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Essays on diversity in education
Essays on diversity in education
Creating and maintaining an inclusive learning environment
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Working with Indigenous Students
ED 4132
Mitchell Harvie
Carolyn Cook
Discuss the importance of building a learning environment that is based on ‘effective student engagement’ for Aboriginal students. Using the context of a specific lesson or conceptual understanding, outline the specific strategies you would use to make learning engaging, accessible and culturally responsive for Aboriginal students.
Education in the 21st century is providing a number of barriers and challenges. Teachers, educators and schools are being continually challenged to cater for students from diverse backgrounds. Teachers are encouraged to create an engaging student-teacher program to produce the best possible outcomes for all children.
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Aboriginal students are among these students from differing backgrounds that require the teacher to plan, teach and involve the Indigenous culture within their curriculum. Research suggests that good relationships together with sound pedgagogy, based on effective stratagies will help achieve these goals. Focusing on education for Aboriginal students, it is critical to foster a learning enviroment that is based upon effective student engagment, as well as using a variety of stratagies to make school engaging, accessible and culturally responsive. The Commonwealth of Australia states “serious gaps between Indigenous and non Indigenous outcomes remain in [English] literacy, numeracy, student attendance, and retention into senior secondary education and year 12 certificates” Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Action Plan 2010 – 2014). To move towards improving educational outcomes for Indigenous students’ educators must build a classroom enviroment which is based on ‘effective teacher-student engagement’ and make learning engaging, accessible and culturally responsive. Governments have agreed to take urgent action to close the gap between the outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and Non Indigenous Australians and have implemented some signifcant programs to help meet some ambitious goals. (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Action Plan 2010 – 2014). Attendance and the want to attend is critical for “closing the gap”. Attendance rates of Aboriginal students is signficantly less than Non-Indigenous students and studies show that skipping school directly affects academic learning ” (Munnns, Lawson, Mootz 2003). The “What works” program outlines that Aborignal students require an enaging curriclum relevant to their lives, and a program that contains a variety of acitvities, effective teaching practice and regular attendance to develop the neccasary skills to succeed. Learning must be well structured and provide culturally appropriate content and resources (What Works – Student Engagament p.2). This is supported by Harris (1980, 1984) who found that traditional learning styles among Aboriginal communties in the Northen Territory “ encompassed real-life, context specific and person orientated learning characterised by observation and imitation and personal trial and error” (Harris, 1980). Within a classroom, I seek to embed Aboriginal culture, programs and activities within my curriculum making cross currricular links wherever possible. The use of ICT is prominent and has been proven to to assist in the goal of engagement, because Indigenous students who were normally not ‘risk takers’ were willing to ‘have a go’. Teachers noted that students confidence grew. Following on from Harris (1980, 1984) I seek to give Indigenous students more say about what they are learning and make activities tactile and hands on. Within a Health and Physcial Education setting, I include traditional aborignal games as warmups as found within the Yulunga Sport program (ausport.gov.au/isp) and provide cultural explanantion to all students before playing, using Indigenous studnts as my demonstrators, which they respond really well too. Arguably the base of student enagement, is the formation of relationships and partnerships.
Partnerships include partnerships between teacher and student, partnerships between teacher and parent and partnership between teacher and Indigenous worker. History outlines terrible treatment of our Indigenous, and this had led to many negative attitudes and views towards schools and education. It is for this reason, that building postive relationships based on respect and trust is vital to “closing the gap”. “You cant have partnership without a relationship, and you can’t have a relationship without a conversation. You’ve got to have a conversation. Everything starts here.”(What Works 2012). This forms the basis of my educational belief. Partnerships are critical with all children, parents and carers, and it should be no different if they are Aboriginal. According to (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Action Plan 2010 – 2014) 45% of Aboriginal parents and carers believed that the inclusion of community role models and mentors is critical. Involving Elders, parents and carers in school activities and decision making leads to a positive welcoming enviroment for the Aboriginal community. If students feel as though their family, culture and indentity are part of the community they are more likely to feel a sense of value and a want to attend school. Through creating partnerships and relationships education becomes more accessible and a step towards “closing the gap” is taken. As a trained Health and Physical Education teacher, I have involved an Aboriginal and Islander Education Officer to help implement sporting games and explain how the indigenous play the same sports as Non-Indigenous in different ways. These Officers act as role models and have allowed me to create a relationship with my Indigneous students, parents and wider Aboriginal community. Extra-curricular sport has been a platform for me to form a closer bond with Aborignal students outside of a
