Cultural Disparities In School

The Australian Curriculum currently is struggling with incorporating indigenous perspectives as a key focus in the curriculum properly. It is lacking the ability to normalise indigenous knowledge and instead represents

On June 11th, 2008 the prime Minister of Canada released a full apology on behalf of Canadians for the Indian Residential Schools Systems, which were open from the 1870’s to the last one which closed in 1996. The damage done by residential schools ranged vastly and is still something aboriginal people suffer from today. The apology didn’t help the damage that was already done by residential schools or the colonization in general. The aboriginal community needs a new policy, which would help aboriginal people to get out of the poverty they face every day. To do this, Canada needs to invest more in the Aboriginal community. To do this, they need to invest in literacy, education, training, housing, and job creation.

The main goal of the initiative is to boost Aboriginal student achievement, help close the gap in achievement between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students, and increase public confidence in publicly funded education. The document unpacks into eight sub topics: Aboriginal Peoples and Organizations; Culture, Tradition, and Language;Cross-Cultural Perspectives; Celebration; Aboriginal Contributions; Current and Historical Issues. By unpacking the initiative it is easy for educators to navigate through the report.

In the Indigenous community, when the community is faced with a trauma, it takes seven generations for the community to heal (Trimble, 2015). People may underestimate how oppressed and how much suffering the Indigenous communities had to struggle with, and continue to struggle with these issues today. We may underestimate how severe the situation is because many of us were not taught much about the impact of colonization on the Indigenous communities in school. There are many myths people may have concerning Indigenous life experiences, particularly schooling. To address these myths, I would begin by giving a brief history of residential schools. I would then analyze how residential schools have impacted the indigenous community and how they continue to affect them today. I would also mention the current issues children on reserves are facing today regarding school. Lastly, I would mention some of the progress that has been made. I will use the work of Sefa Dei to demonstrate the importance of community in education regarding the Indigenous people.

This essay will analyse the contested concepts of social inclusion and exclusion in education. While there are numerous social groups whom experience the impact of educational inclusion and exclusion the essay will particularly focus on what these concepts entail for indigenous students within the Australian schooling system. The essay will examine the multifaceted nature of social inclusion and exclusion in education by utilising the contested grounds, which substantiate debate surrounding these concepts. Relying on a number of academic literature and evidence to explore discourse surrounding how policy which governs institutions, pedagogy and curriculum, has constituted social inclusion and exclusion within Indigenous contexts. As well as how intergenerational experiences and issues have disadvantaged the outcomes of Indigenous students in engaging in a ‘Eurocentric’ education environment. Concluding the essay will discuss practical suggestions, which would in theory enhance the effectiveness of the current education policy and teacher practice towards including indigenous cultures and learners within the classroom. Considering mechanisms to increase the potential to include and engage a broader scope of indigenous learners across the board.

Racial disparities exist in every aspect of our society. It exists in religion, socioeconomic status, life-chances, media, etc. It affects everyone even if they realize or not. Education is one of the things that are also affected by the racial stratification occurring in the United States. In this paper I will look in to whether Tennessee is better or worse for educational advancement by comparing four races and their high school graduation rates on the national and state levels. The four races used will be; Asian, Black, Hispanic/Latino, and White. I will then tie specific theories to why these disparities may exist. This will hopefully give insight in to this touchy topic and provide a starting point for correcting the gap.

As an Indigenous Education Advisor, I’ve witnessed a shift in the commitment to educate non-Indigenous students about First Nation, Métis and Inuit people in post-secondary institutions. My experience in developing an Indigenous Awareness Week and conducting assessments to measure the learning outcomes of non-Indigenous students has led me to want to do research in this area. I would like to further look at long-term effects of Indigenous programming for non-Indigenous students to determine how to develop effective and valuable Indigenous programming in higher education. What attracts me to the Department of Integrated Studies in Education are the positive experiences and interactions I’ve had with students and professors from the department. Both Dr. Claudia Mitchell’s and Dr. Naomi Nichols’s research appeals to me and I believe can give a unique perspective to my work.

The Aboriginal peoples of Canada had gone through many situations to get to where they are today with their education system. Pain, sorrow, doubt, and hope are all feelings brought to mind when thinking about the history and the future of Aboriginal education. By taking a look at the past, anyone can see that the right to education for Aboriginal peoples has been fought about as early as the 1870s. This is still is a pressing issue today. Elder teachings, residential, reserve and post-secondary schools have all been concerning events of the past as well as the present. Though education has improved for the Aboriginal peoples of Canada, there are still many concerns and needs of reconciliation for the past to improve the future.

