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Indigenous Education Workers

In recent years, the education sector in Australia has taken on board the human rights issue of Indigenous reconciliation. This has involved various policy statements, agreements and particular project initiatives to improve educational outcomes and experiences for Indigenous students. There is still much to be achieved for Indigenous student outcomes to be comparable to those of their non-Indigenous counterparts, but progress is being made through the commitment of educators throughout the country.

The sorts of issues that are being addressed include:

professional development strategies for teachers
respect for, and promotion of, Indigenous values and philosophies
development of culturally inclusive curriculums
education for non-Indigenous staff about the effects of racism and colonisation
promoting culturally appropriate teacher education
importing Indigenous expertise into schools and the curriculum
facilitating Indigenous community participation in governance and decision making
undertaking focused and strategic work to improve literacy and numeracy.

All of these directions fit into the National Statement of Principles and Standards for More Culturally Inclusive Schooling in the 21st Century. For further details and examples of projects, go to http://cms.curriculum.edu.au/anr2002/ch10_state.htm. This site takes you to the relevant chapter of the 2002 Annual Report of the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA).

Dare to lead: Taking it on is one example of a national strategy to lift the English literacy and numeracy levels of Indigenous students to national standards. Tony Misich, a past president of the Australian Primary Principals Association says that:

As leaders, we must harness our skills and experience and face these challenges together to shape a better future and foster shared commitment. The alternative is unacceptable. (Dare to lead brochure: http://www.pa.edu.au/daretolead/)

It is to be hoped that this sort of energy and focus is becoming the norm in Australian schools. Educators who are involved in this commitment know that there are many complexities on the journey - and one glimpse of this complexity is reflected in the role of Aboriginal Education Workers (titled differently in different states and territories).

In a 1999 conference paper entitled Finding the balance, Lyn Anderson and Clare Stehbens from Central Queensland University and Jeannie Herbert from James Cook University quote an Aboriginal member on the fundamental problem of getting parents involved in the school.

Education was such a horrible process for a lot of people my mother's age. It was just a place where you were ridiculed and your failures were made more known than your successes … I think that a lot of people don't get involved in the school thing because it is still seen as that evil authoritarian thing that has that control and will do what it is going to do anyway because that's what happened to me. (http://www.aare.edu.au/99pap/and99700.htm)

This representation of the discrepancy between the perceived 'life' of the school and the 'life' of the Indigenous community indicates the different worlds that Indigenous Education Workers often have to straddle. They are employed in schools to assist in various ways in linking Indigenous communities to school communities and facilitating understandings between the two.

There appears to be little research so far in Australia about Aboriginal workers' experiences in undertaking this role. Such research could prove very useful in developing optimal outcomes for everyone involved within school communities. The sorts of stresses that can arise for Aboriginal workers who take on such liaison or bridging roles can include the following.

There can be uncertainty about the level of influence they have and where and how they are expected to contribute to decision-making within the school.
Planning and decision-making structures and committees can be alienating contexts for open communication.
Sometimes there are unrealistic expectations about their role (eg an assumption that they are able to speak for 'Indigenous culture' generally as if it is homogenous and they should have knowledge about all Indigenous groups).
Sometimes there are assumptions that the individual worker is in the school 'only' to contribute to Indigenous issues. Wider appreciation of the whole person and their range of responses to issues can be lacking.
The individual worker is 'on call' from the community at any time. This means that a great deal of their 'work' might be undertaken in conversations in the supermarket or any other public place. Such work is not necessarily recognised by other staff.
The individual can experience the stress of feeling 'caught' between conflicting expectations, values or explanations about how things are working. They may also feel that they are being held responsible for making it work - especially if there is a belief that employing the Aboriginal Education Worker was the 'answer', for example, to the problem of truancy.
The individual may not necessarily find it a seamless process to operate between contexts where there are different expectations about behaviours and priorities.
The individual may feel that other staff do not have much understanding of the issues that they experience and do not offer much personal support.
The individual may not always be included in staff activities.

All of these sorts of issues relate significantly to staff mental health and wellbeing and require ongoing consideration. The document, Involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (adapted from Aboriginal perspectives across the curriculum, Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs and Department for Education and Children's Services, Adelaide, 1996) is an excellent online resource for thinking about optimal relationships. It begins with the observation:

The involvement in education of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by non-Indigenous people has often led to ... both blundering insensitivity and never getting started due to fear of being blunderingly insensitive.

It continues with some extremely practical suggestions, for example:

check with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people about whether and how they wish to be involved in the classroom
don't assume that they will want to pass on cultural information or publicly express points of view on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or other social issues. There may be others who do. Inquire first.