school setting in a less formal manner, and I firmly believe this has aided my teaching and understanding of these Indigenous students. When students know you care, and you want to help, it goes a long way to forming a closer relationship and understanding of one another and in turn making education more accessible. NAIDOC week is a fantastic opportunity to celeberate the Aboriginal culture and according to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Action Plan 2010 – 2014 the cultural enviroment of a school was identified as pivotal to creating an effective education for Aboriginal students and the community. It is vital that school leadership celebrate cultural events where possible and embrace the Aboriginal culture. Examples of these may include flying an Aboriginal flag, making traditonal Aboriginal meals and witnessing traditonal Aborignal dancing. As a teacher, I woud include dreamtime stories, invite elders, parents and carers into my classroom regulary and encourage Aboriginal art. According to the What works program, Teachers are the key components in perceptions and beliefs. Teachers must be confident and have a firm belief in the value of what is being done; they must have determination to succeed and a high capacity and willigness to solve problems as they arise (What works program).Teachers must avoid sterotypes and should not make generalistions about Aborignal people. Just as in any community there will be a variety of different languages, histories and traditions within the Aboriginal population. There is a perception that all Aboriginal students live in remote communties, however the majority attend regional and urban schools, only about 20% attend schools in remote areas (Harrison, 2011). Research suggests that when Indigenous learners are supported, feel safe and included it strengthens their sense of self worth, heritage and culture and puts them in the best place to learn cognitively, socially and emotionally. It is important to remember to be mindful of the context in which you are teaching. “Teacher’s cannot begin to focus on their teaching without consideration of the broader social, cultural, political and economic frameworks in which they find themselves” (Munnns, Lawson, Mootz 2003). The hope is that through attedance, participation and belonging, students will be engaged in learning. (What Works 2015). Current evidence highlights the ‘gap’ which exists between Indigenous and Non –Indigineous students and the outcomes in key learning areas. Schools and teachers naturally play an important role in helping to ‘close the gap’. Evidence suggests that like for all children regardless of their background or place of residence, they need to feel safe and secure, to feel welcomed, supported appropiately, and respected. When children have these foundations catered for through sound knowledge and programs they will more likely to attend school. When they do attend it is then up to the schools and teachers toprovide an engaging, accessible and culturally responsive program to achieve the best outcomes for children. The foundation to all of this is positive partnerships between school and home. Indigenous people through their culture have so much to offer Australia and deserve the opportunity to be educated appropriately and effectively to achieve the expected outcomes for all Australians. References: Aboriginal culture - Education - How to improve Aboriginal literacy & school attendance, Retrieved from www.CreativeSpirits.info, Australian Government. (2015) Closing the Gap: Prime Minister’s Report. Retrieved from https://www.dpmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/Closing_the_Gap_2015_Report.pdf Battiste, M. (2002) Indigenous Knowledge and Pedagogy in First Nations Education. A Literature Review with Recommendations. Retrieved from http://www.educationactiontoronto.com Department of Education, Aboriginal Education. (2014). Teaching and Learning: Aboriginal and Islander Education Officer (AIEO) Program Guidelines. Retrieved from http://www.det.wa.edu.au/aboriginaleducation/detcms/navigation/teaching-and-learning/aieo-guidelines/aieo-program/ Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Action Plan. Retrieved from http://www.scseec.edu.au/site/DefaultSite/filesystem/documents/ATSI%20documents/ATSIEAP_web_version_final.pdf Department of Education,Employment and Workplace Relations. What Works. The Works Program. Retrived from http://www.whatworks.edu.au/dbAction.do?cmd=homePage Harrison, N. (2011) Teaching and Learning in Aboriginal Education (2nd ed) Sydney: Oxford University Press. Munns, G. (G. ), Lawson, J., & Mootz, D. G. (2003). Aboriginal students and new literacies. Journal of the Aboriginal Studies Association. Rahman, Kiara. Addressing the Foundations for Improved Indigenous Secondary Student Outcomes Retrieved from Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, The, Vol. 39, No. 1, 2010: 65-76.
... known struggle for aboriginals to stay in school and finish more than it is a struggle for non-aboriginals because of the issues that evolve around aboriginals, the only thing we can do to help these rates decrease are to continue working and help educators find and implement new ways to help students succeed.
...rial covered in the unit Aboriginal People that I have been studying at the University of Notre Dame Fremantle, Aboriginal people have had a long history of being subjected to dispossession and discriminatory acts that has been keep quite for too long. By standing together we are far more likely to achieve long lasting positive outcomes and a better future for all Australians.
This essay will discuss the Aboriginal Education policies in Victoria and Federally and how these policies impacted upon the children of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. This essay will further analyse the impact these past policies had on the Aboriginal and Torres strait Islanders’ families and children’s education and how current policies were put in place to assist indigenous students’ access to education. Further to this an analysis of how teachers can implement these changes in the curriculum and classroom.
