Indigenous Education

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Indigenous Education

• Looking Back, Creating Positive Futures
• Wayne Muir

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Indigenous Education Looking Back, Creating
Positive Futures

• Current Policy Directives
• Current Indigenous student performance
• Who is responsible Who makes a difference
• Suggested approaches going forward What makes a
  difference

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Current Policy Directives

• National Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander
  Education Policy (1989), long term goals include
• Involvement of Indigenous people in educational
  decision making
• Equality of access to educational services
• Equity of educational participation
• Equitable and appropriate educational outcomes

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Current Policy Directives

• Australian Directions in Indigenous Education
  2005-2008
• School and community educational partnerships
  phased in by 2010
• Training for Indigenous people to take on
  educational leadership roles
• Personalised learning for Indigenous students
• Information campaigns to promote value of
  education
• Learning outcomes for Indigenous students to form
  part of accountability requirements for
  principals
• Incentives to retain high performing principles,
  accredited training programs for school staff re
  Indigenous education issues
• By 2010 provide pre service and in service
  professional learning accredited by teaching
  accreditation authorities re Indigenous education
• Develop strategies to attract and retain high
  quality teachers (esp. regional and remote
  communities with high Indigenous student
  enrolments

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Current Policy Directives

• Council of Australian Government (COAG)
• Closing the Gap Commitments
• Within five years
• all Indigenous 4 year olds in remote communities
  enrolled in/attending a proper early childhood
  centre or opportunity.
• Within a decade
• halve the gap in infant mortality
• halve the gap in reading, writing and numeracy
  for Indigenous children
• halve the gap in employment outcomes for
  Indigenous Australians.
• By 2020
• Halve the gap for Indigenous students in year 12
  equivalent attainment
• Within a generation
• Close the 17 year gap in life expectancy.

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Current Policy directives

• Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for
  Young Australians
• Goal One Australian Schooling promotes equity
  and excellence. School sectors must
• Ensure that schools build on local cultural
  knowledge and experience of Indigenous students
  as a foundation for learning, and work in
  partnership with local communities on all aspects
  of the schooling process, including to promote
  high expectations for the learning outcomes of
  Indigenous students
• Ensure that all the learning outcomes of
  Indigenous students improve to match those of
  other students
• Goal Two All young Australians become successful
  learners, confident and
• creative individuals, and active informed
  citizens. Successful learners
• Understand and acknowledge the value of
  Indigenous cultures and possess the knowledge,
  skills and understanding to contribute to, and
  benefit from, reconciliation between Indigenous
  and non Indigenous Australians
• Schooling should be socially just, so that
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
  have equiteable access to, and opportunities in,
  schooling so their learning outcomes improve and,
  over time, match those of other students (Goal
  3.3)
• All students understand and acknowledge the value
  of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures
  to Australian society and possess the knowledge,
  skills and understandings to contribute to, and
  benefit from, reconciliation between Indigenous
  and non-Indigenous Australians (Goal 3.4)
• All students understand and acknowledge the value
  of cultural and linguistic diversity, and possess
  the knowledge, skills and understanding to
  contribute to, and benefit from, such diversity
  in the Australian community and internationally

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Current Policy directives

• Indigenous Learning and Arts Strategic Plan
  20082011
• Queensland
• Overall Goal Strong Indigenous communities
  supported by
• learning and the arts
• Focus
• improving education, training and employment
  outcomes for all Indigenous Queenslanders
• developing a DETA workforce skilled in maximising
  educational and training outcomes for all
  Indigenous Queenslanders
• strengthening Indigenous arts and culture.

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Boosting Education increases labour force
participation rates income
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National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy
(NAPLAN) At or above minimum standard
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NAPLAN Data Qld Indigenous Geolocation at or
above national minimum standard
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Progress made, disadvantage remains

• Less Indigenous students meet literacy and
  numeracy minimum standards compared to non
  Indigenous students
• Less Indigenous students complete yr 12 national
  2006 apparent retention rates was 40.1 compared
  to 76 for non Indigenous students (Qld
  Indigenous apparent retention rate 54.3, 2nd
  highest behind ACT)
• Attendance remains lower for Indigenous students
• National Indigenous 2006 VET participation rate
  13 vs 11.4 for national VET participation rate
• Indigenous people remain under-represented in
  Australian higher education courses and
  over-represented in lower AQF levels. (43.4 of
  Indigenous enrolments at AQF Certificate 1 II
  levels nationally in 2006)
• Overall national 2006 Indigenous module
  completion rate 70.8 compared to non
  Indigenous module completion rate of 83

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What makes a difference role of educators

• Parents/Families
• Teachers
• Administrators
• Indigenous Community

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Going Forward Suggested Approaches

• Diversity of Student Experience - Shared
  Responsibility Indigenous and non Indigenous
  programs
• Parents Community as equal partners
• Evidence based developing and building
  performance frameworks
• Professional Development

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Going Forward Suggested Approaches

• Positive outcomes for Indigenous Australians will
  generally
• occur when all of the following seven key factors
  are present
• Community involvement and ownership
• Indigenous identities, cultures, knowledge and
  values
• Working in true partnerships
• Flexibility in course design, content, delivery
  and assessment
• Quality staff and committed advocacy
• Extensive student support services
• Appropriate funding that allows for sustainability

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School of Indigenous Australian Peoples
Southbank Institute of Technology

• Indigenous students using VET as second chance
• Indigenous students generally have lower levels
  of education (literacy and numeracy), negative
  past experiences
• Strategies include
• Flexible delivery and assessment strategies
• Indigenous teachers /culturally sensitive non
  Indigenous teachers
• Innovative teaching and learning strategies,
  authentic assessment practices
• Comprehensive student support
• Identify pathways for articulation into higher
  level courses or onto employment

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Conclusion

• Outcomes have improved slightly but unacceptable
  gap remains
• Greater focus on improving Indigenous outcomes
  than ever before
• Acknowledge role of families, communities,
  schools, bureaucracy and business sectors in
  improving outcomes
• Suggested approaches include acknowledging
  diversity, ensuring shared responsibility,
  building capacity of parents, community
  schools, flexibility, being evidence based

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In 1984, I was a 17-year-old Aboriginal youth
just finishing school. I hada Tertiary Entrance
score that told me I was average and that I only
hadthe capacity to do some type of agricultural
course if I was serious aboutentertaining the
notion of study beyond high school. Fortunately
for me,what is now the Queensland University of
Technology was running aprogram designed to
encourage more Aboriginal people into teaching.
Ienrolled and my mentor there taught me a great
deal, most importantly tosee myself positively
regardless of how others with limited
expectations perceived me. What started off as a
lucky break saw me, many years later, graduating
with a PhD in psychology and on a continuing
journey to challenge other educators to believe
in the learning capacity of Indigenous
Australians.

• Dr Chris Sarra

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Useful Web Info

• www.aiatsis.gov.au/
• www.strongersmarter.qut.edu.au/
• www.budget.gov.au
• www.racismnoway.com.au
• www.sustainabledreaming.com/what.html
• www.whatworks.edu.au
• www.daretolead.edu.au
• www.atsis.uq.edu.au/ajie/index.html?page33821
• http//toolboxes.flexiblelearning.net.au/demosites
  /series9/907_demo/907/index.htm