Aboriginal children have continually fallen behind in
education and a way to improve their education and escape the cycle of
disadvantage is to remove Aboriginal children and Torres Strait Islander
students from their communities and send them to boarding schools. In the ABC
article ‘Push to send Indigenous children
to boarding schools’, Professor Marcia Langton, an expert in Indigenous
studies emphasises that by sending Aboriginal students to boarding schools and
city public schools, it will lift Indigenous communities out of poverty. She
mentions that it’s a lack of resources and constant experimentation that
results in the current failures in the system and that excuses are made “for
not including Indigenous children in the normal curriculum.” Therefore, in an
attempt to improve the education of Indigenous students she suggests that education
departments and schools consider these approaches of including a federal
program supported by states and territories to train more Indigenous teachers,
separate classrooms for boys and girls aged over 12 years and cross-cultural
training for Aboriginal children and all children to be taught about Aboriginal
history and culture. I think that these ideas she lists are worth attempting
especially the idea that all children should be taught about Aboriginal history
and culture as it will help to educate non-Indigenous students so they are not
ignorant about Aboriginal history and hence can avoid making any offensive
comments and it also allows Indigenous to feel more engaged in what they’re
learning in class. Her point on training more Indigenous staff is also
fundamental as mentioned in Hall’s ‘Perspective of Teachers’ the average length
of stay for a non-Indigenous teacher in a remote school is measured more in
months than years and therefore, the problems with staff has immense
significance in the instability experienced by many students. Besides Langton’s
points on how to improve the education of Indigenous students, there are also
other important strategies that can be taken. For example, a crucial step is to
ensure a safe environment for the students. This is essential because by having
a safe environment, the student will be able to pay attention to class room
activities instead of feeling insecure about their surroundings and therefore,
their attendance rates will be higher. Another point that I believe is
important is that teachers should consider different learning strategies.
Different students have different ways of learning for example, some students
are visual learners and therefore, teachers can try to use visual aids such as
posters and videos while verbally instructing so in this way, students can have
a clearer interpretation of the content. Although strategies may be continually
implemented to improve Indigenous education, not all Indigenous students can
keep up and continue to advance into university. In a Sydney Morning Herald
article ‘More Aboriginal children making
it right to the top’, Yalari founder, Waverley Stanley says that many
students have dropped out of boarding school however, the 64 students who
graduated have gone on to study courses such as dentistry, fashion, vet science
and teaching. Therefore, improving Indigenous education and escaping the cycle
of disadvantage is possible if governments, schools, parents and students
strive towards that goal.
References:
Hall, L. (2013). The ‘Come and Go’ Syndrome of Teachers in Remote Indigenous Schools: Listening to the Perspectives of Indigenous Teachers about what helps teachers to stay and what makes them go. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education. 41 (2), 187-195.
McNeilage, A., ‘More Aboriginal children making it right to
the top’ Sydney Morning Herald, Last
updated August 11 2013, Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/more-aboriginal-children-making-it-right-to-the-top-20130810-2rovd.html
No comments:
Post a Comment