Critically Reflective Essay Jennifer Seach 18795136

Option 1

For several decades, educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students have
been the focus of extensive research, with the intention of identifying and creating awareness of the
drastic inequities which plague the Australian education system (NSW Department of Education and
Training and NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Incorporated, 2004). Consequently, the
various reports and policy documents which are concerned with meeting the educational needs of
Indigenous learners throughout Australia, are evidence of the national commitment to improving
the educational outcomes and prospects for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

According to the Closing the Gap: Prime Minister’s Report 2017 (Australian Department of the Prime
Minister and Cabinet, 2017) on Indigenous education, there remains a significant gap between
Indigenous learners and their non-Indigenous peers across all aspects of academic achievement. This
includes literacy and numeracy when compared with the national minimum standard, school
completion rates and overall attendance (Australian Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet,
2017). Statistically, “Indigenous 15- year-olds, are on average about two-and-a-third years behind
non-Indigenous 15-year-olds in reading literacy and mathematical literacy” (Australian Department
of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2017, p. 38), and although there is evidence of incremental
improvements, the extent of these disparities remains extensive across secondary schooling and in
correlation with remoteness. This is particularly concerning as research indicates that educational
disadvantage is often a precursor of intergenerational and lifelong disadvantage, which cannot be
escaped unaided (Price, 2015a; Williams-Mozley, 2015; NSW Department of Education and Training
and NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Incorporated, 2004). The Closing the Gap: Prime
Minister’s Report 2017 (Australian Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2017), along with
the Report of the Review of Aboriginal Education (NSW Department of Education and Training and
NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Incorporated, 2004), reiterate the fact that nationally,
Australia has an education system which is consistently failing to meet the needs of Indigenous
learners, and by extension the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities throughout
Australia (Stronger Smarter Institute, 2014). Through the identification of key areas of concern,
exploration of educational inequities and their impact on academic outcomes, the Closing the Gap:
Prime Minister’s Report 2017 (Australian Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2017)
explicitly outlines the Government’s commitment to improving educational outcomes for Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander students through the implementation of nationwide support and
infrastructure (Australian Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2017).

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This governmental commitment to Indigenous education is encapsulated within the various policies
and publications which regulate educational practice in Australia and New South Wales, and
mandate the roles and responsibilities of educators, in meeting the needs of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander students as identified by the Closing the Gap: Prime Minister’s Report 2017 (Australian
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2017). The Australian Professional Standards for
Teachers (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL], 2011), embody the notion
that educators possess the unparalleled capacity to create meaningful change for current and future
students, as they strive to address the inequities which currently exist in education (Evans, 2015).
The Standards (AITSL, 2011) provide explicit knowledge, skill and ability requirements for all
practising teachers, ensuring consistent and quality teaching and learning practices, through
accreditation in alignment with professional standards (Price, 2015b; Herbert, 2015). Standards 1.4
and 2.4 within the APST (AITSL, 2011) outline the importance of strategies for teaching Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander students, as facilitated through an awareness of the impact of culture,
identity and background on student learning and engagement, along with the promotion of
reconciliation through greater “understanding and respect of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
People” (AITSL, 2011, p. 11). In this way, the APST (AITSL, 2011) is intended to inform and guide the
self-reflexive practices of educators as they reflect on their capacity to meet the needs of their
students, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners, whilst also ensuring their
adherence to nationally regulated standards (Evans, 2015).

The Aboriginal Education Policy (NSW Government, 2016), is a state implemented policy, concerned
with delivering on the promise of achieving equitable outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander students. This document identifies the “inherent right of Aboriginal students to fair,
equitable, culturally inclusive and . . . high quality education as a platform for enriching their life
chances and achieving their full potential” (NSW Government, 2016, 1.1.8), reiterating the
correlations which link meaningful education and future quality of life (Price, 2015a). Furthermore,
within NSW schools, the NSW Government (2016) pledges to improve educational outcomes for
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, to equal or surpass those of non-Indigenous students,
through greater cultural acknowledgement, incorporation of Indigenous perspectives and the
valuing of Indigenous identities, along with the promotion of high expectations for students by
teachers.

The pedagogical practices of classroom teachers are further informed by the publications and policy
documents of NSW Education Standards Authority, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and
Reporting Authority, and the NSW Board of studies, with each identifying the responsibility of

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educators to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and their communities, in
respectful and transformational ways in order to promote engagement and a sense of belonging
(Price, 2015a; Herbert, 2015). Meanwhile, the inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Histories and Cultures, as a cross-curriculum priority within the National Curriculum (Australian
Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2016), is intended to promote national
connection and understanding, through engagement with the histories, cultures, knowledges and
worldviews of Australia’s Indigenous Peoples (ACARA, 2016; Price, 2015b). This embedding of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies across all curriculum areas, intends to “enhance the
learning experience of students and promote reconciliation through better understanding” (Board of
Studies NSW, 2008), cultural respect and integrity (NSW Education Standards Authority [NESA], n.d.).

