In the wake of Kevin Rudd’s Apology in 2008, the Australian Indigenous educational landscape has remained in a state of upheaval, with countless initiatives, strategies, and cross-curricular priorities aimed at closing the gap in educational outcomes apparent between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. One of the major by-products of this tumultuous climate was the resurrection of the theoretical framework introduced by Ladson-Billings (2000), who links the concepts of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Whiteness to education. She describes CRT as being a critique of the modern-day social order, arguing that the ‘social reality’ of minorities construed by the presiding white majority is both misinformed and inherently racist, which is reflected
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As an example, take Community Education Centres: commonly found in remote areas of the Northern Territory, they are considered innovative for providing rural Indigenous students with a comprehensive range of educational services. Hewitson (2007) reveals, however, that in practice they prove unsuccessful in promoting educational success, often being swamped by students of ages 12-18 trapped in low-level, low-expectations primary courses because they lack the skills for a ‘proper’ high school—the so-called ‘post-primary’ students (p. 10). She argues that governments have misunderstood these students’ cultural needs and requirements, instead falling back on complacent, easy, yet ultimately ineffectual forms of education where students must leave home and family behind to achieve anything more than a modicum of success. These sentiments are echoed by Indigenous students interviewed by Nelson and Hay (2010), who identify school as an attractive place to be, but are discouraged by factors beyond their control, such as inflexible school hours, familial obligations, poor teacher interactions or obtuse, incomplete pedagogy. In classrooms far removed from ideal learning environments, these students find themselves constrained by embedded barriers in a school system that neither values …show more content…
Indigenous scholar Dodson (2010) is a passionate advocate for empowering students by incorporating their world-views into the classroom, stating that schooling “must have meaning in terms of their experience, creating a confluence between their culture and experience” (p. 8). By capitalising on the latent potential offered by students’ cultural capital, teachers can give voice to suppressed Indigenous perspectives and values, developing active, engaging pedagogy and a learning environment that is conductive to culture. The ability to enrich education with culture is a skill known as ‘cultural competency’ (Universities Australia, 2011), and one of the greatest challenges that inexperienced teachers face is learning to traverse the complex landscape of the multicultural
As an example, take Community Education Centres: commonly found in remote areas of the Northern Territory, they are considered innovative for providing rural Indigenous students with a comprehensive range of educational services. Hewitson (2007) reveals, however, that in practice they prove unsuccessful in promoting educational success, often being swamped by students of ages 12-18 trapped in low-level, low-expectations primary courses because they lack the skills for a ‘proper’ high school—the so-called ‘post-primary’ students (p. 10). She argues that governments have misunderstood these students’ cultural needs and requirements, instead falling back on complacent, easy, yet ultimately ineffectual forms of education where students must leave home and family behind to achieve anything more than a modicum of success. These sentiments are echoed by Indigenous students interviewed by Nelson and Hay (2010), who identify school as an attractive place to be, but are discouraged by factors beyond their control, such as inflexible school hours, familial obligations, poor teacher interactions or obtuse, incomplete pedagogy. In classrooms far removed from ideal learning environments, these students find themselves constrained by embedded barriers in a school system that neither values …show more content…
Indigenous scholar Dodson (2010) is a passionate advocate for empowering students by incorporating their world-views into the classroom, stating that schooling “must have meaning in terms of their experience, creating a confluence between their culture and experience” (p. 8). By capitalising on the latent potential offered by students’ cultural capital, teachers can give voice to suppressed Indigenous perspectives and values, developing active, engaging pedagogy and a learning environment that is conductive to culture. The ability to enrich education with culture is a skill known as ‘cultural competency’ (Universities Australia, 2011), and one of the greatest challenges that inexperienced teachers face is learning to traverse the complex landscape of the multicultural