Option 2

This essay will focus on the key underlying issues regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander students. The essay will target the importance of the inclusion of Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander students focusing on school disciplinary practices and their effects on

student behaviour. The essay will also explore social factors that contribute to social inequity

and behavioural problems that Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander (ATSI) students face. The

discussion of the different kinds of practices I will take as a future educator will be presented

in this essay which will promote positive, respectful relationships with ATSI students to

reduce punishment and suspension. Such practices will include the inclusion of Aboriginal

games in practical lessons to create a supportive environment for all students. Programs such

as ‘Close the Gap’ and ‘Social and Emotional Learning’ will be explored as a way to

understand what can be done to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students improve

their health and wellbeing.

Schools have disciplinary practices that do not always seem to meet the needs of Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander students. It is important to understand the needs of ATSI students

before making disciplinary actions. For example, it is seen to be disrespectful in the eyes of

ATSI people to look at someone in the eyes while they are talking. This can be a major factor

in schools as teachers always emphasis the need for eye contact as a show of respect and that

students are paying attention to what is being said. Another example is that for non –

Indigenous people it is disrespectful to talk while someone else is talking. This is seen

differently by indigenous people as they believe that many people can talk at the same time

and they can choose who they want to listen to and respond accordingly. A key disciplinary

practice that is important in the schooling system is to respect one another and what they

bring to school each day. The ‘Close the Gap’ campaign is an effective program which aims

to minimise differences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians COAG Council

of Australian Governments (2008). The program’s focus is to improve the health of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and improve their health and life expectancy.

Informing them of their statistics raises awareness which allows educators to motivate

students to improve their health and wellbeing. The Close the Gap campaign also focuses on

improving education levels of ATSI people but does not overlook the importance of culture.

Culture plays a vital role in the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as their

connection to their surroundings is often overlooked by people of a non – Indigenous

background. Introducing Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) into schools can be an

effective tool to address Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students’ behaviour, wellbeing

and inclusion within the school environment. Social and Emotional Learning is an approach

which allows students and adults to control their behaviour and attitude in order to acquire

reasonable skills helping them understand the situations that they may find themselves in

Hoffman, D.M. (2009). This will allow students to develop empathy towards each other and

display positive attitudes thus creating a supportive environment for one another. Social and

Emotional learning can create a supportive environment through many programs, such

programs include ‘Respectful Relationships’ by the Victoria State government. This program

aims to educate teachers from government, catholic and independent schools allowing them

to understand the diverse nature of today’s schooling system Education.vic.gov.au. (2017).

The program has a strong emphasis on everyone having respect for each other in order to

have a positive impact during the schooling years of the student and of course the rest of their

lives. This could play a vital role in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student’s

improvement in school as they are being treated with the same respect that non – indigenous

students are being treated with. In saying so, it will allow students to become more engaged

in class and improve their academic results.

There are many social factors which contribute to behavioural problems leading to social

inequity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Problems which occur at home

that are not dealt with can cause many behavioural issues at school. The student may not be

able to express themselves due to their lack of knowledge on behavioural control and will

retaliate in school causing issues between students. It is important to include SEL in school

programs to allow students to manage their problems ensuring social inequity is minimised. If

students do not receive the necessary help in school, they will not be able to improve

academically and socially causing separation between students and teachers. Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander students are more likely to suffer from discrimination and isolation in

school due to their inability to connect with others. This can cause social inequity as it

demotivates them to come to school and increase truancy rates. Due to this inability to

connect with others the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are more likely to be

bullied at school and cannot express themselves to their teachers to address the possible

cultural and personal issues. This can hinder the results of the students as they will not want

to participate in school and have a decrease in academic results. Due to being harassed and

bullied the students will feel a sense of rejection in school, possibly causing exclusion and

mental health issues. The students do not know how to express themselves in these situations

and may become disruptive in class. Due to these actions the teachers may punish the

students as they also do not understand what they are going through. In saying so, this can

cause a lack of connection between the students and school causing further behavioural and

social inequity problems. Lack of access to support services can also play a vital role to the

influence of poor behaviour by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Due to being

socioeconomically disadvantaged the students will not know how to further express

themselves in certain situations in the school setting.

