Aboriginal education

Education is the greatest single weapon to overcome disadvantage and the impact of this denial of education affects me and other Indigenous people to this day.—Yvonne Butler, Aboriginal woman [5]

Indigenous teachers

Education has always been central to Indigenous economic, social and cultural development. A good education determines Indigenous children's health, literacy, employment, social status and productivity.

Aboriginal children learn best and most efficiently when taught by a culturally-aware teacher, preferably an Indigenous teacher [6]. Aboriginal teachers bring a wider range of cultural perspectives into schools and develop networks with the Indigenous communities around the school, a valuable asset when addressing school children's needs or problems.

But non-Indigenous students could equally benefit from Aboriginal teachers. "If Aboriginal teachers could work in every school, a student would be able to relate to Indigenous people as part of the current community, not a 'problem' in the media," observes arts student Alannah Kirby [36].

In 2004, only 0.7 per cent of all teachers in Australia were Indigenous. —Dr Lester-Irabinna Rigney, Associate Professor of Education, Flinders University, Victoria [6]

Educating white children

While the Australian education system struggles to bring education to Aboriginal children, it also has to take the fear out of non-Indigenous children and adults to learn about Aboriginal and Indigenous culture. Many think if they don't know enough they don't have the right to contribute to the conversation, an attitude which hampers the dialogue true reconciliation requires [12].

94% of parents of school-aged children want them to have an understanding of Indigenous people and their history. At the same time more than 80% of Australians feel that they know little or nothing about Aboriginal culture [22].

"Initially it was hard to come to grips with Aboriginal culture and society," says author John Danalis in his book Riding The Black Cockatoo. "Its mind-bending timeline; its astonishingly distinct yet interwoven diversities. In many ways it reminded me of the complexity of Europe. Imagine doing a crash course on European peoples, their cultures, languages, cuisine, art, architecture, folktales, myths and belief systems, and then trying to summarise in a few neat paragraphs what it means to be European; it would be an impossible task. And yet that is largely the shallow representation of Aboriginal Australia that was presented to me when I was a young person — a mere caricature, the man on the two-dollar coin." [27]

My real Australian education began at the end of the 1960s when [Aboriginal activist] Charlie Perkins and his mother, Hetti, took me to the Aboriginal compound at Jay Creek in the Northern Territory... The shock at what I saw was unforgettable. The poverty. The sickness. The despair. The quiet anger. I began to recognise and understand the Australian silence. —John Pilger, journalist and filmmaker [29]

When I went to school, most of the kids studying Aboriginal history were Aboriginal. It wasn't compulsory [for white kids]. —Timana Tahu, Aboriginal rugby league player [35]

From my experience, Aboriginal people are really only touched on in the history of European settlement. —Alannah Kirby, arts student, Melbourne [36]

Educating Aboriginal children

In most schools across Queensland (and probably across other states) the proportion of Aboriginal children is about five percent or less [15]. Many white teachers do not have a lot of experience teaching and dealing with Indigenous kids or communities.

As a consequence white teachers can misinterpret certain behaviour by Aboriginal students, for example when students avoid eye contact. In Aboriginal culture direct eye contact to an adult is considered rude.

When teachers in such a way misdiagnose Aboriginal students' classroom behaviour we can speak of 'soft racism'. Other forms of such racism might be when teachers ignore Indigenous students, expect them to deliver low results or victimise them.

For many Indigenous children English is their second, third or fourth language. White teachers should explain things in more than one way and more than once to enable Aboriginal students to understand and learn. In Aboriginal culture knowledge was passed on through repetitive story-telling.

Teaching Aboriginal students needs to convey a 'relatedness', which is a key feature of Aboriginal world views, and connect it with the skills necessary for them to have a full and productive life [17]. Aboriginal students need to receive an education that enhances and promotes their Aboriginality.

It was education, plain and simple, that changed the way I look at the world, it probably changed the way the world looks at me.—Vickie Roach, Aboriginal graduate, Institute of Koorie Education, Deakin University, Melbourne [21]

Educating non-Indigenous teachers

Less than one third of a group of 600 teacher education students in Brisbane had met and spoken with an Aboriginal person [17]. They self-assessed their level of knowledge about Aboriginal culture as 'little' to 'some' knowledge.

