Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-12T21:03:11.817Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The importance of Aboriginal Education Workers for decolonising and promoting culture in primary schools: an analysis of the longitudinal study of Indigenous children (LSIC)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2019

Huw Peacock  and
Jacob Prehn
Huw Peacock
Affiliation:
Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor Aboriginal Research and Leadership, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 22, Sandy Bay, Tasmania 7005, Australia
Jacob Prehn*
Affiliation:
Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor Aboriginal Research and Leadership, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 22, Sandy Bay, Tasmania 7005, Australia
*
Author for correspondence: Jacob Prehn, E-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Aboriginal Education Workers (AEWs) are utilised by primary and secondary schools to improve components of success for Aboriginal students, liaise with their families and the Aboriginal community and contribute to developing and promoting an Aboriginal pedagogy. Despite the challenging role of decolonising the school environment, the important work undertaken by AEWs can be misunderstood and underappreciated by the Western school system. This paper aims to measure the influence of AEWs on Aboriginal culture within schools using quantitative data from Wave 7K Cohort of the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children. Results show that there is a positive impact on Aboriginal culture within schools through having an AEW present all or some of the time. For Aboriginal children to grow up strong, employment of an AEW is important to decolonise the school environment and provide a holistic education.

Keywords

Aboriginal childrenaboriginal education workersculturelongitudinal study of Indigenous children
Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , August 2021 , pp. 196 - 202
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aboriginal Consultative Group (1975) Education for Aboriginies: Report to the schools commissions by the Aboriginal consultative group. Canberra: Schools Commission.Google Scholar
Andersen, C, O'Dowd, M and Gower, L (2015) Aboriginal education workers in Tasmania becoming teachers. Hobart: University of Tasmania.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2013) 1220.0 – ANZSCO – Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations. Available at http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Product+Lookup/1220.0~2013,+Version+1.2~Chapter~UNIT+GROUP+4221+Education+Aides.Google Scholar
Australian Parliament House of Representatives (1985) Select Committee on Aboriginal Education (A. Government Ed.). Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Services.Google Scholar
Baxter, LP and Meyers, NM (2016) Increasing urban Indigenous students’ attendance: mitigating the influence of poverty through community partnership. Australian Journal of Education 60, 211–228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biddle, N (2014) Developing a behavioural model of school attendance: policy implications for Indigenous children and youth. Canberra: Australian National University, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research Canberra.Google Scholar
Bodkin-Andrews, G, Whittaker, A, Cooper, E, Parada, RH, Denson, N and Bansel, P (2017) Moving beyond essentialism: Aboriginal parental perceptions of school bullying and school engagement. In Walter, M, Martin, K. L and Bodkin-Andrews, G (Eds.), Indigenous Children Growing Up Strong (pp. 153–178). London: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colquhoun, S and Dockery, AM (2012) The link between Indigenous culture and wellbeing: Qualitative evidence for Australian Aboriginal peoples. The Centre for Labour Market Research, 1–29.Google Scholar
Creative Spirits (2018) Aboriginal culture – Education – How to improve Aboriginal literacy & school attendance. Available at https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/education/how-to-improve-aboriginal-literacy-school-attendance.Google Scholar
Delgado, R and Stefancic, J (2001) Critical race theory: An introduction. New York: NYU Press.Google Scholar
Department of Education and Training (2003) Aboriginal & Islander Education Officer Handbook. Perth: Government of Western Australia.Google Scholar
Department of Education (2016). Aboriginal Education Workers: Information Handbook for Schools 2016. Hobart: Department of Education.Google Scholar
Department of Social Services (2016) Footprints in Time - The Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children. Retrieved from https://www.dss.gov.au/about-the-department/publications-articles/research-publications/longitudinal-data-initiatives/footprints-in-time-the-longitudinal-study-of-indigenous-children-lsic.Google Scholar
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (2015) Remote School Attedance Strategy: Interim Progress Report. Canberra: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.Google Scholar
Gervasoni, A, Hart, A, Croswell, M, Hodges, L & Parish, L (2011) Insights from Aboriginal teaching assistants about the impact of the Bridging the Numeracy Gap Project in a Kimberley Catholic school. Clark, J, Kissane, B, Mousley, J. 306–314. Australia: AAMT and MERGA.Google Scholar
Gower, G, Partington, G, Byrne, M, Galloway, A, Weissofner, N, Ferguson, N and Kirov, E (2011). Review of the Aboriginal and Islander education officer program. Perth: Centre for Indigneous Australian Knowledges.Google Scholar
Green, J, Nelson, G, Martin, AJ and Marsh, H (2006) The causal ordering of self-concept and academic motivation and its effect on academic achievement. International Education Journal 7, 534–546.Google Scholar
Harrison, N (2011) Teaching and Learning in Aboriginal Education. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hynds, AS, Hindle, R, Savage, C, Meyer, LH, Penetito, W and Sleeter, C (2016) The impact of teacher professional development to reposition pedagogy for Indigenous students in mainstream schools. The Teacher Educator 51, 230–249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kneebone, L. B, Christelow, J, Neuendorf, A and Skelton, F (2012) Footprints in time: the longitudinal study of indigenous children: an overview. Family Matters (91), 62–68.Google Scholar
