Human Development and Education: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Contexts
(Kaye Price, Lecturer, Oodgeroo Unit, QUT, 1999.)
(Week 11,LEB335, Human Development and Education Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Contexts)
I used to be a primary school teacher, deputy principal, principal, Aboriginal Education Consultant and curriculum writer. I’ve also worked for the Commonwealth Government administering Aboriginal Education programs, was a member of the National Aboriginal Education Committee and have worked with such projects as the National Collaborative Curriculum Project and the National Professional Development Program.
Currently, I’m a lecturer with the Oodgeroo Unit here at Kelvin Grove. You would be aware that Oodgeroo Unit, as does the Q-Step program, provides an alternative entry program for Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people wishing to study at QUT.
Throughout paid and unpaid employment, I’ve been very much involved in programs designed to assist Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people to access education. Lately, I’ve become involved in programs that look at achieving equitable educational outcomes. One of these is the Strategic Results Projects, where funds have been provided for educators around the country to document "what works". What is becoming increasingly obvious, is the fact that what works for Aboriginal kids and Torres Strait Islander kids works for other kids. Another project in which I am involved, with members of Oodgeroo Unit and the Education Faculty School of Learning and Development, is the 'Positive Self-Identity for Indigenous Students and its relationship to school outcomes'.
Most Aboriginal students and Torres Strait Islander students undertake their schooling in mainstream classrooms, where methodology and organisation have evolved according to Western tradition.
Aboriginal students and Torres Strait Islander students are seen to 'under-achieve' in terms of a system designed to meet the needs of the dominant society. While 'under-achievement' may be slightly diminished by adjustments to teaching styles, these changes should be part of an overall classroom strategy that is based on an understanding of characteristics and cultural traditions, and that the behaviour of Aboriginal students and Torres Strait Islander students often reflects their experience of a largely racist society.
At some time in your lives, especially those of you graduate as teachers and take up paid employment in schools, you will have Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students in your classrooms. It is for this reason that you need some background and information about the ways in which Western education impacts on those students.
Background
Until quite recently, Aboriginal children and Torres Strait Islander children could be excluded from schools for the only reason that they were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. In your schools, it is possible that there will be children and grandchildren of people who were denied a Western education for that reason. There is a lecturer in this University, who had to prove that there was some "white blood" in her family before it was agreed that she could enrol in a school here in Brisbane.
There are several issues to take into consideration here. The first is that at one time it was believed that Aboriginal people were ‘uneducable" and should be taught housekeeping and farm work. Most of this "teaching" took place at mission schools.
There was, and unfortunately continues in some areas to be, a perception that because people were black, they were inferior and had no need of a Western education. It was believed that Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people were destined to work in unskilled areas.
However, times changed and people like Pearl Duncan, Charles Perkins, Margo Williams (Weir) undertook tertiary studies and were role models for the rest of the community.
The National Aboriginal Education Committee came into being in 1976, consulting widely with Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people and producing a number of documents that could not be ignored. The NAEC participated in the National Inquiry into Teacher Education (NITE), contributed to the Blanchard Report and worked with Betty Watts on the Aboriginal Futures document. A former chairman of the NAEC chaired the Task Force that resulted in the joint National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy. This policy has 21 goals, many of which will be important to you in your chosen careers.
The task force found that very few Aboriginal kids and Torres Strait Islander kids were accessing pre-school education, that some of our kids did not complete a primary school education, not all went on (or completed a secondary education) and that the numbers qualifying at year 12 were minimal.
Hence, alternative entry programs to university.
Much research has been undertaken to try to determine why many Aboriginal kids and Torres Strait Islander kids do not do well at school.
Perhaps, like Dr Martin Nakata, it’s a matter of understanding.
Dr Nakata relates how he was frustrated in primary school (he learned to read on Dick and Dora) and did badly in high school, hindered as he was by his ‘bad’ attitude. He says:
I was so pissed off by now with school and learning and teachers – and I had to repeat Year 10. … I attended two schools in that year – I ran away from the first. Again I understood nothing in the classroom. I understood nothing of what the teacher was teaching. I understood nothing of what we were required to read nor why. I understood nothing of myself. I did learn to build fences, to fix broken-down garages, to change nappies and so on.
