Engaging Indigenous students: The important relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and their teachers

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit at The University of Queensland has identified the need to develop detailed monitoring strategies to gauge the participation and academic performance of indigenous students at The University of Queensland. To reach this goal the Unit has launched a project which aims to investigate the participation and post-study destinations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

Download Full-text

Listening to and learning from the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to facilitate success

Student Success ◽

10.5204/ssj.v7i1.317 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 1-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Katelyn Barney

Keyword(s):

Undergraduate Students ◽

Torres Strait Islander ◽

Success Factors ◽

Indigenous Australian ◽

Indigenous Students ◽

Future Developments ◽

Torres Strait ◽

The University ◽

Tertiary Study

Drawing on interviews with current and past Indigenous undergraduate students at the University of Queensland (UQ), this paper reports on findings from a project that explored the experiences of Indigenous Australian students and identified inhibitors and success factors for students. It also discusses one of the outcomes of the project and planned future developments that aim to provide better support for Indigenous Australian students at UQ. By knowing and acting upon the kinds of mechanisms that can assist Indigenous students, their experiences of tertiary study can be enhanced, leading to more students enrolling in and completing university study.

Download Full-text

Incorporating Indigenous Students’ Cultural Knowledge More Productively in Mathematics and Science Classrooms: One Focus for Pre-Service Teacher Education Research and Practice

eTropic electronic journal of studies in the tropics ◽

10.25120/etropic.13.1.2014.3322 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Philemon Chigeza ◽

Hilary Whitehouse

Keyword(s):

Teacher Education ◽

Torres Strait Islander ◽

Meaning Making ◽

Cultural Knowledge ◽

Professional Standards ◽

Science Classrooms ◽

Indigenous Students ◽

Torres Strait ◽

The Impact ◽

Mathematics And Science

There is widespread agreement that Indigenous students’ cultural knowledge is desirably incorporated into curriculum and pedagogical practice. Classroom research shows Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners can use the cognitive tools of their cultural community to engage with school science. We looked towards our own practice as teacher educators to investigate the question: how can pre-service teachers explore how Indigenous cultural knowledge can be used more productively in mathematics and science classrooms? Teachers across Australia are now regulated by the National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST). Teacher education is now regulated by the National Graduate Teacher Standards (AITSL 2011). Standard 1.4 requires that graduating teachers are able to “demonstrate broad knowledge and understanding of the impact of culture, cultural identity and linguistic background on the education of students from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds”. Standard 2.4 requires that graduating teachers “demonstrate broad knowledge and understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and languages”. In this paper we present an account of our present understanding of capacity building practises, which are those pedagogies that draw on Indigenous students’ cultural resources: cultural disposition, community knowledge and cultural capital. A key purpose of the presentation is to emphasise the socially negotiated, cultural and embedded nature of meaning-making in science education and how this can be made more apparent given the current focus on implementing the National Professional Standards for Teachers and the new Australian Curriculum.

Download Full-text

Introduction

The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education ◽

10.1017/jie.2012.2 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 41 (1) ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Elizabeth Mackinlay ◽

Katelyn Barney

Keyword(s):

Cultural Heritage ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Torres Strait Islander ◽

Indigenous Australians ◽

Working Relationships ◽

Colonial History ◽

Indigenous Australian ◽

Indigenous Students ◽

Torres Strait ◽

Pedagogical Approaches

Indigenous Australian studies, also called Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies, is an expanding discipline in universities across Australia (Nakata, 2004). As a discipline in its own right, Indigenous Australian studies plays an important role in teaching students about Australia's colonial history and benefits both non-Indigenous and Indigenous students by teaching them about Australia's rich and shared cultural heritage (Craven, 1999, pp. 23–25). Such teaching and learning seeks to actively discuss and deconstruct historical and contemporary entanglements between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and, in doing so, help build better working relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. As educators in this discipline, it is important for us to find pedagogical approaches which make space for these topics to be accessed, understood, discussed and engaged with in meaningful ways.

Download Full-text

Historical and Dialectical Perspectives on the Teaching of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Musics in the Australian Education System

The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education ◽

10.1017/s132601110000380x ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 32 ◽

pp. 29-40 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Elizabeth Mackinlay ◽

Peter Dunbar-Hall

Keyword(s):

Music Education ◽

Education System ◽

Torres Strait Islander ◽

Indigenous Studies ◽

Indigenous Students ◽

Music Program ◽

Australian Education ◽

History Of ◽

Torres Strait ◽

Postcolonial Discourse

AbstractIndigenous studies (also referred to as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies) has a double identity in the Australian education system, consisting of the education of Indigenous students and education of all students about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and histories. Through explanations of the history of the inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musics in Australian music education, this article critiques ways in which these musics have been positioned in relation to a number of agendas. These include definitions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musics as types of Australian music, as ethnomusicological objects, as examples of postcolonial discourse, and as empowerment for Indigenous students. The site of discussion is the work of the Australian Society for Music Education, as representative of trends in Australian school-based music education, and the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music at the University of Adelaide, as an example of a tertiary music program for Indigenous students.

