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Gauging the value of education for disenfranchised youth : flexible learning options
\"Disengagement of youth from schooling is an issue of significant national and international concern, and is a key driver of educational policy and reform that look to maximise school retention for the benefit of both students and the wider community. In Australia, Flexible Learning Options (FLOs) have arisen as a response to the premature disengagement from schooling of a sizeable number of Australian youth. FLOs attend to the educational, social and well-being needs of young people experiencing complex life circumstances, yet empirical evidence of their value to date has been largely anecdotal. The significance of this book lies in its innovative approach to gauging the value of FLOs--to young people themselves, as well as the wider Australian community. Drawing on past research and new findings from a national investigation, the authors provide novel insight into the pressures pushing young people out of schools and the mechanisms at work in FLOs to re-engage them in education. The varied contributions of this book elucidate many of the measurable impacts of FLOs on the life trajectories of disenfranchised youth, including improved economic integration, mental and emotional wellbeing, and myriad other outcomes. The significance of this project lies in its exploration of how young people and staff understand the transformative nature of the FLO experience, with an analysis that brings to light the wider value of this type of educational intervention in terms of long term community benefit\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Aboriginal students' journeys to university - privileging our sovereign voices
Since invasion the trajectory of colonial education in Australia has been linear; most students are expected to complete primary and secondary education, and, if accepted, seamlessly transition to university by 18 years of age. The reality is that many students do not experience continuity in their education, let alone reach university, and this can be particularly problematic for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2024; Productivity Commission, 2024). Put simply, Australia's education system continues to fail many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, further silencing our sovereign voices. Drawing on an Indigenist research paradigm (Rigney, 1999) and Aboriginal ways of knowing, being and doing (Martin / Mirraboopa, 2003; Moreton- Robinson, 2013), five Aboriginal university students generously shared their journeys to university through a collaborative yarning approach (Shay, 2019). Each journey is narrated through a strengths- based counter-story that generates key teachings for an Indigenous education futurity that is premised on, and responsive to, the voices of Aboriginal students.
Journal Article
Overrepresentation of Indigenous students in school suspension, exclusion, and enrolment cancellation in Queensland : is there a case for systemic inclusive school reform?
Well-established evidence of the ill-effects of exclusionary school discipline, its disproportionate use on students of colour, and association with the \"school-to-prison pipeline\" has, in the last decade, led to systemic reforms in
the United States, which are successfully reducing exclusion and improving outcomes. Few studies, however, have similarly investigated overrepresentation in Australia, with little attention to systemic reform as a result. In this study,
we analysed suspension, exclusion, and enrolment cancellation rates in Queensland (QLD) government schools between 2013 and 2019 and found Indigenous students were consistently overrepresented. Suspension incidents proportionate to
enrolments increased for all students, but this increase was faster for Indigenous than non-Indigenous students and driven primarily by steep rises in short suspensions during primary school (Preparatory-6). Exclusions increased - again
disproportionately - for Indigenous students, chiefly in secondary school (7-12). During 2019, Physical Misconduct had the highest incident rate for both groups; however, Indigenous students were most overrepresented in suspensions for
Disruptive/Disengaged behaviours. Further, while Indigenous students were overrepresented in all QLD regions, one region's Indigenous suspension rate was higher than all others despite no difference in the distribution of Indigenous/non-
Indigenous enrolments across regions. The scale and nature of Indigenous overrepresentation in exclusionary discipline incidents in QLD indicate clear need for further research to secure political commitment to systemic inclusive school
reform, as well as to produce high-quality evidence capable of guiding that reform. [Author abstract]
Journal Article
A rationale for the urgency of Indigenous education sovereignty : enough's enough
For tens of thousands of years, Indigenous Peoples in the country now known as Australia have had a very successful education system in place, from place. Currently, many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students experience systemic harm in Australia's public and private schooling systems at unacceptable levels and are consistently positioned as deficient in both the practices and outcomes of formal schooling in Australia. Under the pretense of 'getting a good education', many Indigenous students feel coerced into compliance, with schools used as vehicles of institutionalisation, indoctrination and assimilation. As a Gamilaroi woman, I find issue with this and am concerned about the intergenerational consequences if Indigenous students remain in this system. Yet, there are few education options available outside the dominant Western, compulsory schooling model. This paper proposes an envisioning of Indigenous education sovereignty, grounded in Aboriginal axiologies, ontologies and epistemologies as an education option for all students. [Author abstract]
Journal Article
Myth-busting in an Aboriginal pre-university bridging program : Embedding transformative learning pedagogy
Pre-university bridging programs can address the significant under-representation of Indigenous students in Australian universities by providing culturally supported alternative pathways into undergraduate study. However, successful
completion of bridging programs does not always correlate with university enrolment for Indigenous students. This paper offers a pedagogical rationale for an Indigenous bridging program that aims to address this discrepancy. The program
curriculum challenges deficit myths about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and education, while developing foundational academic skills for university study. Leveraging Transformative Learning and Cultural Interface
theories, the program aims to empower students with the opportunity to develop their own narratives about Indigeneity and university, free from deficit stereotypes. Since implementation of this myth-busting pedagogy, Indigenous student
records indicate marked improvement in bridging program pass rates and in transitions into undergraduate study. Additionally, enrolments into Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) tripled. Students' weekly reflections,
