Meeting the Needs of Aboriginal Students
Abstract
Improvements to the education of Australia's indigenous people is very much dependent upon the teacher's awareness of the factors affecting their academic potential. The traditional role of schools which essentially aimed at assimilating Aboriginal children into the ways of Western civilisation has proven to be ineffective and grossly unfair. Educational institutions must be more responsive to the needs of these people so that many more will be willing to participate in Western forms of education, and at a level beyond the compulsory years. This will involve an appreciation of the cultural, social, environmental and economic factors that can seriously impair the academic potential of Aboriginal children. Moreover, the teacher may need to alter a number of specific instructional practices in order to cater for the learning styles of these children. With the release of the Federal Government's Reconciliation Policy, and the P-10 Curriculum Framework's (Queensland Department of Education, 1987) emphasis on understanding individuals and their cultural diversity, it appears that these practices will become a necessary responsibility for all teachers in the near future.
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