Claudia Norris-Green Student ID: 110169422

Teaching and Learning in Aboriginal Education

Assessment 1: Critical Review

The readings I chose mostly relate to Indigenous education along with the issues that
all Indigenous people face today due to the early settlers coming to the country. The
issues that are faced today impact Indigenous children and their education. Along
with this, the children could be affected by their parents past and them experiencing
traumatic events such as the Stolen Generations/separation from their families,
assimilation along with health issues that were introduced when the early settlers
come to the country and economic issues. I found reading through the articles I
understood what was discussed but for the most part, I couldn’t personally relate to
the readings. Instead, I thought about how I, as a pre-service teacher and teachers in
general, can relate the readings in an educational setting and think of ways of
incorporating Indigenous Education into the classroom in a way that will make all
students understand.

The first reading is Starting out as a teacher in Aboriginal education by Neil Harrison.
I chose this reading because it’s interesting to know what it’s like to teach students
who come from an Indigenous and non-Indigenous background. It explains the
author of the textbook and his teaching story (teaching Indigenous students)
(Harrison, N 2011, p. 4). The chapter goes through on what to expect when teaching
in Aboriginal Education and also how he learned through being in the community he
taught in, the struggles of power Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people have
and that it stems far back to when the non-Indigenous people/early settlers claimed
the country (Australia) and to be careful about stereotyping Indigenous people
(Price, K 2008, p. 1, 4, 6). This reading is quite relevant for pre-service teachers as it
can be hard for teachers to educate Indigenous students as a school can feel like an
institution therefore, the students can become reluctant to learn in an environment
that may feel constricting. What the teachers could do is have the students work
outside at times in an outdoor classroom. This can help teachers incorporate the
outdoor aspect of Indigenous history and make activities, for example, to find native
plants in the school or have an excursion to an area with native wildlife and plants.
This can be used even in classrooms with no Indigenous students as its important for
all students to learn the Indigenous history and culture. Along with this, students can
find picture books on particular dreamtime stories (if there are any published), show
students dot paintings, show and explain to them what dot painting is used for,
which part of Australia its most commonly created in, what certain symbols mean
and then have the students create their own.

The second reading is The Stolen Generations: What does this mean for Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander children and young people by John Williams-Mozley. I
chose this reading because I wanted to learn more about the stolen generations and
Claudia Norris-Green Student ID: 110169422
Teaching and Learning in Aboriginal Education

build up previous knowledge about the issues they are still faced today. The chapter
is about the Stolen Generations and the impact it had on past generations and still
impacts the future generations. The reading also mentions the program Link-Up
which helped the families who were broken apart find and unite together again
along with ‘Brining them home’ which was the inquiry title tabled in the
Commonwealth Parliament in 1997 making 54 recommendations applying to
Indigenous children along with adoption laws and general welfare (Williams-Mozley,
J. 2012, p. 25-27). The reading also highlights the national inquiry into the stolen
generations, genocide and questions Aboriginal people with identity (Williams-
Mozley, J. 2012, p. 26, 29, 31). These issues are still present today and in my teaching
career I could teach Indigenous students who come from a background of the stolen
generations. This would likely present challenges to the student/s because the
parents could have reservations to send their child to school where they ay not feel
like it’s a same place to have them (as schools could feel more like an institution to
them like in previous reading). Teaching students about the stolen generations, the
genocide and the issues they have today could be difficult for some to comprehend,
as there is a lot of history and brutality. I know its important to educate both
Indigenous and non-Indigenous students but depending on the age of the students
and their maturity level it would dictate the level of detail you would go in explaining
those events in Indigenous history.

The third reading is A brief history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education
in Australia’ by Kaye Price. I chose this reading as it discuss Indigenous Education and
the misconceptions about Indigenous people and their education. This reading
discusses Indigenous education before the referendum in 1967, how the early
settlers didn’t believe that Indigenous children and people couldn’t be educated, a
woman’s personal account on her education, what happened after the 1967
referendum that impacted Indigenous education and the differences in education
systems (Price, K 2005, p. 2, 3, 6). The story of the Indigenous woman wanting an
education, giving that up because she became married but then continuing to
pursue her aspiration to become an educator was interesting to read (Price, K 2005,
p. 2). This was a common thing back then for all women who became married and
then had to give up their career and/or education in that era as it was perceived that
women are meant to take care of the home and children whilst the men worked and
provided for the family. It was great to read how in the end she was able to have
teacher-training scholarship to become a teacher because everyone should have the
chance to be educated no matter what the level of education is or what the
education is for. Following on from this, education comes in different shapes and
forms. Before the explorers came to the country, Indigenous people were taught
skills that would help them in their community but before that, the community
would observe how they complete tasks and from there, the community helped
Claudia Norris-Green Student ID: 110169422
Teaching and Learning in Aboriginal Education

identity and develop the Indigenous children’s natural skills (Price, K 2005, p. 3). This
is somewhat practiced in schools today although students are taught a board
spectrum of subjects and its not until later on in their education that they are then
given the opportunity to choose the subjects they want to learn. The perception that
Indigenous student’s can not be educated is absurd and false because everyone can
learn no matter what the subject or skill is. Learning and education comes in many
formats that include how the Indigenous students and people were learning about
before the early settlers deemed it ‘not educational’. The Indigenous people learned
skills and information that was relevant to their culture and community setting
(Price, K 2005, p. 3). The assumption that Indigenous students could not be educated
was an assumption based on how the early settlers wanted to assimilate the
Indigenous students in a religious school setting (as the early education system was
like when the early settlers came to the country) and educate them their way (Price,
K 2005, p. 3). This is not how Indigenous children were traditionally taught in their
communities and the struggles the early settlers had. In today’s times, everyone is
the right to an education no matter what the level is. For example, in modern society
more people, are able to attend and get a higher education (University/College) as
its not just a luxury for rich people and is open for all, no matter what cultural or
religious background you come from (Price, K 2005, p. 3).

