptions about intelligence.

  

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/testing-times-for-crucial-barometer/story-fni0cwl5-1226722308381

Ho, C. (May, 2011). ‘My School’ and others: Segregation and white flight. In Australian Review of Public Affairs. Sourced from: http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2011/05/ho.html

Jakubowicz, A. 2009, Cultural Diversity, Cosmopolitan Citizenship and Education: Issues, Options and Implications for Australia: A discussion paper for the Australian Education Union, Sydney.

Mandatory Topic - Sydney's Education Issues

 

How and why the lack of diversity in Sydney’s elite schools are discouraging everyday multiculturalism.

 

I come from a country town where school choice is not necessarily limited but is no where near as diverse as in Sydney.  I think this is the reason why studies on private and public schools interest me so much.  In this blog I am going to look at the multicultural differences between private and public schools and what effects these differences have.

In an article in The Sydney Morning Herald Andrew Stevenson analyses the differences in students of private and public schools.  He notes that at most of Sydney’s “high-fee independent schools less than 10 per cent of students have a parent who speaks a language other than English.”  Christina Ho reiterates this point in the Journal of Intercultural Studies when explaining how dramatically different the levels of cultural diversity are between public and independent high schools (Ho, 2011).  In particular, results from the My School website show that, in the wealthy Northern suburbs students from a language background other than English (LBOTE) form the minority, only 13 per cent of students. This is compared to LBOTE students forming over fifty per cent of students in public schools across Sydney (Ho, 2011, 606).

I’m not going to continue on and on with mind-blowing statistics. Instead I’m going to share with you why exactly this is an issue.

Basically, schools are excellent institutions for multiculturalism to exist and be understood.  They provide a space for people to negotiate with each other (over answers in class for example), exchange goods (like a roll up for an LCM bar),  and learn how to respect one another even if they don’t want to become friends. I’m not ambitiously dreaming that all cultures can co-exist peacefully if we get it right in the school yard.  But I am suggesting students can learn to respect differences and carry this respect and knowledge throughout their life.

Even in the newspaper article the principal of Ravenswood (and elite upper north shore girls school that only has 9 per cent LBOTE students) is quoted saying “We are conscious of the fact that our girls live on the upper north shore, that for many of them their experiences can be limited and we have to try and create experiences for them” (Stevenson, 2012).  What the principal is referring to is cultural experiences and they’re trying to create them by offering Chinese languages to make the school more attractive to Chinese students.

Apart from the alarming fact that many of Sydney’s private schools seem to be seriously selective in the number of LBOTE students they admit, this is creating an adverse effect for public schools. In the Western suburbs of Sydney, public schools have been abandoned by Anglo-Australians fleeing to the private sector.  Although you might look at these Western Sydney public schools, full of students from different cultural backgrounds,  as positive in encouraging multiculturalism, in fact it is the opposite. Being “disproportionately migrant dominated” (Ho, 2011, 611) is not helping them understand or respect others in Australia.

So I’ve made this sound like a pretty depressing blog full of statistics and the negative implications. However statistics on the My School website are only proving this trend, and it needs to be addressed pronto.  But by who? Maybe the Government, or the schools, or the families? How about all of them combined to address the need to educate students on how to respect one another in this very, very multicultural country of ours.

 

References

Christina Ho (2011) Respecting the Presence of Others: School Micropublics and Everyday Multiculturalism, Journal of Intercultural Studies, 32:6, 603-619

Andrew Stevenson (2012) The white bread playground: top private schools shun ethnic diversity, The Sydney Morning Herald,  http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/the-white-bread-playground-top-private-schools-shun-ethnic-diversity-20120611-20663.html

The My School website www.myschool.edu.au

 

By AMANDA BROWN

 

A reflection of my own experiences of culture and identity

A reflection of your own experiences of culture and identity in relation to education

First off, what is the meaning of culture and identity? Phillips (2006) adopts the definition of culture “the process through which any social organization develops and reproduces itself”. In a similar fashion, Hofstede (1980) defines culture as “the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group from another”. Identity deals with who we think we are, and provides the meaning to our lives. Although culture and identity are intangible, they are both imperative ideologies in education, playing significant roles in the school environment.

I attended an all girls’ school, where it was very multicultural. All of us came from different backgrounds. Majority of us had different thoughts, morals, values, traditions and religions. However, what I realized was that my grade was spilt into groups, and most of it was based on our cultural background. We had groups known as “the fobs”, “the Asians”, and “the lebs”. I think this is because we were more comfortable spending more time with people who were more similar to us.

