Australia's Indigenous Population Lags Behind in Education - Literature review Example

Australia’s Indigenous Population lags behind in Education Name Course code Instructor Date Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Primary source 3 Keywords: 3 Introduction 3 Literature review 4 Description and analysis of primary source 6 Description of primary resource 6 Analysis of primary resource 6 Conclusion 12 Reference List 13 Primary source The information in this article is drawn from Al Jazeera report by Andrew Thomas entitled “Australia’s indigenous population lags behind in education,” which was published on YouTube (Al Jazeera 2015). Keywords: Aboriginal educational attainment, Indigenous Australians education, Indigenous Australians educational outcome, Aboriginal educational gaps Introduction During the last three decades, studies of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in Australia have consistently showed that the Indigenous population continues to lag behind the non-Indigenous Australians in education in spite of the ongoing policies by the Australian government that have been intended to correct the gap (Malin & Maidment 2003; Castan & Arabena 2016). The gap appears to exist in all schooling levels: from primary, secondary to tertiary level of education (Krakouer 2015). In general, educational attainment is widely accepted to be having significant effects people’s social well-being, economic status and behaviours (Malin & Maidment 2003; Castan & Arabena 2016). In which case, as Indigenous Australians are increasingly associated with poor educational outcomes, it could be reasoned that the idea that they lag behind in educational attainment is what may be contributing to the economic hardships that they presently undergo (Graham 2012). Therefore, as Indigenous Australians continues to lag behind the non-Indigenous Australians in the area of educational attainment, there is clearly a need to promote the education levels of the Indigenous Australians to close the gap between their educational attainment and that of the non-Indigenous populations (ABS 2011). It is based on this reasoning that this paper argues that promoting the educational levels of the Indigenous Australians would close the gap between their educational attainment and that of the non-Indigenous populations as a result leading to their improved livelihoods in the society. This paper examines a review of secondary and primary resources to establish the reasons the Indigenous Australians continues to lag behind in educational attainment, possible interventions, and evidence that supports these claims. Literature review It is showed in literature review that the cultural mismatch between education based on school environment and that based on home environment is what causes the Indigenous Australians to lag behind. Researchers have widely agreed that the mismatch that Indigenous students face today can be traced to colonisation (Willems, 2012; Klenowski 2009; Craven et al. 2014). According to Willems (2012), the gap educational achievement between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and non-Indigenous Australians is tied to the history of colonisation of the Australian colony. Willems (2012) goes ahead to explain that the colonisation led to displacement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and disposed of the cultures gradually, as they were forced to practice e European cultures. Traditionally, the Aboriginal children in Australia were taught using learning methods that were based on their education cultures and environment. This ensured that they learn about how they could survive, make use of their lands, care for the environment, as well as their cultures. Such an approach, according to Krakouer (2015), is not consistent with the present day European-styled education system, which is based on Western values. The issue of 'White privilege' was also discussed by Klenowski (2009), when he argued that the Australian education assessment practices maintain a state of inequality for Indigenous students, as it favours western knowledge over the environmental and cultural knowledge that the Indigenous Australians are used to. Craven et al. (2014) also emphasised the need to promote the improvement of education levels of the Indigenous Australians, as this would close the gap between their educational attainment and that of the non-Indigenous populations. Craven et al. (2014) were of the view that implementing educational practices to respond to the needs of indigenous people is an issue of policy that should never be ignored today, or even in the future given the increasing Indigenous population. Craven et al. (2014) also argued that acknowledging the role that culture could play in the improvement of the Indigenous students’ enrolment and learning outcome is significant. Based on Craven’s et al. (2014) argument, it appears that the government should come up with policies that demand that school curricular also focus on integrating the cultures of the Indigenous people, as this would increase their interest in the current curricular that has been argued to be more Western-styled. These show the need to acknowledge the learning needs of the Indigenous people. In fact, Willems (2012) earlier discussed that acknowledging the role that culture could play in the