Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Assessment

Introduction

As a preservice teacher who is of a non-Indigenous background, it is crucial for me to critically reflect on my positionality and the impacts it has on my profession as a teacher and policy worker. Throughout my schooling in Sydney, my educational institutions catered to both my cultural needs and religious needs. However, my educational institutions lacked the ability to provide me as a student with a more comprehensive understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, cultures, histories, and knowledge. Throughout our educational system, teachers feel as if they are unprepared or lack the confidence to teach and include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in our education can enable teachers and students to lack the ability to think critically, be culturally aware and understand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, cultures, and histories (Thorpe et al., 2021). The critical reflection focuses on my personal experiences and how they influence my teaching profession. It also examines the importance of self-reflection in developing cultural responsiveness and efficacy as a teacher. Furthermore, it emphasises teaching approaches and compliance with policies that support the inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, cultures, histories, and knowledge within the curriculum. The academically supported reflection also analyses and emphasises the importance of understanding policies and practices related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education.

My Sociocultural location

I grew up in Sydney, known as the Eroa Nation Land of the Gadigal people, as a non-Australian Indigenous and Torrestrait Islander woman. Growing up in Sydney, I attended primary and secondary school within the NSW schooling system. My primary school was co-educational, and my high school was a single-sex institution. As a Turkish Muslim woman, growing up, I found that the schools I attended catered to my religious and cultural needs. My schools provided religious studies and language classes (Turkish language classes). Although my schools supported me culturally and religiously, I feel as if they lacked the education and encouragement to understand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' cultures, histories, and knowledge. There was an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples committee during high school. To be part of this committee, attend meetings, and engage in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' teachings, you had to identify as either Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. Additionally, throughout my schooling, I was able to contribute to and support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures through days such as SORRY Day and Naidoc Week. The types of inclusion mentioned, which are frequently emphasised in the context of reconciliation, are noticed as superficial and contribute to the maintenance and recurrence of influential messages regarding which information is considered essential and whose knowledge is valued (Bishop et al., 2021). It was not until I reached tertiary education that I was provided with opportunities to understand, study, and comprehend the cultures, knowledge, and histories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Excluding Australian Indigenous perspectives from the classroom enables non-Indigenous students to be more vulnerable to adverse media and social attitudes regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, colonisation, and "Australian history." This lack of exposure impedes students from thinking critically about the world around them (Bishop, 2020). Elaborating further on my sociocultural location, background, and culture, growing up in a Turkish Islamic household, my parents significantly educated me on my religion and background during my upbringing. My parents were raised abroad in Turkey, so they have minimal knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, histories, and knowledge. As a preservice teacher and an individual who is living in Australia, it is essential to understand your positionality world views and recognise your personal need for learning more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, cultures, histories, and knowledge as it is essential as a teacher to be able to be culturally aware and know how to teach Australian and Torrestrait Islander histories, cultures, peoples, and knowledge. Self-reflection is critical for a teacher; it provides teachers with a deep understanding of their knowledge and can effectively portray knowledge to students. All students must be given the opportunity to understand and learn about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, fostering students to retain respect for cultural diversity and appreciation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, knowledge, histories and communities (Georgia, 2017). Research states that conducting critical self-reflection allows teachers to comprehend fundamental assumptions, values and beliefs that influence their perspectives on social aspects and positions and use these aspects to challenge them and provide them with the confidence necessary to teach Australian indigenous histories, knowledge and culture (Shay & Oliver, 2021; Bishop, 2020).

Critically reflecting on what I have learned about Indigenous peoples, cultures, and histories

Although my sociocultural location suited my needs as an Islamic woman, it did not provide me with many opportunities to learn or understand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and knowledge; this may have been because I was only taught throughout my schooling by non-indigenous teachers who lacked knowledge or did not have the confidence to teach Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content. I started my schooling in 2006, and it was only in 2008 that the NSW Department of Education and Training made it compulsory for all schools in NSW to include Australian Indigenous perspectives in all essential learning areas, as outlined in the 'Aboriginal Education and Training Policy (2008)' (NESA, 2008). Additionally, I was exposed to tokenistic teaching throughout my schooling when covering cross-curriculum content such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cross-curriculum content. Tokenistic teaching is the practice of including symbolic representations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, knowledge, communities, and peoples without providing meaningful and accurate comprehensive information. Some examples of personal tokenistic teaching I remember through my primary schooling included indulging in Australian indigenous and Torres strait islander arts. We were instructed to engage in dot painting and using Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander symbols in our art. Being as young as 9, I did not understand until much later in my tertiary education that fake Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art is a significant concern. When utilising and teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art or cultural elements, it is vital to approach subjects with proper contexts and understanding to portray respect and appreciation of the significance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. The absence of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people perspectives in the classroom can have adverse implications for both Australian Indigenous people and non-Indigenous students (Bishop et al., 2021). Research has indicated that it is essential for institutions to move beyond superficial recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and tokenistic teaching and instead implement genuine Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, language and cultural programmes resulting in meaningful learning experiences for students. This indication reported the correlation between language and cultural programmes, student engagement, and authentic relationships between the community and institutions (Lowe, 2017). Most classroom teachers have been recognised to feel unprepared to teach Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in ways that can help students academically. This may be because teachers aren't prepared and have a minimum understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, histories, and communities or that they are hesitant about engaging with Australian and Torres Strait Islander knowledge as they do not know how to deliver content appropriately (Rogers et al., 2017). Research has shown that engaging in professional development can increase teachers' confidence, leading to enhanced student engagement and a transition from emphasising behaviour management to subject knowledge (Burgess et al., 2019). Research has also found that teachers who feel poorly prepared and unable to educate students with Aboriginal and Torres strait islander backgrounds can affect students' academic proficiency (Taylor et al., 2019)