collected over seven iterations of the course, suggest that the transformative pedagogy developed students' self-awareness, self-efficacy, self-confidence and sense of belonging at university. [Author abstract]
Journal Article
'Don't make me play house-ner' : Indigenous academic women treated as 'black performer' within higher education
In an era where higher education institutions appear increasingly committed to what Sara Ahmed calls 'speech acts' whereby declared goodwill, through stated commitments to diversity, equity, and increasing Indigenous student enrolment and completion have been made; it is undeniable that Indigenous academics are in high demand. With fewer than 430 Indigenous academics currently employed here on the continent now commonly referred to as 'Australia', and 69% of that cohort identifying as female, what does it look like to experience this demand as an Indigenous academic woman? Drawing on data collected from a Nation-wide study in 2019 of 17 one-on-one, face-to-face interviews with Indigenous academic women, using Indigenous research methodologies and poetic transcription, this paper explores the experiences and relational aspects of Indigenous academic women's roles in Australian higher education. [Author abstract]
Journal Article
‘If I Wanted to Have More Opportunities and Go to a Better School, I Just Had to Get Used to It’: Aboriginal Students’ Perceptions of Going to Boarding School in Western Australia
This study explored the experiences of 32 male Aboriginal students from regional and remote towns and communities while they attended a metropolitan boarding school away from home and family in Perth, Western Australia. Using narrative interviews it specifically investigated how these Aboriginal students construct meaning around the transition experience to boarding school. Three major themes emerged from the data: (1) Decision Making and the subthemes of Choice-less Choice and Opportunity; (2) Organisational Climate and the subthemes of School Environment and Belonging, Culture Shock, Homesickness, Identity, Code Switching, Teachers, Academic Expectations, Residential Life, and Friendships and Peer Relations; and (3) Relational Change and the subthemes of Family Dynamics, Friendships at Home, and Cultural Connectedness. This study emphasises the importance of conceptualising and understanding social phenomena from the perspective of those who actually undertake the experience, and the findings are discussed in terms of policy and practice relevant to Australian boarding schools.
Journal Article
Enabling Indigenous wellbeing in higher education : Indigenous Australian youth-devised strategies and solutions
Indigenous youth comprise over half of the Indigenous Australian population; however, there is a scarcity of research that focuses on improving Indigenous Australians' wellbeing in higher education. The purpose of this study was to
identify Indigenous-devised strategies to support wellbeing of salience to Indigenous Australian higher education students. Using Indigenous methodology, Indigenous youth (N = 7; aged between 18 and 25 years) studying at three higher
education institutions in Australia participated in semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis identified strategies and solutions for supporting and enhancing Indigenous youth wellbeing in higher education. Participants suggested
that their wellbeing would benefit from increased opportunities for them to gain role models. They also suggested culturally supportive higher education environments were critical and could be achieved by employing more Indigenous
academics and Indigenous mentors to implement personalised student support, introducing mandatory cultural competency training for all staff, and employing culturally safe counselling services. Indigenous youth also suggested strategies
for enhancing institutional policy such as ensuring Indigenous culture and perspectives were taught across all faculties; developing reconciliation action plans, financial support, and scholarships to require proof of Aboriginality and
evidence of hardship; and an institutional wellbeing strategy designed to support Indigenous students' wellbeing. [Author abstract]
Journal Article
Indigenous youth employment and the school-to-work transition
The employment gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth (aged 15-29 years) increases in the years immediately following the end of compulsory schooling and continues to widen into the 20s. Indigenous youth are also more likely to work in part-time, casual and unskilled jobs than non-Indigenous youth. The situation for young Indigenous women is markedly worse than for men, even though educational participation and attainment is similar. Early labour market experiences are likely to have both immediate and ongoing effects, reducing income, wealth accumulation and impeding future labour market success. However, there are signs of improvement in the labour market situation for Indigenous youth, particularly in non-remote areas. Between 2011 and 2016, educational participation and employment increased. Growing educational attainment is likely to further improve employment rates because Indigenous youth who have completed Year 12 have far better outcomes in the labour market than early school leavers. [Author abstract]
Journal Article
\You get to 'feel' your culture\ : Aboriginal students speaking back to deficit discourses in Australian schooling
Despite an expenditure of over $45 billion in the last decade aimed at meeting the Closing the Gap strategies, successive Federal and state governments have overseen a generation of Aboriginal students who have experienced a failure
of promised improvements to their educational outcomes. Recent scholarship has highlighted the paucity of quality research that has often underpinned many State and Federal programmes designed to meet these cohorts' educational needs.
This paper foregrounds student voice and contributes evidence-based scholarship to the experiences of schooling experienced by over 100 Aboriginal students across six schools in NSW, Australia. Data generated through yarning sessions
across all secondary year levels (7-12) provide unique insights into Aboriginal students' educational, social and cultural aspirations for schooling. Utilising Moodie's (2018) Decolonising Race Theory framework, the importance of
foundationally embedding education within Aboriginal students' onto-epistemological affiliations to Country and Place, and need to engage with Indigenous knowledges, emerged as critical factors for Aboriginal students experiencing
success at school, as an Aboriginal student. Yarning revealed that while some students felt a sense of loss or shame about intergenerationally disrupted connections to Country and community, the sense of connection associated with their
Aboriginal identity drove them purposively and actively to resist colonial process of assimilation and elimination. This enabled them to champion for greater recognition and appreciation for educational outcomes embedded within their
Aboriginality. [Author abstract]
Journal Article