Download Full-text

Community gets you through: Success factors contributing to the retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students

Student Success ◽

10.5204/ssj.v9i4.654 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 13-23

Author(s):

Katelyn Barney

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Student Retention ◽

Torres Strait Islander ◽

Success Factors ◽

Indigenous Students ◽

Indigenous Student ◽

Undergraduate Study ◽

Success In Higher Education ◽

Torres Strait

This paper explores success factors contributing to the retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students identified through a National Teaching Fellowship. Interviews with Indigenous HDR graduates are analysed to explore inhibiting and success factors to completing an HDR. While the fellowship focused mostly on building successful pathways from undergraduate study into HDRs, interviewees also discussed success factors for completing an HDR. In order to address Indigenous student retention and success in higher education, finding out what contributes to successful HDR completions for Indigenous students across diverse disciplines is critical.

Download Full-text

The Fourth R — Reconciliation and the Maintenance of indigenous Language in Urban Secondary Schools

The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education ◽

10.1017/s1326011100001769 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

pp. 8-11

Author(s):

Sue Jade

Keyword(s):

Secondary Schools ◽

Torres Strait Islander ◽

Subject Area ◽

Northern Territory ◽

Language Of Instruction ◽

Indigenous Students ◽

Indigenous Student ◽

Language Studies ◽

Junior Secondary ◽

Torres Strait

Indigenous students in urban secondary schools in the Northern Territory are faced with barriers to their success in learning, in the education race. Amongst these is the question of language studies. Like all students, they must study English as a separate subject, they must study all other subjects using English as the language of instruction, and they must study a second language, a language other than English (LOTE), as a component of their Junior Secondary Studies Certificate. Most schools offer Indonesian and some are able to offer a broader choice. For the Indigenous student, social justice demands an addition to this range. It is illogical and unfair that schools, in some cases with up to 30 per cent Indigenous students, do not include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages in their programs. It is also shortsighted of schools to ignore the opportunity to provide these students with a subject area in which their culture is dominant.

Download Full-text

Employability readiness for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students: Yarning Circles as a methodological approach to illuminate student voice

Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability ◽

10.21153/jtlge2021vol12no2art962 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 1-18

Author(s):

Michelle J. Eady ◽

Joel Keen

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Research Methods ◽

Student Voice ◽

Torres Strait Islander ◽

Methodological Approach ◽

Indigenous Research ◽

Indigenous Students ◽

Skill Sets ◽

Torres Strait ◽

Personal Reflections

This paper describes the current situation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander graduates entering the workforce and compares this with personal reflections from current Indigenous students engaged in the tertiary setting. The purpose is twofold: first, to promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student voice; and second, to provide an avenue for this voice to contribute to and influence the design of employability programs in higher education. This study examines how the use of Indigenous research methods, such as yarning/yarning circles, can effectively and ethically collect data to amplify and promote the student voice in ways that conventional Western research methods currently fail to do. This amplified voice can create a platform for researchers and practitioners to understand students’ views and implement informed and tailored approaches to planning programs and delivering curriculum; in this case, employability-readiness skill sets for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in higher education. The findings are analysed thematically, and recommendations presented for higher-education institutions to consider when creating pedagogical approaches for the employability readiness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander graduates.

Download Full-text

Higher Education Completion Rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students Using A Multi-Agency Matched Population Cohort

International Journal for Population Data Science ◽

10.23889/ijpds.v5i5.1491 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (5) ◽

Author(s):

Megan Ladbrook ◽

Luke Hendrickson

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Torres Strait Islander ◽

Demographic Data ◽

Information Management System ◽

Income Support ◽

Completion Rates ◽

Indigenous Students ◽

Wide Range ◽

Random Forest Tree ◽

Torres Strait

Using the Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (MADIP), which combines health, tax, welfare and demographic data with student data, our analysis looked at the relationship between income support and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university completion rates. IntroductionDomestic undergraduate university completion rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are significantly lower (40%) than non-Indigenous students (66%). Few prior studies have used population level matched data from multiple agencies to analyse the determinants of Australian Indigenous completion rates. Objectives and ApproachWe aimed to quantify the major determinants driving the completion rates of Indigenous students in Australian undergraduate university courses compared with domestic non-Indigenous students. We used the Higher Education Information Management System (HEIMS) linked to the MADIP creating approximately 555, 000 records. A Random forest tree was constructed to determine the most important indicators for outcome of interest which were then used for matching and statistical analysis. Summary statistics and a binomial logit was used on the matched sample to confirm significance. ResultsWe found that Indigenous students are more likely to start university belonging to around three equity groups such as having a lower socio-economic status background, older commencement age and being the first member of their family to attend university. However, Indigenous status remains a significant contributor to lower completion rates after controlling for a wide range of equity groups. One factor that has a positive influence on Indigenous university completion rates is access to study assistance. Completion rates for Indigenous students who were not members of other equity groups on income support was 70 per cent compared to 57 per cent for similar students on no income support. Conclusion / ImplicationsThese linked datasets provide the opportunity to better evaluate the drivers of completion rates of Australian Indigenous students to inform and evaluate policy reforms.

Download Full-text