My school had students from a variety of cultures, and due to this, my school made sure that they maintained and promoted the importance of positive school culture, having an aim to help students to achieve and grow in the school environment. For example, the school café, an external influence on my identity in education in my own experience. I worked in the school café with my friends, and as a result, I was identified as being a part of the café group. Through the café, I was able to not only connect to my peers, but also to all teachers in my school. The students who were from other grades that I didn’t know, they knew me as the girl who worked in the café. The café certainly influenced and changed my identity as it developed the group that I classified with in high school, and provided me with a sense of belonging. 

Society is slowly realizing the importance of culture in education. This is seen in the recent article titled, “Schools should consider Aboriginal culture”. The article states how research has shown that by including Aboriginal culture in education, will allow Aboriginal students to perform better “as they are focusing on what they value”. Thus, culture and identity influences all aspects of school for all staff and students.

Therefore, culture and identity impacts the way children participate in education, how teachers teach and how teachers interact with their students. As Wadham & Boyd states, “Culture shapes education, and education shapes culture”. This is reflected through my own experiences in my high school experience, as discussed in this post.

References:

Phillips, A. (2006). What is culture? In Arneil, Barbara and Deveaux, Monique and Dhamoon, Rita and Eisenberg, Avigail, (eds.) Sexual justice / cultural justice. London, UK : Routledge, pp.

Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work related Values. London: Sage Publications, pp. 21.

Wadham, B. Pudsey, J. & Boyd, R. (2007). Culture and education. Sydney: Pearson Education. Chapter 1: What is culture?, pp. 6

News.ninemsn.com.au. (2013). Schools should consider Aboriginal Culture. < http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2013/09/18/17/25/schools-should-consider-aboriginal-culture> - Accessed on September 22, 2013.

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Gaps between Indigenous and non-indigenous students

In this blog I am going to talk about the impact of social justice and ethnic identity of Aboriginal youth in Australia. According to the student enrollment’s dada of NSW government schools in 2012, 6.3% are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. It shows there is a significant number of an Aboriginal student in the school system. Because of their ethnic identity, I wonder if they have received equal distributive justice, compare to the non-indigenous young?

In Gewirtzs’s opinion, that distributive justice can be tended to divide into two categories. One is the equal opportunity, another one is equal outcomes. The fact shows that indigenous students have unequal opportunity to receive education, for example, 60% of Aboriginal children is significantly behind non-Aboriginal children by the time they start Year One. Only 40% of Aboriginal children who stay at school until year 12, compared to 76% among non-Indigenous children. There are many other data all reflecting this kind of situation in the same way. Certainly, we can’t see very positive education outcomes from the Aboriginal community groups.  (http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/education/)

On 3rd of August 2013, from the STRINGER, an independent news website of Muti-Award Winning Investigative Journalism. I was shocked by the title of “Australia’s Aboriginal children – The world’s highest suicide rate”. The news shows that Australia’s Aboriginal youth suicide rates remain high, cruelly disproportionate to the rest of the Australian population. The suicide rate doubled for youth between ages 10 and 17. The data shows, it up from 18.8 per cent to 30.1 per cent. In contrast to non-Aboriginal youth suicides, the data dropped from 4.1 per cent to 2.6 per cent (Gerry 2013). There is a huge difference between indigenous children to non-indigenous children. 

Furthermore, there is also a large academic achievement gap exists between non-indigenous and indigenous students in all States of Australia (Ford, 2012). Because of the colonial and the intrusion of western culture, Aboriginal education have both endured and changed over time. Despite non-indigenous people intend to ‘improve’ upon, it is a way to destroy their knowledge and teachings (Cadzow, 2013). For example, in 2004 among the Australian education system, only 0.7% of all teachers in Australian were indigenous Australian, Anglo-sax teachers become a majority teacher group, who might not have a lot of experience to teach and enough knowledge to accommodate Aboriginal kids or communities. They teaching in western style, such as Aboriginal students are requested to answer questions with critical thinking in the class. Sometimes teachers might misunderstand their behaviour, such as avoid of eye contact with teachers is thought to be offensive. If indigenous students’ number is low in normal class, as a minority group, teachers might even ignore or victimise them, without high expect to their learning results. That we can say it is a kind of “soft racism”. 

