Indigenous Studies - Traditional Aboriginal Ways of Learning and Teaching - Assignment Example

Running header: Indigenous Studies (Aboriginal) Student’s name: Name of institution: Instructor’s name: Course code: Date of submission: Question 1: Tradition Explain what aspects of Aboriginal Traditional 'ways of seeing' and being production in a school environment, wherever it may be in Australia. Traditional Aboriginal ways of learning and teaching take into account all aspects of life (both physically and spiritually, diet, dance and many other aspects of life including environment, respecting everyone etc) Aboriginal ways of learning and their learning styles have always been under study and investigation with the sole aim of improving the effectiveness of teaching and learning and educational processes for the aboriginal population. Ways of learning have been described to include all the mental processes and instructional settings that students undergo with the sole aim of learning. In many educational conferences and seminars, the aboriginal people have always raised their deep concerns about the quality of education given to their children. They have complained that their children receive inadequate and low quality education. It is important to note that aboriginal cultures, traditions, codes of behavior and values are key determinants of every aspect of their lives, including their ways of learning. The problem comes about when they have to send their children to modern day mainstream schools where these traditions, customs and values are not taken into consideration and are usually ignored. In these modern day mainstream schools, the teaching styles used are different, and every other cultural basis and aspect of schooling is often very inconsistent with the cultural background of the Aboriginal people. This has been problematic because a lot of educators have often agreed that one role of education is to transmit the culture of a society from one generation to the next. The traditional ways of learning of the aboriginal people are very different from the modern ways of teaching and learning. For example, the traditional Aboriginal people consider their universe to be one whereby the physical and scientific qualities are very irrelevant. To them, the world takes meaning through the quality of relationships among the people and the various laws that have been put in place to guide them. They are not constrained by time or space. They believe that the land is still inhabited by the very same beings that were part of its creation. To them, the spirits of the dead are ever so present and they use ceremonies to recreate activities of ancient heroes. They believe that English words are very inadequate to describe the historic and contemporary world. To them, learning and education in general is about all aspects of life such as spiritual and physical matters and other social aspects that have to do with environment, diet, dance and respect for others. They do not believe that the education provided in modern mainstream schools is sufficient or appropriate for their children because it lacks all these aspects. Question 2: Initiatives What do you see as the value of some of the initiatives such as Wannik and Wurreker and Yalca? Do you think the Wannik strategy is useful? The Wannik, Wurreker and Yalca are initiative that relate to education policy and strategy management. These three initiatives are very valuable in supporting the provision of education and training that reinforces the cultural identity of various communities and increases awareness on the importance of cultures and education. These three initiatives are projects of the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc (VAEAI) which was established in 1976 to represent the Koorie community in matters related to education policy and strategic development at national, state and local levels. The Yalca is a partnership in education and training that is developed for the new millennium, Koorie educational policy. The Yalca is valuable in the sense that it provides long term policy frameworks that are relevant to all sectors of education and training. This can be seen through its major objectives. The first one is to give the Koorie student an opportunity to be at the centre of educational policy and decision making. The second on is to strengthen and maintain formal relationships between the Victorian State Government and the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc. The third one is to appreciate the central role played by the LAECGs in education and training. LAECGs stand for Local Aboriginal Education Consultative Groups. The other objective is to strengthen the different frameworks at all levels of education so as to enable the implementation of the laid down strategies that will ensure the involvement of Koorie people in decision making while increasing their participation. The Wannik strategy on the other hand simply means the strategy of learning together in the Gunai language. This initiative is very valuable because it is aimed at delivering the best quality education to Koorie students. This initiative represents a new era of educational collaboration within the Victorian education system where the educational system is expected to reposition itself to ensure collaboration among the different schools through appropriate leadership that has the ability to create a culture of individualized learning and high expectation amongst the students. The Wurreker strategy was launched in 2000 by the President of Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc (VAEAI). This initiative is valuable because it documents the equal and collaborative partnerships that exist between different stakeholders in the education sector. This strategy contains policies and planning frameworks at local, state and national levels. It also has the various systems and processes for resource allocation that are needed to support the education of the Koorie people. This initiative also contains new strategies and approaches that are aimed at fostering equal relationships between Koorie