Aboriginal and culturally responsive pedagogy: A critical reflection paper

It is evident in the history that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
were seen as underachiever in eyes of western education and we have not done enough
to change the stereotypical views that are attached to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander students such as uneducable, non-compliance, failure, truancy and
nonattendance. Since the beginning of the early settler, they quickly developed
stereotypical view that Aboriginal children were uneducable and only fit to learn to
sew, launder, cook, clean, garden, tend livestock and only fit to participate in menial
tasks (Price, 2005). We completely undermine Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
and their learning culture such as learning through the un-carpentered world around
them and using their five senses to explore and learn about the world around them and
the elders were their “masters” in their educational world (Price, 2015). We see this as
completely unconventional and we tried to put them into the we tried to put them into
the western education system and we ignored the evidence of success of Aboriginal
students had in the classroom in the early settlement days.
It was never the case that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander students were
uneducable but rather they were not given the same opportunity as other Australians
and provided with support necessary to succeed (Price, 2005). In the Closing the gap
report (2017), it is reported that the millions of funding that the government used to
support and celebrate the Indigenous culture and history in Australia through NAIDOC
Awards Ceremony, cultural festivals, cultural exchange camps and programs, cultural
centers and hubs and heritage trails. These celebrations aimed to recognize the
importance of Indigenous culture and history of Australia. Early childhood education
is another area that the Australia government seek to close the gap. It is important for
the children to have a strong start in life. A healthy and safe start of life is an important
chance for the students to succeed in education in the future (Closing the gap, 2017).
The emphasis of this is to focus on embedding respect for Aboriginal culture since early
stages of learning and to educe child morality by halve by the 2018 but the statistics
have proven that Indigenous child morality has declined by 35per cent however, it has
the declined of Indigenous death rates has been slow and steady since 2008. This shows
that more work needs to be done to help the heath factors that impact the education of
young indigenous people (Price, 2015).

Throughout this Aboriginal and culturally responsive pedagogies, I have

learned the importance of engaging the Aboriginal community in effectively assisting
the indigenous students with an aboriginal perspective. The teachers and school need
to work collaboratively with the aboriginal community and value the knowledge and
experience of indigenous members of the society and implement these Aboriginal
perspectives in the curriculum (Harrison and Belinda, 2012). Harrison and Greenfield
also stressed about the danger of teaching Aboriginal cultures and history from non-
indigenous point of view (2011). It is more effective when we involve the Indigenous
community in the decision making for their children education and curriculum and
activities planning (Harrison & Belinda, 2012; Harrison & Greenfield, 2011). As
expressed by Price (2015) that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander had a long-standing
history of learning from their elders and to this day, it is considered to be one of the
important strategy in assisting the indigenous students succeed in their education. We
can invite the elders into the classroom to read the stories or share their cultural history
with the students and invite the elders and parents into the classroom to ask for their
advice and help with curriculum planning (Harrison & Greenfield, 2011). We need to
understand the history of indigenous education Australia and understand that most of
the Aboriginal parents and elders did not have a fond memory related to school and
learning therefore, we need to communicate and involve them in learning to show that
we respect their culture and protocols and we respect their way of learning (Garvis,
2006). When the indigenous parents are aware of the support and respect from the
school, they will also likely to give their support to their children education which will
lead to academic success and reduce truancy and low attendance (Dobia & Roffey,
2017). Low level of indigenous community involvement in the curriculum planning
and classroom activities has resulted in overlooking the abilities of gifted and talented
Aboriginal Students (Garvis, 2006). It is our responsibility as teachers to inform the
parents of their children learning progress and invite them to assist the learning of their
children.