This strategy of developing a relationship with Aboriginal communities can be seen as one of the most important strategies in the regards to the realisation of meeting 1.1.2 (NSW DET 2008). These learning partnerships have been proven to be beneficial to the community on the whole, not only “giving credibility and integrity to the teaching of Aboriginal students and syllabus content related to Aboriginal issues” (NSW BOS 2008, p. 2) but also builds pride and confidence within the Indigenous parents and therefore their community. The NSW BOS (2008, p. 2) goes on to say that for a school to provide authentic experiences, skills and knowledge in context to Aboriginal studies; they must consult Aboriginal people. The AETP (NSW DET 2008) believe that consultation with Aboriginal communities will provide the support and knowledge teachers need to develop engaging and motivating learning environments and scenarios, demonstrate high expectations and work with Aboriginal students in their pursuit of ‘personal
The issue of aboriginal people in Canada is not new. For a long time, it has been heatedly debated by academic scholars and by the general public as well. By no means does this issue have a straightforward solution to it. RCAP (Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples) is one of the institutions largely responsible for the aboriginal issue. Unfortunately, the problems RCAP faces are too intractable to settle in a relatively short time, due to which there are some unresolved problems intimately related with the life of aboriginal people awaiting to be dealt with soon in an effective and politically sound way. The complexity of the issue calls for more intellectual discussion beyond the scope of the immediate present aboriginal reality.
Indigenous students in schools have made it clear as to what they want and need from the education system. Knowledge of Indigenous humanity and diversity, the history of colonialism, local history and contemporary culture, indigenous knowledge, languages and worldviews are topic in which they want to become evident in school system that are able to help with their health and wellness. There has been and there are continuing attempts to reform First Nations education funding. Aboriginal children and adults continue to face these unsuccessful attempts which continue to horrify Canadians.
The education of Aboriginal people is a challenge that has been a concern for many years and is still an issue. However, it remains the best way young people can climb out of poverty. With the colonialization and the oppression of Aboriginals, there have been many lasting side effects that continue to be affecting the Aboriginal youth today. “While retention and graduation rates have improved among urban Aboriginal population, an educational gap still remains between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal youth in urban settings” (Donovan, 127). Many suffer from a diminished self-worth, as they do not feel valued and feel inferior to their classmates. In this essay I am going to outline the reasons Aboriginals are struggling, discuss what is being done
What is Identity? Is it what you think of yourself? Is it how others see you? Or maybe it is the way you present yourself. Stories like “Ain’t I a Woman?” by Sojourner Truth , “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, and “Indigenous Identity: What is it, and Who Really has it?” by Hilary N. Weaver give us a few examples of identity based on each one of the authors viewpoints. Both “Ain’t I a Woman?” and “The Story of an Hour”, focus on how women were viewed and placed in society before and during the suffrage movement. “The Lottery” opens our eyes to the identity issue of blindly following tradition. The author of the story “Indigenous Identity: What is it, and Who Really has it?” tells us that identity is based on; race, gender, social status, and the knowledge of one’s heritage.
• Amnesty International: Australia- governments dismissal of UN criticism undermines hard earned credibility in human rights diplomacy.
Buckskin, P 2015, ‘Engaging Indigenous students: The important relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and their teachers’, in K Price, 2nd edn, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education: An introduction for the teaching profession, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne,
Upon further reflection, Aboriginal children will have an adverse and disproportionate impact by the recent Child Protection reform of the Children, Youth and Families Amendment (Permanent Care and Other Matters) Act 2014 (Cth). In Victoria, Aboriginal children are 12.9 times more likely to be on care and protection orders and 12.3 times more likely to be in out-of-home care in comparison with non-Aboriginal children. The Aboriginal Family Violence Prevention and Legal Service Victoria (FVPLS) state that the rate of Aboriginal child removal is now higher than at any time since white settlement (FVPLS, 2016). In June 2016, it was reported that appropriately 36 percent of all children in out of home care identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait
Diversity in classrooms can open student’s minds to all the world has to offer. At times diversity and understanding of culture, deviant experiences and perspectives can be difficult to fulfill, but with appropriate strategies and resources, it can lead students to gain a high level of respect for those unlike them, preferably from a judgmental and prejudiced view. Diversity has a broad range of spectrums. Students from all across the continent; students from political refugees, indigenous Americans, and immigrants bring their cultural and linguistic skills to American classrooms. Students not only bring their cultural and linguistic skills, but they bring their ethnicity, talents, and skills.
The world is currently undergoing a cultural change, and we live in an increasingly diverse society. This change is not only affect the people in the community but also affect the way education is viewed. Teaching diversity in the classroom and focusing multicultural activities in the programs can help improve positive social behavior in children. There is no question that the education must be prepared to embrace the diversity and to teach an increasingly diverse population of young children.
There are many factors that play a role in the learning process for every human being. Race, religion, language, socioeconomics, gender, family structure, and disabilities can all affect the ways in which we learn. Educators must take special measures in the delivery of classroom instruction to celebrate the learning and cultural differences of each of their students. As communities and schools continue to grow in diversity, teachers are searching for effective educational programs to accommodate the various learning styles of each student while promoting acceptance of cultural differences throughout the classroom. It no longer suffices to plan educational experiences only for middle-or upper class white learners and then expect students of other social classes and cultures to change perspectives on motivation and competition, learning styles, and attitudes and values that their homes and families have instilled in them (Manning & Baruth, 2009).
Our secondary objective as per the Client’s briefing, is to promote and raise the profile of the Koolark Centre for Aboriginal Students. Focusing on Koolark’s courses, central accessibility and student support services. They would also like to utilise and promote the skills of their students at our event.