Education for Indigenous Australians - Essay Example

?Introduction Education is a key component to any sound economy and the quality of educational for indigenous Australians has been under scrutiny in recent times. This has been more glaring in a number of areas including academic achievements, intake and enrolment as well as participation. AESOC (2008) reckons that the representation of students in other areas in vocational education and training is also something to write about even though with pinch of salt. Regardless of some remarkable milestones, educational stakeholders both in government agencies and the private sector have expressed concerns about the sluggish pace at which reforms have unfolded. Often, many indigenous students drop out of school while at quite an early age. This has been marked by the existing gaps in indigenous and non-indigenous Australians (AESOC, 2008). The government has however increasingly crafted policy interventions in favor of indigenous-specific intervention programs (Carol 2004). A number of leaders in Australia and elsewhere in the world are of the opinion that it is important to review school curriculum with a view to prepare students for further education and successful careers. Even more importantly is the notion that many schools should expand aims of learning in a manner that takes care of a more career oriented approach to education. This means the adoption of new strategies and expansion of career oriented approach to learning rather than just preparing students for University Education in Australia (Hudis 2001). Some high schools are re-organizing their curriculum around careers with the explicit view of aiding students for further education and putting more emphasis on careers with market angling to employment needs (Hudis 2004). Pundits have argued that some of the major bottlenecks of globalization that brought about the current economic crisis are found in the failure of governance in educational role at both the national and international levels in relation to educational policies and building up of sound economies based on realistic and sustainable education-based skills. Consequently, a grave focus has been put on relevant education coupled with factors such as effective educational policies that appreciate the dynamics of the global economy (Carol, 2004). Fazal et al. (2005) notes that educational policies have been affected a great deal. He states that various governments and their agencies, under the conditions of globalization, have been changing a number of things. These include not only the rationale for education but also getting actively involved in reconstructing the syllabi and approaches of teaching by being cognizant of factors such as technology e.g. the use of internet and other technological advancements in the world today. Largely, all these take into account the ever-changing aspects of international relations and globalization. Opportunities and Reasons for More Career Oriented Approach in Enhancing Academic Achievements of Students in the Market Place, both Globally and for Australians Interestingly, majority of school leaders have in recent past shown concern that in the communities, many educators, those in business leadership and parents are becoming worried that many high school graduates are increasingly falling below standards as far as responding to the needs of employers in the job market are concerned (ASI, 2003). Further, with no exception to Australia, the current economic challenges have brought about the issue of employers looking workers with high-end skills rather than just education (Carol 2004). Through globalization, educational policies that appreciate the understanding of the global economy are being empathized. Education meets two basic levels: equality and social issues and skills demanded by employers. Accordingly, the concept of democratic level-headedness suggests the call for a system of education that facilitates socio-economic progress and appreciation of a culture of economic relevance, which can be used meaningfully to take part in communities’ and groups’ aligned democratic ideals in an impartially and objectively informed approach. Arguably, the fact that national governments across the world and in Australia in particular, continue to hub on equality in the accessibility of education and other social realms that promote sustainable development (Dicken 2007). The central goal and purpose accruing from the foregoing discussion would be the creation of fruitful graduates and not necessarily resourceful personnel. Indeed, the aim is for the citizens to be able to maximize personal accomplishments. This means that governments are now more focused in development of educational curriculum that is more focused on promoting “socially and economically cohesive democratic communities” according to Dicken (2007) that respond to the globally defined economic demands. Moreover, governmental schooling reforms are today largely fashioned towards gratifying the needs of the marketplace (ASI 2003). Further, the new focus for education and training polices is needed now more than ever in order to develop capacities and help in awareness-creation in order to appreciate the potential of the global changes in the workplace demands. This inadvertently contributes or will contribute to the economy by creation of employment, enhancement of democratic culture and above all, social unity that is important for promotion global cohesiveness (Malik & Irving 2005). For Fazal et al. (2005) such policies will need to support the transition to learning societies in which equal opportunities are made available to all citizens. In this regard, many schools across Australia are now training teachers and principals to be more concerned in counseling and teaching students through a more career oriented approach (ASI 2003; Carol 2004). This entails dedicating themselves to introducing avenues and opportunities that respond to contextual learning and seeking to ensure that appropriate ways that ensure that things change are adopted (Dicken 2007). Moreover, many leaders in the education sector are of the belief that many lower achieving students are supposed to predominantly receive benefits from instruction-mixed ability groups where performance in terms of expectations is often more demanding and in this case students who perform better can aid the others and serve as role models (Dicken 2007). Also in this angle a number of school leaders have increasingly been of the opinion that a more career oriented approach to education means the schools offer academic support by providing smaller learning environments and involving other experts who can effectively support the teachers in their instructional processes (Garvin 2003). Through these views, it should be noted that career majors would be quite an important tool in streamlining the curricula while proving students with opportunities that promote “contextual learning and the broader understanding of career options in Australia” as stated by Dicken (2007). Indeed, context learning has been particularly relevant in schools that emphasize reforms in as a way of raising academic standards for students who have no plans to pursue post secondary education, with valid significance, and the