I also learned that is crucial for us to close the gap between school and home
culture. Indigenous students cannot find the link between home and school culture.
They are constantly having to act differently in different setting (Lewthwaite, Osborne,
Lloyd, Boon, Llewellyn, Webber, Laffin, Harrison, Day, Kemp and wills, 2015). We
can close the gap between the school and home culture by involving the parents in the
lesson and curriculum planning and classroom activities. Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander students bring their own experiences, cultures and skills into the classroom and
we should not ignore or replace these understanding, culture and skills with our
teaching practices but rather our teaching strategies and practices should be culturally
responsive and design programs and pedagogies that are reflective to this experience
(Lewthwaite, Osborne, Lloyd, Boon, Llewellyn, Webber, Laffin, Harrison, Day, Kemp
and wills, 2015). Also it is important for us to build a safe and supportive learning
environment for the indigenous students. We can imbed teaching strategies and
practices within classroom that make the students feel like they are part of the
classroom. For example, we can display indigenous artworks around the classroom,
indigenous flag, inviting the elders and important members of the Aboriginal
community into the classroom and having Aboriginal cultural celebration day at school
as well as involving the parents and elders of the indigenous community in the
curriculum planning and classroom activities (Allen, Vella-Brodrick and Waters,
2017). When students feel that they are part of the classroom, they are more likely to
be engaged in the classroom activities, academic success and reduce in absenteeism
(Allen, Vella-Brodrick and Waters, 2017).

For the future practices within my classroom concerning indigenous students, I

will heavily emphasis on involving the Aboriginal community into the classroom and
curriculum planning because it is important for us to pay respect to the elders of their
community and to their culture. I will continuously improve my knowledge and
understanding of the Aboriginal culture whilst acknowledging that it is more effective
for the indigenous person to share their experience and stories from their personal
perspective therefore, involving them in the classroom is crucial. I will continue to
undergo training that helps me develop my understanding of indigenous culture and
perspective thus I can assist the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in my
classroom and help them with academic success (NSW department of Education,
2008). Also, I will develop an attitude and enthusiasm towards the students that
everyone is capable of academic success without holding on to any prejudice ideas and
stereotypes concerning any students (Stronger and Smarter modules).
References:
Allen, K., Vella-Brodrick, D. & Waters, L. (2017). School belonging and the role of
social and emotional competencies in forstering an Adolescent’s Sence of
connectedness to their school. Respect for culture – social and emotional
learning with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth.

Closing the gap (2017). Prime minister’s report. Australia Government: Department
of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved from
https://www.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/ctg-report-
2017.pdf

Dobia, B & Roffey, S. (2017). Respect for culture – Social and emotional learning
with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth. Social and emotional
learning in Australia and the Asia-pacific perspetives, programs and
approaches. P, 313-334.

NSW Department of Education. (2008). Aboriginal Education Policy. Retrieved from

https://education.nsw.gov.au/policy-library/policies/aboriginal-education-
and-training-policy

Garvis, S. (2006). Optimising the learning of Gifted Aboriginal Students.

International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning, 2(3), 42-51.

Harrison, N & Greenfield, M. (2011). Relationship to place: positioning Aboriginal

knowledge and perspectives in classroom pedagogies. Critical Studies in
Education, 52(1), 65-76. DOI: 10.1080/17508487.2011.536513

Harrison, N & Belinda, M. (2012). Reflective teaching practice in a Darug

classroom: how teachers can build relationship with an Aboriginal
community outside the school. Australian Journal of Indigenous
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Lewthwaite, B. E., Osborne, B., Lloyd, N., Boon, H., Llewellyn, L., Webber, T.,
Laffin, G., Harrison, M., Day, C., Kemp, C., & Wills, J. (2015). Seeking a
Pedagogy of Difference: What Aboriginal Students and Their Parents in
North Queensland Say About Teaching and Their Learning. Australian
Journal of Teacher Education, 40(5).

http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2015v40n5.8

Price, K. (2nd Ed). (2015). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education: An
introduction for the teaching profession. Port Melbourne, Australia:
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Stronger Smarter Institute (n.d.). Introduction to Stronger Smarter - Online Module.

Retrieved from http://strongersmarter.com.au/resources/onlinemodule/