The school can make a difference to the ATSI students’ lives by simply recognising the

importance of culture in class. Activities can be created in class which promote the

importance of culture to an individual’s identity. This will develop respectful relationships

between students as they will be able to understand the different perspectives of their

classmates. In doing so, the classroom will have a positive nature and become an easier place

to learn for all students. As a future secondary classroom teacher I will also invite a guest

speaker of Aboriginal decent to speak about the significance of culture and how it has shaped

the way they live. With regards to my key learning area Personal Development Health and

Physical Education (PDHPE) I will introduce aboriginal games in my practical lessons from

the book ‘Yulunga – traditional Indigenous games’. The Yulunga book contains over 100

activities which can be used either as games or skill activities and provides all Australian’s a

chance to discover and acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander beliefs and cultures

Sportingschools.gov.au. (2017). Each game has information on how to play the game, which

tribe the game originated from, what it was used for and how the items in each game were

created. For example, ‘Wittchim’ was an activity used in Victoria whereby the locals would

stand in a circle and once nominated, the individual would have to stalk a feather tied to stick

in imitation of what the animal is. The purpose of the game was to acknowledge the different

ways in which each individual would hunt. This specific game will give non-indigenous

students an insight on one of the oldest cultures in the world. Another game that can be used

as a great example is ‘Millim Baeyeetch’ which consisted of two teams with the intention of

keeping the ball away from the other team. The players who do not have the ball will run

around the playing area to give the player with the ball an opportunity to kick the ball to

them. This can be linked to how AFL (Australian Football League) is played today and could

allow students to gain connection between each other. According to the Australian

Government, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations; statistics

show that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience a higher rate of suspension

in schools. Aboriginal female students face 251 short suspensions annually per 1000 students

and 37 long suspensions at the same ratio. Aboriginal male students face 629 short

suspensions annually per 1000 students and 168 long suspensions annually per 1000 students.

This ratio is far greater than non – Indigenous students where non – Aboriginal female

students face 62 short suspensions annually per 1000 students, and 11 long suspensions at the

same ratio. Non - Aboriginal male students face 188 short suspensions per 1000 students and

43 long suspensions at the same ratio. Suspension can occur for many different reasons with

the intention of moving threat away from the school to maintain a safe environment for

students. In saying so, is suspension a vital tool in creating a better environment? It has been

made evident that suspension is a tool that is overly used by teachers in order to remove

disruptive student instead of focusing on the issues at hand. Suspension can also be seen as a

holiday by students meaning that students receive extra days off during the schooling year.

Failure to meet student’s needs can result in student suspension. The school’s disciplinary

policies are magnificently influenced by the teachers and their beliefs causing a bias result. It

is important for teachers to hold meetings with executives at the school in order to examine

student behaviour. By doing so, teachers are able to reflect and examine which strategies may

or may not be working to reduce suspension.

In summation, it has been made evident that there are key underlying factors which influence

Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander students’ inclusion in school. It is also evident that there

are many support groups which help students deal with these factors. Such support groups

include the close the gap campaign and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programs. These

programs aim to minimise the gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and

non-Indigenous students and have proven to be effective. It has also been made evident that

students learn through different methods and cannot be treated the same. By educating
teachers on different methods of practice, it allows them to create diverse approaches towards

teaching. This will allow teachers to make informative decisions during class and have an

understanding on each student rather than having a bias approach. This essay also explains

the importance of education and the importance of minimising suspension in school. There

are many strategies that could be used as a future teacher to encourage learning and create a

supportive environment for all students. By introducing culture into classes it gives students

an insight on one another allowing them to create a relationship between each other. When

considering my key learning area, as a future educator it is important not to assume that

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are ‘problems’ to be fixed, but rather to create a

relationship with the students and their community to work towards a common goal; the

improvement of their social, mental and academic aspects of their lives.

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