Assignment 1

Option 2

School Disciplinary Practices and There Effects on Indigenous Students

With policies and reports focusing on improving Indigenous students education and wellbeing in

order to decrease the gap experienced by these students when compared to non-indigenous

students, it is important to analyse how these policies change school and teachers practices, whilst

also looking at areas that may have been missed within these policies. One such area that research

has found to play a major part in Indigenous students’ academic success and wellbeing are the

disciplinary practices such as suspensions which are used by schools and teachers. Although there

are no set policies regarding the use of these disciplinary practices, this essay will aim to outline how

the use of these practices contrasts the outcomes that these policies and reports are aiming to

achieve. This essay will first outline the negative effects that these disciplinary practices play in

Indigenous student’s school education as well as wellbeing. From there the essay will discuss how

different schooling and social factors are contributing to behaviour and academic problems that are

experienced by indigenous students. Too finish, this essay will outline different teaching practices

that can be utilised in order to move away from the negative practices currently being used in order

to provide the safest and most effective education system for Indigenous students.

Biddle (2014) states that roughly 20 percent of lower Indigenous school performance when

compared to non-Indigenous students can be contributed to lower Indigenous school attendance

rates. Due these findings outlining the correlation between school attendance and school

performance the Prime Ministers Close the Gap Report states that the government is looking to

increase Indigenous student’s school attendance numbers. In contrast however the NSW

Department of Education’s (2015) Aboriginal students in NSW public schools annual report found

that the number of long suspensions being issued to Indigenous students has increased since 2010,
ironically decreasing the attendance rates of these suspended Indigenous students. This difference

in research and action outlines a need for certain school disciplinary practices to be analysed in

order to determine the true effect they are having on Indigenous students’ education. Rocque

(2010) supports the correlation between suspension and Indigenous academic performance finding

that not only can student suspensions be linked with lower academic performance as an individual

student but can also be linked to lower academic performance of a school as a whole (Rausch &

Skiba, 2005). Therefore the use of suspension as a behaviour management practice for Indigenous

students could be in fact a contributing factor towards the educational gap between Indigenous and

non-indigenous students.

Steinberg, Allensworth, and Johnson, 2013 found that students who receive disciplinary practices

from schools such as short and long term suspensions are also more likely to report lower school

connectedness along with a negative view towards school and education. Mattison and Aber (2007)

takes these finding further stating that feelings of low school connectedness and negative views

toward school after suspension are particularly prevalent for students of colour. Feelings of

disconnectedness and a negative view towards schools have been found to be a leading cause of

students dropping of school or not continuing on past years 10 (Suh & Suh, 2007). Therefore when

reviewing the NSW Department of Education (2016) Aboriginal education policy, particularly policy

1.3.1 which outlines the objective of increasing Aboriginal students school participation and

retentions numbers, we must determine how successfully schools can achieve this policy whilst

using disciplinary actions such as suspension for Indigenous students misbehaviour.

Not only has suspension been found to disengage indigenous students from their schooling

environment it has also been found to disengage students from their community environment.

Research suggests that students who are suspended or excluded from their schooling environment

are significantly more likely to participate in criminal activities when compared to students who have

not been suspended (Stranger, 2002). Stranger (2002) states that this increased likelihood of
engaging in criminal behaviour after being excluded from a school is as high as four and a half times

more likely when compared to a students who has truanted for a similar length of time. When

combining the increased likelihood of engaging in criminal along with the greater percentage of

Indigenous students receiving suspensions, it is no wonder that the Australian Institute of

Criminology (2009) reports that more than half of the juveniles in custody are of an Indigenous

background.

Indigenous student’s emotional wellbeing can also be affected by the use of certain disciplinary

action including suspension. West, Leon-Guerrero and Stevens (2007) states that Indigenous

students become stressed and confused when disciplined, due to a lack of consistency between the

rules and expectation they experience at home compared to the rules and expectations they

experience at school. Disciplinary actions such as suspension only increase the negative effects on

Indigenous student’s social and emotional wellbeing, with suspension also giving the Indigenous

students the feeling of exclusion and isolation. Coming from a culture that already has a negative

view towards schools due to past experiences, suspending an Indigenous student only further

increases the Indigenous students and communities feelings of separation and disconnection

(Lewthwaite et al, 2015). With the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2011) finding that

Indigenous youths experience greater numbers of suicide and high level psychological distress when

compared to non-indigenous youths the same age, it is important that schools do not contribute to

the increase in these statistics and review the use of disciplinary actions such as suspensions.

