Professional Documents
Culture Documents
media such as: sexuality, gender, language, refugees or ethnicity and discuss how
Australian schools are meeting the challenge of equity and access for (impacted)
minority groups.
Although the Australian government has implemented national policies for equity in
increase, and shows no sign of slowing down. This means now more than ever, refugee
students will need better attention through individualised education that will create
equity. In order to answer whether Australian schools are creating an equitable learning
environment for refugees, I will first examine the educational policies put in place on a
national scale and then the state policy of NSW to examine whether the states are on
board with the goals of equity for all students, and especially refugees. Secondly I will
look at whether these policies are creating equity or inequity for refugee students on
the school level. Third, the cultural assumptions affecting teachers and schools, and how
According to the 1951 UN refugee convention, Article 1A(2), a refugee is a person who
is unable to stay in their country or return to their country “owing to well-founded fear
social group or political opinion” (UN General Assembly, 1954, p.g 152). This definition
of a refugee is still the standard by which people are given refugee status in Australia
today, and helps us understand a little bit of the background of refugee students in our
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classrooms. The danger would be to assume that every refugee student is the same,
when in fact, many come from different countries, have different levels of education,
and are individuals with different traits and stories, hence this definition is only a
foundation upon which we can begin to understand these students, and whether or not
government policies are promoting equity. Paulo Freire (1998) agrees, saying we
should be “taking into consideration the conditions in which they are living and the
importance of the knowledge derived from life experience, which they bring with them
to school” ( p. 62). Where equality would say that all students should be treated the
same, equity treats people in response to their individual needs and achievements, or in
the case of education, it is “often connected to the idea that students needs and abilities
2011, p167).” The first goal in the Melbourne declaration on educational goals for young
Australians is that “Australian schooling promotes equity and excellence” (2008). This
policy is the standard by which all Australian schools are meant to be run, and as it
pertains to refugees, should reduce the effect of refugee status through the promotion of
“personalised learning that aims to fulfill the diverse capabilities of each young
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Australian” (2008). As is the case with NSW’s Multicultural Education Policy, so
states devise their own policies which generally have the same goals with slightly
different wording. This policy also speaks about refugees; one of its objectives being
that “Schools deliver differentiated curriculum and targeted teaching and learning
programs to address the specific learning and wellbeing needs of students from
culturally diverse backgrounds, including newly arrived and refugee students” (2016).
Although these policies outline great goals and objectives, inequity still exists for many
refugee students within Australian schools, where some may find their footing and excel
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in school, many are still struggling to finish school with the same life chances as other
non-refugee students.
Somewhere along the line, the policies which the Australian government has put in
place are not always producing equity within schools. Amanda Keddie (2011) agrees
with this notion, arguing that even though policy encourages “environments that reflect
and explicitly teach about the values of democracy, equity and justice, schools continue
to reify the global flows that perpetuate inequitable social relations” (p28). Saad
Al-Kassab and Nadine Ettash are both Syrian refugees who were interviewed by the
ABC in the last several months in regards to the challenges they faced in school. Saad
attended school in Victoria; graduating in 2016, he excelled with a 96.65 ATAR, which at
first sight seems as though the government’s policies on equity worked, but the article
highlights how he Initially struggled to enrol into any school at all due to the language
barrier, and he believes this was actually the hardest part about schooling (Wright,
2016). Where Saad was able to join Scouts as a means of improving his English, Nadine
did not have that same opportunity. Much like Saad, Nadine had to work harder than
most non-refugee students in order to receive a similar outcome. To learn the English
language alone, she had to study two to three hours every day at home, while cooking,
cleaning, translating for her parents and tutoring her siblings who also struggled with
English (Huntsdale, 2017). Monique Bolus argues that it is very difficult as refugees
have to work harder “to get to the level their peers take for granted (2017).” Even after
all the hard work, due to her English skills, Nadine is already prepared to have to do
extra studies when she finishes her HSC in order to get into University, she says, “I'm
sure I won't have a good ATAR because my language is still not good, so I'll do a year in
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the university college and then go to university” (Huntsdale 2017). Saad is the outlier
who was able to create more life chances despite the inequity, but many more refugee
students are like Nadine who despite working harder in school, the inequity reduces
their life chances. They of course can overcome this by continuing to work harder, but
the government's policy outlining their goal on equity says schools should “ensure that
outcomes (Melbourne Declaration, 2008).” Another article by the ABC outlines how in
2016, 3000 refugees were resettled into the Fairfield city council, which is triple the
yearly average, but no extra funding has come in from the federal government or state
to help support schools and other community groups in the area to give refugees the
best possible life chances (Timms, 2017). By the time funding is given or if it is given at
all, several refugee students will suffer the consequences, and perhaps be worse off than
Nadine. Though, assuming funding and policy for Saad and Nadine were adequate, we
young people of refugee background among the lowest scoring groups on national
