Professional Documents
Culture Documents
success and retention of indigenous students. Although all students deserve a great
education, data from the Australian government’s 2018 Closing the Gap report shows
that the attendance rate of Indigenous students in 2017 were 9.8% below that of
non-indigenous students (p 51), while data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics
(2018) shows that for students in year 7 to year 12, Indigenous students were 23.6%
in NSW public schools, comparing data from the 2013 suspensions and expulsion rates
with the 2017 rates, shows that for all students, including indigenous, rates have not
improved at all (Education, 2018). There is a lot still to be done for Indigenous students
in Australia, and this is backed up by key policy documents including the 2018 Closing
the gap report, the NSW Aboriginal Education Policy and the Australian Professional
Standards for teachers. In order to improve retention and build positive, respectful
three essential components are required, firstly student engagement, secondly stronger
while also creating a positive, respectful relationship with Indigenous students. Though,
it is important to point out that the three essential components, or strategies which
include student engagement, PLPs and student-teacher relationships, are only some of a
wide array of strategies which must be used together to help Indigenous students.
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activities, which can also be broken down into four aspects; behaviourally, emotionally,
cognitively, and agency (Reeve & Lee, 2014, p 528). The What Works program on
students, while increasing ‘academic achievement’, and it provides students with skills
in decision making, participating and communicating, which stay with them into their
adult lives (Core Issues 5, 2018, p 2). For engagement to be successful it must involve a
focus on engaging all aspects of an individual student. Much like Reeve and Lee who
break down engagement into four important aspects, the What Works program breaks
it down into attendance, participation and belonging (Core Issues 5, 2018, p 2). The
three must work in tangent, as teachers can have really engaging activities which are
challenging and knowledgeable, but if they do not have students attending or students
who do not feel as though they belong, it will not work. This means teachers need to find
out why students may not be attending school and try to work with them, instead of
punishing them. There are a wide array of reasons that some Indigenous students are
not able to attend school, from cultural and family expectations, to school/teacher
expectations (Core Issues 5, 2018, p 4). When teachers talk to students, family or
community leaders, often, these issues can be addressed in a positive way. If teachers
are able to do this, it also increases student’s sense of belonging, as it builds stronger
student-teacher relationships and they feel there are high expectations of them. A study
by Bonet and Walters (2016) at a community college in the U.S with a high number of
low SES students, recent immigrants and a high amount of minority groups showed that
higher engagement led to high retention and less absences (p 229). Two of the many
relationships with peers and faculty, which is the same as forming stronger
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individual students, much like PLPs (Bonet and Walters, 2016, p 224). These aspects of
engagement are not only beneficial and necessary to helping Indigenous students attain
the best education possible, but have also been mandated as compulsory in Australian
governmental policies. In the NSW Aboriginal Education policy (2018), statement 1.3.1
schools,” while 1.6.2 states we must “Engage and motivate Aboriginal students for
participation and belonging, which can help improve retention, and create positive and
Personalised Learning Plans (PLPs) are another strategy which help improve retention
and build a positive, respectful relationship with Indigenous students. PLPs let students
know that every one of their needs are important, from cultural belonging to academic
outcomes, while giving them the agency to set goals and be a part of the planning of
their own learning. According to the What Works program (2018), personalised
learning is underlined by a fact that under the right conditions, all students are able to
achieve high standards, and as discussed before, can reinforce engagement and
motivation (p 2). Prain, Cox and Deed (2013) also found that PLPs increase motivation
and the desire to learn, noting that students from a rural Queensland high school said
they felt proud of their “achievement gains” and felt more motivated to participate (p
671). It is important though, that a PLP begins as a whole school approach, with
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Issues 10, 2018, p 8). One school introduced PLPs as a way of improving attendance,
which speaks directly to retention, and this was done by focusing on “student’s social,
behavioural and emotional needs” (p 8). This idea of focusing on social, behavioural and
emotional needs also links back to engagement, and the definition of engagement
(Reeve & Lee, 2014, p 528). In the Australian Professional Standards for teachers, two
key descriptors which speak to Indigenous education, are 1.4.1 which says teachers
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds” and 2.4.1 “Demonstrate broad
knowledge of, understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
histories, cultures and languages” (NESA, 2018, p 3). The What Works program for PLPs
addresses the NESA descriptors, saying that some key beliefs and values which should
inform PLPs include respecting and valuing student’s Indigenous cultures, their cultural
10, 2018, p 3). PLPs ensure that students are able to meet syllabus and national
standards across all curricula through and while valuing their culture. This is done by
asking four questions about their education; “Where is the now?”, “Where should the
student be?”, “How will they get to where they should be?” and “How will we know
when they get there?”. Since PLPs are student focused and allow students to work
together with teachers to create goals, not only does it improve retention, but it helps
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having positive and respectful relationships, which when combined with PLPs and a
focus on engagement, can help improve retention. According to Roorda, Koomen, Spilt
and Oort (2011), as students became older, stronger TSRs became more effective on
Quin (2016) agrees, saying that observations showed TSRs had some significant signals
of increased student engagement (p 378). TSRs can be built in many ways, but Price
(2012) points out that with Indigenous students, a major aspect is about being a
culturally competent teacher who “will foster engagement with, and participation by,
local Indigenous communities, and will build positive learning relationships with
Indigenous children” (p 168). This continues speaking to the fact that teachers must
value and respect Indigenous cultures, and as teachers nurture and teach the
importance of student’s culture, this will build stronger TSRs. Another aspect that
teachers must consider, is that they need to be honest about not knowing everything,
hence the importance of building relationships with the community, parents and
caregivers. Indigenous people want teachers to honour their culture, include Indigenous
their history and have high expectations of Indigenous students (Price, 2012, p 178).
