Critical Analysis of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Action PLan:
Critical Analysis of Commonwealth Indigenous Education Policy:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Action Plan 2010-2014
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) Education Action Plan was initiated in 2010 and aims to assist educators to accelerate improvements in the educational outcomes of ATSI students. The five-year national plan is a progression of goals founded in the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) reform agenda and is being driven by the need to “Close the Gap” of educational, health and socio-economic disadvantage experienced by Indigenous people in Australia. Key aims of the policy include increasing access to early childhood education, improving literacy and numeracy outcomes, engagement and connection to learning, teacher quality, creating valid post school pathways and increasing the number of students attaining Year 12 qualifications.
A key benefit of the ATSI Education Plan is it that it entails engagement and discussion with ATSI parents, students and the wider community and therefore aims to be responsive to local needs. This policy is of value as it formalises procedures for how these local conversations will occur so that the policy is effective in individual communities. This is of value to educators who need to design curricular and pedagogy to suit the students in their particular community. Another benefit of the ATSI Education Plan is that it appreciates the impact and importance of culture, identity and pride on learning. This is an important consideration for teachers who can use strategic learning activities to build knowledge from what students already know and their ideas on the world. Defining this in policy ensures that all schools with ATSI students recognise the diversity and history of their student population and respond to this in their curriculum, which will improve student engagement as the policy outlines.
Key to this policy is an integration principle, which states that collaboration will improve within governments to effectively coordinate programs and services. It will be a challenge to create valid and authentic educational improvements in local communities, as it requires strong leadership and organisation of multiple partners from health and non-government parties. There may be a lack of resources and funding in remote communities, where ATSI disadvantage is most prominent, and therefore the implementation at local level becomes ineffective. National targets may also pose a significant challenge to remote communities trying to implement the policy and curriculum and syllabus outcomes may need to be more flexible to reflect local contexts.
The policy has clearly defined targets and performance indicators to guide its implementation, actions and assessment of its effectiveness. The policy will be enacted at national, systemic and local levels, each with a specific role in achieving key goals and improving educational outcomes for students. The sustainability principle underpinning the policy is significant as it aims to improve upon previous successes in Indigenous education, take data and track the progress of students’ education outcomes from early education and readiness for school through to higher education, attendance and post school paths. Evaluation of the policy will therefore be on-going and tracked against pre-determined trajectories of improvements in the mentioned policy. Consistent evaluation of this policy will be extremely important in ensuring that resources are re-allocated according to priority areas.
As a secondary teacher, it is a priority for me to differentiate my teaching and learning strategies to suit the needs of all my students. This policy is valuable as it provides a platform to engage with the local ATSI community reflected in your school, build relationships with these students and families and help to improve their educational outcomes. This will have a positive effect on the wider community as school will become a source of lived culture of all students and be concurrent with their world outside of the classroom. For example, ATSI communities and schools could be connected through health promotion projects and community sporting events that teachers, students and implementers of this policy could all participate in.
In my teaching practice, I will aim to include Indigenous Australian perspectives and Indigenous ways of knowing and doing. Educational policy for ATSI students can guide effective practice if it is flexible and can meet the needs of individual communities. By building strong and positive relationships with all students, recognising their perspectives and knowledge they bring to the classroom, I will be able to make learning relevant and meaningful and thus improve engagement, learning outcomes and build skills for life beyond the classroom for all students.