Many of them had already formed negative opinions about Aboriginal people, often through media stories. Teachers need to 'unlearn' these negative stereotypes and understand that they do not need to replace or erase the Aboriginality of their students [17].

Cultural awareness training for teachers is one way of avoiding such 'soft racism'.

The ignorance displayed by today's politicians on the topic of Indigenous peoples is not an unexplainable Darwinian phenomenon, but rather the consequence of an education journey devoid of a genuine Indigenous perspective. —Stephen Hagan, Aboriginal author and film-maker [19]

Driven by their preconceived views non-Indigenous teachers might expect Aboriginal students to underperform. Because they are Aboriginal teachers assume these kids will not be able to keep up and reach the level of non-Indigenous students—a dangerous assumption.

No matter how brilliantly Aboriginal children perform teachers with such views will always be very critical and won't encourage them because they've already accepted that they will fail.

[I was] made to stand up in front of the class one day and told [I] was a 'dunce [dumb person] who would never achieve anything'. —Memory of Alex Gater [33]

I said to a lot of kids throughout the year 'Blackfella kids can do anything. In fact, I expect you to do anything'. That's the attitude we have to have. —Mick Dodson, Law Professor and Indigenous Australian of the Year 2009 [30]

It is also important to prepare non-Indigenous teachers for what's in store for them in remote communities. Governments across Australia struggle to find trained teachers willing to live in some of the most remote corners of Australia.

On average, teachers posted to a remote community stay only about 15 months. —Brenda Keenan, Deputy Director of Teaching, Catholic Education Office, Melbourne [25]

Aboriginal parents fear Western education

In some parts of Australia Aboriginal people have "a huge hesitation" about the embrace of Western education, according to Aboriginal elder Noel Pearson [37]. Many Aboriginal people are afraid of losing their children to a bigger world, and their children losing their identity and culture.

Indigenous leaders try to foster "a [cultural] centre of gravity" in their children so that they are able to "operate in two worlds" [37]. Only when children accommodated both western and traditional Aboriginal culture would they be able to build their socio-economic strengths and maintain, revive and re-double the strength of their cultural determination, Mr Pearson said.

Black science has observation and experience, white science has measurements and experiments. If we put the two of them together we'd get a much deeper science. —Frances Bodkin, Dharawal Elder, NSW [38]

Teacher (and student) resource

Where do the skills come from?

When non-Indigenous people learn new skills it is common for them to acquire them formally through school, university or a course. The learning process relies heavily on one's writing and readding skills because it involves textbooks and boards or projectors.

If you are non-Indigenous, you would probably be familiar with the following scene. A teacher was running a workshop for staff on valuing skills and asked the following question [20]:

"What about listening? Who has skills in that?"

A young man put his hand up.

"How did you learn to listen?" the teacher asked. "I did a course," replied the man while others nodded approvingly.

For Indigenous people this answer would have been very strange. A course? Didn't he learn listening while he was—listening?

Indigenous people recognise that one learns so many skills through one's experiences with family, friends, mentors, elders, and other people [20]. Non-Indigenous people undervalue such 'soft skills' because they think they come naturally, something one is born with and don't realise that sometimes it takes a painful process to learn these skills.

Hence they fail to respect skills of oral cultures such as story telling or listening, which is sometimes called 'deep listening' to express more clearly how much attention the person who is talking receives.

Literacy

Think: When we talk about 'literacy' we assume we mean literacy of the written word. Bear in mind though that many Aboriginal people were, and are, masters of oral literacy.

Literacy rates among Aboriginal people generally are very low and lowest in remote communities. Across Australia in 2004, 83% of Aboriginal students and 93% of students overall achieved the literacy benchmark for year 3. But in the Northern Territory, only 20% of Aboriginal students achieved the benchmark. [3] Less than 30% of children tested for literacy in Years 3, 5 and 7 were able to read or write properly [10] leaving them with numeracy and literacy skills of five-year olds when they leave school [11].

One reason for these low levels is that the students' parents often left the school system without basic literacy and numeracy skills, providing the children with a low-literate home environment [3]. Consequently parents cannot support their children's learning, and the cycle of illiteracy continues.