Together these education policy documents, both national and state specific, inform educators of
their responsibility in raising the educational outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
students, by mandating a level of professional accountability (AITSL, 2011; ACARA, 2016; NSW
Government, 2016; Buckskin, 2015). They inform how we as teachers facilitate positive dialogues
with Indigenous Peoples and incorporate cultural perspectives into the teaching and learning
processes in deep and meaningful ways. These documents represent the foundations for eliminating
the gap in academic achievement between Indigenous students and their non-Indigenous peers, but
nonetheless, the concerns of Rose (2015) remain a reality for many practising teachers, that is that
despite the mandatory representation of Indigenous perspectives embedded throughout the
curriculum, the deprivation of these perspectives in their own education, leaves many educators
uncertain how to engage with “authentic Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge” (Rose,
2015, p.71) in ways which are meaningful and empowering to their students. Only through
engagement with culturally appropriate professional development frameworks, specifically Stronger
Smarter (n.d.), can theory be effectively translated into practice and the national commitment to
Indigenous education be realised (NSW Government, 2016; Evans, 2015; Stronger Smarter Institute
[SSI], 2014).

The multitude of inequities which plague the Australian education system, represent the repression
of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identities and cultures in Australia’s colonial past (Williams-
Mozley, 2015). That is, with the exception of relatively recent revisions to educational policies and
practice, the Australian education system has long embodied ethnocentric Western cultures, and
actively stifled the cultural expression and identities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
(Price, 2015a; Rose, 2015). The consequences of this cultural repression are identified as the prolific

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educational disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, within the Closing the
Gap: Prime Minister’s Report 2017 (Australian Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2017).

Discourses surrounding Indigenous education often involve deficit discourses, negative stereotypes
and notions of disadvantage relating to the academic and lifelong potential of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander students (Herbert, 2015; Rose, 2015; Stronger Smarter Institute [SSI], 2014).
Essentially, it is these ingrained perceptions brought subconsciously into the classroom by teachers,
which create doubt in Indigenous students’ abilities, and result in low expectations, poor teacher-
student relationships, and ultimately student disengagement and alienation (SSI, 2014). Each of
these negative educational outcomes are predicated on teacher perceptions of Indigenous students
and their abilities, and it is for this reason that Dr Chris Sarra expresses his concern regarding the
impact of teacher perceptions on learning outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
students, stating that “There is no place in any educational jurisdiction for educators with stifled
perceptions of who Indigenous students are, or what they can achieve” (Australian Department of
Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2017, p. 35). This statement is clearly aligned with the commitments
and intentions of the APST (AITSL, 2011) and educational policy documents which detail the
expectations and responsibilities of teachers to meaningfully engage with Indigenous learners in
order to raise their educational outcomes (NSW Government, 2016). However, this assertion also
expresses concern that despite the implementation of nationally mandated standards and policies,
intended to raise teacher efficacy through national accountability, the gap in educational outcomes
remains prolific and is evidence that the Australian education system continues to disengage and
alienate Indigenous learners (Australian Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2017;
Herbert, 2015; AITSL, 2011; NSW Government, 2016; SSI, n.d.).

In the pursuit of equitable outcomes for Indigenous learners, the Stronger Smarter Institute (n.d.) is
a professional training framework which supports educators to translate educational policy into
meaningful and transformative practice (Evans, 2015). The Stronger Smarter Institute represents a
collaborative framework through which educators of all levels and proficiencies can engage with,
learn about and reflect on their role in realising the commitment to eliminate the educational gap
for Indigenous students. The institute facilitates the processes of “respectfully embedding
knowledge, understandings and skills for working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
and communities” (Evans, 2015, p. 54), which are essential to improving the efficacy of all educators.
The effectiveness of the Stronger Smarter approach is that it provides authentic insight into the
challenges faced by Indigenous communities in engaging with education, and it requires educators
to contemplate whether their commitment to Indigenous learners exists in practice or only in theory

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and intention (SSI, n.d.). Ultimately, the Stronger Smarter Institute (n.d.) is a “culturally quality
assured . . . responsible and culturally valid approach” (Evans, 2015, p. 55) which guides educators in
empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to be both culturally strong in their
identity and academically smart.

Embedded across the Stronger Smarter strategies, is concern for empowered cultural identities and
high expectations relationships as essential for the engagement and wellbeing of Indigenous
students (SSI, n.d.; SSI 2014). High expectations, productive relationships and positive student
cultural identities are presented as key to Indigenous students’ success in education (SSI, 2014;
Buckskin, 2015; NSW Government, 2016; NSW Department of Education and Training and NSW
Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Incorporated, 2004). High expectations are predicated on
the belief that all students are unique and valued learners who are capable of success (SSI, 2014).
Furthermore, high expectations must be explicit, challenge students intellectually and encourage
them to participate to the best of their abilities, and therefore must be founded on positive
relationships which incorporate trust, support, empathy, compassion and genuine interest (SSI,
2014; NSW Government, 2016). These positive high expectations environments, provide students
with the safety and confidence to explore and express their own identities through the incorporation
of cultural knowledges and experiences in the classroom to promote a strong sense of belonging
(SSI, 2014; Buckskin, 2015).