Moreover, in some parts of Australia, Aboriginal people have ‘a huge hesitation’ about the embrace of Western education. On one hand, many Aboriginal people are afraid of losing their children to a bigger world, and their children losing their traditional ethnic identities and culture (Koori Mail ). On the other hand, all the horrific Aboriginal history, for example the pain of the Stolen Generations, makes Aboriginal who is a part of Australian society feeling like victims.

Children is the future of a country, Aboriginal children should receive more care and have a better life in the future. In my opinions that Australian government has responsibility to balance the social distributive justices which can make this original residence of Australia have a sense of belonging and happiness. 

http://thestringer.com.au/australias-aboriginal-children-the-worlds-highest-suicide-rate/#.Uj2udTA3BSS

Reference: 

Gewirtz, S. (1998). Conceptualizing social justice in education: mapping the territory. Journal of Education Policy, 13(4), 469-484.

Margot Ford.(2012). Achievement gaps in Australia: what NAPLAN reveals about education inequality in Australia. Race Ethnicity and Education. 16:1, p83.

Allison Cadzow. (2013). A NSW Aboriginal Education Timeline 1788–2007. Aboriginal education timelines in NSW. New South Wales Government: Aboriginal Education Board of study. From：http://ab-ed.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/go/aboriginal-studies/timeline/.

Koori Mail 'Education, recognition hot topics at Garma', 482 p.3

Racism in Education

A reflection on a current educational issue in Sydney relating to culture and identity

Hi everyone,

This post is about racism in education. Racism is a growing concern in education that can be related to a students culture and identity.

What is the meaning of racism? There is no claim made of a sound definition of racism. It is a term that is very difficult to define and put into words due to its ambiguity. According to the oxford dictionary, racism is “the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races”.

Racism is something we’ve all witnessed. Through my own experiences in primary school and high school, I have noticed everyone can be a little bit racist. Yet, some people may not realize that they are behaving in a racist manner. Racism can be experienced by all sorts of people in education, including students, teachers, and casual staff. It makes me question if racism is now becoming apart of our modern culture as people unintentionally act in a racist manner without realizing it. For example, not helping students from some backgrounds as much as others is an act of racism that might occur in schools.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiQq_XAVPLg) 

Because of the impact of racism in society, institutions and governments have made policies or laws against it. According to Michael Omi and Howard Winant, “Race has been a key determinant of mass movements, state policy, and even foreign policy” (Omi and Winant, 138).  Here is a hip hop video that the Human Rights Commission launched in order to  tackle the increasing issue of racism in schools, an aim for young adults. The video clip is titled “What YOU say matters! Racism. It stops with me”, performed by Indigenous hip-hop artist Brothablack and featuring students from James Meehan High School in Macquarie Fields, South West Sydney. The video depicts the issue of racism around the school community, providing examples of scenarios that may occur in the classroom. This video also highlights how one’s culture can provide their identity, due to the stereotypical image of their culture. Due to this, the video is designed to encourage teenagers to reflect and to act safely when they experience or witness racism at school.

The video clip and song also answers common questions about racism, like:

·       What is racism?

·       Why are people racist?

·       Who experiences racism?

·       Where does racism happen?

·       Why is racism a problem?

·       What can you do?

·       What can the law do?

Recently, there are several issues that occurred that has highlighted the issue of racism in high school. This is recognized in the media article titled “Teachers, pupils on mission to tackle racism in Australian schools”, written by Mohamed Taha on ABC News on July 31, 2013. The editorial interviews Punchbowl Boys High School, showing evidence how the Principal fights racism - promoting equality and a sense of belonging within the school environment. Through this article, we can learn how to fight racism and how it should not be an accepted concept in school. Hence, article illustrates the growing concerns of racism in education and how it is now recognized as an issue in the classroom.

Based on what I have discussed, I think it was made clear that racism has a huge impact in education. I believe people should be more informed and educated about what racism is, in order for it to be removed from society.

References:

Oxforddictionaries.com (2013) Definition of Racism < http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/racism> - Accessed on 18/9/13.

Michael Omi and Howard Winant (1994), eds., Racial Formation in the United States, Second. Edition, pp. 138

Australian Human Rights Commission, (2013). What you say matters. Racism. It Stops With Me. Feat. Brothablack, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiQq_XAVPLg> - Accessed on 15/9/13

ABC.net.au (2013). Teachers, pupils on mission to tackle racism in Australian schools”. <www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-31/hip-hop-helps-students-overcome-racism-in-australian-schools>/4854174> - Accessed on 18/9/13

WHERE'S MY $14,000?