results have been remarkable (Hudis 2001). Paradigm Shift for Indigenous Education: Gains and Opportunities AESO (2008) affirms that the results and the gains made so far by indigenous students in recent times can be rationalized by the intervention programs which focus on indigenous-specific intervention programs and policies. These programs include strategies, pilot projects and trial ones that have been employed to respond to the student classroom requirements. The tragedy has however been that while most of the programs have been notably successful, most indigenous students have not accessed them. Regardless, the gains and opportunities associated with them cannot be over-looked. One, Indigenous education is increasingly being seen as a crucial component as far as Australian economy is concerned. It is becoming less of a responsibility of the mainstream education stakeholders but that of the whole nation in its entirety (AESO 2008). Historically, the notion and policies of Australian government have always being pegged on the belief that indigenous Australians are inferior, leading to de-valuing the educational capacity of the indigenous students (Boehner & Ward 2001). The perception that the indigenous students are themselves responsible for their failure is still a factor to reckon with. The good news however is that, there are opportunities seeking to ensure the strategic intervention based on the aforementioned programmers can be built so that indigenous education becomes part of the mainstream educational affair (Carol 2004). The paradigm shift borders on ‘engagement’ which has three distinct features namely: behavioral which entails involvement, affective which emphasizes close association with others in the learning process, and cognitive which focuses predominantly on ‘application to learning’ (AESOC 2008). The beauty of engagement is that it brings about better communication and understanding. Impact of Peer Program on Indigenous versus Indigenous Student Adjustment and the Advantages it portends It has been repeatedly asserted that indigenous students usually experience adjustment issues and problems when getting into some colleges and schools in Australia. Broadly speaking, these problems are many ranging from socialization, mind-set, and individual personal issues for instance home sickness and cultural gaps as well as the physical distance from those they are familiar with. Other problems are tailored around culture shock associated with unfamiliar and new social norms that come with interaction with non-indigenous Australians (Abe et al. 1998). In fact studies have indicated that social norms and social interaction are the major problems experienced by such students. A number of studies have suggested that “social interaction and the adjustment of international students are closely related to the social interaction and their adjustment” (Kellagan et al. 2004). Based on the above social facts, many colleges and universities have instigated programs to facilitate proper adjustment of students, particularly both indigenous and International students. One such methodology has been through “the implementation of peer programs” (Kallaghan 2008). Most students who get into these programs register higher academic performance and results in the long run with few drop outs as compared to those who do not participate at all. Notably too is the fact that most of these students tend to make good use of campus facilities. The implications of peer adjustment programs however remain significant among indigenous students as having quite significant influence especially as far as social adjustment is concerned. Indeed, it has been observed by many scholars and thinkers alike that peer adjustment programs when dealt with well portends even a greater influence on the indigenous students education requiring adjustments including facilitation of the right skills for academic performance. Abu and Champagne (2010) note that putting together students who have common academic interests significantly promote the adjustments of international students (Abu & Champagne 2010, p. 14) Other areas of focus on this should be on the ‘host’ or the none-indigenous students. They should for example train the indigenous students on the academic skills and resources necessary to facilitate their success. Further, a number of constructive and researched strategies should be employed with a view to enhancing institutional attachment (Abu & Champagne 2010, p. 15). This could take the form of the administrators involved in peer adjustment programmers encouraging the indigenous and other traditionally marginalized students to be part and parcel of the planning and implementation processes that revolve around Campus Development. This observably leads to aiding them to being cognizant of the impact they portend on the university campus communities as well as facilitating their sense of belonging (Abu & Champagne 2010, pp. 16-17) Conclusion Education for the indigenous Australians is a thorny issue. Indeed, career majors and focusing on a more career development education is beneficial. Career development and opportunities enhancement are key measure for introducing students to career majors in educational institutions. Many schools should therefore consider offering many career development courses that aid the centre-piece of the identified classroom activities. This should be aimed at ensuring that students acquire exposure to relevant information that will help in the development of a more cohesive career pathway in response to the market place for the indigenous Australians. These difficulties cited against the indigenous students are largely social, economic and psycho-social as well as cultural. It is therefore a challenge for education providers and policy makers in general to institute policy interventions that would favor strategy formulations that establish student’s multicultural excursions and widen acceptance framework. References Abe, J et al. 1998, Effects of a peer program on student adjustment, Wiley & Sons. Abu-Saad I & Champagne, D 2010, Indigenous empowerment: International perspectives, Roman Altamira. AESOC, 2008, Australian direction in indigenous education, AESOC. ASI, 2003, Democracy and education, Washington D.C. Albert Shanker Instutute. Bochner, T, & Ward, J 2001, Psychology of culture shock, Sussex, Routledge. Carol, R 2004, Negotiating radicalized identities: Indigenous teacher education in Australia, Common Ground. Charles, H & Stewart, M 2004, Academic advising of Students. Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development. Dicken, P 2007, Global shift: Mapping the changing contours of the world economy, Sydney, Sage. Fazal, M et al. 2005, Globalization and recent shifts in educational policy in the Asia Pacific, New Delhi, UNESCO. Garvin, D 2003, Making the case: professional education for the world practice, Harvard Magazine. Hudis, P 2001, Making education career focused, Sydney, AESOC. Kellegan, T et al. 2008, Monitoring the learning outcomes of education system, New York, World Bank. Malik, B & Irving, B 2005, Critical reflection on career education: Guidance to promoting social justice within a global Economy, New York, Routledge. 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