improvement of the Indigenous students’ enrolment and learning outcome is significant. Krakouer (2015) also explains that the current policies should recognise the idea that teaching practices that respond to the cultural needs of the Indigenous students can improve their educational attainment. In a related study, Denis (2011) suggested a range of methods that can ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students do not lag behind in educational attainment. These include forming more trusting relationships with Indigenous students, ensuring a mutually respectful relationship exists with the Indigenous families and students and using learning content that take Indigenous cultures, practices and histories into consideration. From the literature review a research question that is developed is: Does Australia’s Indigenous population lag behind their non-Indigenous counterparts in the area of educational attainment? Description and analysis of primary source Description of primary resource In the Al Jazeera report, Andrew Thomas narrates how Sydney University, which is one of the most prestigious universities in Australia, has a student base, which is not very diverse. In particular, the number of Indigenous students is very low. However, this problem also faces other universities across Australia, as the Indigenous Students make up a mere 1% of the university students in Australia. To tackle the challenge, Sydney University has responded by reducing the university entry requirements for the Indigenous students, providing them with lighter workloads, inviting them for a weeklong test of university life (Al Jazeera 2015). Analysis of primary resource The Al Jazeera (2015) report shows that Indigenous Australians continues to lag behind the non-Indigenous Australians in the area of educational attainment and that some institutions of higher learning like Sydney University has already taken initiatives to promote the educational levels of the Indigenous Australians in its diversity programmes. It is clear that one way Sydney University is by showing establishing more trusting relationships with Indigenous students, ensuring that mutually respectful relationship exists with the Indigenous families and students and using learning content that take Indigenous cultures, and practices into consideration, as recommended by Denis (2011) and Willems (2012). The Indigenous people are themselves diverse in their own rights. They are made up of Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders. The Aboriginal Australians have cultures that are dissimilar in varied aspects. They consist of hundreds of language groups and kinships that have gradually transformed their lives across Australia for thousands of years. Torres Strait Islanders, on the other hand, consists of a separate group of people who have unique cultures and identity, and have cultures are still evolving (Muecke et al. 2010). The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates the population of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia to have been 517,000 in 2006. The ABS also argues that collectively, the indigenous people make up only 2.5 % of the entire Australian population. Again, the 2006 ABS statistics showed that among the indigenous population, only 4% (20,100) consisted of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mixed origin, while 6% (33,300) consisted of Torres Strait Islander origin. On the other hand, some 90% (463,700) consisted of the Aboriginal origin (Dudgeon et al. 2012). This shows that the Aboriginal make up a majority of the Indigenous Australian population. The report by Al Jazeera (2015) only provides proof of the failure of the Australian policy to encourage improved Indigenous Australians’ educational attainment. Indeed, since the 1960s, studies of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in Australia have time after time provided some form of proof that the Indigenous population lags behind the non-Indigenous Australian counterparts when it comes to educational attain. This is in spite of the policies put forth by the Australian government, which have been intended to correct the gap (ABS 2011). From the report by Al Jazeera (2015) report, it is also clear that there is an ongoing concern regarding the future of Indigenous Australians in the Australian society. Indeed, studies that have showed that the Indigenous Australians lag behind in educational attainment compared to the non-Indigenous Australians have also consistently stressed that the increasing population of the Indigenous people may have adverse societal effects in future. For instance, the Indigenous population may continue to be marginalised because of poor educational attainment (ABS 2011). This would affect their living standards, as it would prevent them from getting into meaningful employment, as they would still lack the necessary professional training in higher education that could equip them with professional skills (Willems 2012). Indeed, basing on the 2006 Census, which showed the population of Indigenous Australians to be about 500,000, it was estimated that by 2017, Indigenous population would surpass 800,000, and more than 1 million by 2031 (Biddle & Mackay 2010). What this shows is that the significance of implementing educational practices that can respond to the needs of