It's no secret that for decades – perhaps even since the beginning of time – some groups have been oppressed. African-American's, Jew's, homosexuals, the disabled, women... it's a long list. Sojourner Truth spoke about women, white women, as being handled delicately, aided and lifted in all manner of ways as though they are not capable of looking after themselves (Brah & Phoenix, 2004:77). Whilst Truth doesn't exactly say that it's a negative thing to be given these graces, she does suggest that women are not treated as equal to men.

McIntosh, in one of the most interesting readings of the course, observes the following:

I think whites are carefully taught not to recognise white privilege, as males are taught not to recognise male privilege.

(McIntosh, 1992:1)

It is the idea of male privilege that I want to focus on. Did you know that in Australia in 2013 the average woman is paid 17.5% less than a man for doing the same job (Cleo, 2013)? It doesn't just end there however, as women are under-represented in the workplace with dramatically less women in executive roles than men – unable to earn the big bucks (Cleo, 2013). Not only does the Cleo investigation name and shame the big name perpetrators (see here: http://www.cleo.com.au/get-talking/news/2013/6/pay-gap-the-who-the-what-and-the-responses/), Cleo is also bang on the money with it's research. No pun intended.

Whilst I acknowledge there is an argument that men in general perhaps work longer hours or do more skilled jobs, I wanted to prove that the matter actually goes far beyond hours and skill sets. I found a table at the Australian Bureau of Statistics that shows hourly earnings in relation to skill level broken up into genders. Under each skill level is the highest and lowest paid occupation at that level. For example, medical practitioners have an average hourly pay of $47.40 for males, and $38.80 for females (ABS, 2006). Why the difference? They're doing the same job.

I also happened to read an article from The Atlantic, suggesting that the whole idea of a gender wage gap is a myth. Derek Thompson, yes that's a man, suggested that:

“women aren't starting off behind their male counterparts, so much as they're choosing different jobs and losing ground later in their careers.”

(Thompson, 2013)

Well, Mr Thompson, do you know that if you had twins – a son and a daughter – who both went on to be architects, the boy would be paid $52,000 a year, and the girl, $43,000 immediately upon graduating (Preiss, 2013). If they were law graduates, the boy would be paid $55,000 a year, and the girl, $50,700 (Preiss, 2013). This is for the exact same job, same level of experience, same qualification. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that is clearly women starting off behind their male counterparts. This brings me back to what McIntosh (1992) was saying about males failing to recognise their male privilege, and also allows me to acknowledge a point raised by Whelehan, who in regards to female autonomy, observes that 'men hold such rights naturally' (Whelehan, 1995:29 cited in Arnot, 1999:168).

So what to do? Educate businesses and companies to make genders even where possible. Inform young women entering the workforce of their rights in regards to pay and encourage them to take a stand. Lastly, make workplace earnings more transparent within the business so that genders of comparative occupations within a company are able to see what their male counterparts are earning and vice-versa.

Words: 547

REFERENCES

ABS. (2006). Income distribution: female/ male earnings. Retrieved from

<http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/BAC94EBF241B1C9CCA25703B0080CCC8?opendocument>

Arnot, M. & Dillabough, J. (1999). Feminist politics and democratic values in education. Curriculum Inquiry, 29 (2), pp. 159-189.

Brah, A. & Phoenix, A. (2004). Ain’t I A Woman? Revisiting Intersectionality. Journal of International Women's Studies, 5(3), 75-86.

Cleo. (2013). Ditch the pay gap. Retrieved from

<http://www.cleo.com.au/get-talking/news/2013/6/ditch-the-pay-gap/>

McIntosh, P. (1992) White Privilege and Male Privilege: A personal account of coming to see correspondences through work in women’s studies, In M. Andersen & P. H. Collins (eds), Race, Class, and Gender: An anthology. Belmont, CA, Wadsworth Publishing.

Preiss, B. (2013) Gender pay gap doubles in a year. Retrieved from

<http://www.smh.com.au/national/tertiary-education/gender-pay-gap-doubles-in-a-year-20130103-2c78q.html>

Thompson, D. (2013) The Biggest Myth About the Gender Wage Gap. Retrieved from

<http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/05/the-biggest-myth-about-the-gender-wage-gap/276367/>