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| 'You're almost instantly disadvantaged': Indigenous students on their schools away from home | 'You're almost instantly disadvantaged': Indigenous students on their schools away from home |
| (1 day later) | |
| At the Garma festival students tell of the challenges they face and the resistance of some teachers to acknowledging Aboriginal heritage | |
| Helen Davidson at Garma festival | |
| Fri 4 Aug 2017 05.15 BST | |
| Last modified on Mon 7 Aug 2017 10.04 BST | |
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| When Corey Atkinson attended an elite Victorian boarding school, he battled with his principal for three years to have the Aboriginal flag flying on campus. | When Corey Atkinson attended an elite Victorian boarding school, he battled with his principal for three years to have the Aboriginal flag flying on campus. |
| The principal refused, suggesting that if he allowed it the other students would then want to raise “their flags”. Atkinson, a Yorta Yorta man, said he lost faith and his grades began to drop. | The principal refused, suggesting that if he allowed it the other students would then want to raise “their flags”. Atkinson, a Yorta Yorta man, said he lost faith and his grades began to drop. |
| “If I’m not valued there, why should I value what you want me to do at the school?” he said he felt at the time. | “If I’m not valued there, why should I value what you want me to do at the school?” he said he felt at the time. |
| Atkinson, now an Indigenous educator at a nearby boarding school, was among several Indigenous students addressing the Garma festival about their experiences in the mainstream Australian school system. | Atkinson, now an Indigenous educator at a nearby boarding school, was among several Indigenous students addressing the Garma festival about their experiences in the mainstream Australian school system. |
| Each described the challenges they faced as Indigenous people travelling from their home communities for school and trying to find their way. They said culture must be at the forefront of Indigenous students’ education if they were to achieve their full potential. | Each described the challenges they faced as Indigenous people travelling from their home communities for school and trying to find their way. They said culture must be at the forefront of Indigenous students’ education if they were to achieve their full potential. |
| “If we can create a culturally safe environment, that shouldn’t be a problem at all,” Atkinson said. | “If we can create a culturally safe environment, that shouldn’t be a problem at all,” Atkinson said. |
| The social justice commissioner, June Oscar, said the onus was on educational institutions to help Indigenous students. | The social justice commissioner, June Oscar, said the onus was on educational institutions to help Indigenous students. |
| Shakira Yunupingu, a Yolngu woman, was born in Arnhem Land but raised in Melbourne by her grandparents, and said that when her cousins joined her at the Winona boarding school, they struggled with homesickness. | Shakira Yunupingu, a Yolngu woman, was born in Arnhem Land but raised in Melbourne by her grandparents, and said that when her cousins joined her at the Winona boarding school, they struggled with homesickness. |
| “I told them you’ve got this amazing opportunity, you’ve just got to push through,” she said. | “I told them you’ve got this amazing opportunity, you’ve just got to push through,” she said. |
| A two-way connection between Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures at school would have helped. “It’s important for us to learn both ways and walk both ways.” | A two-way connection between Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures at school would have helped. “It’s important for us to learn both ways and walk both ways.” |
| Bianca Williams, a 28-year-old Barkindji woman from New South Wales and now at Sydney University, said she hoped for an Indigenous tertiary institution one day that would deliver an education centred on Indigenous culture and ways of learning that would be valued as much as the western system. | Bianca Williams, a 28-year-old Barkindji woman from New South Wales and now at Sydney University, said she hoped for an Indigenous tertiary institution one day that would deliver an education centred on Indigenous culture and ways of learning that would be valued as much as the western system. |
| Williams left her Brewarrina school, with an almost entirely Indigenous student population, to an institution where she was a minority. | Williams left her Brewarrina school, with an almost entirely Indigenous student population, to an institution where she was a minority. |
| “When you leave that small, safe environment ... you’re almost instantly disadvantaged because they say you don’t read or write at the same level,” she said. | “When you leave that small, safe environment ... you’re almost instantly disadvantaged because they say you don’t read or write at the same level,” she said. |
| “I was that kid in the class teachers tell other students: don’t be like that girl because you won’t get a job.” | “I was that kid in the class teachers tell other students: don’t be like that girl because you won’t get a job.” |
| Speaking after the forum, Williams told the Guardian there weren’t as many opportunities in small communities, “so there does come a time when you have to leave”. | Speaking after the forum, Williams told the Guardian there weren’t as many opportunities in small communities, “so there does come a time when you have to leave”. |
| “You’re talking about leaving your support systems and the familiar surroundings that have helped you grow, and we have to transplant ourselves again,” she said. | “You’re talking about leaving your support systems and the familiar surroundings that have helped you grow, and we have to transplant ourselves again,” she said. |
| “That’s when a lot of our mob fall off the wagon a bit, when they’re having to reestablish themselves in a whole new environment that isn’t culturally safe and/or appropriate at times, because staff within the institution may not have appropriate training or the actual student population may not have ever met an Aboriginal person. | “That’s when a lot of our mob fall off the wagon a bit, when they’re having to reestablish themselves in a whole new environment that isn’t culturally safe and/or appropriate at times, because staff within the institution may not have appropriate training or the actual student population may not have ever met an Aboriginal person. |
| “A really common thing that I found personally was that they associated me with Indigenous issues across the country, when I’m one little girl from one little community out west.” | “A really common thing that I found personally was that they associated me with Indigenous issues across the country, when I’m one little girl from one little community out west.” |
| Oscar said she understood the reluctance of parents to send their children to boarding school, but the reality was that services were not available in remote communities. That meant schools and tertiary institutions had to be supportive. | Oscar said she understood the reluctance of parents to send their children to boarding school, but the reality was that services were not available in remote communities. That meant schools and tertiary institutions had to be supportive. |
| “The onus is on learning institutions to be good partners and find innovative solutions with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the country to deliver education that meets our needs,” she said. | “The onus is on learning institutions to be good partners and find innovative solutions with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the country to deliver education that meets our needs,” she said. |
| Oscar echoed the students’ calls for a curriculum “enriched” with Indigenous culture “so that other skills like literacy and numeracy can be scaffolded and enhanced”. | Oscar echoed the students’ calls for a curriculum “enriched” with Indigenous culture “so that other skills like literacy and numeracy can be scaffolded and enhanced”. |
| She said Indigenous people endured conditions “that would be intolerable to non-Aboriginal Australians”, particularly in remote education. It was unacceptable that children living in remote areas were between three and five years behind their peers by grades five and nine, and that about 80% were not going to school by the age of 12, she said. | She said Indigenous people endured conditions “that would be intolerable to non-Aboriginal Australians”, particularly in remote education. It was unacceptable that children living in remote areas were between three and five years behind their peers by grades five and nine, and that about 80% were not going to school by the age of 12, she said. |
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