Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T23:11:39.836Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Quality and Efficacy of the Indigenous Tutorial Assistance Scheme (ITAS) for University Students

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2015

Sue Whatman ,
Juliana McLaughlin ,
Susan Willsteed ,
Annie Tyhuis  and
Susan Beetson
Sue Whatman
Affiliation:
Oodgeroo Unit, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Queensland, 4059, Australia
Juliana McLaughlin
Affiliation:
Oodgeroo Unit, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Queensland, 4059, Australia
Susan Willsteed
Affiliation:
Oodgeroo Unit, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Queensland, 4059, Australia
Annie Tyhuis
Affiliation:
Oodgeroo Unit, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Queensland, 4059, Australia
Susan Beetson
Affiliation:
Oodgeroo Unit, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Queensland, 4059, Australia
Get access

Abstract

Designed as a “supplementary” tuition scheme, the Indigenous Tutorial Assistance Scheme (hereafter referred to as ITAS) is a strategic initiative of the National Indigenous Education Policy (DEET, 1989). This paper seeks to contribute to the literature of the analysis of the quality and efficacy of ITAS. Currently, the delivery of ITAS to Indigenous students requires enormous administration and commitment by the staff of Indigenous education support centres. In exploring the essential but problematic provision of ITAS to Indigenous university students, this paper provides insights into significant aspects of our program that move beyond assumptions of student deficit, by researching the quality of teaching and learning through ITAS, analysing administrative workload, and sharing innovations to our program as a result of participatory research with important ITAS stakeholders.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 37 , supplement S1: Indigenous Studies - Indigenous Knowledge: Navigating the Interface , 2008 , pp. 118 - 130
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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

