Education Strategy - Aboriginal Community Engagement in Curriculum Development - Case Study Example

Education Strategy [Name] [Professor Name] [Course] [Date] Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Abstract 2 Introduction 3 Pedagogical approach 4 Aboriginal community engagement in curriculum development 5 Contextualising learning 7 Action Plan 7 Confirming 8 Establishing 8 Planning 8 Implementing 9 Evaluating 9 Curriculum Focus-Overview of a Unit Of Work 9 General Aim 9 Conclusion 15 Abstract This paper presents an outcome of a critically reflected pedagogy to establish a culturally inclusive way of teaching to address the needs of an Aboriginal student (Case Study 1). The need to develop the plan is prompted by the concern that indigenous students have progressively become disengaged and withdrawn. Attendance has also declined. Attempts to engage the student have also been futile. Introduction Lack of participation in class work can considerably contribute to low retention level, non-attendance, non-engagement and lower overall achievement by the Aboriginal students. In any case, contextually, culturally appropriate and all-inclusive pedagogy and curriculum are essential instruments promoting effective learning despite the diversity of student’s background. Modern philosophy for equal opportunity recommends treatment of all students equally, transforming classes to be more culturally responsive and tackling differences (Anon, 2013). A typical way a system can offer equal access to education is through provision of variety using specific strategies. The strategy involves two key elements of contextualization of learning and collaborative engagement of Aboriginal parents in the development of curriculum. Therefore, the proposed strategy includes recognition of different ways of learning and community involvement. The strategy is to improve Aboriginal learning outcomes through capacity building and community involvement. The approach is expected to result in significant positive outcomes for Aboriginal student learning. The strategy is expected to offer a clear direction for development of curriculum in the school and for creation of pedagogical strategies that benefit the Aboriginal students’ learning outcomes so as to strengthen the relationships between the community and the school. Establishment of the learning teams involves AEAs, the members of the community and the teachers. It integrates a complementary set of knowledge to help shape the understanding of those involved (MCEECDYA, 2010). This strategy is aimed at promoting flexible learning that accommodates learning methods of both non-indigenous and Aboriginal learning methods. Flexible learning is consistent with the teaching methods that are designed to build on schema as well as scaffolding and contextualizing learning. Studies have shown that Aboriginal students generally prefer learning that involves taking of less risk. For this reason, it should be taken into perspective that Aboriginal students are likely to learn more effectively under non-threatening circumstances (MCEETYA, 2000). Additionally, since traditionally Aboriginal have dissimilar power structures are given to communicate using diverse ways, it is critical that this be accommodated for an education strategy to cater for their needs effectively. Harrison (2011) advises that in passing knowledge, students would be made uncomfortable with the ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions. Therefore, learning should be made more observational, trial- and error-based or based on real-life. Working collaboratively on a clearly outline curriculum enables the students to understand each other’s backgrounds and cultures. The students from diverse background also come to develop mutual trust and respect that necessitate two-way open discussions. Further, Aboriginal people get to appreciate that their knowledge is valued and hence will grow in confident expelling all possibilities of shame. Pedagogical approach Aboriginal community engagement in curriculum development The classrooms consist of teachers and students from diverse cultural backgrounds with divergent values. Within this context, a number of social issues influencing learning outcomes include prejudice, bias, culture and racism. Majority of these issues effectively be assuaged through involvement of the parents and the community members in the student’s learning. Aboriginal community participation in curriculum building can make the studies be more relevant to the Aboriginal student needs (Anon, 1999). The implication of beliefs of the aboriginal parents towards some aspects of study should be taken into consideration. This means that teachers need to take this into perspective. While teachers may be looking to add some pedagogical strategies, they may instead be adding a mismatch between the school expectations and that of the students and the community. A level of mismatch in beliefs between these two groups may happen in any classroom. However, it can be alleviated when there is a miscellany