Imagine, if you will, a child who has grown up on an island in the Torres Strait, being whisked off to school on Thursday Island, a school with all the trappings of a traditional Anglo classroom. How easy would it be to understand the language and culture of the classroom? How easy would it be for any child who has never seen the inside of a classroom to assimilate the policies and practices in place, and I quote Malin:
Many of the Aboriginal students appeared to be oblivious of this need to continually monitor the teacher and adjust their behaviour according to her expectations …
It is still the norm for many Aboriginal parents/carers not to send their children to pre-school. One of the reasons is that they are afraid that their children will be taken away; another is that they are under the impression that it costs too much. While many will agree that schools are assimilationist, it is important that our kids have the same skills and outcomes as other kids in order to be able to compete with the majority later on in life in terms of employment, housing, health and education. A pre-school education assists kids to learn the language and culture of the classroom, prior to enrolling in the first year of formal schooling.
If you are an early childhood teacher, take the time to ensure all kids understand the way a classroom works.
Learning styles
Different kids have different learning styles. I was always labelled a "dreamer". I always watched other kids to see what they were doing before I attempted it myself. I was late getting things finished, but I would rather do it properly, than start straight away and get it wrong. It is interesting that Naomi, in Malin’s study was also labelled a dreamer, however, you will teach kids that would rather not undertake a task than be "shame" if they got it wrong. For this reason, many Aboriginal kids and Torres Strait Islander kids prefer not to answer a question, or will not offer the answer. You’ll find in your teaching careers that this is often the case. This is not confined to our kids, but is a factor often presented. You can read more about this in Groome and Malin.
I would just ask you to be aware that all kids learn differently and to take this into consideration when planning classroom activities.
The most effective way of teaching is to be a "warm demander".
- warm and friendly
- demanding of a high, realistic standard of performance
- stimulating, imaginative and original
- responsible, businesslike and systematic.
Language
Many Aboriginal kids and Torres Strait Islander kids present at school with a home language other than English. For Torres Strait Islander kids, this can be Meriam Mer, Kala Lagau Ya, or Creole. It is reasonable to expect that English would be the second or third language of these students.
The language of many Aboriginal students is often seen quite differently. It is probable that the home language of Aboriginal kids is Aboriginal English, as it is estimated that around 93% of Queensland’s Aboriginal population speaks a language which, according to Eades ‘… is distinctly Aboriginal and is thus known as Aboriginal English.’ Eades states that Aboriginal English ‘… reflects, maintains and continually creates Aboriginal culture and identity.’ (1992: 14)
This has not always been the case, as Aboriginal English was considered to be "lazy" or "bad" English. Rather than valuing the language that kids brought to school, compensatory language development programs were introduced. John Dwyer, in Sea of Talk reflects on an incident that occurred at Cherbourg:
"What name you call?" I turned to find my questioner was Norman, a six-year old Aboriginal boy, all smiling eyes and white teeth. He looks bright enough, I thought, what a pity he can’t speak properly.
On the basis of this snippet of speech, I had already made a judgement about Norman’s language development and, probably without being aware of it, I had linked this language judgement to a further one about his general ability and intelligence.
If, as teachers, we see these differences as a ‘problem’, then our response will be to remediate and compensate, to try to stamp out and replace undesirable language. For the Aboriginal child the end result is likely to be lowered self-esteem.
Dwyer, L J (1989) ‘Talking with Aboriginal children’ in A sea of talk, Primary English Teachers Association (PETA), Ryde, NSW.
it is now widely accepted that an acknowledgement of Aboriginal English enhances self-esteem within the school setting.
(Did you know that Aboriginal English has grown out of various Aboriginal languages, Aboriginal cultures and the English language in much the same way that English grew out of various low, west Germanic languages about 1,500 years ago?)
Treat those whose home language is Aboriginal English as second language learners, in the same way that you would teach any child whose first language is not English. Demonstrate how important it is to become competent in standard Australian English, in terms of employment, housing, health, education and the law.
Once students know that they are valued for who they are, and for what they bring with them to the learning situation, the potential for real two-way communication between teacher and student will emerge.
Tripcony, 1995:6 Another factor to consider is the high incidence of otitis media within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.
Some facts about otitis media
- Otitis media (OM) is a common childhood disease - 75% of all children have had one episode of OM by the age of five and for some it may continue throughout school life.
- A child with otitis media may have fluctuating hearing loss. This means that hearing loss will vary, depending on the stage of the disease.
- Otitis media may cause rupturing of the eardrum. This is known as a perforated eardrum.
- Some children suffer so many infections that the perforation never heals. Others develop scarring on the eardrum from multiple infections. These children have permanent conductive hearing loss (CHL).
- Conductive hearing loss during early childhood may cause delays in oral language development.
- While otitis media occurs in all cultural groups, it is at least ten times more common among Aboriginal children and Torres Strait Islander children than others in the Australian population.
