key understandings for teachers to work successfully with

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

The Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation wished to see Australian society in 2001 as ‘a united Australia which respects
this land of ours; values the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage and provides justice and equity for all’ (Scott,
2005). However, it seems Aboriginal Education only began its genuine journey forward after Australian Parliament had
apologised to the ‘Stolen Generations’ and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd lodged his formal apology to the ‘forgotten
Australians’ in 2009. From there, in 2011 The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Action Plan committed all
Australian States and Territory Governments to a unified approach to closing the gap in educational outcomes,
between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal students. Through the Department of Education, the
Australian Government made a fund available for an initiative to have more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
teachers to assist in increasing participation and leadership in Australian schools(Australian Government 2015).
Educators of today play a vital role in Australia’s future; for they nurture new ideas, educate out stereotypes, provide
a foundation of education in collaboration with the local Aboriginal community about Australian History and ensure all
children are constantly progressing and growing to become active and informed citizens.

When educating Aboriginal students teachers have a lot of concerns and considerations that need to be at the
forefront of their minds; teachers need to challenge myths about Australian History and ensure Aboriginal culture is
embedded into the program in rich and meaningful ways. They need to avoid the holistic approach to Aboriginal
culture as though it is one, and work to involve and support Aboriginal families, to ensure curriculum planning is
relevant to the land and the students at the school. Teachers also need to address the disadvantages in health and
development that a child may bring into the classroom, without making the child feel disadvantaged or less likely to
achieve as the rest of their classmates.

In order to achieve justice and equity for Aboriginal students, teachers must first know themselves, know their world,
know their students and know what they teach (Buckskin 2013). For teachers to ‘know themselves’ they need to
understand that as humans we grow up immersed in our own culture, our own experiences, our own language and
through this we construct our understanding of the world (Gollan, S & Malin, M 2012). It’s vital that educators carry
the ability to reflect on where their values and thoughts lie and confront their own prejudices. Through reflection
teachers can ‘know their world’ by understanding the perceptions and beliefs that underpin decision making and from
here can be conscious of deeply driven thoughts and behaviours (Groundwater-Smith, Ewing & LeCornu 2011). For
teachers to ‘know their students’ they first need to develop relationships with their students and know how they learn
best. Aboriginal students have a different approach to knowledge and research to the Western Culture and teachers
can dismiss their traits and techniques as distracting rather than adapting to understand their way of expressing their
skills (Gollan, S & Malin, M 2012). For successful education an understanding that Aboriginality cannot be grouped
together under an Indigenous blanket of Western generalisation must first be reached. Pre-invasion there were 200-
330 tribes and around 300 languages (Foley, D 2008). This means that all tribes and cultures are different and the
education system cannot just be about ‘Aboriginal people’. It needs to be meaningful, correct and relevant for the
children in specific classes or schools. So, in ‘knowing what they teach’ educators are required to ‘understand and
respect Aboriginal and Torres strait Islander people to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-
Indigenous Australians’ (Price, K 2012) they need to reach out to the Aboriginal families associated with their school;
for it is the teacher’s responsibility to build relationships and seek input for the programming and structure of daily
practices. ‘You can’t have a partnership without a relationship, and you can’t have a relationship without a
conversation, you’ve got to have the conversation’ (Price K 2012). The local Aboriginal community and important
families and elders will know best as to what content is relevant to the land a particular school is on, and Aboriginal
influences within schools have been proven to drastically improve not only quality of education but also attendance
and progress outcomes for Aboriginal students (Evans, C 2012).

Teachers cannot simply do a few dot paintings, didgeridoo crafts and have some Aboriginal phrases and
acknowledgments up on the walls and assume that they have ticked off their Aboriginal education unit for that year.
True acknowledgement of Aboriginal culture affirms the cultural identity of Aboriginal students and dissipates the gap
between ‘them and us’, for how educators care for, and teach children leaves an indelible imprint on their sense of
self (Gollan, S & Malin, M 2012). In order for teachers to acquire competence and enhance learning in Aboriginal
education teachers can identify the traditional custodians of the land and develop an acknowledgement of country,
identify the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in their class and school, identify where the local
Aboriginal Land Council is and particular community events that celebrate Aboriginal Histories and cultures. With
initiative and the building of networks teachers can become competent in working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander students and families (Price, K 2012).