AIATSIS. (2000). Guidelines for ethical research in Indigenous studies May 2000. Retrieved 1 July, 2007, from http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/data/assets/pdf_file/2290/ethics_guidelines.pdf.Google Scholar
Bassey, M. C. (1999). Case study research in educational setting. Buckingham: Open University Press.Google Scholar
Beetson, S., Tyhuis, A., Willsteed, S., McLaughlin, J., & Whatman, S. (2007, July). Bringing ITAS into a virtual environment. Paper presented at the Indigenous Studies and Indigenous Knowledge Conference, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Retrieved 1 August, 2007, from http://www.oodgeroo.qut.edu.au/academic_resources/academicpape/itas/index.jsp.Google Scholar
Bin-Sallik, M. A. (1991). Aboriginal tertiary education in Australia: How well is it serving the needs of Aborigines? Underdale, SA: Aboriginal Studies Key Centre.Google Scholar
Boulton-Lewis, G., Marton, F., Lewis, D.C., & Wilss, L.A. (2000). Learning in formal and informal contexts: conceptions and strategies of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students. Learning and Instruction, 10(5), 393–414.Google Scholar
Brady, W. (1992). Beam me up Scotty, communicating across world views on knowledge, principles and procedures for the conduct of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research. In White, C. (Ed.), National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Higher Education Conference proceedings (pp. 104–115). Toowoomba, QLD: University of Southern Queensland.Google Scholar
Carpenter, B., Field, R., & Barnes, M. (2002). Embedding Indigenous content and perspectives across the justice studies curriculum: Developing a cooperative integrated strategy. Paper presented at the Australian Association for Research in Education Conference, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Retrieved 1 July, 2007, from http://www.aare.edu.au/02pap/car02109.htm.Google Scholar
DEET. (1989). National Aboriginal education policy. Canberra, ACT: Australian Government Publishing Service.Google Scholar
DEST. (2002). National Report to Parliament on Indigenous Education and Training. Retrieved 21 June, 2007, from http://www.dest.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/349C26Fl-lE97-4370-9C4C-53A17DAHD/H47/7.rtf.Google Scholar
Donovan, R. J., & Spark, R. (1997). Towards guidelines for survey research in remote Aboriginal communities. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 21 (1), 89–95.Google Scholar
Fredericks, B. (2007). Utilising the concept of a pathway as a framework for Indigenous research. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 36 (S), 14–21.Google Scholar
Harrison, N. (2005). The learning is in-between: The search for a metalanguage in Indigenous education. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 37(6), 871–884.Google Scholar
Hart, V., & Whatman, S. (1998, July). Decolonising the concept of knowledge. Proceedings of the Higher Education, Research and Development Society of Australasia International Conference, Auckland, New Zealand. Retrieved 1 July, 2007, from http://www.oodgeroo.qut.edu.au/academic_resources/academicpape/decolonising.jsp.Google Scholar
Herbert, J. (2003, November-December). Indigenous research — A communal act. Paper presented at the International Education Research Conference AARE-NZARE, Auckland, New Zealand. Retrieved 1 July, 2007, from http://www.aare.edu.au/O3pap/her03635.pdf.Google Scholar
Herbert, J. (2005, July). Owning the discourse: Seizing the power! Paper presented at Education Research: Creative Dissent: Constructive Solutions AARE 2005 Conference, Cairns, Australia. Retrieved 1 July, 2007, from http://www.aare.edu.au/O5pap/herO5217.pdf.Google Scholar
Houston, J. (2007). Indigenous authoethnography: Formulating our knowledge, our way. Australian Journal of Indigenous Studies, 36(S), 45–50.Google Scholar
Huggins, J. (1998). Sister girl: The writings of Aboriginal activist and historian Jackie Huggins. St Lucia, QLD: University of Queensland Press.Google Scholar
IHEAC. (2006). Improving Indigenous Outcomes and Enhancing Indigenous Culture and Knowledge in Australian Higher Education: Strategic Plan of the Indigenous Higher Education Advisory Council 2006–2008. Retrieved 1 July, 2007, from, http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/indigenous_education/publications_resources/profiles/improving_indig_outcomes.htm.Google Scholar
LeCompte, M. D., & Preissle, J. (1993). Ethnography and qualitative design in educational research (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Macpherson, I., & Aspland, T. (2001). BEd reconceptualisation. Brisbane, QLD: Queensland University of Technology.Google Scholar
Martin, K. (2001, September). Ways of knowing ways of being and ways of doing: Developing a theoretical framework and methods for Indigenous research and Indigenist research. Presented at the AIATSIS Indigenous Studies Conference, Canberra, Australia. Retrieved 1 July, 2007, from http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/data/assets/pdf_file/5718/MARTIN.pdf.Google Scholar
McLaughlin, J. (2006). QUT Oodgeroo Unit centralised assessment and selection program (CASP) report. Brisbane, QLD: Queensland University of Technology.Google Scholar
