Australian Aboriginal Learning and

Lesson Planning
By Rees Wilson

The educational environment in Australia is diverse and caters to students of many different cultural
backgrounds. One significant group of learners within this system are Indigenous Australians, who
often struggle in an environment which favours members of the dominant, European discourse. This
essay will address the issue of providing for the needs of Indigenous students in the Australian
education system. Firstly, the writer will analyse a research paper by Lewthwaite et. al. which
attempts to synthesise existing literature on Indigenous education as well as providing an insight
into what Indigenous students and parents believe are paramount elements of in the learning
process. Following this assessment, the focus will shift to an adaptation of an existing lesson plan in
the Key Learning Area (KLA) of Mathematics, using recommendations from the aforementioned
paper as well as suggestions made by other researchers, to make the plan more effective for
Indigenous learners.
Addressing the needs of Indigenous Australian students is of great importance to the improvement
of teaching practice in Australia, as the system currently disadvantages these learners. It is widely
accepted that the Australian education system on a whole does not cater adequately to Indigenous
students. This is evidenced in poorer performance in examinations than the state average and
difficulty concentrating at school (Lewthwaite et.al., 2015, p. 132; Owens, 2015, p. 53). Yet in the
Australian Curriculum (n.d.) it is clear that an educational environment where the cultural
backgrounds of all students are valued is to be desired. There is some evidence of an attempt to
achieve this equity for Indigenous students (Lewthwaite et. al., 2015, p.132), however there is still
much ground to be covered. If such a hope is to be realised, then researchers and teachers must
begin to put thought to addressing this injustice in the system.
Such concerns about the failure to provide for Indigenous students are relevant to both the broad
school environment and the KLA of Mathematics. As a General Capability of the Australian

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Curriculum (n.d.), Intercultural Understanding is something which is to be developed across all

aspects of school life. Such a deliberate focus on the acknowledgement and valuing of cultures seeks
to see Indigenous Australians, among others, develop a mindset which will allow them to achieve in
schools and the Australian society (Australian Curriculum, n.d., para. 5). As such, it is important for
teachers to consider the needs of Indigenous students in all aspects of the educational
environment. Furthermore, in Mathematics, the teacher has a huge potential to aid Indigenous
students in literacy learning, enabling them to function more successfully in the school environment
(Lewthwaite, 2015, p.146). In addition to this, attention to Indigenous needs in Mathematics would
hopefully lead to an improvement in classroom achievement.
The focus of this essay now turns to critically reviewing the 2015 study by Lewthwaite et. al. which
focused on determining ways in which teachers could better provide for Australian Indigenous
students. The study draws heavily on existing research into Indigenous education, which is one key
indicator of a well performed study (Ullman, 2015, p. 252). This includes addressing Hatties large
scale meta-analysis which focused on the improvement of teaching practices, drawing the
conclusion that teachers must individually know each student (Hattie as cited in Lewthwaite et.al.,
2014, p. 133). Lewthwaite et. al. however criticised this research as it did not address cultural needs
of students (2014, p. 133). The paper also drew heavily on existing research which was gathered
over many years into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners (Perso as cited in Lewthwaite et.
al., 2014, p.133), yet claims that the results of such research rarely influences teacher pedagogy, and
are too hypothetical. The paper also deals with research into Indigenous learning in other countries
than Australia (Bishop et. al. as cited in Lewthwaite et. al., 2014, p. 134). As such, the paper performs
an in depth examination of existing and current literature surrounding the topic of Indigenous
education, and this pattern is maintained throughout the entire article. This suggests that the article
is built on a solid understanding of current knowledge about Indigenous education in Australian and
the greater world.
Furthermore, the paper not only makes a good use of existing literature to frame its research, but it
also follows a method which is culturally sensitive to the opinions of those involved, and which
represents the target audience well. The research performed was qualitative in nature, taking the
form of individual and group interviews. In addition to this, those interviewed were all stage five or

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six Indigenous students or Indigenous parents (Lewthwaite et. al., 2014, p. 138). Hence, they had a
good understanding of what teaching strategies had and had not worked in their school
experiences. In addition to this, the body of researchers who performed and analysed the interviews
was made up of academics, teachers and prominent members of the Aboriginal communities
(Lewthwaite et. al., 2014, p. 137). This suggests that the method in which the research was
performed was relevant to those interviewed and was also culturally sensitive. This is a key element
of a sound study (Ullman, 2015, p. 253). One example given of this is the choice to allow subjects to
respond without any prompting or interference of those conducting the interviews (Lewthwaite, et.
al., 2014, p.138). Based on these considerations, the method followed appears relevant and as
unbiased as possible.
In addition to the consideration of existing literature and a culturally relevant method, the
researchers also took precautions to ensure a sound interpretation of the findings. As the interviews
were conducted on both parents and students, these two categories of results were divided to allow
more sense to be made of the findings. Interestingly, the statements by the parents commonly
reflected the existing literature on Indigenous education (Lewthwaite, et. al., 2014, p. 139). As such,
the researchers continued to refer to the existing body of understanding, which further reinforces
the soundness of their findings. The data was coded first individually and then collectively
(Lewthwaite, et.al., 2014, p.138), which allowed the researches to find underlying themes in the
interview transcripts. Undertaking this process first individually meant that a broader range of
interpretation could be seen, followed by a synthesis of these interpretations. This allowed for
appropriate assessment of the findings, improving the validity of the study (Ullman, 2015, p.254)
Furthermore, it was of great importance to the researchers to value the words of the participants
over those of the researchers themselves, leading them to include portions of participant
conversations (Lewthwaite, et. al., 2014, p. 139) in the final publication. This would suggest that the
findings truly reflect the opinions of the Indigenous people involved.
Equally important in an analysis of this paper is to consider their conclusions. Interestingly, while
the authors had begun by critiquing Hatties study as it had not mentioned intercultural learners, the
authors came to the conclusion that the engagement methods mentioned by the Indigenous
learners closely mirrored Hatties findings (Lewthwaite et. al., 2015, p. 152). Yet, as the paper was