Although policies and reports have been designed and implemented in order to decrease the

education and suspension gap between Indigenous and non-indigenous students, there are still a

range of schooling and social factors that contribute to the behaviour and social inequities

experienced by Indigenous students. One such factor that contributes to the behaviour problems

and social inequities that Indigenous students face relates to their teachers and principals belief

towards why Indigenous students misbehave leading to suspension. Riordan (2006) states that
according to the common deficit theory the belief of many teachers and principals relates to the

students themselves combined with their sociological background as being the major reason for

student suspension. Therefore, it is common for schools and teachers to correlate Indigenous

student’s suspension rates to their culture, low aspirations and low SES rather than addressing the

issue relating to why these students are misbehaving (Riordan, 2006). Parbury (2011) comments on

these beliefs stating that teacher’s attitude, expectations and practices towards Indigenous students

play a major role in the reasons for the difference in educational achievements and behaviour

between Indigenous and non-indigenous students. Demanet & Van Houtte, 2012 supports this

stating that when a teacher has a low expectation of a student they can subconsciously or

consciously apply less time and effort to helping or teaching that student within the classroom

environment. This not only effects the students’ academic potential but also their behaviour, with

research reporting that if a student believes that a teacher has low expectations for them, then that

student is more inclined to misbehave compared to a student who believes the teacher has high

expectations of them (Demanet & Van Houtte, 2012). This increase in misbehaviour can be

attributed to the student misbehaving as a way of fighting against the feeling of the teacher trying to

block their education, or due to the student forming a negative view of the teacher resulting in a

lower classroom connectedness and increased misbehaviour (Demanet & Van Houtte, 2012). This

can then cause a vicious cycle of low expectations leading to misbehaviour which finally results in

suspension.

Biddle (2014) believes that Indigenous students are also facing social inequities at schools, stating

that approaches and practices that are being used by the education system in order to combat lower

Indigenous school attendance are based on policy objectives rather than focusing on evidence based

approaches. These approaches and practices being used are aimed at Indigenous students adopting

the ‘white Australian’ way of life by focusing on and applying techniques that are important in

regards to white Australian society and education (Beresford, 2012). This approach of disregarding

Indigenous culture within the education system contrasts the effective practices that have been
researched and outlined within the Aboriginal education in NSW public schools (2017) which

recommends the integration of Indigenous culture and history into lesson planning. Price (2015)

supports this difference between policy and action stating that principles and strategies have been

addressed, however the applications of these approaches has never been executed, resourced or

continued effectively enough to allow for Indigenous students educational improvements. This

difference in policy, research and practices further increases the inequities that Indigenous students

face within the education system, which leads to further students disengagement from school and

potential misbehaviour leading to suspensions.

As a future teacher it is important to understand and implement different practices which can be

used to reduce the use of punishments such as suspension, whilst also creating a positive learning

environment for Indigenous students to thrive. One area that teachers must be aware of are the

reasons for the differences in suspension rates for different schools and cultural groups. Research by

Riordan (2006) found that in contrast to the common deficit theory mentioned previously which

blames students and their background for the cause of suspensions, that suspensions are in fact

related to each individual school as a whole. Riordan (2006) goes on to state that students in fact

misbehave due to a combination of their individual characteristics in conjunction with the

characteristics of their school and teachers. The characteristics of the school and teachers includes

areas such as specific school rules, classes offered, teachers approaches to students and the types of

support services offered to students. As mention earlier these school characteristics do not favour

Indigenous student’s culture or learning styles therefore creates a clash with the characteristics of

Indigenous students in turn resulting in misbehaviour which leads to suspension. Klingner et al

(2005) states that all students have the prospect of achieving positive academic results when their

culture, language and history are all taken into account within the education system. Therefore, it is

important for teachers to incorporate standard 1.4 of the Australian Professional Standards for

Teachers which focuses on the ability to develop strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander students. In order to do develop these strategies for Indigenous students research suggests
involving the Indigenous community in helping design and provides advice when developing lesson

plans or when experiencing disengagement from Indigenous students (Lewthwaite et al, 2015). Price

(2015) supports this use of Indigenous community members in reforming education practices,

stating that there will not be an improvement in Indigenous students’ academic achievements if

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander advice is not pursued and truly proceeded with.

The significance of continued professional development which is included in the Australian

Professional Standards for Teachers under standard 6.2 engage in professional learning and improve

practices, cannot be overstated in the challenges towards closing the academic gap between

Indigenous and non-indigenous students. Price (2015) supports continuous professional

development for teachers, stating that teachers will struggle to advance Indigenous student’s

educational outcomes if they are supported by or receive minimal professional development

opportunities.Therefore, in order to achieve standard 6.2 and also help improve Indigenous

education teacher must continually look to advance their knowledge and teaching practices though

ongoing research into Indigenous pedagogy, whilst also attending and completing various workshops

aimed at increasing Indigenous classroom participation and engagement. These workshops will not

only provide teachers with successful classroom strategies aimed at engaging Indigenous students,

but will also assist teachers with additional approaches towards dealing with and preventing

Indigenous misbehaviour. These new techniques will allow for a shift away from behaviour

management practices such as suspension and the negative aspects they have on Indigenous

students’ lives and education.

In conclusion it is important for teachers, schools and the education system to assess the impact that

certain disciplinary practices are having on Indigenous students and how affectively they are

achieving the goals they are set out to fulfil. It is also important that teaches and schools are aware

of how certain actions and practices they perform are in fact advancing the behaviour and academic

problems that are faced by Indigenous students due to cultural and learning style differences. Finally
it is important for teachers to research and understand the different practices that can be used to

replace certain negative approaches or used to engage Indigenous students in order to close the

educational gap between Indigenous and non-indigenous students.

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