communities and other educational stakeholders such as TAFE institutes. Question 3: Self Determination Explain what is meant by self-determination from the point of view of Indigenous (Aboriginal) education. The concept of self-determination can be described as social movement, beliefs and legislations that were used by the Aboriginal people to exercise self governance and decision making on various issues that have impacts on their own people. Self-determination was simply meant to reverse the policies that the Aboriginal people felt had been imposed on them and did not respect their cultures, traditions and values when it came to education. In regard to education, many social movements have always wanted a life of dignity and opportunities free from discrimination and disadvantage. Many movements have therefore considered this to be a basic human right and not an ideal. Self-determination has therefore been taken as an ongoing process of change that is used by indigenous communities to meet their social, economic and cultural needs. It has been described as not having the motive to create a separate indigenous state. The right of self-determination amongst the indigenous people is based on the fact that these people are acknowledged to exist and are part of the wider society. It is in fact recognized by the law. The aboriginal people do not want to lose their right to live in accordance to their common beliefs and values. They have the right to be respected by others. Self-determination is therefore very essential for the Indigenous Australians to be able to fully overcome the effects of colonization and the legacy of dispossession. In regard to education, the concept of self-determination in relation to the aboriginal Australians can be explained as their struggle to uphold their beliefs, cultures, values and traditions in the education sector. The Indigenous people are determined to ensure that the education provided to their people is in line with their cultures, values, beliefs and traditions. Question 4: Exclusion What are some of the major issues, including segregation and exclusion that you come across when looking at the history of Aboriginal education from colonization until the 1950's? Aboriginal education has always been faced by numerous challenges throughout history. There have been very many cases that have gone public about the segregation and exclusion that the aboriginal people have been facing. Aboriginal schools have mostly been established in segregated areas and they have faced a lot of discrimination in terms of resource allocation. Indigenous schools have been faced by lack of adequate teachers and staff that are necessary for the success of any educational institution. Educational authorities in the 1900s were known to limit aboriginal education to fourth and sixth grade. This trend continued until the late 1940s. The aboriginal schools were taken as dark schools and in the 1930s for example, aboriginal parents protested that their children were attending dark schools which were in fringe settlements in the outskirts of towns. The aboriginal children faced a lot of exclusion in other matters of educational decision making. Even the government segregated them in its records by categorizing these children in terms of the prevalence of the blood of aborigines. Aboriginal children who attended white schools were also segregated residentially as they lived in fringe settlements in the outskirts of the towns. There have been many cases where aboriginal children were excluded from admission into white schools. The early centuries saw the aboriginal people undergo a lot of discrimination, segregation and exclusion that took many different forms ranging from the discrimination in allocation of resources to the discrimination if the admission into schools. Teachers in schools such as the Breeza Public School supported the exclusion of Aboriginal children from these schools. Question 5: Challenges Do you think that there are significant challenges for Aboriginal children in mainstream schools. Describe some of the challenges these students in getting a good education? There are numerous challenges that the Aboriginal children have been facing in mainstream children schools. First and foremost, the cultures, beliefs, traditions, values and ways of life of the aboriginal people are very different from the other groups of people in Australia. This makes the educational values of the aboriginal people to be very different from the other people. In these modern day mainstream schools, the teaching styles used are different, and every other cultural basis and aspect of schooling is often very inconsistent with the cultural background of the Aboriginal people. The aboriginal people therefore feel that the education provided in modern day mainstream schools is not appropriate or adequate for them because it does not respect the cultures and traditions of the Aboriginal people. The other students in these modern day mainstream schools also look down upon the aboriginal student because they feel that their cultures and traditions are backward. These presents a lot of challenges to the aboriginal students who have to grapple with these issues everyday in school. Other challenges and issue faced by the aboriginal students stem from the fact that these students are usually segregated and discriminated against in many educational issues. They experience a lot of exclusion in many sectors of education. There have been very many cases that have gone public about the segregation and exclusion that the aboriginal people have been facing in mainstream schools. These children have been segregated by other students from mainstream schools. It can therefore be concluded that racial discrimination is a major challenge in education. Question 6: Language How important is the use of Indigenous language in all aspects of daily life. Can language be a bridge builder as well as a way of supporting culture? Do you think Aboriginal language should be taught in schools as part of a standard curriculum? Language is an important aspect of the daily life of