indigenous people cannot be ignored now, or even in the future, as their population continues to expand. It has also been established that the gap in education attainment appears to widen with age, such as when the Indigenous students become older. Such poor engagement with formal education among the Indigenous people is specifically a problem due to their comparatively young age distribution (Willems 2012). The report by Al Jazeera (2015) also shows that the reality that the Indigenous Australians lag behind in education remains a critical issue of concern to Australians and the Australian government. For instance, it shows that the government is providing scholarship to Indigenous students at Griffith High School to promote the enrolment of more Indigenous people into high schools. Although it can be noted from media reports that there is a gradual rate of advancement in promoting access to education in Australia during the last decade, the gap in educational attainment between indigenous and non-indigenous appears to be significant when it comes to completing secondary school, and pursuing higher education in Australia. As earlier showed by a past report from a research by Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (2010), although there was an increase in the number of indigenous Australians in 2010, who participated in higher education than during the past years, it was still low as it only corresponded to 0.9 percent of 11,088 students, which represents the number of all higher education enrolment during that year (Biddle & Mackay 2010). Additionally, the enrolment figures of the indigenous student, as estimated by the Indigenous Higher Education Advisory Council (2006) are not the same as those of the non-Indigenous Australians, as the Indigenous Australians comprise 2.5% of the population of Australia. A recently published data by the Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows similar results, which implies that no significant improvement in closing the educational attainment gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians have been made (ABS 2011). In 2011, ABS reported that Indigenous people (with education attainment of only 35.9% of their population) were less likely to have completed Year 12 or to own higher qualifications compared to non-Indigenous Australians (with education attainment of only 67.3% of their population (ABS 2011).  Figure 1: Level of education attainment based on indigenous status (ABS 2014) The 2006 Census showed that a mere 23.9% of the Indigenous population of ages15 years and above had finished high school, which was significantly lower than half the non-Indigenous people (49.7%) who had completed high school (Willems 2012). Additionally, close to 76.3% of the Indigenous people of ages 15 years and above had not finished a degree, which is nearly 1.41 times the rate for the non-Indigenous people, which is at 54.1%. Although, such statistics show a certain level of the lack of engagement that the Indigenous people with formal education, today’s attendance rates appear to be lower for the Indigenous people in comparison to the non-Indigenous people. Additionally, in 2006, some 34.5%of the Indigenous students between the ages of 15 and 24 years attended formal education in comparison to 55.3% of the non-Indigenous students (Willems 2012). The report by Al Jazeera (2015) also shows that while the Indigenous students are not well represented in higher education, they are less likely to succeed in the areas of participation in higher education enrolment, retention, and educational outcomes if given an opportunity. Studies have recently fewer Australians of indigenous origin have post-school educational certificates (Willems, 2012). According to the Australian Council for Educational Research (2011), although most Indigenous Australian students get full-time in schools for on-campus courses, some 33% are get enrolment through block mode, which is a type of mixed-mode tuition that combines residential on-campus with a lengthy off-campus period of study through online learning. In varied ways, such national summary statistics shows high level of disengagement with education. For instance, the 2006 census report shows that the attendance rates of Indigenous students in primary schools were nearly 86%, in comparison to 93% for the non-Indigenous students. The inequality appears to be even higher for the students in secondary school. For instance, the attendance rate for indigenous students is 79% compared to 90% for non-Indigenous students. In effect, the low attendance rates for the Indigenous students contribute to low academic achievement (Willems 2012). The report by Al Jazeera (2015) also shows that educational attainment is widely accepted to be linked to people’s social well-being, and may provide a means to improve the livelihood of Indigenous Australians. It is based on the same reasoning that ABS (2011) argued that there is a need to promote the education levels of the Indigenous Australians and to improve their social wellbeing. Therefore, the need to improve educational attainment, specifically at Year 12 has become a priority of the Council of Australian Governments’ (COAG), which hope to increase the fraction of individuals with Year 12 or Certificate II level to 90% by 2020. It expected that plans would help close