Ladson-Billings, G (1998) Just what is critical race theory and what's it doing in a nice field like education? International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 11, 7–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ladwig, JG and Luke, A (2014) Does improving school level attendance lead to improved school level achievement? An empirical study of Indigenous educational policy in Australia. The Australian Educational Researcher 41, 171–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langton, M and Ma Rhea, Z (2009) Indigenous education and the ladder to prosperity. In Sykes, H (Ed.), Perspectives (pp. 95–119). Sydney: Future Leaders.Google Scholar
Lovett, R (2017) Indigenous Children's Resilience: The Role of Demographics, Relationships, Achievement and Culture. In Walter, M., Martin, K., & Bodkin-Andrews, G. (Eds.), Indigenous Children Growing Up Strong (pp. 287–308). London: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacGill, B (2008) Aboriginal Education Workers in South Australia: Towards Equality of Recognition of Indigenous Ethics of Care Practices. Flinders University, School of Australian Studies.Google Scholar
MacGill, B (2017) Aboriginal community education officers' fight for agency and equality: A historical overview. Australian Aboriginal Studies (2), 56–69.Google Scholar
Martin, KL (2017) Culture and identity: LSIC parents' beliefs and values and raising young Indigenous children in the twenty-first century. In Walter, M, Martin, K. L and Bodkin-Andrews, G (Eds.), Indigenous Children Growing Up Strong (pp. 79–99). London: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCarty, T and Lee, T (2014) Critical culturally sustaining/revitalizing pedagogy and Indigenous education sovereignty. Harvard Educational Review 84, 101–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McFarlane, P, Schabus, N and BC, F. o. P.-S. E. o (2017) Whose Land Is It Anyway?: A Manual for Decolonization. Vancouver: Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC.Google Scholar
Nakata, M (2007) The cultural interface. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 36(S1), 7–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nakata, M (2010) The cultural interface of Islander and scientific knowledge. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 39(S1), 53–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearce, F (2011) AEWs: Skilled uncles and aunties smoothing out the bumps on the road to learning. Wollongong: University of WollongongGoogle Scholar
Price, K (2012) A brief history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education in Australia. In Price, K (Ed.), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education: An introduction for the teaching profession (pp. 1–20). Port Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, A, Jackson-Barrett, E, Gower, G and Herrington, J (2017) Understanding the Complex Work of Aboriginal Education Workers in Schools. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 48(1), 1–13.Google Scholar
Prout Quicke, S and Biddle, N (2017) School (non-) attendance and ‘mobile cultures’: theoretical and empirical insights from Indigenous Australia. Race Ethnicity and Education 20, 57–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Purdie, N and Buckley, S (2010) School attendance and retention of Indigenous Australian students. Closing the Gap Clearinghouse (1), 1–25.Google Scholar
Ragoonaden, KKRUC and Mueller, L (2017) Culturally responsive pedagogy: indigenizing curriculum. Canadian Journal of Higher Education 47, 22–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rose, M (2012). The `silent apartheid'as the practitioner's blindspot. In Price, K (Ed.), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education: An introduction for the teaching profession (pp. 64–80). Port Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Same Kids Same Goals (2007) What is an Indigenous Education Worker? Available at http://www.samekidssamegoals.org/what/Google Scholar
Smith, LT (1999) Decolonising Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. London: Zed Books Ltd.Google Scholar
Stone, A, Walter, M and Peacock, H (2017) Educational outcomes for aboriginal school students In Tasmania: is The achievement Gap closing? Australian and International Journal of Rural Education 27, 90–110.Google Scholar
Trudgett, M, Page, S, Bodkin-Andrews, G, Franklin, C and Whittaker, A (2017) Another brick in the wall? Parent perceptions of school educational experiences of Indigenous Australian children. In Walter, M, Martin, K. L and Bodkin-Andrews, G (Eds.), Indigenous Children Growing Up Strong (pp. 233–258). London: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walter, M (2016) Data politics and Indigenous representation in Australian statistics. In Kukutai, T & Taylor, J (Eds.), Indigenous Data Sovereignty: Toward an agenda (pp. 79–97). Canberra: ANU Press.Google Scholar
Walter, M and Andersen, C (2013) Indigenous Statistics: A Quantitative Research Methodology. Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press.Google Scholar
Walter, M, Dodson, M and Barnes, S (2017) Introducing the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children. In Walter, M, Martin, K. L and Bodkin-Andrews, G (Eds.), Indigenous Children Growing Up Strong (pp. 15–40). London: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walter, M, Martin, KL and Bodkin-Andrews, G (2017) Indigenous Children Growing Up Strong: A Longitudinal Study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Families. London: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zuberi, T and Bonilla-Silva, E (2008). White logic, white methods: Racism and methodology. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.Google Scholar
Zubrick, S, Silburn, S, De Mario, J, Shepared, C and Griffin, JA (2006) Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health survey: improving the Educational experiences of Aboriginal children and Young people (Vol. 3). Perth: Telethon Institute for Child Health Research and Curtin University of Technology.Google Scholar