The dark side of the force : the downside of social capital and indigenous higher education

Social capital has been a popular, yet contested, concept and the possibility that it has a 'dark side', has long occupied researchers and policymakers. However, the diverse heritage of the idea has led to theoretical incoherence and difficulties in operationalisation and measurement. This thesis argues that many of these issues can be resolved by revisiting Bourdieu's interpretation of social capital, which permits a more robust analysis of social capital's positive and negative outcomes. In order to explore these ideas empirically, this thesis examines the downsides of social capital in the context of Indigenous tertiary education in Australia. Social capital has been identified as an important factor for academic success; particularly for minority, ethnic or historically marginalised groups, the creation of social capital is identified as a key factor in positive educational outcomes. Yet, narratives of dysfunction, disengagement and weak social norms are common in discussions of poor academic outcomes for Indigenous people. Largely absent from this debate, particularly in Australia, is a discussion of how social capital mirrors existing patterns of inequality for Indigenous people. Consequently, also missing is a discussion of how social capital's downsides can impede a student's ability to succeed in the education system. This thesis therefore asks two questions: 1. What can a 'forms of capital' approach add to understanding the resources that Indigenous students use and need in tertiary education? 2. How does the idea of social capital's downsides explain the challenges Indigenous students face in tertiary education? Rather than perpetuate a deficit explanation for the downside of social capital, this thesis argues that the negative effects of network membership can be understood as an effect of social location. For Indigenous Australians, this includes a history of colonisation, dispossession and marginalisation, which has had a profound effect on social norms and organisation. Bourdieu's interpretation of social capital offers a way to break with dominant versions of the theory which tend to see the negative effects of social capital as the sole responsibility of individuals and communities

The impact of racism on the schooling experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students: a systematic review

We present results of a systematic review of empirical research on racism and the schooling experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, focussing on research published from 1989 to 2016. Our review is part of a series of systematic literature reviews on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education in Australia. It attends to diverse manifestations of racism, from institutional and systemic discrimination to everyday microaggressions, and varying levels of analysis, from individual experiences to cohort approaches. This work adopts a critical perspective on disciplinary boundaries and the outcomes discourse within the broad field of education research. Additionally, we discuss the challenges inherent in systematic review inclusion/exclusion criteria related to racism in a feld such as education in which racism and discrimination are frequently misrepresented or misreported,for example, as disciplinary and behaviour management issues, disadvantage or as regional and remote education challenges. The review discusses study types and locations, explores how racism is defned and understood and details the efects of racism on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students

‘I don’t think you’re going to have any aborigines in your world’: Minecrafting terra nullius

The myth that justified the takeover of a continent lives on both in classrooms and popular media. Drawing from classroom observations in an urban primary school in Australia, this paper enters the technology in education conversation, more specifically through the use of videogames for learning. Based on classroom exchanges between teachers and students, we interrogate how the school’s use of Minecraft, a best-selling commercial videogame, continues to reproduce myths of settler colonialism in the 21st century. Specifically, the curriculum mobilizes structures inherent to both Minecraft and modern Australia’s treatment of its Indigenous populations. That is, both classroom and videogame interactions reproduced the myth of terra nullius: the doctrine that determined land, prior to colonization, was empty and unowned, and therefore available for settlement by the colonizer. We conclude that within videogames and classrooms students’ voices manage to inquire into and interrogate the curriculum, resisting reproduction of erasive coloniality in school.status: publishe

Roadmap to recovery: reporting on a research taskforce supporting Indigenous responses to COVID-19 in Australia

In April 2020 a Group of Eight Taskforce was convened, consisting of over 100 researchers, to provide independent, research-based recommendations to the Commonwealth Government on a "Roadmap to Recovery" from COVID-19. The report covered issues ranging from pandemic control and relaxation of social distancing measures, to well-being and special considerations for vulnerable populations. Our work focused on the critical needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities; this paper presents an overview of our recommendations to the Roadmap report. In addressing the global challenges posed by pandemics for citizens around the world, Indigenous people are recognised as highly vulnerable. At the time of writing Australia's First Nations Peoples have been largely spared from COVID-19 in comparison to other Indigenous populations globally. Our recommendations emphasise self-determination and equitable needs-based funding to support Indigenous communities to recover from COVID-19, addressing persistent overcrowded housing, and a focus on workforce, especially for regional and remote communities. These latter two issues have been highlighted as major issues of risk for Indigenous communities in Australia It remains to be seen how governments across Australia take up these recommendations to support Indigenous peoples' health and healing journey through yet another, potentially catastrophic, health crisis

Roadmap to recovery: reporting on a research taskforce supporting Indigenous responses to COVID-19 in Australia

In April 2020 a Group of Eight Taskforce was convened, consisting of over 100 researchers, to provide independent, research-based recommendations to the Commonwealth Government on a “Roadmap to Recovery” from COVID-19. The report covered issues ranging from pandemic control and relaxation of social distancing measures, to well-being and special considerations for vulnerable populations. Our work focused on the critical needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities; this paper presents an overview of our recommendations to the Roadmap report. In addressing the global challenges posed by pandemics for citizens around the world, Indigenous people are recognised as highly vulnerable. At the time of writing Australia's First Nations Peoples have been largely spared from COVID-19 in comparison to other Indigenous populations globally. Our recommendations emphasise self-determination and equitable needs-based funding to support Indigenous communities to recover from COVID-19, addressing persistent overcrowded housing, and a focus on workforce, especially for regional and remote communities. These latter two issues have been highlighted as major issues of risk for Indigenous communities in Australia It remains to be seen how governments across Australia take up these recommendations to support Indigenous peoples' health and healing journey through yet another, potentially catastrophic, health crisis