With reference to my own teaching practice, where once I lacked confidence in my capacity to meet
the learning needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, the Stronger Smarter Institute
(n.d.), has illuminated strategies to incorporate culturally responsive pedagogies into daily practice.
It is essential, as a teacher, to encourage students’ Indigenous identities and in the curriculum area
of English, I intend to achieve this through the incorporation of texts by Indigenous authors and
producers, which depict authentic and empowered Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Identities
(Price, 2015b; Herbert, 2015). According to Price (2015b), by providing students with culturally
relevant learning materials, we provide them with an identity affirming mirror, in which they can see
aspects of themselves and their lives represented. This creates engagement as Indigenous students
are empowered relate to and participate in discussion (Price, 201b; SSI, 2014; Rose; 2015).
Furthermore, these texts also provide a window for non-Indigenous students, into the lives of their
peers and promotes empathy, understanding and reconciliation as aligned with Standard 2.4 (Price,
2015b; AITSL, 2011; Board of Studies NSW, 2008; ACARA, 2016; NSW Government, 2016). Ultimately
what is taught in schools and the resources students are exposed to, has an impact on self-
perceptions and so it is essential that Indigenous Australian histories, cultures, perspectives and

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representations are respectful, and that teachers utilise the conversation points contained in almost
all texts, to facilitate deep and meaningful discussion which challenges negative stereotypes and
promotes strong Indigenous identities (Price, 2015b; SSI, 2014; NSW Government, 2016).
Furthermore, it is important to regularly engage individually with students to reiterate the fact that
as a teacher I value and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, am committed to
helping them achieve to the best of their abilities, and to remind students that they are strong,
capable and valuable individuals (What Works, 2011; SSI, 2014).

Despite my developing insight into strategies to meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander students, there will always be challenges to success. In the context of secondary education
in South Western Sydney, the challenge of promoting a strong sense of cultural identity in
Indigenous students, involves what Yamanouchi (2010) refers to as the fluidity of urban Indigenous
identity. This refers to the “tension and conflict revolving around the concept of Aboriginality”
(Yamanouchi, 2010, p. 285), including how individuals engage with, experience resistance to, or
struggle with their own Indigenous identity. This struggle for identity is the fallout from the
genocidal practices of Indigenous child removal, through which a generation of Indigenous
Australians have been denied the connections to kinship, land and spirituality, which are so
important to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identities (Williams-Mozley, 2015; Rose, 2015;
Yamanouchi, 2010). Despite this sense of conflicted cultural identity and alienation from community
which may be experienced by some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, it is my
responsibility as a teacher to empower these students to determine their own identities (SSI, 2014). I
have no right to question the cultural identity of any student and to do so would reinforce the sense
of disengagement and alienation which is too often the reality of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander students within the Australian education system (Rose, 2015). Instead I am responsible for
promoting “self-esteem, self-confidence and pride” (Buckskin, 2015, p. 180) through culturally
responsive pedagogical practices to encourage engagement and connections, and strive for
equitable educational outcomes (Price, 2015a; NSW Government, 2016).

The national commitment to eliminate the achievement gap for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
students, through the process of re-engaging Indigenous students in an education system which has
historically and consistently failed to meet their learning needs, is a task in which all educators play a
valuable role (Price, 2015a). Through the implementation of education policies and national
standards, facilitated by engagement with professional frameworks such as the Stronger Smarter
Institute (n.d.), teachers within the Australian education system are becoming better equipped than

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ever before to meet the learning needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, and to
create deep and meaningful change.

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References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2016). Cross-curriculum priorities.

Retrieved December 11, 2017, from http://www.acara.edu.au/curriculum/cross-curriculum-

priorities

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (2011). Australian professional standards for

teachers. Retrieved December 11, 2017, from http://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-

source/apst-resources/australian_professional_standard_for_teachers_final.pdf

Board of Studies NSW, (2008). Working with Aboriginal communities: A guide to community

consultation and protocols. Retrieved December 11, 2017, from https://ab-

ed.nesa.nsw.edu.au/files/working-withaboriginal-communities.pdf

Buckskin, P. (2015). Engaging Indigenous students: The important relationship between Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander students and their teachers. In K. Price (Ed.), Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander education: An introduction for the teaching profession (2nd Ed.) (pp. 174-188).

Port Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press.

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2017. Retrieved December 11, 2017, from

https://closingthegap.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/ctg-report-2017.pdf

Evans, C. (2015). Your professional practice and becoming professional about working with

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and communities. In K. Price (Ed.), Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander education: An introduction for the teaching profession (2nd Ed.) (pp.

52-63). Port Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press.

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Herbert, J. (2015). Delivering the promise: Empowering teachers to empower students. In K. Price

(Ed.), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education: An introduction for the teaching

profession (2nd Ed.) (pp. 35-49). Port Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press.

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policy

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80). Port Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press.

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