19189518 Brigitte Gerges Option One – ATSI studies

In order to succeed and safely close the gap between Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander students and non- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students

through positive and respectful relationships, educators must understand the following

policies and how to action them appropriately. Educators should consult The

Aboriginal Education and Training Policy which Aboriginal Elders past and present

who have provided the foundations upon which the Aboriginal Education and Training

Policy is based. The Key planning documents for implementation of the Policy include;

The Partnership Agreement the Department of Education and Communities and the

NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Inc; The Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander Education Action Plan 2010-2014 as well as The Aboriginal Human

Resources Development Plan 2012-2017. These documents are intended for

implementation remaining organic, living, and dynamic documents for consistent

reflection and enactment.

The Aboriginal Education and Training Policy has developed guiding

components that promote the building and strengthening of respectful relationships

with Aboriginal people and communities within the education forum. The department

focuses on training and education for promoting and fostering positive quality

pedagogy that is engaging as well as relevant and culturally appropriate. Ensuring

Aboriginal people and students have increased and improved access to secure

rewarding and meaningful successful lives whereby they are well equipped to acquire

employment for leading safe healthy, gratifying lives after schooling life. The Policy

requires teachers to turn the components into action with committed fidelity. The

components highlighted in this Policy for successfully improved retention include

effective creating of relationships, positive and respectful engagement and continuous

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positive individualised learning. The Policy requires consistent fidelity for successful

establishment and longevity. Additional Individualised learning plan and Policy

reflection and revised planning are essential elements for the successful academic

chances and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students within a

positive learning experience.

The Policy necessitates educators to incorporate the three components; Firstly,

creating student-teacher relationships and delivering individualised curriculum into

their daily planning of each school day. Secondly, creating a safe learning experience

through connectedness as suggested by the Quality Teaching Model in a meaningful

and respectful environment promoting maximised engagement. Thus, minimising

disengagement and improving the retention of students. However, De Nobile, Lyons

and Arthur-Kelly (2017) and Price (2015) suggested these two components are not

sufficient without the Policies third component of ongoing learning. Continuous

learning is a multifaceted component directed at the educator’s professional

development and student’s continuous exposure to positive learning. Ongoing

learning from both perspectives is essential for maintaining the attendance of an

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student as a teacher needs to be aware of their

delivery of the curriculum and delivery of pedagogy within the classroom.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students may be subject to stereotypical

behaviour and widely misunderstood due to cultural difference and limitations in the

education accessibility. Through the professional teacher standards 1.4, it is required

of teachers to apply and demonstrate they know their Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander students by demonstrating a breadth and scope of knowledge relevant to their

background, understanding of the impact of cultural identity and linguistic background.

Additionally, teachers must also demonstrate their understanding of the impact of

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and background on their learning process.

Thus, effectively applying a positive pedagogical practice creating a positive learning

conversation and environment. Furthermore, according to Loreman, Deppeler and

Harvey (2011) through the same pedagogical practices teachers should strive to

become experts in the content and how to teach it inclusively. Through the

professional standard 2.4 teachers are required to respect and understand Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander people, not only their students in order to promote and foster

reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Thus, will improve

the retention of students and instil positive values and student-teacher relationships

subsequently fostering gradual trust and respect.

Even so, throughout the future practices, educators must apply fidelity to these

strategies as these are long-term solutions that cannot last without the right

commitment, reflection, and development. Teachers can breach this low attendance

gap through scaffolding from what students already know embedding their family

histories, language, practices and culture at the beginning of the curriculum delivery.

Future teachers can then navigate the content through unfamiliar content and drawing

from a student’s background, family and familiar context to ensure students remain

engaged and included. Assessment is also crucial for testing students’ knowledge in

a creative diagnostic, formative and summative form. Feedback is also a staple of

retaining students as they need to have an opinion in the content that is delivered to

them. Professional development also includes sourcing a wide variety of resources,

may include, reading educational educative material on Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander culture and perspectives. Another strategy is introduced a new resource every

week or two and providing choice to students to deliver the curriculum engagingly.

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This also creates the task of learning new content increasingly manageable in the case

of reluctant students.

