Indigenous Education History - Essay Example

Indigenous education history Name Institution Date Executive summary This research paper provides a comprehensive investigation into Australian indigenous cultures, history, and education from a standpoint of indigenous social justice. The investigation aims at exploring the connections between contemporary Indigenous circumstances and Australia’s shared history that have affected current educational participation. Significantly, within the cultural context the paper has examined the cultural concepts that inform indigenous worldviews, including dreaming, kinship and relations to land. Most significantly, the paper has given some accounts of cultural diversity. Additionally, the paper has addressed key historical circumstances by outlining key events and practices in Australia’s indigenous history, including dispossession, segregation, protectionism, and assimilation. Notably, the central discussion rests on the impact Australia’s history has had and continues to have, on indigenous people both in general and more specifically on education outcomes. Finally, the paper has offered some recommendations that help address the idea of social justice, self- determination and reconciliation that are intended to improve NAPLAN results for indigenous children. Cultural context To appreciate the contemporary realities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, their cultural ways of life need to be understood. In the recent decades, there has been a strong renaissance of Indigenous culture and forms of creative expression, and a reconnection and reclaiming of cultural life. Aboriginal culture has roots deep in the past. Australia’s Indigenous cultural traditions have a history and continuity unrivalled in the world. Contemporary Indigenous Australia has come with new confrontations for reconciliation. Aboriginal people were a hunter-gatherer people who had adapted well to the environment. At the time of colonization, there were approximately 260 distinct language groups and 500 dialects. Indigenous Australians lived in small family groups and were semi-nomadic, with each family group living in a defined territory, systematically moving across a defined area following seasonal changes. Groups had their own distinct history and culture. At times, family groups would come together for social, ceremonial and trade purposes. Greater emphasis was placed on the social, religious and spiritual activities. The environment was controlled by spiritual rather than physical means and religion was deeply tied to the country. With respect to Aboriginal beliefs, the physical environment of the local areas was under control of spiritual ancestors. Living and non-living things existed because of the actions of the Dreaming ancestors. Aboriginal people experience the land as a richly symbolic and spiritual landscape rather than merely a physical environment. Complex and sophisticated kinship systems placed each person in relationship to every other person in groups and determined the behavior of each person. The kinship system also took into account people external to the group. This practice became significant during colonization, when Aborigines wanted to integrate aliens into their systems of kinship. Kinship systems were significantly influential especially on how one’s behavior related with another according to their relationship, so there were codes of behavior between each person outlining their responsibilities and obligations towards others. For instance, a man had responsibilities to his nephews. Kinship relations determined how food and gifts should be divided, who were one’s teachers, whom one could marry. People had defined roles according to age and gender. For example, a man’s role involved skills in hunting as well as cultural obligations that were significant to the cohesion of the group. Likewise, a woman also had an important role; she provided most of food for the group was responsible for early child rearing and had cultural obligations. Notably, reciprocity remains critical characteristics in the society of the aborigines. Historical circumstances Early colonial history Studies by re Rudd (2008) reveal that European settlement marked the onset of dispossession in Australia. During the initial forty years of their settlement, the European settlers aimed at removing the Aboriginals in order to use their land for agriculture. Significantly, European settlement introduced new diseases to the Aboriginals, which cleared myriad people. However, myriad European settlers hoped such a complete suppression of the Aboriginal community through natural selection was merely an issue of time because the settlers regarded Aboriginal community as sub-human. Notably, the above mentality justified the violence that swelled allover Australia as Australia's history of colonial rule characterized constant massacres, starvation, as well as shootings. Protection policy The principal objective of the protection policies was to remedy Aboriginal community from unfavorable environments and offer them state protection through detentions in Christian missions and reserves set by the state. The actual objective of the policy entailed the isolation of Aboriginal community from the entire community up to the abolishment of their culture. Considerably, the Christian missionaries working with the Aboriginal community held the belief