Introduction

This edited collection by leading Australian Aboriginal scholars uses data from the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC) to explore how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are growing up in contemporary Australia. The authors provide an overview of the study, including the Indigenous methodological and ethical framework which guides the analysis. They also address the resulting policy ramifications, alongside the cultural, social, educational and family dynamics of Indigenous children’s lives

Mudjil'dya'djurali dabuwa'wurrata (how the white waratah became red) : D'harawal storytelling and welcome to country "controversies"

The overarching purpose of this paper is to critically engage with non-Indigenous representations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Welcome to Country ceremonies, particularly within the conservative mainstream media and academic setting. The foundations of the paper will be drawn from both the critical Indigenous standpoint theories of white pathology by Moreton-Robinson (2015) and colonial storytelling by Behrendt (2016). Both these theories suggest that, too often, non-Indigenous representations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are more a reflection of non-Indigenous ideologies than accurate portrayals of Indigenous positionings. Further, an ancestral D'harawal Law Story will be utilized to reveal that Welcome to Country ceremonies, despite their contemporary adaptations under colonization, may be considered an essential contextual representation of Australia's true history prior to colonization, and thus should not be dismissed due to ideological misrepresentations or even tampered with by a colour-blind rhetoric

Aboriginal identity, world views, research and the story of the Burra'gorang

In recent times there has been a growing recognition that some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities have been harmed and even divided by those who question their very right to identify as ‘Indigenous or not’ (Bodkin-Andrews & Carlson 2016 ; New South Wales Aboriginal Education Consultative Group [NSW AECG] 2011 ). Numerous scholars have suggested that such ‘questions’ are an unfortunate extension of the continual epistemological violence (a pressure on ways of knowing) that has sought to eradicate the diverse world views, histories, and knowledges of our peoples since colonisation (Bodkin 2013a ; Moreton-Robinson 2011 ; Nakata 2012 ), and that they result in the emergence of stereotypical accusations of ‘inauthenticity’, ‘wanna-be-Aborigines’, ‘welfare-blacks’, ‘fragmentation’ and ‘cultural absurdity’ (Behrendt 2006 ). It is the purpose of this chapter to highlight the existence of this form of epistemological and identity-based violence and explain how it threatens our communities. In addition, such violence will be challenged by focusing on the strength of diverse world views, knowledges and unique stories that exist within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities today. We also offer you a traditional D’harawal Law Story as the central case study within this chapter. This Law Story holds valuable insights that may guide individuals and communities towards a stronger and more resilient future

AIM(E) for completing school and university : analysing the strength of the Australian Indigenous mentoring experience

Purpose: Generally, theory and research investigating the effectiveness of mentoring has offered little resounding evidence to attest to mentoring programmes being a strategic initiative that make a real difference in reducing the educational inequities many minority students endure. In contrast to this existing research base, the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME) has often been cited as one of the most successful mentoring initiatives within Australia. It is the purpose of this chapter to examine how AIME may impact on the educational aspirations and school self-concept of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Methodology: A series of multi-group analyses were centred around Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling techniques that sought not only to explore the psychometric validity of the measures utilized within this study, but also to identify how the measures may be related after accounting for background variables (e.g. gender, parental education). Findings: The results found that the measures utilized held strong psychometric properties allowing an increased level of confidence in the measures used and the conclusion that may be drawn from their use in analyses. Overall, the results suggested that AIME is an effective tool for increasing not only the educational aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students but also their levels (and utility) of School Self-concept and School Enjoyment. Implications: The implications suggest that not only is AIME an essential tool for closing the educational gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal students, but also our understanding of mentoring must be extended well beyond simplistic notions of role-modelling

Sensational pedagogies : learning to be affected by country

Student capacities to actively listen, sense and feel are often relegated to lower order skills in an education system increasingly governed by measurable outcomes. While most school-based pedagogies focus their approach on cognition, this paper considers how we might make sense of the affective experiences that often resist the deep thinking, independent learning and explanation so often required of students. The guiding aim is to explore how affective learning can be better understood through an Indigenous Australian concept of Country. We apply the pedagogical work of Elizabeth Ellsworth, along with Lacanian psychoanalytic theory to explore ways in which sensation and affect are already a method of learning, but ones that are substantially under-valued in designed curricula. A series of interviews with senior Aboriginal people are presented to assist in understanding the various ways in which affect can lead to thought. The authors present three case studies to highlight how knowledge can be taught through affective experiences of Country

Teacher racism, academic self-concept, and multiculturation : investigating adaptive and maladaptive relations with academic disengagement and self-sabotage for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian students