of the cultural backgrounds. The mismatch may be a huge challenge to the Aboriginal students leading to confusion and anxiety in classroom (Harrison, 2011). For instance, the existing pedagogy in mathematics education stresses that students should use mathematical language, thinking, problem solving and group works (Bishop, 2002). It is critical the family is brought to understand the values and aspects of various approaches to learning as well as their implications in what the students do during mathematics lessons. In case of a mismatch between the teachers and the students and parents in the set of beliefs concerning learning of mathematics in class, then student anxiety may happen, leading to withdrawal or disinterest towards learning among the students (Edwards, 2004). Concerning student anxiety and confusion as well as the likely mismatch between school expectations and home on learning, specifically for the Aboriginal students, it is essential to seek the beliefs of the parents of the Aboriginal students. Indeed, there is a need to question various values and beliefs and to develop learning experiences that capitalize on the resources and to acknowledge the experiences in the community. The discussion of these beliefs will in actual fact assist the teachers in collaborating for more effective curriculum and education strategies that improve learning outcomes for Aboriginal students (Myers, 1986). To engage the Aboriginal people effectively in the development of curriculum, the aspects of effective community partnerships and engagement have to be appreciated. Community engagement is perceived as representing a more collaborative and interactive relationship between the communities and the schools, where each partner’s needs are addressed and their capacities and strengths for the benefit of the students, teachers and parents. Such kinds of engagement are two-way learning processes where the communities can inform learning of the students. Contextualising learning Since the classrooms are culturally diverse, such diversity raises the need for teachers to appropriate the content of the subject and the pertinent learning strategies to promote effective student learning outcome. Since the Australian syllabuses have largely reflected on the values, priorities and the activities of the dominant cultures, there is a need to review the approach to accommodate the needs of the Aboriginal students. In which case, consideration should be placed on the Aboriginal learners, based on their socio-cultural context of school. In this way, the studies will be more acceptable by the Aboriginal students, particularly when the Aboriginal students build the perception that the subjects of study fit sensitively into their patterns of cultures, values and problem solving processes (Bode, 2009). Indeed, this has implication for the overall development of curriculum and creation of the right teaching strategies addressing Aboriginal student learning. It is therefore within the scope of this paper to propose that teachers should refrain from focusing on content and using materials irrelevant to the lives of the Aboriginal students. More preferably, teachers should create an environment where opportunities are provided for the Aboriginal students to learn through relevant social context in which they can trace their cultural aspects (Rose, 1998). Action Plan Four stages are proposed for the project: Confirmation, establishing, implementation and evaluation (See Table 1). Table 1: Stages of the Project Confirming Establishing Planning Implementing Evaluating March 25, 2014 May 20; June 26 Aug16; Sept 13 Oct 25; Nov 8 March 2015 Confirming At this stage, project information is distributed to the Aboriginal community to discuss their involvement in the project. Their participation is confirmed. The learning team comprises the school staff, the Indigenous community and AED. Establishing Establishment meeting (May 20) is arranged at the school to launch the project. Discussion is focused on matters concerning the learning needs of the Aboriginal students. Preliminary discussion on likely direction of the teaching and the possibility of using a local Aboriginal site is discussed. Subsequent meetings are held at the staff room to discuss with the teachers opportunities to improve Aboriginal learning. Aboriginal elders are also identified to be included in the program. Planning A meeting is held to analyse the basic skills test (BST). Many discussions on development of curriculum are held. Through the planning stage, meetings and discussions, measurement and mapping skills become the focus of the units. Implementing Teaching of the activities begins in Term 3. Permission is sought from the local Aboriginal Lands Council to use the Aboriginal sites for some class activities. Information on the plans proposed is discussed with the Indigenous elders. Evaluating Evaluation of the impact of the project on Aboriginal students is measured. Two key outcomes are measured. These include: increase Aboriginal community development and