that the provision of education, health care, and a shelter, as well as a job opportunity, was assistance to the Aboriginal people. Therefore, they ordered the aboriginal people to proclaim the gospel for the salvation of their souls. Unluckily, the missionary supporters could not acknowledge the harm done to aboriginal people by alienating their land and taking them away from their traditional communities. However, some Christian missions could understand and collaborate with traditional culture of the aboriginal people even though others expressed brutality and suppressed such cultures. Significantly, colonial occupation in Australia has had an intense consequence on succeeding Australian governments’ policy development and practices around the health as well as Indigenous Australians’ welfare. Australia comprised of settler societies of the colonialists; hence, Australia comprised different background people sharing diverse culture and tradition (Rosewarne, 2011). Currently, Australia experiences social justice along with human rights issues because of policies and practices that emanated around the 18th century. During the above- mentioned era, there were significantly diverse values, attitudes, as well as beliefs compared to those of contemporary society. During the 18th century Europe engaged in slavery, and there was wide- spread child labor; universities taught astrology as a subject and cases of disease were associated with superstitions; there was the myth of European superiority over the other races due to their religion, cities, as well as their advanced technologies. Additionally, kings together with nobles ruled and formed governments racism doctrines dominated practice globally in European colonies. Consequently, they would alienate land and resources from the indigenous population, which they occupied. For instance, the raid of the Cadigal people’s land is an example of a global process in the Europeans’ land and resources grab resources. Nationalist rivalry drove this land-grab. Consequently, in the advent of colonization European values and beliefs, as well as attitudes permeated the lives of the indigenous population. Therefore, allover Colonial society and Australian population people participated in the diverse policies and structures that discriminated the Indigenous Australians through the myth that European values were superior compared to the values of the indigenous population. However, some people intermarried with their culture. Nevertheless, several people believed the dominant thinking due to their institutional exposure to it (for example at school) and, therefore, expressed prejudices. Significantly, successive governments exhibited the prejudices in their structural laws and policy procedures. Discussion Impact of dispossession Research work by Herbert (20120 postulate that dispossession had an enormous impact for the Aboriginal people such that one would describe the dispossession period as overwhelmingly detrimental. Scholars have divided dispossession history into three significant phases. For instance, there is the non-recognition period marked by the importation of European diseases, shootings and massacres. Secondly, there was the paternalistic protection policy, which commenced around 1880. Protection policy was succeeded by the detrimental assimilation policy, which commenced in late 20th century. Considerably, the two centuries those experienced dispossessions have devastatingly contributed to a destructive effect over the Aboriginal spirituality. For instance, land alienation due to dispossession is as good as identity loss, because Dreaming is significantly associated with land. Land alienation due to dispossession leads to the currently dominant burden of failing to fulfill responsibilities in rituals. Disconnection from kinship alliances, leads to language loss, which implies that beliefs can hardly be transmitted in an authentic way. Furthermore, disconnection from kinship associations creates destruction in the kinship system. Significantly, due to the state of being dispossessed from their indigenous land Aboriginal population feel homeless and displaced. Additionally, they feel separated from their spirituality, As well as identity in the Dreaming. Impact of protection policy Firstly, the separation accompanied by removal of myriad children from their families implied that such children can no longer up hold their cultural identity. Significantly, the relocation of such children to considerable distances from their initial homes implied that they could not learn, as well as maintain primitive beliefs from the Dreaming. Additionally, the restriction on the kinship system practice, totems, as well as ceremonial rituals effectively implies that an Aboriginal adults’ connection with their religion is significantly severed. Moreover, the displacement of Aboriginal people led to diminishing of the cultural identity of the aborigines as the population of the Dreaming is significantly linked to the land. Furthermore, several Aboriginal children suffered malnutrition because the missions and government reserves were mismanaged and widely under-resourced. Considerably, despite the fact that the protection policy was unfavorable to the Aboriginal population the mission environment provided certain benefits like education and services of health care, which Aboriginal could not access people. Impacts of Assimilation