The issue of patterns of educational disengagement for Indigenous Australian students has long been of considerable concern within Indigenous education research. Although there is an expanding research base identifying factors that may increase (or decrease) the risk of disengagement for Indigenous students, little acknowledgement has been given to international research highlighting how stigma and discrimination may be associated with student disengagement and the resiliency factors that may nullify these associations. Utilising a sample of 1,376 (305 Indigenous; 1,071 non-Indigenous) students from five New South Wales high schools in Australia, this study sought to examine the influence of academic self-concept and two culturally sensitive constructs-specifically, perceived multiculturation (perceived cultural respect) and racial discrimination-on two disengagement-orientated outcomes: affective disengagement and self-sabotaging behaviour (behavioural disengagement) for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. The findings showed relatively consistent direct and positive effects of academic self-concept and direct negative effect of teacher racism for both groups of students. An interaction effect (discrimination x multiculturation) for the Indigenous students only was also identified, which suggested that the negative effects of racial discrimination on self-sabotaging behaviour are exacerbated when the Indigenous students perceived higher levels of cultural respect from others. Overall, while these findings suggest that promoting higher levels of inter-cultural respect may be beneficial for Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike (e.g., culturally inclusive programmes), such positive perceptions may put Indigenous students at greater risk if the impact of racism is not also addressed. The implications of these findings suggest that cultural safety must be framed both in promoting the positive (cultural respect) and in eliminating the negative (racism)

Modelling key drivers of school education outcomes

This chapter aims to unify the work of previous chapters in developing a deeper understanding of the complex interactions of children’s early life circumstances, pre-school program exposure, developmental readiness for school learning and subsequent academic outcomes. Establishing the relative contribution of these influences in shaping children’s educational progress is vital to the development and effective targeting of policy to enable population-level improvements in children’s educational outcomes

The colonial storytelling of good intent : or the inspired erasure of our Ancestors?

There was once a time when all spoke the same language, no matter the skin, and so there was a great peace over the lands. To help keep this peace, great meetings were held when the three sisters in the sky stood in line, and the Law-Makers – the Elders, Warriors and Healers – would gather to share their Stories and Songs. For the great meeting of this Story, it was held on the Land of the Yandelora, the home Country of Wiritjiribin the Lyrebird

Respecting identity? : the role of cultural identity, cultural respect, and academic self-concept in predicting learned helplessness for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students

Purpose. Although it may be argued that there has been a growing acceptance of Aboriginal educational frameworks being incorporated into the learning of both primary and high school students within Australia, some commentators and researchers have questioned the usefulness of such culturally inclusive practices (Johns, 2011). To date, such commentary though is largely based upon overall generalised statistical trends (e.g., government reports) or carefully selected case studies that are not nuanced enough to probe the complexity of the issue at hand. It is the purpose of this paper to offer empirical evidence seeking to clarify the role of cultural identity and cultural respect with regard to patterns of learned helplessness for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students. Method. Utilising a large sample of Aboriginal (N = 342) and non-Aboriginal (N = 1462) high school students drawn from 5 high schools across NSW, a set of Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) techniques were utilised to examine the impact of cultural identity, perceived cultural respect, and academic self-concept on patterns of academic learned helplessness for these students. Latent interactions (Klien & Moosbrugger, 2000) between academic self-concept and the two culturally orientated measures were also tested to clarify the role of these variables in predicting helplessness. Results. Preliminary correlations indicated that higher levels of academic self-concept were associated with lowered levels of learned helplessness for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students. The cultural variables were positively related to helplessness for the Aboriginal students and negatively related to helplessness for the non-Aboriginal students. When placed within a SEM framework, academic self-concept was reaffirmed as a negative predictor of helplessness for both groups, yet the role of the cultural variables became more complicated. For both groups, significant latent interactions revealed that higher levels of self-concept and perceived cultural respect acted as the optimal condition for protecting students against learned helplessness. Conclusion. The results of this investigation suggest that the role of cultural identity and academic self-concept within the learning environment is dynamic and complex, and that future quantitative research investigating of the role of identity must utilise statistical techniques sensitive to such complexity

Identifying the fairy dust effect for Indigenous Australian students : is positive psychology truly a [Peter] Pan theory?

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an example of the methodological progress in educational and psychological research focusing on Indigenous Australian students, and how such progress may protect against the risk of accepting Eurocentric theoretical paradigms that more often than not ignore the unique perspectives and experiences associated with being a member of a stigmatised cultural group. More precisely, we shall examine some of the assumptions within the 'new-found' Positive Psychology movement (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000) from a quantitative approach to Indigenous Australian Educational research. Critiques of quantitative research involving Indigenous Australians has often stressed such a methodology fails to understand more unique cultural perspectives and experiences that fall outside the lens of limited Western understandings (Fraillon, 2004). Indeed, quantitative research has too often failed to come from the foundation of cultural understanding that may more accurately be understood by in-depth qualitative research. This is especially true for Indigenous and other unique minority groups worldwide. It has been argued that Eurocentric quantitative research was a key tool in the formation of cultural deficit theorising, whereby it was thought that minority group students were deprived of environmental and intellectual qualities that would facilitate educational success (Partington, 1998). Although such deficit reasoning targeting Indigenous Australians has largely been rejected in today's educational research, recent discrepancies between quantitative research and the unique experiences of Indigenous Australians can still be noted. An example of this can be found in research examining the issue of racism