Also, positive and respectful relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander students’ schools could potentially reconsider, implement then reassess

programs such as the Aboriginal Student Support and Parent Awareness program and

empower teachers to empower students. There are a plethora of strategies that have

been unsuccessful over the decades will little change in retention. However, this may

be due to the infidelity to the program and adapting components that may be ineffective

to place it with a strategy more suitable for positive outcomes and retention of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Even so, programs should be ever

reflexive, and methods of measuring should be consistently under trial, and most

importantly alteration from reflectiveness are essential for building a positive,

respectful relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. The

components involved in this program provides opportunities to parents and caregivers

to have increased involvement in educational decision-making consequently

increasing engagement, participation, and attendance. Thus demonstrating Key Policy

1.1.5 in the Aboriginal Education Policy stating that “The strength, diversity, ownership,

and richness of Aboriginal cultures and Custodianship of Country are respected,

valued and promoted.”

The Aboriginal Education and Training Policy suggests educators follow the

reflection, planning and acting strategies as they will result in the best educative

experience to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. De Nobile et. al (2017);

support the reflect, plan and action strategy for promoting and maintaining a

productive, positive learning experience. The Lyford model can be melded to fit this

Policy for improving retention within a rural classroom. As schools are situated in a

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more remote area;the retention levels are significantly lower than those of students

residing in a suburban area close to the city. The Lyford model is a multifaceted system

that guides a teacher to deliver the curriculum in a more effective and positive

environment. Through the ecological perspective, whereby referring to a student’s

complex realities and the relationship they have between these realities and external

environment. Considering the ecological perspective of the student holds and getting

to know the students strengthens the student-teacher relationship whereby the student

increases their trust in their teacher switching to higher engagement. Gaining trust is

a gradual process that demands fidelity and professional development. The teacher

needs to foster a sociocultural perspective within the classroom and understand the

social and cultural background and status of the student's positions themselves in

furthermore a psychoeducational perspective. These perspectives are essential for

getting to know your students and how they learn as suggested by the Embedding

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives in schools as a guide for school

learning communities.

Also, the Lyford model aligns again with the AET Policy whereby a teacher is

aiming for successful retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. Students will

apply the four preventative practices integrating explicit instructional practice suitable

to a student’s learning preference; further adapting and reflecting on the physical

environment students wish to learn. Fostering a positive and creative learning

environment with high expectations that students can be proud of by involving them in

the choice of educational decisions and atmosphere; creating a positive classroom

culture and strengthening causes the gradual development of a positively engaging

classroom climate is supported by Tomlinson (2015).

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The approaches that have been shown to work more effectively include

evidence-based programs nine guiding characteristics underpinning the National

Strategic Framework for Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander Peoples’ Mental Health

and Social and Emotional Well Being 2004–2009. According to Reynolds and

Juconen (2011) these programs ensure teachers are catering to an Indigenous

students emotional and social wellbeing as it is necessary for retention and successful

after-school chances that students develop resilience. Teachers are encouraged to

foster programs and holistic approaches to curriculum, focusing on healing from stress

and trauma.

This strategy empowers students by giving them a sense of control and focus

on their futures with a positive attitude. Teachers can also provide students with the

foundation and guidance with strategies that are Indigenous-led, context-specific,

culturally responsive, and focused on the student’s family lives. As a future teacher, it

is appropriate to practice investigating what type of programming benefits Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander student’s positive growth, learning success. According to

Dudgeon, Walker, Scrine, Shepherd, Calma and Ring (2014), Participatory action

research approaches offer a useful and practical instrument for including Indigenous

individuals, families, and communities for establishing, applying and critically

analysing programs. Thus, building a useful platform for a more attentive and culturally

responsive fostering a culturally safe atmosphere for participants of the program.

Adapting the content of the research to a classroom context can benefit in creating

individualised learning plans for increased academic achievement and positive

engagement for retainment. For instance, including more culturally responsive

activities within a classroom may lead to students possessing a positive cultural

identity that is suggested by Dudgeon et al. (2014) to be associated with positive

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mental health among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals and students

subsequently a respectful relationship can foster out of this mutuality and support.

Thus, demonstrating Key Policy 1.1.5. in the Aboriginal Education Policy stating that

“The strength, diversity, ownership, and richness of Aboriginal cultures and

Custodianship of Country are respected, valued and promoted.” Also, demonstrating

Key Policy 1.5.4 by Implement: Aboriginal studies programs, Aboriginal languages

programs, Aboriginal cross-curriculum content within schools and Aboriginal

perspectives in education.