policy The assimilation policy took Aboriginal community attempted to incorporate them into the population of the whites. Significantly, the Government aimed at abolishing the cultural identity of the Aboriginal people and incorporating them into the typical Australian society. Consequently, the assimilation policy led to a significant degradation of Aboriginal population. Significantly, the disconnection of Aboriginal children implied that their cut off from learning and participation in cultural practices. Additionally, the ban of traditional Aboriginal practices like the system of totems, kinship and rituals disrupted their participation the Dreaming. Similarly, the prohibition of the utilization primitive Aboriginal languages caused the inability to transmit traditional beliefs authentic to newer generations. Consequently, even the assimilation policy was initially well determined, only helped to mitigate the problems, which emerged due to inhabitation of missionary environments. Significantly, Aboriginal people mastered all myriad social skills developed by the White Australians over generations, but they received no opportunity to learn the skills. It is worthwhile noting that, gradually the above scenario has led to profound problems in the provision of education and job employment. Notably, even though Aborigines received the same education rights and job employment as non-Indigenous, the fact remains that because of historical circumstances opportunity equality is yet to be enjoyed by Aboriginal people (Walter, 2009). Education circumstances Statistics reveal that Aboriginal enrolment in education for the last few decades has increased considerably. However, several scholars acknowledge that the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous school retention, as well as attainment, remain disappointingly significant. In addition, attainment rates differ according to geographical position and engagement in schooling is influenced by the capacity and families’ desire to get their children to school. Among the significantly, pronounced drawback influencing the education of Aboriginal people is the geographical spreading of the population; and an increased degree of chronic health circumstances. The above factors have dominated the aborigines for several decades and have caused a swelling impact on the educational outcomes of current generations. Particularly, Aboriginal people have been negatively influenced by educational policies, which have excluded Aboriginal people from connections with non-Aboriginals. Additionally, the aborigine’s children have been excluded from government- maintained schools. Currently, culturally hazardous school environments and significantly lower teaching standards remain among the key challenges. Notably, Australian schools experience Cultural sensitivity, orientation, as well as cultural difference. Myriad teachers often fight back with culturally appropriate teaching modes. Significantly, the complex reason behind Aboriginal socioeconomic disadvantage finds links to Aboriginal youth alienation. Conclusively, one can postulate that the current experience in the education sector is because of historical practices and values, which have been transmitted to successive generations. Consequently, the current inequalities in the education sector can trace their history from the period before during and after dispossession. Recommendations Addressing past injustices requires factoring of the real impact of the inequalities between the Indigenous Australian and population. These gaps are most visible in the essential ­­­areas life expectancy areas, infant, as well as child mortality. Closing the inequalities on Indigenous is a huge national opportunity to realize a lasting change and guarantee future Indigenous population the opportunities available to other Australians. Additionally, everyone including the government and the corporate sectors has a role to play in addressing the challenge. There is momentous work to tackle in order to bear fruits where previous actions have failed. The above efforts call for practical and sweeping measures from everyone. The substance of sustained action and real progress will now match the significance of the National Apology. Australians need to integrate their efforts in order to bridge the inequalities in real life experiences between Indigenous population and non-Indigenous people. References Herbert, J. (2012) "Ceaselessly circling the centre”: Historical contextualization of indigenous education within Australia", History of Education Review, Vol. 41 Iss: 2, pp.91 – 103. Walter, M. (2009) ‘An Economy of Poverty? Power and the domain of Aboriginality’, International Journal of Critical Indigenous Studies, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 2–14. Smith, L. T. (1999). Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. Zed Books: London. Rudd, K. (2008,)Apology to Australia’s Indigenous Peoples, 13 February. Accessed on 10 December 2008 at: . Rosser, B. 1985, Dreamtime Nightmares: Biographies of Aborigines under the Aborigines Act, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra. Rosewarne, C. & Wilson, G. (2011) Ingkintja: The Male Health Program. Revitalising Health for All: Learning from Comprehensive Primary Health Care Experiences Project, Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Alice Springs, NT. Accessed at: . Read More