I wanted to go to school but my parents told me, 'No they might take you away for good.' And they ran away in the bush. —Bonny Tucker, Punjima woman, Western Australia [31]. She refers to the Native Welfare taking away Aboriginal children of mixed descent.

Another reason is that about 20% of compulsory school-age Indigenous kids (2008 NT figures) were not enrolled in school and many of those enrolled did not attend school regularly [10].

Australia's system of public education can never be called a success until Aboriginal Australians benefit from it as much as any other citizens.—Rupert Murdoch, 2008 Boyer Lecture

"People hated me for that"

Low literacy rates do not stem from Aboriginal people being unable to learn. The opposite is the case, as the following memory from Professor and Nyoongar Elder Joan Winch tells us [13]:

"One advantage for Aboriginal people is that we didn't have a written language so many of us didn't learn to read and write, but we all have wonderful memories and that allowed me to sit in class, not do any homework, and still come out at the top of the class. People hated me for that..."

The Accelerated Literacy Program

Professors at the Charles Darwin University in Alice Springs have developed the Accelerated Literacy Program which has been introduced into schools in the NT, WA, SA and QLD. The program aims to accelerate the literacy development of students so that they have a similar level to that of their peers of the same age. Students are presented with tasks beyond their ability but are supported by a skilful teacher who knows how to teach the skills they need to solve the task.

In a school of around 400 students 41% were more than 18 months behind their age level in reading. After just 12 months of Accelerated Literacy, their individual reading levels increased by a minimum of 1.6 years. The largest gain was 2.8 years. [2]

Successful education of Aboriginal students

While many Aboriginal students' education is a far cry from that of their non-Indigenous peers, a success story from the East Kenwick Primary School in Perth tells us that good literacy is achievable - if the teaching conditions are right [8].

The school took the following approach:

• Participation of Aboriginal parents and elders: Parents are encouraged to participate in day-to-day aspects of their children's education.
• Aboriginal and Islander Education Officers: They act as role models for the students and take small groups under directions.
• Involve all senses: The school uses a tactile, visual and auditory learning program called Jolly Phonics from pre-primary to Year 2. It aids students to hear, touch and see what they learn, covering individual learning styles.
• Small groups: Teaching small groups with Indigenous tutors enables focusing on specific students and their needs.

Schools also have a greater chance to succeed when they engage mobile teachers to take into account that Aboriginal parents might have to leave for extended periods for sorry business (when a relative has died), ceremony [11] or to get itinerant, seasonal work.

Clontarf Football Foundation

The Clontarf Football Foundation managed to increase Indigenous student attendance to 85% by offering their students incentives. If students can prove their academic results are improving over a period of time they qualify for trips to Melbourne to watch Australian Football League games [16].

National Centre for Indigenous Excellence

On 26 February 2010 then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd opened the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) in Sydney's suburb Redfern. The NCIE is a centre for education, sports, arts and culture and aims to foster and develop talent in young Aboriginal students. Its four development pathways are Sport, Learning and Innovation, Culture and Arts, and Health and Wellbeing.

Up to 5,000 Indigenous students from around Australia are expected to pass through the centre each year. Most of the NCIE's staff are Indigenous.

The NCIE is located at 180 George Street, Redfern, New South Wales. Website: www.ncie.org.au.

What impedes Aboriginal education

Factors which hamper Aboriginal students' education are

• English teaching materials because many Aboriginal students' first language is not English.
• Inappropriate context: If the stories told in teaching materials do not relate to Indigenous lives they are of little use for Aboriginal students.
• No 'black faces': If teaching material (books, films) is entirely based on white models Indigenous students cannot identify with their characters.
• Poverty. Because parents cannot afford health services students have poorer health than their peers. Hearing loss is one consequence with all its side effects which affect learning.
• Lack of infrastructure: Analysis showed that for every dollar spent by the government on education of a child in the Northern Territory, just 47 cents was spent educating a child in a remote community (Wadeye). And if all children of that community would attend school, there weren't enough teachers and classrooms to accommodate them all [18].
• Connection to their communities. Many Aboriginal people like to reside in their own communities and will not leave them for skills training.
• Uneducated parents. Native Welfare took Aboriginal children away up until the late 1970s. Aboriginal parents where one parent was white were in constant fear that if they sent their children to school they would never see them again. "I went to school late, I think, because the old people were concerned about Native Welfare taking half caste kids away. They were hiding me in the bloody scrub, until they stopped taking these kids away," says Trevor Parker, a Punjima Aboriginal man from the Pilbara region in Western Australia [32].