De Nobile et. al (2017) also suggested the Lyford model intervention practices

are necessary. The consideration of the Functional Behaviour Analysis through the

Ecological Systems Theory as all adolescence possess five environmental systems is

essential for catering to differentiation. The first is known as the individual student, the

microsystem surrounding the student is the next level of the system referring to family,

peers, school, religious beliefs and health services; positively or negatively influencing

and shape the wellbeing of the student. Through an educator’s consideration and

getting to know the type of lives their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students

lead will assist in the development of a positive teacher-student relationship thus

strengthening respect and understanding for better and longer schooling life.

Continuing, the Mesosystem is a significant area whereby interactions between the

Microsystem occur. The Exosystem is the third level of the system and students do

not directly interact with this level, however, are exposed externally such as local

politics, mass media, industry, neighbours.

Furthermore, an extension of the Exosystem is the Macrosystem whereby

students are exposed to overarching societal norms, stereotypes that may dictate of

influence who they are or want to be, including laws. As teachers, the responsibility

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there is to educate students on these stereotypes and empower them to shape their

ideas and encourage debate and self-confidence as well as self-efficacy. Teachers

can foster respect and engagement with students through assisting a student

professionally through developmental stages of adolescence, and they are

experiencing a ‘storm and stress’ phase and navigating through pre- or normal

maturation, as well as growing in age and experience; developing, moral, social,

emotional and cognitive abilities. Educating students about this experience will

enlighten students and may ease phycological discomforts a student possesses.

As a future educator, it would be appropriate and successful professional

practice and professional learning to apply this model’s classroom management plans.

Subsequently meeting the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students

through the individualised learning plans, curriculum planning curriculum, including

Indigenous perspectives respectfully and appropriately and focusing on student-

centred learning. According to Hatti (2003), students are the most accountable for their

learning. Therefore, teachers need to devise strategies draw from the quality teaching

model, Lyford model, professional standards and tailor a plan for delivering the

curriculum to receive positive engagement and retainment of students in classrooms.

Policy continuously supports the integration of various fidelity Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander curriculum-based approaches. Thus, there is evidence available that

both Indigenous-specific programming and mainstream services adhere to Closing the

Gap through the investigation of engagement, integration, accountability, access as a

strategy to use in the future for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students

subsequently improving their learning experience, creating a respectful relationship.

Further retaining students through creative engagement and getting to know

your students through various strategies, models, and system understanding.

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Asserting that the Key Policies such as 1.6.2. “Engage and motivate Aboriginal

students for successful participation in education” appointed by the Aboriginal

Education are essential to consider.

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References:

Aboriginal Education and Training Policy, Turning Policy into Action, Retrieved from

https://education.nsw.gov.au/policy-library/associated-

documents/aetp_turning.pdf on September 31,2018

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. (2011). Retrieved from

https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/general/australian-professional-

standands-for-teachers-20171006.pdf?sfvrsn=399ae83c_12 in August on the

23, 2018

Closing the Gap- Prime Minister’s Report 2017; NB: Chapter 3 Retrieved from

https://www.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/ctg-report-2017.pdf on

September 31, 2018

Dudgeon, P. Walker, R. Scrine, C. Shepherd, C. Calma, T and Ring, I. (2014).

Embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives in schools A

guide for school learning communities. Retrieved from

http://indigenous.education.qld.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/eatsips-

docs/eatsips_2011.pdf on September 31, 2018

De Nobile, J., Lyons, G., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2017). Positive learning environments:
Creating and maintaining productive classrooms. 10-20

Hattie, J.A.C. (2003). Teachers make a difference: What is the research evidence?

Paper presented at the Building Teacher Quality: What does the research tell

us ACER Research Conference, Melbourne, Australia. Retrieved from

http://research.acer.edu.au/research_conference_2003/4/

Loreman, T., Deppeler,J. , & Harvey, D. (2011). Inclusive Education: Supporting

Diversity in the Classroom. IBSN: 9781741759860

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Price, K. Garlett, C. (2015). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education: An

Introduction For the Teaching Profession. Ch 1-3

Reynolds, M.B., Juconen, J. (2011). The Role of Early Maturation. Perceived

Popularity, and Rumors in the Emergence of Internalizing Symptoms Among

Adolescent Girls. J Youth Adolescence. 40:1407-1422. DOI

10.1007/s109064-101-9619-1

The NSW Aboriginal Education Policy (2008) Retrieved from

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

training-policy on September 31,2018

Tomlinson, C. (2015). Teaching for Excellence in Academically Diverse

Classrooms. 52 (3), 203-209.

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