Trevor Economic Case Study Assessment
CASE STUDY
Consider this case study and answer the questions below:
Trevor is 11 years old and is a Noongar-Yamatji boy. He is living with his Mum and Dad, Nan (on his mother’s side), an older sister who works in a cafe and two younger sisters who attend the local primary school with him.
Your role is as a community work student on placement in Trevor’s class. You assist with day-to-day preparation, help out with learning activities and you also assist teachers with the recess and lunch activities and duty of care of students in the playground.
Trevor’s school now has several Noongar families attending. At school assemblies, students sometimes read out an Acknowledgment of Country or a Welcome to Country. The National anthem is now a more modern version with a digeridoo/yidaki in the background – all students are required to stand for the anthem. There are mix of racist and neutral comments made in the school yard and by staff when describing Aboriginal people. There is no flag or artwork and many of the library books are very outdated showing simplistic or racist portrayals of Aboriginal people.
At school Trevor is light-hearted and playful with his friends, and he is very quiet with teachers and other school staff. Many students do not know that Trevor is an Aboriginal person, and he is cautious if people ask. Both of Trevor’s parents experienced racism at school and they worry about this happening for their kids but feel unsure how to address it.
Trevor’s teacher reports to the school nurse that he is behind in his schoolwork with significant gaps in his learning. Trevor often gets into trouble for “not paying attention” in class, and this is impacting on his relationship with his teacher.
Recently he had a bad headache and was sent to the school nurse who identified that Trevor has an ear infection and is showing signs of low hearing. She thinks he has Otis media, a common but serious ear condition. Trevor confirms that he can’t always hear what the teacher says in class. The nurse has made a referral to a visiting child ear specialist, securing an appointment in short time for Trevor that skips the long waiting period. She has arranged the paperwork, that Trevor’s parents need to complete, and sent it home with Trevor. The parents have to confirm the appointment time ASAP online and then attend, arriving 15 minutes early and with all supporting medical records.
After a period of two weeks, the teacher and school nurse get together with Trevor to discuss his “lack of academic progress” at school. Both women say how disappointed they are that he didn’t go to the appointment (the nurse had checked). They suggest to him that “he needs to take more responsibility if his parents won’t”. Later, they finish their conversation privately by saying “Well, we gave it our best shot…but when you see this you really have to think that people don’t care about their children’s health”. Trevor went home after school and explained he felt shamed by the meeting.
From a prior meeting after school, you have learnt a little about his Nan who is shy but very friendly. She is Noongar woman who was taken away as a child, is active in a local women’s group, helping to lead language and art workshops. She did not attend school outside of the mission. She has diabetes and due to past racist assumptions by doctors is wary but does access Derbarl Yerrigan. She is also critical of Welfare/Department of Child Protection, saying they are not culturally safe and should be supporting families not stealing children away. As a result, she regards any health or parenting discussions as very private.
She hasn’t talked with Trevor much about her childhood, and yesterday brushed him away grumpily when he asked if she played marbles when she was little. This morning she came and hugged him gently and showed him a few quandong seeds and explained that this is what the kids at the mission played with for marbles. Playing with the seeds, Trevor said to her he “loved hearing stories” and that it was “funny to think of her as a little kid”. His Nan said she would try to tell him more, but it was hard and that he could understand more when he was older. Trevor shares a little about his Nan with you, and it is clear that he longs to know more of her stories but doesn’t want to cause her pain.
Trevor’s Mum and Nan pick the kids up from school. When they see Trevor, he is carrying his littlest sister’s bag for her, and they smile and compliment and acknowledge him as a “mooditj maaman” (deadly man). They walk over to the teacher and ask to talk with her about the letter from the nurse. You are invited to sit in on the meeting and the kids are asked to go off and play for 10 minutes. While the teacher indicates you can stay, you feel the Mum and Nan are quite uncomfortable with you being there.
- Identify 4 historical or current western systems and structures and cultural values that are evident in this case study. (Hint – consider western “ways of doing things” and the relevance of your examples for question 4)
- How might these impact on Trevor and his Nan’s equitable access to services and so contribute to common ill health or disease problems?
- Give an example of your own cultural values that is relevant to the scenario. For example, what does your culture’s value in terms of schooling, accessing health service, speaking with people in authority and engaging with government agencies.
- How might trauma affect communicating, understanding and retaining of information between generations of Trevor’s family? E.g., passing down stories and culture between Trevor’s Nan and him?
- How might trauma affect decision making, e.g., for Trevor’s family members?
- Cultural safety of services needs to be improved by, or in partnership with, Aboriginal community groups and health services, such as Derbarl. These services draw on the strength of Aboriginal families and cultures - Trevor’s family, like other families has many strengths and holds a lot of wisdom too. Consider some of these strengths and how they might support the planning of more cultural safe health and education services.
List 5 ways that Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people can be involved in the planning and delivery of services and programs. You can use general examples or examples relevant to the case study.
