‘So, What is Wrong with Indigenous Education?’ Perspective, Position and Power Beyond a Deficit Discourse

Authors

  • Greg Vass The University of Queensland

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1017/jie.2012.25

Keywords:

Indigenous education, discourse, close the gap, policy, CRT, power

Abstract

It is the aim of this article to provoke debate and encourage greater scrutiny regarding the use and meaning of the expression ‘Indigenous education’ within the discursive practices, research and policy in Australian education. Drawing on Hall's (2007) development of ideas from Foucault that give rise to ‘Indigenous education’ being viewed as a ‘regime of truth’, it is my contention that the widespread and largely uncritical use of this expression is contributing to sustaining deficit assumptions regarding the engagement and outcomes of Indigenous students within Australian schools. To explore this concern, I will first ‘archaeologically’ excavate (Scheurich, 1997) the emergence of this ‘regime’ within the Australian setting. Following on from this, I will discuss and reflect upon recent debates associated with initiatives designed to ‘close the gap’ when comparing Indigenous and non-Indigenous student achievements in education. Given the changes inaugurated by the Labor-led ‘Education Revolution’ since 2007, this is a particularly pertinent line of inquiry to take up, with the focus of this article largely concerned with its impact in the Queensland setting.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Ah Sam M., & Ackland C. (2005). The curriculum: A doorway to learning. In J. Phillips & J. Lampert (Eds.), Introductory Indigenous studies in education: The importance of knowing (pp. 182–200). Sydney, Australia: Pearson Education Australia.

Altman J., & Fogarty B. (2010). Indigenous Australians as ‘no gaps’ subjects: education and development in remote Australia. In I. Snyder & J. Nieuwenhuysen (Eds.), Closing the gap in education: Improving outcomes in southern world societies (pp.109–128). Melbourne, Australia: Monash University Press.

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2010). National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social survey (2008). Retrieved from http://abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/4714.0Main%20Features12008?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=4714.0&issue=2008&num=&view=

Australian Government. (2010). Closing the gap: Prime Minister's report 2010. Canberra, Australia: Commonwealth of Australia.

Beresford Q. (2003). The context of Aboriginal education. In Q. Beresford & G. Partington (Eds.), Reform and resistance in Aboriginal education: The Australian experience (pp. 10–68). Perth, Australia: University of Western Australia Press.

Brayboy B., & Castagno A. (2009). Self-determination through self-education: Culturally responsive schooling for Indigenous students in the USA. Teaching Education, 20 (1), 31–53.

Delpit L. (1995). Other people's children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York: New Press.

DePlevitz L. (2007). Systemic racism: The hidden barrier to educational success for Indigenous school students. Australian Journal of Education, 51 (1), 54–71.

Department of Education and Training. (2009). Closing the gap: Education strategy. Brisbane, Australia: Queensland Government.

Department of Families, Housing, Community Services, and Indigenous Affairs. (2009). Closing the gap on Indigenous disadvantage: The challenge for Australia. Canberra, Australia: Commonwealth of Australia.

Dixson A., & Roussea C. (Eds.). (2006). Critical race theory in education: All god's children got a song. New York: Routledge.

Foley D. (2010). Aboriginality and pedagogies. In R. Connell , C. Campbell , M. Vickers , A. Welch , D. Foley , N. Bagnall , & D. Hayes (Eds.), Education, change and society (2nd ed., pp. 168–204). Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press.

Foley D., Levinson B., & Hurtig J. (2000). Anthropology goes inside: The new educational ethnography of ethnicity and gender. Review of Research in Education, 25, 37–98.

Foucault M. (1969). The archaeology of knowledge. Milton Park, UK: Routledge.

Gillborn D. (2005). Education policy as an act of white supremacy: Whiteness, critical race theory and educational reform. Journal of Education Policy, 20 (4), 485–505.

Gillborn D. (2008). Racism and education: Coincidence or conspiracy? London: Routledge.

Gray J., & Beresford Q. (2008). A ‘formidable challenge’: Australia's quest for equity in Indigenous education. Australian Journal of Education, 52 (2), 197–223.

Hacking I. (1995). The looping effects of human kinds. In D. Sperber , D. Premack , & A. Premack (Eds.), Causal cognition: A multi-disciplinary debate (pp.351– 383). Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.

Hall S. ( 2007 [1996]). The West and the rest: Discourse and power. In T. Das Gupta , C. James , R. Maaka , G. Galabuzi , & C. Anderson (Eds.), Race and racialization: Essential readings (pp. 56–63). Toronto, ON: Canadian Scholars Press.

Harrison N. (2007). Secret transmission: Modelling cross-cultural relations in classroom discourses. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 35 (1), 41–53.

Harrison N. (2008). Teaching and learning in Indigenous education (1st ed.). Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press.

Hughes H., & Hughes M. (2009). Policy monographs: Revisiting Indigenous education (Australia Centre for Independent Studies Policy Monograph No. 94). Sydney, Australia: The Centre for Independent Studies.

Karvelas P. (2011, February 10). ‘Gap won't close if you don't act’: Julia Gillard. The Australian. Retrieved from www.theaustralian.com.au

Klenowski V. (2009). Australian Indigenous students: Addressing equity issues in assessment. Teaching Education, 20 (1), 77–93.

Ladson-Billings G. (2006). From the achievement gap to the education debt: Understanding achievement in U.S. schools. Educational Researcher, 35 (7), 3–12.

Lampert J. (2005). The teaching that matters: Merging our personal beliefs with our professional practice in the classroom. In J. Phillips & J. Lampert (Eds.), Introductory Indigenous studies in education: The importance of knowing (pp. 83–100). Sydney, Australia: Pearson Education Australia.