The writings and reports that our National History was centered around was sourced from biased, white male
opinions and founded negative dispositions towards Aboriginal peoples. The common themes were that Australia was
an ‘empty land’ upon settlement, Aboriginal society was primitive and would not have been able to adapt to
colonisation, settler violence was inevitable and therefore the process of colonisation was relatively peaceful (Carter,
DJ, 2006). After settlement Aboriginal peoples were stripped of their rights, families, land, spirituality and culture.
Tribes experienced rape, murder and relocation across the country for Western institutional education or slavery, and
Governments continued to feed the non-Aboriginal population with ideas that Aboriginal people were to be feared
and this was all in the spirit of colonisation for the greater good (Carter, DJ, 2006). It is important to remember that,
these past injustices are the cause of current day disadvantages (Short, D 2005). Not only was colonisation directly
devastating to the Aboriginal people that experienced it, but continued devastation and disadvantagment is still a
reality today. After colonisation Aboriginal peoples experienced a decline in health and education outcomes with an
increase in substance abuse, illness and imprisonment. The national rate of imprisonment is 15 times higher for
Aboriginal people than non-Aboriginals, there is a 17 year life expectancy gap between Aboriginal Australians and non-
Aboriginal Australians, and in 2006 only 23% of Aboriginal students achieved a completion certificate for year 12 or
higher (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2014). The legislation that spread across all States and Territories that
allowed for the forced removal of children from their families and removal was still in operation in the 1970’s. The
effects of these removals has continued to compound and psychological and emotional damage renders many people
less able to learn social and survival skills. With this impaired ability, successes in education, employment and stability
are hindered; and due to this, self-harm, violence and substance abuse are the outcomes for many Aboriginal peoples
today (Price, K 2012). The negative stereotypes surrounding these disadvantages haven’t stemmed from the
colonisation idea that ‘Aboriginal people are primitive and violent’ but from the living consequence of what happens
when a human being loses everything. All judgements and stereotypes need to be challenged with education and the
sooner in a childs life this education occurs, the better.
One of Buddha’s quotes says that What you think you become, what you feel you attract and what you imagine you
create. This one of many examples in the world surrounding the idea that what we think creates our reality. Aboriginal
children spend their early years perceiving not ‘what’ is being said but ‘how’ it is being said and to ‘who’, so when
educators talk about the disadvantages of Aboriginal students either directly to their peers or via personal thoughts
within, they are in fact shaping the reality of the teacher’s world and that of their student’s (Harrison, N 2011). In
Aboriginal culture the protection and teaching of children is a community responsibility, and not solely the
responsibility of the biological parents; this is a child rearing practice that stems back in time, so a school where a child
spends most of their day needs to take upon a great responsibility in ensuring that Aboriginal children feel safe and
supported to be ‘Aboriginal and proud’. Aboriginal learning techniques and styles can be dismissed as disruptive in a
Western class setting and therefore reinforce the idea of ‘lower ability levels’ or ‘incapability’, but in a study of
‘sharing and caring’ deeds Aboriginal students performed 97 acts of sharing and caring in comparison with 23 by non-
Aboriginal students. Along with many other ‘invisible’ talents of Aboriginal students, they excelled in orienteering,
social skills of high sophistication, compassion, attentiveness to others’ emotions and interests and were the first to
assist others who were struggling academically or practically (Gollan, S & Malin, M 2012). Teachers need to channel
these skills into successful education rather than fostering disappointment and adding to misconceptions of
incapability, for 'Learning was never alien to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's skills and capabilities'
(Price,K 2012).

All successful people in the world will most likely have one thing in common; their successes began as dreams. But
before they achieved their successes, they first had to believe their dreams could come true; in order for this belief to
grow somebody had to give them a reason to start believing. An educator’s role is to furnish the dreams of their
students. Although disadvantages of Aboriginal students need to be acknowledged they can’t be the foundation at
which teachers build their education upon. Negative subliminal messages or assumed achievement standards can
create a low expectation of self within a student and stops them from dreaming of successes for themselves. All
students have the right to be seen as potential high caliber learners with just as much right to big dreams as any other
child. The power and magic of teaching brings a gift that cannot be underestimated, a teacher’s influence can be
crucial, so they need to be furnishers of dreams, not stiflers. (Sara 2010)

In order for educators to work successfully with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students they need to become
educated themselves. They need to be able to evaluate their thoughts and values based on their cultural upbringing
and personal experiences and then challenge any stereotypes or prejudices they may find. They need to get to know
their students and how they best learn, what individual skills they are bringing to the classroom and how best can
these be utilised. Relationship building with the local Aboriginal community and families is crucial for a rich and
meaningful program, with relevant information about the existing or pre-existing tribes of the land the school is
occupying. A genuine interest in local Aboriginal film, books, arts and events is encouraged to ensure the curriculum is
being met in a more in depth way than simply some posters and an acknowledgement of country. It is important that
educators are aware of the disadvantages Aboriginal students are bringing to the classroom and how to work with
this, but not to assume incapability or potential. The magic of teaching brings the power of believing in all dreams.

References
Australian Government, DoEaT 2015, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employee Committee, viewed 01/03/2017,
Buckskin, PP 2013, Respect, Relationships, Reconciliation, University of South Australia, South Australia, viewed
01/03/2017, <http://rrr.edu.au/>.

Carter, DJ 2006, 'Aboriginal history and Australian history', Dispossession, dreams & diversity : issues in Australian
studies., Pearson Education, 2006, Frenchs Forest NSW, pp. 64-85
Evans, C 2012, 'Your professional experience and becoming professional about working with Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander students and communities', Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education : an introduction for the
teaching profession, pp. 52-63.

Foley, D 2008, 'An Indigenous standpoint theory', History, politics & knowledge : essays in Australian indigenous
studies, Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne pp. 113-133, 326-329

Groundwater-Smith, S, Ewing, R & LeCornu, R 2011, Teaching challenges and dilemmas, 4th edn, Cengage Learning
Australia pp.138
Sara, C 2010, All you need is to Dream, Ted X Talks.
Short, D 2005, 'Reconciliation as education: the Council and the 'Peoples Movement'', Journal of Australian indigenous
issues., vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 33-52.

Price, K 2012, 'A brief history pf Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education in Australia, in K Price (ed), Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Education: An introduction for teaching profession, Cambridge University Press, Sydney,
NSW, pp. 1- 20.