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the first in a three stage process, it does lack credibility when it comes to field testing the findings
for their effectiveness in the classroom. However, as this is the plan of the next phase of the
research, as well as to identify elements which are unique to Indigenous learners, this shortcoming
will be rectified in the near future. On the whole, the paper by Lewthwaite, et. al. (2015) provides a
sound examination of Indigenous education.
The focus of this essay will now change from an assessment of the paper by Lewthwaite et. al.
(2015), to the application of their findings, in addition to those of other researchers, to adapt a
learning activity to better cater for Indigenous students. The chosen learning activity is designed for
a year seven mathematics class and focuses on teaching students about percentages. Using themes
of recycling, it explores the amount of different types of recyclables which are recycled each year
(Cool Australia, 2016). As evidenced in Image One, the learning activity begins with background
instructions about recycling rates and an activity where students are to compare the rates in
different countries. They then graph this result.

Following this, as evidenced in Image Two, students are then required to calculate more
percentages using a given formula and other given information about recyclables.

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After these steps, the students are then to collate their own information through a survey and
assess it using percentages, as seen in Image Three.

As a common finding in the literature is that the use of narrative can improve the performance of
Indigenous student learning (Lewthwaite, 2015, p. 152), this will be the first change made to the
learning activity. Owens saw a clear correlation between the use of narrative and the success of
students in mathematics (2015, p. 71), which further suggests the usefulness to include narrative in
this learning area. There are many possible ways that the use of narrative could be achieved. One
example would be to frame the activity by having the students imagine that they are foragers who
lived off selling recyclables. In this activity they would find out which recyclable would be the most
worthwhile collecting, as a result of them having the highest probability of discovery. Such a
narrative would engage both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students in the activity.
Moreover, while this learning activity does attempt to make the concept of percentages relevant to
daily life, as evidenced in the use of surveys in the third part of the activity, this could be
exaggerated to further benefit Indigenous learners. One prevalent theme in current literature which

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was also explored in the paper examined above is the need to assist students in the transition
between the school and home environments (Meaney & Evans, 2013, p. 483; Lewthwaite, 2015, p.
145). Similar to this, current thinking sees benefit for Indigenous learners in developing strong
relationships with the community (Owens, 2015, p. 76). These findings could be used to revise the
learning activity in having students encouraged to physically count objects at home in preparation to
the class, involving parents and family in the process. This would make the learning process relate to
the whole family, and therefore be viewed as more relevant to daily life.
Not only could students be encouraged to engage in thinking about percentages in their home
environment, but the learning activity could also be adjusted to involve more use of the natural
environment. Lewthwaite et. al. found that when Indigenous students were involved in activities
outside the classroom, this aided in their learning (2015, p. 152). Furthermore, a strong
consideration of links to the land in the creation of a lesson has been found to help Indigenous
students (Owens, 2015, p. 76). As such, another possible improvement to the learning activity would
be to lead students outside, where they could count the different forms of rubbish which could be
found on the school grounds. Another way to take the activity to the next level would be to involve
hands-on learning (Warren & Miller, 2013, p. 166), having students collect the rubbish as they count
it and collating the results at the end.
There is still a long way for teachers to come in providing Indigenous students with the support they
need for learning, however some progress is occurring. Lewthwaite et. al.s paper (2015) seeks to
bring equity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students one step close, partnering with
Indigenous communities to find a solution. They performed a detailed analysis of existing literature
and then through research, came up with a series of factors which encourage the engagement and
performance of Indigenous students in the classroom. Some of their findings, such as the use of
hands-on learning, the involvement of home life in school tasks and a consideration of the outside
world were all used to adapt an existing lesson plan to properly cater to Indigenous students. As
such, while there may still be a distance for Australian education to go in provision for Indigenous
learners, progress is possible and not too difficult to achieve.

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References
Australian Curriculum. (n.d.). Intercultural understanding: Introduction. Retrieved from
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/generalcapabilities/interculturalunderstanding/introduction/introduction
Cool Australia. (2016). Activity: National recycling week: Recycling in Australia Year 7. Retrieved
from http://www.coolaustralia.org/activity/national-recycling-week-recycling-in-australia-year-7/
Lewthwaite, B., Osbourne, B., Lloyd, N., Boon, H., Llewellyn, L., Webber, T., ...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). 132-159.
Meaney, T., & Evans, D. (2013). What is the responsibility of mathematics education to the
Indigenous students that it serves?. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 82(3), 481-496.
Owens, K. (2015). Changing the teaching of mathematics for improved Indigenous education in a
rural Australian city. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 18(1), 53-78.
Ullman, J. (Ed.). (2015). Applying educational research: How to read, do, and use research to solve

problems of practice. Sydney, Australia.

Warren, E., & Miller, J. (2013). Young Australian Indigenous students effective engagement in
mathematics: The role of language, patterns, and structure. Mathematics Education Research

Journal, 25(1), 151-171.

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