Suchergebnisse

2020 looms large for Indigenous education in Australia, with the 'Refreshed' Close the Gap strategy hanging over the collective heads of schools, Indigenous students and their families. After a decade of promises, there is now an acknowledgement within the government that programmes to improve student outcomes in literacy, numeracy and school engagement, as currently implemented, have little possibility in affecting the changes required to sustainably shift Indigenous student's schooling success. This paper draws together the findings from eleven concurrent systematic reviews of Australian Indigenous education (AER, 2019, 29(1)) and an in-depth analysis of four key underpinning elements of a culturally nourishing education for Australian Indigenous students. It is argued that the four tenets of this model centres on the curriculum construct of Learning from Country, the authentic inclusion of cultural practices and Indigenous languages in both curriculum and school practice, establishing epistemic and pedagogic mentoring for teachers and the development of a robust professional development model to support a transformative shift in teachers' pedagogic practices. The authors argue that a whole-school approach explicitly negotiated with and supported by Indigenous families, and that centres these key principles are required if the promise of educational success is ever to be met.

The import of professional learning in support of quality teaching is well established. Moreover, demonstrating active engagement with ongoing professional learning is now a requirement of maintaining teacher accreditation. For example, within an education policy climate that monitors the achievements of Indigenous learners closely, the evaluation and efficacy of educators with constructively addressing the experiences of these students is under increasing scrutiny, and hence, the significance of professional learning is further heightened. But, what sort of professional learning is well suited and effective in contributing to this undertaking? This systematic review investigated the veracity of the evidence underpinning professional learning research projects that aimed to make a positive change in the approach and abilities of schools to effectively improve the learning experiences of Indigenous students in Australia over the last 10 years. The themes that emerged from the review emphasise the import of future professional learning practices finding ways to more genuinely ensure that Indigenous peoples contribute to leading these activities, explicitly address issues to do with culture, (anti) racism, power and relationships in schooling, and localise the politics of knowledge construction through the alignment of curriculum, pedagogy and context.

One of the aims of a systematic literature review (SLR) is to test the weight of his- torical perception against the reality of research and practice. A second aim is to identify approaches to knowing in schools (defined as curriculum) that might help us to identify possibilities for improvement in Indigenous student engagement and achievement in Australian schools. Given that education is representational prac- tice, this SLR explores various representations of the world and how these might be taught in schools in ways that support "successful learning" for Indigenous students. We focus on how the curriculum might allow for multiple stories to be told, and how it can support the multiplicity of social and cultural identities. The question for this segment of the SLR is, how does curriculum govern learning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in Australia? A comprehensive search of the research literature produced over the period 2006–2017 highlights how the Australian government's focus on numbers contrasts radically with the ways in which many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and their parents conceptualise the goals of education.