What are the benefits, potential pitfalls and dangers of using of sport as a motivator to improve educational outcomes for

Aboriginal students? A long history of Aboriginal involvement in sport has been recorded in Australia. In fact, the first sports team to represent Australia overseas was the an all-Indigenous team of Aboriginal men from the lands of western Victoria (Korff, 2012). Led by star all-rounder Johnny Mullagh (Unaarrimin), the team played 47 games over six months in what is now considered the greatest battle in modern cricket - the battle for the Ashes. The team was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2002. Today, there are over 13,000 registered Aboriginal cricketeers across Australia, a figure that pales in comparison to the many thousands of Aboriginal footballers in Australia rules or rugby league (Korff, 2012). The successes of Aboriginal men and women in sport is often seen as a symbol of hope for the future betterment of social conditions in Aboriginal communities (Tatz, 1987, Vamplew & Stoddard, 1994). As Michael O Loughlin, an Aboriginal AFL player comments, Sport was the first pathway that embraced Aboriginal people and gave them the opportunity to compete on equal playing field (Korff, 2012). Increasingly, sport is used as a motivator to improve educational outcomes for Aboriginal students. Various initiatives such as no school, no pool policies or school-based sports academies and education engagement strategies, which fall under the auspices of the Sporting Chance program, were introduced in schools as hooks for the targeted Aboriginal youths (Purdie & Buckley, 2010). These initiatives were guided by the rationale that sport serves as a vehicle to increase the level of engagement of Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander students in their schooling to encourage positive educational outcomes (Australian Government, 2013). To what extent, and how else, have these strategies affected the Aboriginal peoples? This paper aims to explore the benefits, potential pitfalls and dangers of using sport as a motivator to improve educational outcomes for Aboriginal students.

The notion that sport could potentially be a driver for improving Aboriginal students academic performance is not one without merit. Since its inception, sporting programs have significantly impacted the school attendance and retention rates of Aboriginal children. Purdie and Buckley (2010) cites the Clontarf Foundations 2009 Annual Report which provided evidence of a 77% attendance rate across all academies. In particular, they note that 76% of Year 12 students achieved a fully recognised graduation and, of that, 75% were in full-time employment within a year of graduation (pg. 10). Beyond enhancing their academic outcomes, sporting programs also support the social and personal development of Aboriginal youths. The Clontarf Foundation, which creates football academies to attract and keep participants in school, noted statistical and anecdotal evidence of other positive outcomes such as

participants: enhanced sense of self-esteem and self awareness; knowledge and experience of making healthy lifestyle decisions; reduced criminal offences; and elevated goal setting abilities (Clontarf Foundation, 2007). These results are validated Tatz (2012) who comments that, at a level just short of empirical proof, there is no doubt that sports facilities, participation, and competition have had a marked impact on junior crimes against property and on assaults. He exemplifies this with the striking case of Port Lincoln in South Australia where: in winter, during the football season, juvenile offending by Aboriginals is virtually nil. Off season, it soars. He concludes that neither the police nor the Aboriginal community doubt the relationship and further comments that the relationship bears out in many other Aboriginal communities including, Broome and Geraldton in Western Australia (pg. 926).

Whilst evidence that Aboriginal involvement in sport reduces delinquency may be recognised a benefit of sport, this viewpoint is also highly problematic. Such ideas perpetuate the continued perception of Indigenous people as either sport stars or criminals (Hokuwhitu, 2008). Coram (2007) states that Indigenous athletes are typically constructed as troubled. She cites Lines (2001) in stating that sport stars are increasingly positioned by the media as damaged heroes, creating the current dilemma as to weather sport stars can or should be worthy role models for young people. These contentions are highly noteworthy as they signify a potential pitfall of many sporting programs and educational engagement strategies which are built around the use of role models to provide inspiration, encouragement, and support to young Aboriginal students (Australian Government, 2013). Although it is acknowledged that role models play an important part to generate hope and agency in students, they are often depicted as transcending race through their personal dignity in popular discourse (Coram, 2007). Godwell (2000) suggests that a reoccurring theme about the disadvantaged individual who does good through sport is presented by popular press agencies. They tended to describe the athletic achievements of an individual, then proceed to offer some quasi-ethnography of the implications for other individuals of the same circumstances. Personal triumphs and achievements of Aboriginal sportspersons were attributed to their innate talent rather than hard work. This belief about physical talent arising from a natural genetic advantage is difficult to destablise since they are held by both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people (Godwell, 2000; Coram, 2007, Fitzpatrick, 2011). However, such assumptions may limit the potential of towards unrealistic ambitions of Aboriginals youths (Hikowhitu, 2008) by channeling them

careers as professional athletes (Edwards, 1969; Godwell, 2000; Coram, 2007) and confining them within the sphere of sport in which they are accommodated (Fredericks, Croft, & Lamb, 2002).