- As many as eight out of ten children could have a middle-ear infection and associated hearing loss at some time during the school year.
- Hearing loss can compound the disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal children and Torres Strait Islander children for whom standard Australian English is a second language, particularly in schools which do not take account of the implications of this.
- If children can't hear properly, they can't learn properly - especially in a second, third or fourth language.
Relationships
Where relationships are concerned, it is quite usual to expect that the loyalty of Aboriginal kids and Torres Strait Islander kids will be to their extended family. They may want to seek out family members in the classroom and in the school grounds; shared ownership of school equipment may seem natural; may have been grown up to respect Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander adults, but may not obey and order from other adults where they see no sense in it; and may be more likely to be motivated by affection for a teacher than by respect for authority or interest in classroom tasks.
Identity
For many Aboriginal students and Torres Strait Islander students in an urban situation, the question of identity remains at the forefront of everyday school life. For some, their identity is denied by the school itself.
It can sometimes be the case that schools fail to recognise a student’s identity, or deliberately deny it, as they view Aboriginality in terms of certain physical characteristics, employment, dress and ability.
On the other hand, many Aboriginal students and Torres Strait Islander students decide not to identify, because it makes life at school too difficult.
There are many students like Nicholas, who, when interviewed, said he would be embarrassed to bring friends home, because if they saw his father, they might realise he was Aboriginal. He also said that his home was organised differently to the homes of other kids at his school, that the food was different and there was an emphasis on family life rather than housework.
This made me wonder what happened during his primary schooling years, to make him so ashamed of being Aboriginal. Yet at home, he was confident and interested: his heroes were Aboriginal football stars and music groups. He questioned words like "assimilation", and had acquired a knowledge of Aboriginal history that was quite impressive. He did tell me he got into awful trouble one day, because the teacher had written Aboriginal on the board with a small "a" and he corrected her.
This brings us to the issue of curriculum studies. While it is not expected that every teacher in the school system will have an adequate knowledge of things Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander to pass this on to students, it is important that a teacher ensures that curriculum studies are inclusive.
Enhancing teacher performance
Groome (1995) says ‘We recognised that schools too often contribute more to the development of a "failure identity" than a "success identity’. There are many steps that teachers can take.
In developing strategies that may remove barriers facing Aboriginal students and Torres Strait Islander students, Tripcony (1995) has suggested that the following should be considered:
- What students bring to school:
- identity – differing and diverse cultural backgrounds
- values and ideas
- patterns of language use
- responsibility and independence developed and expected within their home and community
- self-esteem (often lower within school situation)
- perspectives on the purposes and meaning of schools, often influenced by parents’/caregivers’ experiences of schooling and authority, based on past policies and practices relating to Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people
- socio-economic status
- Factors within schools:
- curriculum relevance
- teacher expectations
- pedagogy
You are fortunate that these issues are addressed in your preservice program, because you will be in a position to recognise and value a student’s identity and cultural background, providing a foundation on which to build satisfying and rewarding classroom practice.
References
Board of Studies (1994) Otitis Media and Aboriginal Children. North Sydney, NSW
Commonwealth of Australia (1989) National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy. Department of Employment, Education and Youth Affairs, Canberra.
Curriculum Corporation (1995) National Principles and Guidelines for Aboriginal Studies and Torres Strait Islander Studies K-12. Melbourne, Vic.
Dwyer, L J (1989) ‘Talking with Aboriginal children’ in A sea of talk, Primary English Teachers Association (PETA), Ryde, NSW.
Eades, D (1992) Aboriginal English and the Law. Queensland Law Society, Brisbane.
Fanshawe, J P (1976) In ‘Effective Teachers’, T O’Keefe (1989), Aboriginal Child at School, Vol 17 No 2. University of Queensland, St Lucia.
Malin, M ‘Why is life so hard for Aboriginal students in urban classrooms’. In Aboriginal Child at School, University of Queensland, St Lucia. Vol 18 No. 1 1990, pp 9-29.
Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (1996) National Strategy for the Education of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples 1996-2002. Department of Employment, Education and Youth Affairs, Canberra
Papaellinas, G (ed) (1995) 'Better' in Republica Issue 2: The new land lies before us. Angus&Roberston, Sydney.
Tripcony, P E R (1995) Teaching to Difference: working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in urban schools. Unpublished paper presented to Metropolitan West Region Social Justice Conference, Bremer Institute of TAFE, 27 May, 1995.
© Kaye Price, Oodgeroo
Unit, QUT. LEB335, Senmester 1 Week 11, 1999