By taking into account First Nations epistemology, both in methods and content, learning can become a process that builds on First Australians culture and identity, which in turn, will also enrich the educational experiences of non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students (Hughes et al., 2004; Yunkaporta, 2009). Furthermore, in order for there to be effective incorporation of First Nations learning styles into school practice, it is of vital importance that school communities, both in and outside of the teaching and learning environment, come together to plan, outline and ultimately implement a curriculum and school ethos that supports First Nations learning styles, culture and identity on a daily basis. Working closely with local community members or elders, school liaison officers and other fellow First Nation teachers is crucial to the success of this process. Santoro, Reid, Crawford, and Simpson (2011) provide further clarification suggesting the time has come that all education professionals listened to, and learned from First Nations teachers. Only then, can the bridges of social injustice, inequality and uninformed assumptions be rebuilt with new found enthusiasm and

Reservation schools today are well under the quality of provincial schools. The aboriginal dropout rate is significantly higher than ours would be. This is happening because their schools aren’t as advanced as they should be. Yes, Aboriginals get a lot of money set out for them, but is it being used right? Many people are going to say it is and that they don’t need any more money, but after reading this paper your mindset will change. Aboriginal schools are underfunded, low quality, and have huge dropout rates.

While advances have been made since residential schools, Aboriginal communities still face challenges in the delivery and content of educational programs and services to their children and face barriers with attempting to have their opinions taken into consideration (Greenwood et al., 2007). One example of this is that there is still a deficiency in education systems in teaching Aboriginal children about the culture and language specific to their traditions and values (Greenwood et al., 2007). Specifically, many high school curriculums still lack teaching about the history of Indigenous peoples or their culture and practices. They also do not account for the fact that Indigenous students may have different learning styles than non-Indigenous students (Postlethwaite, 2007). Additionally, the barriers that many Aboriginal youth and children face from social determinants are rarely taken into consideration by mainstream education (Greenwood, de Leeuw, & Fraser, 2007).

This is known as the current educational and achievement gap. In Manitoba, only 30% of Aboriginal youth living on reserves have completed high-school (Richards, 2008, p. 3). Manitoba can begin to close the educational and achievement gap for Aboriginal youth currently living on-reserves by having Aboriginal authorities run the school systems (Richards, 2008, p. 1). Having school council members and Aboriginal teachers would positively affect the lives of students living on-reserves. Aboriginal teachers would be able to relate to the identity of their students, with the ability to connect to the other parts of their lives such as their students’ spirituality and traditional forms of learning. Approximately one-third of all Aboriginal students living on reserves in Manitoba currently attend schools off-reserves (Richards, 2008, p. 1). The educational school systems in Winnipeg and surrounding areas in Manitoba tend to be favored for the non-Aboriginal middle class, making it difficult for Aboriginal students to find life experiences and cultural values in their education (Silver, 2002, p. 6). For many Aboriginal students, the divide between their values found in their home life and their educational experiences causes a divide within themselves and results in their educational experiences being viewed negatively (Silver, 2002, p 6). With this divide of cultures within their life, it is not surprising that many Aboriginal students tend to reject their education and drop out of school. Many factors can determine student’s educational accomplishments, such as strategies to engage students, the school curriculum, and school quality and facilities (Richards, 2008, p. 1). The education and achievement gap in Manitoba would be lessened if Aboriginal students were given the opportunity to incorporate their cultural and life experiences into their educational experiences.

There is a height of significance when it comes to embedding Indigenous perspectives in the curriculum and in schools. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families, their students thrive in educational environments where staff respect and promote strong Indigenous culture and identity, build collaborative relationships and set high expectations (Kerley, 2015). Abiding by this principle would see students thriving for higher education, recognizing this has made it quite common for schools to introduce indigenous programs or units. These are put in place for the purpose of being extra support to not only Indigenous students but for everyone at school serving as a source of information and guidance. By incorporating these Units, cross-curriculum

The issue with “closing the gap” policies is that such initiatives seek to unite or assimilate indigenous

In contemporary Australian education, students’ achievement standards are compared nationally and globally, establishing them in the educational landscape. Education is identified and applauded as a strong component in lifting socio-economic disadvantage. Yet, high-standards and excellence often struggles to change the nature and outcomes of educational failure in various groups, including Indigenous people. This essay discusses whole school and classrooms practise that supports educating Indigenous students. Indigenous placement and displacement, the impact of socioeconomic status and how it effects Indigenous students and their health and well-being is explained and illustrated with examples of resources and tools for educators.