We have far too many of our children trying to succeed in an educational environment that doesn't tell the truth about our history, the Aboriginal history of Australia.—Nyoongar Prof Colleen Hayward, Edith Cowan University, Perth [24]

Traditional knowledge

As you probably know before invasion Aboriginal people passed on knowledge only orally through stories, dances and images drawn into the sand.

"It would be a mistake, though, to say there is no written component to Indigenous transmission of knowledge, because Indigenous people use the land as their book," observes Ernie Grant, a Jirrbal Elder from far north Queensland [26].

"How we got fire, animals, water, all these things are written in the land. If teachers coming from a literate culture can't understand how people from the oral tradition transmit information, we have hit an immediate snag [obstacle]."

Out of respect for Aboriginal culture I use Indigenous sources as much as possible.
[1] Koori Mail 390 p.47 [2] Antar newsletter 8/2006 [3] Koori Mail 385, p.60 [4] National Indigenous Times 135 p.13 [5] Stolen Wages committee submissions, http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/Committee/legcon_ctte/stolen_wages/submissions/sublist.htm, submission #21 [6] 'Our teacher crisis', Koori Mail 417, p.24 [7] The Report of the Review of Aboriginal Education, NSW Department of Education and Training, August 2004, p.13 [8] 'Perth school gets it right', Koori Mail 422, p.44 [9] 'Boarding scholarships are needed, says expert', Koori Mail 425, p.29 [10] 'NT data paints a grim picture', Koori Mail 430 p.7 [11] 'Mobile pre-schools seen as NT solution', Koori Mail 430 p.55 [12] 'Reconciliation rocks musos', Koori Mail 427 p.38 [13] 'Women talk leadership', Koori Mail 431 p.17 [14] 'Aborigines waiting up to three months to see doctor', Koori Mail 431 p.51 [15] 'Educator gives bad grade to teachers', NIT 30/10/2008 p.9 [16] 'Clontarf Football Academy spreads wings', NIT 7/8/2008 p.43 [17] 'Mandatory training a welcome first step', Koori Mail 440 p.60 [18] 'Lessons in language', NIT 27/11/2008 p.26 [19] 'Look back on'08', Koori Mail 441 p.21 [20] 'Learning to find a better description for skills', NIT 14/5/2009 p.27 [21] 'Leading the charge', SMH 23/5/2009 [22] 'Eco-tourism is helping the process', Koori Mail 452 p.45 [23] 'More Indigenous students becoming doctors, lawyers', Koori Mail 452 p.58 [24] 'Leaders told: Don't ignore urban people', Koori Mail 447 p.18 [25] 'Plan to target more remote area teachers', Koori Mail 447 p.28 [26] 'Big questions on program at converence', Koori Mail 458 p.48 [27] 'Riding The Black Cockatoo', John Danalis, Allen & Unwin, p.192 [28] 'Gains, but the gap is still wide, study finds', Koori Mail 463 p.9 [29] 'Pilger takes out Sydney Peace Prize', Koori Mail 464 p.11 [30] 'For Mick Dodson, the work goes on', Koori Mail 468 p.21 [31] 'Karijini Mirlimirli', Noel Olive, Fremantle Arts Centre Press 1997 p.102 [32] 'Karijini Mirlimirli', loc.cit. p.113 [33] 'The Gentle Warrior', Koori Mail 474 p.21 [34] 'Analysis of Closing the Gap Report', Reconciliation News 5/2010 p.15 [35] 'It is the hardest thing I have ever done...', Koori Mail 479 p.5 [36] 'Language lessons', reader's letter, Koori Mail 481 p.27 [37] 'Education, recognistion hot topics at Garma', Koori Mail 482 p.3 [38] 'Black science in documentary', Koori Mail 482 p.41