The failure of Indigenous students has revealed a significant deficit in the Australian education system. The phenomenon has presented minimal improvement over 30 years as evidenced by The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education. Statistics has shown a significant proportion of students leave school before completing year 10 and far fewer complete year 12 than is the case with non-Indigenous students (Department of Education Western Australia, 2002). Furthermore, as reported in Student attendance rates in government schools 2007, Aboriginal students attended school at lower rates than non-Aboriginal students, with the variation in attendance more pronounced in the later years of schooling.
Figure 1
Lack of proper teacher education programs
Mainstream school teachers are generally ill-equipped to educate Indigenous students in a manner that fosters success. Teachers represent the dominant group in the community and there is a “systematic lack of optimism and belief in educational success for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students” (Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, 2000b, p.10).
Teacher education programs and system fail to provide materials and information with regards to Indigenous society but only stress on teaching Anglo-Australians. If the teachers barely know a thing about Indigenous people, mainstream media such as newspapers and TV is their only source to understand the aboriginal’s culture and background. Partington (2003) identified this as a potential problem for miseducation. Ignorance of indigenous beliefs, oppression, attitude and expectations dramatically causes teachers to endorse strategies that compound the unfavorable conditions of Indigenous students’ involvement and intensify their withdrawal from school.
Social Problem: Racism and stereotypes
Both recent and past literature has asserted to find no racial discrimination in schools, but it appears to be a fact from the perspectives of Indigenous society. Research (Partington et al. 2003) demonstrates that teachers are account for racism as many indigenous students and parents have encountered this problem. Teachers may dismiss aboriginal children from classroom participation in view of their cultural identity, they may unable to understand and neglect their explanations when Indigenous students are in trouble.
A discrepancy in rewards and penalties is frequent and is considered as a frequent complaint. Partington et al. (2003) reported the ill-treated processing of school and education authorities to deal with complains from Indigenous people. The reasons of the absence of identification of the validity of their complaints may be diverse; however it is believed that poor perceptions held of Indigenous community by educators and authorities is a major element. As a result, aboriginal children end up studying in an unfriendly school environment; they lose intention to learn and engage in class. Besides, parents fail to gain confidence in the school and education system and cause students’ departure from schools.
Negative media portrayal
Media plays a significant role in not only informing the public that influence Aboriginal Australians but also in the composition of social discourse on who and what is seemed to be like in Indigenous community.
In the studies on the Australian media and racial discrimination, Jakubowicz reported the insufficient awareness of contemporary media to take up their responsibilities for their productions. They tend to cultivate a bad habit and perpetuate misconception, causing further development of ethnic stereotypes. It is evidenced by a discourse analysis of two Australian’s major daily newspaper: The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian. Both of them disclosed that Indigenous community has been classifying as minorities. There is a significant short of Aboriginal opinion in Australian press. In addition, they showed that when Aboriginals do have a say, their voices are mediated by elites, institutes or government officials. Hence, the dominant impression of Indigenous students constructed by statistics and the media are considered as alcoholism, violence and uneducated (Bullimore,1999). This has caused repetitious mistakes when solving problems in schools rather than fostering their existence and potential strengths.
Cultural difference: home and school
Teacher’s ignorance between Indigenous cultural differences and Anglo-Australians causes their duties harder to handle and they are confronted with problem they are incapable to deal with. This provokes their low expectations on Indigenous students which intensify their development of low self-confidence. Thus, self fulfilling prophecy takes place in many circumstances and the labeling of student may lead them to behave in means appropriate to the label (Biggs & Telfer, 1987, p.411).
Major struggle has become a critical factor for Aboriginals. Not only they have to preserve their cultural identity but also learn to adopt Anglo-Australian cultures and strike a balance between them. Schools are perceived as agents for social cultivation. As reported in Explorations in improving outcomes for Indigenous students (2000), some of the parents have real concerns about this since they do not want their children to mix with whites and destroy their community’s culture. They identify schools as a dominant and potential destructive force for Indigenous identity and culture. What is more, several perceive schools as too many regulations, ‘kids want to play not work’; ‘too many rules, too much structures” (McRae, D. et al 2000).
Indigenous children are often labeled as nervous and timid due to their unwillingness to speak up in classroom participation and many of the teachers find this very hard to manage. When Aboriginal students come to class, they are sensitive of their extended family relationship and obligations and the expected behavior in these circumstances (Lawrence, 1994). Nevertheless, when they are at school, they may find all of the knowledge they learn from home is not applicable. Hence they may become the target of antagonism or criticism.
TOGETHER WEEK 