Perceptions of difference in abilities, as categorised by race, has also strongly affected Aboriginal females. In the words of Fredericks, Croft, and Lamb (2002), most people within the sporting realm have no idea of the way in which the politics of white supremacy shaped and informed the Australian sporting world. We constantly see how the sporting world selects Aboriginal sportswomen in ways that call attention to the specificity of race and gender. Such discussions, centered around racial otherness, has also seeped into classrooms where they are used as motivators for disadvantaged students. In a paper which discussed teachers assumptions around the concepts of integrating Aboriginal role models and teaching bridge building, Sleeter (1993) points out the biased perspective of those who use role models to instill pride in children and show them that members of their group can succeed if they work hard. However, strong belief in the natural Indigenous efficacy for sport is not necessarily a damaging one. In fact, Godwell (2000) posits that this belief forms an essential element of a positive spiral of belief, confidence, behaviour, success and identity, returning to the reinforcement of the belief. Parallel effects of such a spiral was also witnessed by Fitzpatrick (2011) who noted that students were convinced about the value of physical education (PE) in their lives, finding it enjoyable, motivating, and their space in school. Their uptake of PE as non-academic and for them served to reinforce assumptions about their natural physical prowess (pg. 143). Despite this, both authors noted potential dangers relating to the spiral. Firstly, although the power of such a spiral was highly significant, the process was not invincible. Every subject interviewed vividly recalled instances where the positive spiral was violently disrupted, the point of rupture was racism (Godwell, 2000). Also, the stereotype of physical superiority sets up a dichotomy between physical black/brown students and intellectual white students. This can inhibit the educational success of black athletes who are exploited by schools and universities for their athletic abilities, expecting little academic success from them (Fitzpatrick, 2000).

In addition to the enhancing students academic performance, many sporting initiatives are set up with the aim of encouraging participation in sport for healthy and positive lifestyles (Australian Government, 2013). Health benefits is another often heralded advantage of living an active life. Sport is seen as a powerful tool in the fight against rampant diabetes and many of todays illnesses (Tatz, 2012). Physical regiments, especially when combined with good nutritional and dietary standards, serves as a powerful deterrent against ill health. Parents of several participants in a sports program also linked youths increased activity levels with better behaviour (Riley & Butcher, 2012). Tazt (2012) suggests that involvement in sports not only improves an individuals physical health, but also positively affects their mental health. She contends since participants were enmeshed in a social network of teammates, coaches, health

professional, community and family, the athletic participants experienced less anomie and a much greater sense of social integration (pg. 927). In her paper, Tazt (2012), quotes an Aboriginal Tiwi Islander who said for the Tiwi people football means hope, it means pride and most of all it means life. Drawing from this strong connection between Aboriginal people and sport, Tazt (2012) concludes that for Aboriginals, in many ways, sport is survival: it provides a purpose in life, an activity of real meaning, a sense of coherence, a purpose for being, a sense of power and empowerment, a space of enjoyment, of being and holding together and a feeling of autonomy, however brief (pg. 931). This central positioning of sport in the lives of Aboriginal people is, however, one that must be viewed critically. As Collard (personal conversations, 2013) cautions, not all Aboriginal people are good at, or even interested in, sport. By making such generalised assumptions about Aboriginal students, we could potentially be setting them up to fail or restricting the avenues that they have to participate in the education system. This, in turn, denies Aboriginal youths the opportunity for academic success.

In conclusion, using sports as a motivator to improve the academic outcomes of Aboriginal students has clearly affected the Aboriginal community in both a positive and negative manner. Involvement in sport was related to a greater sense of belonging; enhanced academic achievement; school attendance and engagement; less substance use and delinquency; enhanced social competence; and increased mental health (Riley & Butcher, 2012). It is unsurprising, then, that sport is said to offer one of the few accessible opportunities for Indigenous peoples to experience social improvement and positive life experiences (Godwell, 2000). However, it is commonplace for generalisations to be made about the character building nature of sport and the resultant role that sport plays in realising many of the ambitious educational goals set for it by the government (Donovan, MacPhail, & Kirk, 2010). The absence of criticism has enabled assumptions about the Indigenous experiences in sport to go unevaluated (Godwell, 2000), some to the detriment of the Aboriginal community it originally intended to aid. These presumptions could potentially: limit the academic achievements of students; restrict future pathways; create wider racial divides; and exclude individuals from educational opportunities. Thus, it is pertinent to remember that while sport offers a readymade opportunity to spread a positive sense of self across other aspects of life, to achieve this we must be deliberate, astute, and pragmatic. With hope, there will come a time when sports utility to encourage will be obsolete, superseded by increased possibilities across the spectrum of human endeavour and experience (Godwell, 2002, pg. 18).

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