the gap between non-Indigenous and Indigenous students in Year 12 or Certificate II level by 2020. It further expected that this would in turn lead to improved health and employment outcomes for the Indigenous Australians (Willems 2012).Indeed, in May 2016, the Labour party promised to provide more indigenous teacher to promote the educational attainment of Indigenous Australians. This was announced by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten who said that his government would provide 400 scholarships to indigenous Australians in a programme that would cost $4.8 million in a span of four years (SBS 9 May 2016). Conclusion The Australian Indigenous population continues to lag behind the non-Indigenous Australians in education in spite of the ongoing policies by the Australian government that have been intended to correct the gap. The gap appears to exist in all schooling levels, from primary, secondary to tertiary level of education. Poor educational attainment is found to be linked to indigenous people hardships. Indeed, from primary resources, it is concluded that current statistical data shows that the Indigenous students are not well represented in higher education. In addition, they are less likely to succeed in the areas of participation in high education, retention in school, and educational outcomes. Because of this, there is a need to promote the education levels of the Indigenous Australians to close the gap between their educational attainment and that of the non-Indigenous populations. What this shows is that the significance of implementing educational practices that can respond to the needs of indigenous people cannot be ignored now, or even in the future, as their population continues to expand. Hence, acknowledging the role that culture could play in the improvement of the Indigenous students’ enrolment and learning outcome is significant. It is recommended that the current policies should recognise the idea that teaching practices that respond to the cultural needs of the Indigenous students can improve their educational attainment. A range of methods that can ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students do not lag behind in educational attainment also include forming more trusting relationships with Indigenous students, ensuring a mutually respectful relationship exists with the Indigenous families and students and using learning content that take Indigenous cultures, practices and histories into consideration. Word Count (2689 words) Reference List ABS 2011, Education and indigenous wellbeing, viewed 22 May 2016, ABS 2014, Exploring the gap in labour market outcomes for aboriginal and torres strait islander peoples, viewed 22 May 2016, Al Jazeera 28 Jun 2015, Australia’s indigenous population lags behind in education, Al Jazeera's Andrew Thomas reports from Sydney, viewed 23 May 2016. Biddle, N & Mackay, S 2010, "Understanding the educational marginalisation of Indigenous Australians: Extent, processes and policy responses," Paper prepared for the 2010 Global Monitoring Report by the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Australian National University Castan, M & Arabena, K 18 May 2016, "Indigenous reconciliation in Australia: still a bridge too far?" The Conversation, viewed 22 May 2016, Craven, R, Yeung, A & Han, F 2014, “The Impact of Professional Development and Indigenous Education Officers on Australian Teachers’ Indigenous Teaching and Learning. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, vol 39 no 8, 85-108 Denis, V 2011, “Silencing Aboriginal Curricular Content and Perspectives Through Multiculturalism: “There Are Other Children Here”, Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, vol 33 no 4, pp306-317 Dudgeon, P, Wright, M, Paradies,Y,Garvey, D & Walker, I 2012, The Social, Cultural and Historical Context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, viewed 22 May 2016, Graham, L 2012, “Disproportionate over-representation of Indigenous students in New South Wales government special schools,” Cambridge Journal of Education, vol 42 no 2, pp163-176 Klenowski, V 2009, Australian Indigenous students: addressing equity issues in assessment, Teaching Education. Teaching Education, 20(1), 77-93. Krakouer, J 2015, Literature review relating to the current context and discourse on Indigenous cultural awareness in the teaching space: Critical pedagogies and improving Indigenous learning outcomes through cultural responsiveness. Australian Council for Educational Research. Retrieved: Malin, M & Maidment, D 2003, "Education, indigenous survival and well-being: emerging ideas and programs," The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, vol 32, p.85-100 Muecke A, Lenthall S, Lindeman M, 2010, “Culture shock and healthcare workers in remote Indigenous communities of Australia: what do we know and how can we measure it?” Rural and Remote Health vol. 11,pp.1607 Patty, A 2016, "The problem with how we measure success in schools," Sydney Morning Herald, 22 May 2016, SBS 9 May 2016, "Election 2016: Labor pledges more indigenous teachers,' SBS.com, viewed 22 May 2016, Willems, J. (2012). Educational Resilience as a Quadripartite Responsibility: Indigenous Peoples Participating in Higher Education via Distance Education. Journal of Open, Flexible, and Distance Learning, 16(1), 14-27 Read More