improved learning experience of aboriginal students. Curriculum Focus-Overview of a Unit Of Work General Aim To encourage Aboriginal students to become engage in overall class and school activities; to enable non-indigenous students to develop respect for Aboriginal students through knowledge of indigenous cultures, values and history. History Invasion of Indigenous Australians AIM: To show that indigenous Australians were evicted from their lands and to enable the students to contemplate whether Australia was invade or settled. OBJECTIVE: To determine student’s inherent knowledge and to show through participation in a game that many Aboriginal Australians were left homeless. OUTCOMES: Active lifestyle; Time and change; time, maths and measurement. RESOURCES: newspaper, Graph paper, yellow, black and red bandanas, Clarify to the students that this is an important lesson among a series of lessons on culture, geography and history. Invite the parents to discuss some Aboriginal ideologies and history from Aboriginal perspective, engage students in discussions on history. Questions: Do students believe that the events recorded in history happened at the first time non-indigenous Australian arrived. Do the students acknowledge whether Australia the British arrival an invasion of Australia. Discuss the arrival of British in 1788 to invade the land when the indigenous Australians had lived in Australia as sole inhabitants for over 40,000 years. Demonstrate to the students that land is sacred among the indigenous Australians. Make students work in pairs to formulate a timeline indicating the period of time Aboriginal Australians had lived in Australia, as well as the length of time the non-indigenous Australians have stayed in Australia. Take the students outside to play a game that demonstrates the effects of colonisation on the indigenous people. Aboriginal Australians: Post Invasion AIM: To enlighten about how indigenous Australians lost freedom after the British invaded Australia. OBJECTIVES: To generate a fictional text about life during invasion. OUTCOMES: Cultures; English, Reading and writing RESOURCES: Russell, E. (2000). A Is For Aunty. Explain to the students that many indigenous Australians were segregated following the segregation policy. They were therefore lived on missions. Introduce to students the text ‘A is for Aunty. Explain and summarise the text afterwards. Read the text with the class. Explain each sentence ahead of reading. Afterwards discuss the meaning (Harrison, 2011). Lead students into brainstorming new content for story writing. Apply the text as guide to write a short story on life portraying segregation after the invasion. Invite a parent to tell a story from the perspective of the Indigenous Australians portraying how life on a mission should have felt. FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT: Students can sort out and identify keywords from the text to compose a short story based on a given theme. Indigenous Geography of Australia Indigenous Australians of NSW AIM: To demonstrate that Australia has often been multicultural OBJECTIVE: Students should be able to create a family tree to demonstrate the family’s country of origin. OUTCOMES: Time and Change; Cultures; maths. English, Language Varieties. RESOURCES: Graph paper, MAP 1 (DLALC, 2011), Map 2 (PSCD, 2011). Inform students that this lesson concerns the indigenous geography of Australia. Display Map 1 to demonstrate how Darkinjung people of the Central Coast of New South Wales are the original inhabitants of the Central Coast. Explain what the significance of have occupied the area before the invasions signifies to the students. Lead students to locate Pretty Beach on Map 1 and determine whether it lies within the Darkinjung boundary. Let the students identify any other country name that they can identify on the map. Display Map 2 to students to show the outlines of NSW and how it was fragmented into Aboriginal nations. Explain to the students that each of the nations identified had own territory, culture, history and dialect that was independent to the other. Explain to the students that Australia has and will always be a multicultural nation. FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT: Students find local areas on a map Indigenous Culture Visit an Aboriginal site AIM: Introduce learners to Indigenous arts and cultures OBJECTIVE: Expose the students to Aboriginal cultures, values, traditions. Enable them to appreciate these cultures, traditions and values. OUTCOMES: Creative Art; Cultures RESOURCES: Signed permission slips from the parents, Art journals, volunteering parents, local indigenous elder. Inform the students that this lesson introduces them to indigenous traditional creative aspects, such as Indigenous Art. Invite volunteering parents, a local Indigenous elder to lead the class through an Aboriginal site to discuss the rock arts and other cultural aspects. Divide the students into groups. Each group is given a worksheet that contains pictures of rock art. Each group has to mark off