aboriginal people. Language is a way through which culture is transmitted. Language is a representation of culture and should be used in the promotion of culture. Since many educators have agreed that education should be used as a tool of transmitting culture from one generation to the next, language can be used as a bridge builder and a way of supporting the culture of the aboriginal people. Language can be used to link and connect the different generations of the aboriginal people so as to ensure that the aboriginal culture does not disappear. I think that aboriginal language should be taught in schools alongside other major languages of the world. Aboriginal children should first be taught using their native language so that they can understand it more and grow up knowing their cultures. Later on, they can be taught using a different language so that they can have knowledge of various languages. It is important to teach aboriginal children their aboriginal native languages so as to improve the quality of education that they receive during the first few years of their school life. Language is a representation of culture and culture is embodied in languages. Since the aboriginal people are keen on maintaining and promoting their cultures, it would be wise if their native languages are taught in schools so that their cultures can be respected and upheld in the educational system. Language can help the aboriginal children to understand their roots and cultures and learn to appreciate them in life. Question 7: Global Studies Describe the culture, language and education of the Sami people. You are to include aspects of Sami history and contemporary life that demonstrates the huge successes that they have had regarding the challenges they have faced in being a minority group. The Sami People are a group of arctic indigenous people who inhabit a place called Sapmi. Today, Sapmi encompasses parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The Sami people have existed, lived and worked in the arctic regions of Europe since the prehistoric period even before the conceptualization of national borders. They have inhabited these regions for over 5000 years and are counted among members of circumpolar groups. They were hunters and gatherers. Fishing has also been part of their livelihood for a long time. They were self supporting nomads who made tools that they believed should have a purpose. They are a minority group because their population is not so large compared to other groups of people. The traditional clothing that they wear is called the Gakti. It is worn both while working and in ceremonies. The Sami people, despite being a minority group, have emerged successful in addressing the challenges that they have been facing as a minority group. They have remained united and have appreciated their culture to such an extent that they have managed to deal with the challenges that minority groups face on a day to day basis. They have been able to achieve this by appreciating women as being very significant members of society. That is why the Sami people are mostly an urbanized demographic but a substantial number of them live in the arctic regions. The Sami people have faced numerous challenges such as discrimination and segregation as common with other minority groups. They have been excluded from a lot of matters but they have managed to remain successful and effective in addressing these challenges. Question 8: Philosophies Discuss how the Steiner philosophy ties in with gaining positive outcomes in education that particularly suits Aboriginal education. The philosophy of Rudolf Steiner has a very unique and distinctive approach when it comes to educating children. The Steiner philosophy proposes that each stage of the education process should aim at enabling the growth of the learners so that they can fully and vividly experience and enjoy the activities of the educational process. This approach provides a balanced approach to the curriculum used in modern schools. It aims at gaining positive outcomes in education by ensuring that education includes the artistic, academic and social aspects. This in line with the goals of aboriginal education which promotes an all rounded type of education such as that which includes spiritual and physical matters and other social aspects that have to do with environment, diet, dance and respect for others. The Steiner Philosophy therefore advocates for all roundedness in education by ensuring that education is not simply about academics but also about all other aspects of social life that are necessary for an individual to be able to function effectively in society. This means that the Steiner Philosophy aims at promoting positive outcomes in education by advocating for the promotion of culture in all aspects of education. Arts, languages, practice, feelings, music and all other aspects of life are advocated for by the Steiner philosophy. This philosophy aims at exploiting the full potential and capacity of a human being undergoing such education. References Banks, J 1988, ‘Ethnicity, class, cognitive and motivational styles: Research and teaching implications’, Journal of Negro Education, vol. 57, no. 4, pp. 452-466. Berry, JW 1976, Human ecology and cognitive style: Comparative studies in psychological adaptation, Sage-Halstead, New York. Blanchard, A 1985, Aboriginal Education (Blanchard Report), House of Representatives Select Committee on Aboriginal Education, Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra. Christie, M 1982, The ritual reader: Guiding principles for teaching meaningful reading to Aboriginal children, Paper presented to the 8th Australian Reading Conference, Adelaide. Cole, M & Means, B 1981, Comparative studies of how people think, Harvard University Press, Cambridge. Cole, M, Gay, J, Glick, JA & Sharp, DW 1971, The cultural context of learning and thinking, Basic Books, New York. Cooper, G 1980, ‘Different ways of thinking’, Minority Education, vol. 2, no. 5, pp. 1-4. Das, J 1995, ‘Some thoughts on two aspects of Vygotsky's work’, Educational Psychologist, vol. 30, pp. 93-97. Read More