Lingard B. (2011). Policy as numbers: Ac/counting for educational research. The Australian Educational Researcher, 38 (4), 355–382.

Lingard B., Creagh S., & Vass G. (2012). Education policy as numbers: Data categories and two Australian cases of misrecognition. Journal of Education Policy, 27 (3), 315–333.

Loos N., & Osanai T. (1993). Philosophy, aims and policy guidelines for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education. In N. Loos & T. Osanai (Eds.), Indigenous minorities and education: Australian and Japanese perspectives of their Indigenous peoples, the Ainu, Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (pp.206–221). Tokyo: Sanyusha Publishing.

Lucas S., & Beresford L. (2010). Naming and classifying: Theory, evidence and equity in education. Review of Research in Education, 134, 25–84.

Luke A. (2009). Introduction: On Indigenous education. Teaching Education, 20 (1), 1–5.

Malin M., & Maidment D. (2003). Education, Indigenous survival and well being: Emerging ideas and programs. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 23, 85–99.

McConaghy C. (2000). Rethinking Indigenous education: Culturalism, colonialism, and the politics of knowing. Brisbane, Australia: Post Pressed.

Mellor S., & Corrigan M. (2004). The case for change: A review of contemporary research on Indigenous education outcomes (Australian Education Review No. 47). Melbourne, Australia: Australian Council for Educational Research Press.

Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA). (2009). Indigenous education action plan draft: 2010–2014. Retrieved from http://www.mceetya.edu.au/verve/_resources/IEAP_Stage_Two_Consultation_Draft_(2).pdf

Moreton-Robinson A. (Ed.). (2004a). Whiteness, epistemology and Indigenous representation. In Whitening race: Essays in social and cultural criticism (pp. 75–88). Canberra, Australia: Aboriginal Studies Press.

Moreton-Robinson A. (2004b). The possessive logic of patriarchal white sovereignty: The High Court and the Yorta Yorta decision. Borderlands e-journal, 3 (2).

Mudrooroo. (1995). Us mob — History, culture, struggle: An introduction to Indigenous Australia. Sydney, Australia: Angus and Robertson.

Nakata M. (1993) Culture in education: For us or for them? In N. Loos & T. Osanai (Eds.), Indigenous minorities and education: Australian and Japanese perspectives of their Indigenous peoples, the Ainu, Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (pp.334–349). Tokyo: Sanyusha Publishing.

Nicoll F. (2002) De-facing terra nullius and facing the public secret of Indigenous sovereignty in Australia . Borderlands e-journal, 1 (2). Retrieved from www.borderlandsjournal.adelaide.edu.au/vol1no2_2002/nicoll_defacing.html

Nicoll F. (2004). ‘Are you calling me a racist?’ Teaching critical whiteness theory in Indigenous sovereignty. Borderlands e-journal, 3 (2). Retrieved from http://www.borderlands.net.au/vol3no2_2004/nicoll_teaching.htm

O'Rourke V., Craven R., Yeung R., & Munns G. (2008, December). Closing the gap for Aboriginal primary students in low density schools: A multi-method longitudinal analysis elucidating impact of inclusive practices. Paper presented to the Australian Association for Research in Education Conference, Brisbane, Australia.

Partington G. (2003). Conceptual frameworks for Indigenous education: Review and analysis. In S. McGinty (Ed.), Sharing success: An Indigenous perspective — A collection of papers from the 2nd National Australian Indigenous Education Conference 2002 (pp.101–128). Melbourne, Australia: Common Ground.

Pearson N. (2009). Radical hope: Education and equality in Australia. Quarterly Essay, 35, 1– 105

Penfold A. (2010, February 26). Gillard's schools site should be used to help close the gap.The Australian. Retrieved from www.theaustralian.com.au

Pholi K., Black D., & Richards C. (2009). Is ‘close the gap’ a useful approach to improving the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Australians? Australian Review of Public Affairs, 9 (2), 1–13.

Riggs D. (2007). Introduction: Critical race and whiteness studies in a postcolonising nation. In D. Riggs (Ed.), Taking up the challenge: Critical race and whiteness in a postcolonising nation (pp.1–16). Adelaide, Australia: Crawford House.

Rigney L. (2006). Indigenist research and Aboriginal Australia. In J. Kunnie & N. Goduka (Eds.), Indigenous peoples’ wisdom and power: Affirming our knowledge through narratives (pp. 32–50). Farnham, UK: Ashgate Publishing.

Sarra C. (2005). Strong and smart: Reinforcing Aboriginal perspectives of being Aboriginal at Cherbourg State School. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Murdoch University, Australia.

Sarra C. (2009, November 25). Website will shine light on Indigenous schools. The Australian. Retrieved from www.theaustralian.com.au.

Scheurich J. (1997). Research method in the postmodern. London: The Falmer Press.

Taylor E. (2009). The foundations of critical race theory in education: an introduction. In E. Taylor , D. Gillborn , & G. Ladson-Billings (Eds.), Foundations of critical race theory in education (pp.1– 13). New York: Routledge.

Trigger D., & Dalley C. (2010). Negotiating Indigeneity: Culture, identity and politics. Reviews in Anthropology, 39, 46–65.

Whatman S., & Duncan P. (2005). Community participation in Indigenous education: Learning from the past, in policy and practice. In J. Phillips & J. Lampert (Eds.), Introductory Indigenous studies in education: The importance of knowing (pp. 117–138). Sydney, Australia: Pearson Education.

Downloads

Published

2012-01-22

How to Cite

Vass, G. (2012). ‘So, What is Wrong with Indigenous Education?’ Perspective, Position and Power Beyond a Deficit Discourse. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 41(2), 85–96. https://doi.org/10.1017/jie.2012.25

Issue

Section

Articles