the rock art when they see it as well as write descriptive notes. FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT: Students can identify aspects of the indigenous rock arts from their art journals. For instance, students can identify the designs and patterns as well as identify the intricate figures detained in the artwork such as animals. Indigenous Art AIM: Introduces students to the figurative nature of the Dreamtime stories and indigenous art OBJECTIVES: Students should be able produce an artwork through the styles and symbols from the Aboriginal rock art. Students should be able to generate a short fictional story on how the identified animal may have helped create landscape RESOURCES: paint brushes, art paper, Dreamtime story. OUTCOMES: Cultures, English, Creative Arts, English Writing Lead the students to discuss the rock arts during the excursion. Invite a volunteer Indigenous parent to narrate a Dreamtime story. Discuss the significance of Dreamtime story to the Indigenous people. Read a Dreamtime story (Edwards, 1998). Students need to paint an animal in line with Aboriginal styles. Students should compose a short story showing how the animal may have helped create the landscape. Bring and Indigenous artwork to class AIM: To allow the students to appreciate and to think about Aboriginal arts and cultures as its significance on the Indigenous society. OBJECTIVE: To enable the students to participate in a class new activity with the theme on Indigenous art and culture. Students also get to listen to a narration of a story delivered by a local Indigenous elder. OUCTOMES: Cultures, Talking and listening, English RESOURCES: An organised visit from indigenous elders or volunteering parents. The artwork could be anything that has an Indigenous Australian theme found at home or that has been borrowed from an archive or a library. Students could discuss about the symbols, designs, the meanings or how the objects of interest were use by the Indigenous Australians. A local elder in invited to the class to narrate some stories about life in the olden Australia after the British invasions. FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT: Students should be able to choose the right artefacts as well as how respect for the culture of the Indigenous people when they discuss the artworks. Conclusion Provision of equal access to education can be enabled through contextualization of learning and collaborative engagement of Aboriginal parents in the development of curriculum. The strategy can improve Aboriginal learning outcomes through capacity building and community involvement. The approach is expected to result in significant positive outcomes for Aboriginal student learning. The strategy is further expected to offer a clear direction for development of curriculum in the school and for creation of pedagogical strategies that benefit the Aboriginal students’ learning outcomes as strengthen the relationships between the community and the school. Establishment of the learning teams involves AEAs, the members of the community and the teachers. It will integrate a complementary set of knowledge to help shape the understanding of those involved. A major strength of the strategy is that it can promote flexible learning that accommodates learning methods of both non-indigenous and Aboriginal learning methods. References Anon (1999). Indigenous Education Strategy. Retrieved: Anon (2013). Aboriginal Inquiry: Lifting All Learners. Retrieved: Bode, P. (2009). Multicultural Education. Retrieved from Educattion.com Website: Bishop A. (2002). ‘Critical challenges in researching cultural issues in mathematics education.’ Journal of Intercultural Studies, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp 119–131. Edwards, W. H. (2004). Relating to others in society: social organisation. In An introduction to Aboriginal societies (2nd ed.) (pp. 52-66). South Melbourne, Vic. : Thomson/Social Science Press. Edwards, B. (1998). Living the dreaming. In C. Bourke, E. Bourke, & B. Edwards (Eds.), Aboriginal Australia : an introductory reader in Aboriginal studies (2nd ed.) (pp. 77-99). St Lucia, Qld : University of Queensland Press. Harrison, N. (2011). Teaching and Learning in Indigenous Education (2nd ed). Melbourne: Oxford University Press Myers, F.R. (1986). Always ask: resource use and land ownership among Pintupi Aborigines of the Australian Western Desert. In N. M. Williams & E.S. Hunn (Eds.), Resource managers: North American and Australian hunter-gatherers. (pp. 173-195). Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies Rose, D.B. (1998). Consciousness and responsibility in an Australian Aboriginal religion. In W.H. Edwards (Ed.), Traditional Aboriginal society (2nd ed.) (pp. 239-251). South Melbourne: MacMillan MCEECDYA (2010). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander: Education Action Plan. Carlton: Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood MCEETYA (2000) Achieving Educational Equality for Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Retrieved: Read More