literacy testing (Dooley, 2015, p192).” So we must look at ourselves as education givers,
A number of problems face refugee students including the notion from teachers that we
should treat all students exactly the same, despite their difference, as long they try
harder, then all students can succeed (Ferfolja, Diaz, Ullman. 2015, P16). On the other
students by their ethnicity and geographical origins (Modood, 2007, p.89) These
problems very often stem from teacher’s lack of theory, and a belief that theory is not
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useful in the classroom environment (Ferfolja, Diaz, Ullman. 2015 Pg. 16). Conversely
though, theory allows us to examine ourselves and our own teaching practices and not
simply believe the dominant educational discourse that formal schooling automatically
means more opportunity for people even if the education is not personalised to meet
“Schooling is a process intended to perpetuate and maintain the society’s existing power
relations and the institutional structures that support those arrangements (Mwalimu
Shujaa, 1994).” Due to Australia’s colonial heritage, deep seated sentiments of power
relations have formed many aspects of society to this day, “Therefore, the meanings and
communities (Ferfolja, Diaz, Ullman. 2015 Pg. 24).” If we are not careful to examine our
classrooms, thus postcolonial theory calls “for new ideas, pedagogical strategies and
social movements that construct a politics of difference forged in the struggle to achieve
cultural democracies (Ferfolja, Diaz, Ullman. 2015 Pg. 24).” When refugees like Saad are
struggling to even get into school, we can see the need to challenge postcolonial
sentiments by not seeing refugees as less than, or hard work, but create new ideas that
gives them equity in education. Watkins and Noble say “As both intellectual workers
and practitioners, teachers need to be thinking post-critically; that is, to not only adopt a
capacity for critique but to then apply these understandings in productive ways with
their students inside and outside the classroom and with their broader school
communities (2016 pg 44).” Critical Race Theory and Whiteness examines the racial
undertones in education and what it is producing. In the United States, Sleeter found
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that “Although teacher education programs today commonly announce an orientation
toward social justice and preparation for culturally responsive teaching, the great
majority continue to turn out roughly 80% White cohorts of teachers even though
White students are less than half of the K-12 population (Sleeter 2016, n.p.).” Although
statistics in Australia for white teachers may not be as high, it can also be in the
subconscious of teachers who are not white, and we need to examine and make sure
that whiteness is not influencing our decisions for refugee students. Even though people
are not being overtly racist, that colonial history is still affecting us, so we can see that it
runs through society and the education system is no exception. Whiteness makes every
then makes anybody who is not white as other. This is why teachers have stereotypes
and either treat everyone exactly the same, or marginalise refugees by grouping them as
It is clear the Australian government has put in place policies that encourage equity for
refugees, with the first goal of the Melbourne declaration on educational goals for young
eing equity and excellence for all students. In NSW, the state has
Australians b
implemented this policy as a goal for all schools and outlined guidelines to achieve it.
Though, when looking at Saad and Nadine’s experience as Syrian refugees, there seems
to be a disconnect between what the policies say about equity, and what refugees are
truly experiencing, with a large number falling below national literacy averages.
affecting the implementation of equity across the board, with some feeling it is too hard
or not actually fair to treat students differently. As Postcolonialism theory has showed
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us, these ideas that teachers have stem from Australia’s history as a colony; with race,
linguistic, social, historical and other issues still in a power relations struggle. Critical
Race Theory and whiteness show us that thinking of refugee students as less than,
dumb, or too much work is ingrained into our ways of thinking until we choose to
challenge it. The problem with challenging it, is that the theories must be studied and
understood, but with many teachers thinking it is a waste of time, inequity will continue
to happen in our schools. The Australian government's policies are clear when it comes
to the goals of equity, but some changes are needed on a school level before refugees
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References
Keddie, A. (2012) Educating for diversity and social justice. New York, NY: Taylor &
Francis.
Collins, J. & O’brien, N. (2011) The Greenwood Dictionary of Education. ( 2nd ed.) Santa
Ferfolja, T., Diaz, J., & Ulman, J. (2015). Understanding Sociological Theory for Education
Freire, P. (1998) Pedagogy of Freedom: Ethics, Democracy, and Civic Courage. Boulder,
CO:
Westview Press
Huntsdale, J. (2017) Studying for their lives as refugee students navigate challenges of
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-13/studying-for-their-lives-as-refugee-st
udents-navigate-challenges/8339872
https://education.nsw.gov.au/policy-library/policies/multicultural-education-p
olicy
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National declaration on the educational goals for young Australians. (2008)
Retrieved from
http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/National_Declaration_on_the_
Educational_Goals_for_Young_Australians.pdf
Sleeter, C. (2016) Critical Race theory and the whiteness of teacher education. Urban
Timms, P. (2017) Fairfield struggles to cope after threefold increase in refugee arrivals.
Retrieved from
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-02/fairfield-struggles-to-cope-after-incr
ease-in-refugee-arrivals/8145250
UN General Assembly. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 28 July 1951, United
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/10.1080/10714413.2016.1119642
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Wright, P. (2016) Syrian refugee graduates dux of one of Australia’s largest Catholic
Schools.
Retrieved from
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-12/syrian-refugee-tops-year-12-class-wi
th-96.65-atar/8112424
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