The forth reading is Childhood, lifehood and relatedness: Aboriginal ways of being,
knowing and doing by Karen Martin. I choose this reading because it explains the
realities that Aboriginal people faced when the early settlers came to the country
and the implications they have today. The reading discusses Karen’s perspectives on
events that have happened in the Indigenous people’s history. This includes
Aboriginal people’s worldview, Aboriginal people’s realities when it comes to change
and their roles in life and the current realities for Aboriginal people (Martin, K 2008,
p. 27, 28, 31, 34). The current realities that Indigenous people face are due to the
impacts of things that were introduced because of the early settlers. This includes
diseases, illnesses, non-native animals and wildlife. In 2004, the Secretariat of
National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC), an organisation for the care
and protection of Aboriginal children led a series of focus group meetings around the
nation with Aboriginal families/caregivers as part of a parenting study (Martin, K
2008, p. 34). Some initial findings from this study include parents/caregivers
concerns of the lifespan for Indigenous is lower compared to non-Indigenous people,
socio-economics, violence and overall health (Martin, K 2008, p. 34). These issues
raised can directly and do directly affect Indigenous children and their education
because the children will be brought up in a less stable environment at home and
the children may not have the support to continue their education as they go
through school. The SNAICC (2004b) study also found that Indigenous
parents/caregivers relate to the need some of the cultural structures including giving
Claudia Norris-Green Student ID: 110169422
Teaching and Learning in Aboriginal Education

support to Indigenous fathers and focusing on positive role models of fathers, uncles
and men in general, developing information in the forms of pamphlets, videos,
information products and making information more readily available for Indigenous
people in more mainstream environments (Martin, K 2008, p. 35). Along with this,
another two key point was that Indigenous parents and caregivers wanted more
recognition of story telling as a form of methodology (dreamtime) along with
addressing issues such as the Stolen Generations (removing children from families)
and acknowledging that to this day, Indigenous people are still healing and finding
their families (Martin, K 2008, p. 35). These last two points can be incorporated into
the classroom and both non-Indigenous and Indigenous students should know these
issues in history and how those issues still effects the Indigenous people and
communities today. The SNAICC (2004a) parenting study recognised seven priorities
for Indigenous children and families which include a national apology, child
protection reforms, early childhood programs, capacity building, fewer
contemporary removals, healing and education along with better planning in
communities (Martin, K 2008, p. 35-36). Teaching Indigenous and non-Indigenous
students the history and culture of Indigenous people will help not only the
Indigenous students find a sense of identity and understand more about who they
are and their family/community, but for non-Indigenous students to understand the
Indigenous culture and the history that is impacting Indigenous people today.

Through the readings it has given me a better perspective and greater understanding
of the issues still faced by Indigenous people and how because of the early settlers
introduced things such as diseases and non-native animals and plants. Due to this, it
has caused pain and issues that are evident in society today. Indigenous children’s
education is partly influenced by their families and communities views and past
events (such as the Stolen Generations) finding schools to cause pain and bring up
negative memories. Its very important to educate not only non-Indigenous students
on the events that took place after the early settlers came to the country, but to
educate the Indigenous students on their history and culture so they can find a sense
of identity and be proud of who they are. Teachers have a very important role to
play in educating all students of the history of this country, good and bad in a way
that they understand. It’s no good just giving students information and not seeing
how it truly impacts Indigenous people today as the information will not be
processed and remembered. Also having more support and information for
Indigenous communities to help them process the events that are still present would
not only help the generations now, but also help the future generations.
Claudia Norris-Green Student ID: 110169422
Teaching and Learning in Aboriginal Education

References:

Harrison, N. 2011. ‘Starting out as a teacher in Aboriginal education’. In Harrison, N.

Teaching and Learning in Aboriginal Education. Sydney: Oxford University Press, 1-
15.

Martin, K. 2005. ‘Childhood, lifehood and relatedness: Aboriginal ways of being,

knowing and doing’. In Phillips, J. & Lambert, J. (eds). Introductory Indigenous Studies
in Education: the importance of knowing. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education
Australia, 27-40.

Price, K. 2012. ‘A brief history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education in
Australia’. In Price, K. (ed). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education: An
introduction for the teaching profession. Sydney: Cambridge University Press, 1-20.

Williams-Mozley, J. 2012. ‘The Stolen Generations: What does this mean for
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people today’. In Price, K.
(ed). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education: An introduction for the teaching
profession. Sydney: Cambridge University Press, 21-34.