Problematizing my responsibilities as a policy worker

As a policy worker, it is important to be culturally aware and acknowledge the historical trauma, histories, and ongoing impacts of colonial schooling. Therefore, as an educator, it is essential to recognise the suppression of culture, knowledge and language in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and work towards decolonisation and cultural responsiveness by incorporating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in education and engaging in self-reflection to address biases and create an inclusive environment (Perso, 2012). As policy workers, it is also crucial that we are critical of our roles when engaging and working with current policies. By maintaining a critical perspective and recognising that policies may maintain inequalities and be embedded in historical contexts that may not consider Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander needs. Therefore, as policy workers, it is essential we advocate for inclusive approaches surrounding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities, ensuring we effectively implement approaches that benefit communities and continuously review and revise policies for more equitable outcomes.

Research has shown that teachers need to be culturally aware, understand cultures and be able to teach content and students effectively and appropriately without tokenistic approaches to students. Teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and knowledge effectively benefits Australian indigenous students' academic proficiency and results. At the same time, it promotes non-Indigenous students' cultural awareness and understanding and builds a sense of respect for cultures. (Taylor et al., 2019). Maintaining high expectations when teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students is important. It has been stated that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students experience difficulties in school; several factors have been identified as potential contributors, one being low expectations of Aboriginal students' academic achievement by teachers (Donovan, 2015). Therefore, as policy workers and teachers, we must maintain high expectations for students to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students receive support to flourish academically. Additionally, it is essential that teachers implement culturally responsive and inclusive classroom environments for students. Implementing a culturally inclusive and responsive classroom environment enables Australian Indigenous Students to connect their learning to experiences, cultural issues, and interests influencing their lives. Students also develop a sense of belonging as they view their cultural identity through the content being taught and reflected in the curriculum. According to Griffiths and colleagues (2007), it is essential to incorporate students' backgrounds and cultural knowledge in tasks that involve real-life contexts and problems. This approach intellectually challenges students and encourages them to proficiently engage and understand the nature of the knowledge being addressed.

Policies guide teachers by communicating what is required and what effective practices need to be implemented to provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students with support and effective education. The following pedagogies are supported by policies such as 'The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Strategy'; this policy provides support and direction to improve educational outcomes for Australian Indigenous students. Moreover, 'The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers' outlines what teachers need to do and know, including creating culturally inclusive and responsive learning environments. Additionally, policies such as the 'NSW Aboriginal Education Policy provide guidance and strategies for educators to support students. 'Turning Policy into Action' provides schools with the ability to transform these policies into practices.
As a future educator, I will constantly reflect on my critical understanding and maintain high expectations for all my students, including indigenous Australian students. I will ensure I thoroughly understand how to effectively teach content without indulging in tokenistic views. I will participate in Professional development to provide myself with opportunities to be able to teach content confidently. Additionally, I will listen, understand, and connect with communities for students and make sure that all individuals feel heard and valued.

Conclusion

It is essential for preservice teachers to ensure they are critically self-reflecting to understand their own positionality and the impacts it has on their role as teachers. By recognizing our own limitations In our education or teachings regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, cultures, histories, and knowledge, we are able to take action and improve on developing cultural responsiveness and our teachings to provide students with effective education so they can improve academically while feeling supported. As educators, we must go beyond these tokenistic approaches to teaching and develop our own knowledge to effectively teach students of all cultures and maintain high expectations for students, as low expectations and tokenistic teachings can hinder Indigenous students' academic achievement and deprive non-Indigenous students of the opportunity to think critically and appreciate cultural diversity (Taylor et al., 2019).
Additionally, it has become evident through this critical reflection that, as policy workers, we must maintain a critical perspective on policies and advocate for inclusive approaches that benefit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities. By implementing policy-supported pedagogies such as culturally responsive and inclusive classroom environments, and maintaining high expectations, we can promote a sense of belonging and improve educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Consequently, through engaging in ongoing critical reflection, attending professional development, and connecting with communities, teachers can confidently and appropriately teach Indigenous content, promote cultural awareness, and create equitable learning opportunities for all students.

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