McLaughlin, J., & Whatman, S. (2007, July). Embedding Indigenous perspectives in university teaching and learning. Paper presented at the Indigenous Education Conference, First Nations University, Vancouver, Canada.Google Scholar
Mellor, S., & Corrigan, M. (2004). The case for change: A review of contemporary research on Indigenous education outcomes. Camberwell, VIC: Australian Council for Educational Research Press.Google Scholar
Moreton-Robinson, A. (2000). Troubling business: Difference and whiteness within feminism. Australian Feminist Studies, 15(53), 343–352.Google Scholar
Moreton-Robinson, A. (Ed.). (2004). Whitening race: Essays in social and cultural criticism. Canberra, ACT: Aboriginal Studies Press.Google Scholar
Morgan, D. L. (2003). NIPAAC response to review of the ATAS bulk-funding arrangements under the Indigenous Education Direct Assistance Programme Canberra, DEST. Retrieved 1 July, 2007, from http://www.nipaac.edu.au. Google Scholar
Nakata, M. (1993) Culture in education: For us or for them? In Loos, N. & Osanai, T. (Eds.), Indigenous minorities and education: Australian and Japanese perspectives of their indigenous peoples, the Ainu, Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (pp. 334–349). Tokyo: Sanyusha.Google Scholar
Nakata, M. (1999). Multiliteracies and Indigenous standpoints. Australian language Matters, 7(4), pp. 113–120.Google Scholar
Nakata, M. (2001). Another window on reality. In Osborne, B. (Ed.), Teaching, democracy and diversity (pp. 331–353). Altona, VIC: Common Ground Publishing.Google Scholar
Nash, R. (2004). Towards cultural competence: An innovative strategy for incorporating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives within health professional curricula, Queensland University of Technology. Retrieved 1 July, 2007, from http://www.talss.qut.edu.au/staff/grants/qut_grants/projects_year/project_doc/2004/2004_l_04.jsp.Google Scholar
NHMRC. (2003) Values and ethics: Guidelines for ethical conduct in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research. Retrieved 1 July, 2007, from http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/publications/synopses/e52syn.htm.Google Scholar
Nicholls, C., Crowley, V., & Watt, R. (1996). Theorising Aboriginal education: Surely it's time to move on? Education Australia, 33, 6–9.Google Scholar
Oodgeroo Unit. (2000). Review of the Oodgeroo Unit. Brisbane, QLD: Queensland University of Technology.Google Scholar
Oodgeroo Unit. (2003). Response to the DEST review of bulk funding arrangements. Brisbane, QLD: Queensland University of Technology.Google Scholar
Oodgeroo Unit. (2005). ITAS program report: April 2005. Unpublished report to the Department of Education, Science and Training. Brisbane, QLD: Queensland University of Technology.Google Scholar
Phillips, J. (2005). Indigenous knowledge: Making space in the Australian centre. In Phillips, J. & Lampert, J. (Eds.), Introductory Indigenous studies in education: The importance of knowing (pp. 2–10). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia.Google Scholar
Phillips, J., & Lampert, J. (Eds), Introductory Indigenous studies in education: Tlie importance of knowing. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia.Google Scholar
Rigney, L. I. (1997). Internationalisation of an Indigenous anti-colonial cultural critique of research methodologies: A guide to Indigenist research methodology and its pnncipks. Journal for Native American Studies, 14(2), 109–125.Google Scholar
Shnukal, A. (2002). Some language-related observations for teachers in Torres Strait and Cape York Peninsula schools. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 30(1), 8–24.Google Scholar
Smith, L. T. (1999). Decolonising methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples. Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago Press.Google Scholar
Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Stewart, J. (2007). Grounded theory and focus group: Reconciling methodologies in Indigenous Australian education research. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 36 (S), 31–36.Google Scholar
Taylor, P. (2002). Doing it differently: Link and learn – The work of the Indigenous Education and Training Alliance. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 30(1), 43–52.Google Scholar
Tripcony, P. (2001). The Commonwealth Referendum of 1967 and Australian Indigenous citizenship: An interpretation of historical events. Journal of Indigenous Issues, 4(2), 26–33.Google Scholar
Walker, P. (2003). Colonising research: Academia's structural violence towards indigenous peoples. Social Alternatives, 22(5), 37–40.Google Scholar
Watts, B. H. (1982). Aboriginal futures: A review of research and developments and related policies in the education of Aborigines. Canberra, ACT: Australian Government Publishing Service.Google Scholar
Weber-Pillwax, C. (2001). What is Indigenous research? Canadian Journal of Native Education, 25 (2), 166–176.Google Scholar
Williamson, J., & Dalal, P. (2007). Indigenising the curriculum or negotiating the tensions at the cultural interface? Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 36(S), 51–58.Google Scholar
Williamson, J., & Towers, S. (2004). Developing and enhancing Indigenous perspectives in the curriculum: An initiative of QUT (Carseldine and Creative Industries Final Report). Retrieved 1 July, 2007, from http://www.talss.qut.edu.au/staff/grants/qut_grants/projects_year/FinRpt_SG_2002_WilliamsonTowers.doc.Google Scholar