The Closing the Gap (2018) report says that one of the focus points will be and needs to
be on improving teacher quality, saying that a part of this focus is creating “a culture of
high expectations” and “strong student teacher and community relationships and
support for culture” (p 56). The three strategies of engagement, PLPs and TSRs address
many policy points, but they are only three of many strategies that need to be
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implement these strategies and many more across all curriculums, and the English
classroom is no exception.
The English classroom is very important because it lays the language and literacy
foundations which are used in all subjects. Though research shows there is still a gap
between indigenous and non-indigenous learners, the ‘Eight ways Pedagogy’ or ‘8 Ways
of Learning’ is a strategy which can be used to engage Indigenous students. Price (2012)
points out that over the years, Indigenous students have been taught as though English
is their first language, when in fact it is in most cases their second or even third
language, and therefore must be taught like other ‘Language other than English’ (LOTE)
learners (p 171). This means creating the scaffolding and strategies which would help
Indigenous students successfully learn the English language, while also valuing and
promoting the continual learning of their own language. The closing the gap (2018)
report affirms that more needs to be done, so that all students are engaged in the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, and since 2015 has been introduced
into the Australian Curriculum to encourage the learning of these languages (p 57). The
8 ways pedagogy gives teachers eight strategies to create activities, and teach with high
effect and cultural inclusivity (USQ, 2017). Looking at the English K-10 Syllabus (2018),
priority and Literacy is embedded throughout the outcomes. Outcome EN4-3B “uses
and describes language forms, features and structures of texts appropriate to a range of
interpretively and critically about information, ideas and arguments to respond to and
compose texts” (English K-10, 2018) can be met through a task which requires students
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to share a biography of an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person. The teacher must
first share an example which is written, then communicated through at least two other
lenses in the 8 ways pedagogy. The teacher can share an imaginative biography of
Pemulwuy after doing some research and also speaking to Aboriginal community
leaders. The teacher would verbally share the biography, show land links using google
maps of Botany Bay, and use non verbal techniques by acting out his story while
speaking. Students are then encouraged to do the same task, but if they want to
interview a parent, carer or a community elder, they can do a biography on that person.
This learning activity incorporates the What Works Core issue 3 (2018) suggestions for
improving Literacy, which are social inclusion and wellbeing, strengthening identity and
Engagement (p 3-4). It is also important in this task that the teacher first provide the
written biography and first complete the task for the students to see, as a way of
scaffolding. This process of scaffolding would also give students a list of possible
Indigenous people they could do a biography for, in case they prefer not to interview
anyone, and the teacher must spend individual time with students to help them edit
their biographies. Students can also translate one paragraph into their mother tongue,
which they can then choose to share in a yarning circle or pass. Not only is this task an
example of meeting curriculum outcomes, but it also meets Standards 1.4 and 2.4, and
more specifically, 1.4.1 which says teachers must “Demonstrate broad knowledge and
the education of students from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds” and
2.4.1 “Demonstrate broad knowledge of, understanding of and respect for Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and languages” (NESA, 2018, p 3).
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stronger STRs and PLP’s is necessary. These three strategies, along with the 8 ways
pedagogy, address key policy documents such as the Closing the gap report, the NSW
Aboriginal Education Policy and the Australian Professional Standards for teachers.
Although there is a lot more to be done, and many other key strategies that are
important in successfully teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, these
are a big step forward for any educator teaching English or any other curriculum. All
students deserve high quality and high expectation education, so we must continue to
move forward in making sure Indigenous students statistics improve to become better
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References
Bonet, G., & Walters, B. (2016). High impact practices: Student engagement and
Commonwealth of Australia. (2018). Closing the gap Prime Minister's Report 2018
https://closingthegap.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/ctg-report-2018.pdf
Department of Education, Science and Training. (2018). What Works Core Issue 2
http://www.whatworks.edu.au/upload/1284012354797_file_2Suspensions.pdf
Department of Education, Science and Training. (2018). What Works Core Issue 3
http://www.whatworks.edu.au/upload/1250830886867_file_3Literacy.pdf
Department of Education, Science and Training. (2018). What Works Core Issue 5
http://www.whatworks.edu.au/upload/1250830979818_file_5Engagement.pdf
Department of Education, Science and Training. (2018). What Works Core Issue 10
http://www.whatworks.edu.au/upload/1311202974899_file_CoreIssues10.pdf
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https://open.usq.edu.au/mod/book/view.php?id=7654&chapterid=702
NSW Education. (2018). Suspensions and Expulsions 2017 [Ebook]. Retrieved from
https://data.cese.nsw.gov.au/data/dataset/c0a90a6f-2509-45c5-ba77-cf5b0035
0043/resource/35cecdef-261f-432f-ada8-8d5e1b9838eb/download/2017-susp
ensions-and-expulsions-aa.pdf
Prain, V., Cox, P., Deed, C., Dorman, J., Edwards, D., & Farrelly, C. et al. (2012).
Price, K. (Ed.). (2012). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education: An Introduction
doi:10.1017/CBO9781139519403
Reeve, J., & Lee, W. (2014). Students' classroom engagement produces longitudinal
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4221.0
Roorda, D., Koomen, H., Spilt, J., & Oort, F. (2011). The Influence of Affective
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493-529.
Retrieved from
https://data.cese.nsw.gov.au/data/dataset/suspensions-and-expulsions-in-nsw-
government-schools/resource/9dc772b6-84c1-4853-b505-d16a42425d77
https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/wcm/connect/92d0f37e-acb6-40b
2-b79e-769590482845/elaborations-in-priority-areas-aboriginal-education.pdf?
MOD=AJPERES&CVID
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