Politics plays a pivotal role in education, as it is the Politicians who determine the allocation of funding for education, for individual states/territories and for specific schools therein. The community view of education and schools is, in part, determined by these politics of funding; it can be inferred that those schools receiving the most money are those worth valuing, or equally, that those receieving the most monetary input are sub-par and require improvement. The school comparative achievements and rankings listed on the Government MySchool website are based on NAPLAN data, SES, enrolments, attendance, gender and completion rates, and these figures are used as a basis for community opinion of the quality of the school. This is a prime example of the influence that politics has on the valuing of education, and the implications of using measures of so-called ‘comparative data’ to assess a school.
My initial response to the name of this class included, among other thoughts, “here we go: provocative, rage-fuelling, politically incorrect statements to abound, hold on to you hats, folks!” In all seriousness, though, I have no issue discussing such topics, nor do I have any qualms debating and discussing differences in opinion – in fact, I find it fascinating – but I know that many individuals are cagey about sociocultural issues, particularly their own perspectives, and thus I can foresee some ill-fated statements spiralling into emotion-charged arguments. And, let’s face it, there are some people who actually aim to be provocative, and hair-trigger topics lend themselves to such successful bating. I would like to think that only emotion-charged debates will take place, and that everyone will show respect for every other person’s point of view, but I have been disappointed before…
In my mind the term sociocultural encompasses many facets of society, including, most obviously, the culture. However, the race, religion, class, beliefs, practices, gender, sexuality, creed etc. are all implicit in this term, and thus the basis for discussion is nebulous. With a particular interest and investment in Indigenous education I am greatly looking forward to exploring this topic, especially as I feel a growing sense within myself that teaching in the middle of the Red Centre better represents my teaching aspirations than does teaching in a newly furnished, sparkling clean laboratory in Canberra’s leafy inner-north (but that is another discussion, for another post). Related to my interest in Indigenous education and the issues therein is the inherent inequity in Australia’s education system – and I believe both SCPE and RINE (Responding to Individual Needs in Education) will touch on this.
What I found to be a fascinating sticking point from yesterday’s introductory lecture, however, was the statement regarding identifying our personal cultural practices. When I was in Africa I was asked by Americans, Brits and Africans to share some ‘Australian culture’ with them – and I was at a loss to do so. Pavlova? Hills Hoist washing lines?Painting flags on faces? Beach cricket? Throwing shrimps on barbies? Shortening words unnecessarily, such as servo (service station), u-ey (u-turn), pluggers (thongs)? In all honesty I am not proud to claim most of these things as ‘Australian’, but I am even less inclined to describe them as part of our ‘culture’. It was highlighted that not being able to readily identify cultural practices is likely a result of being a part of the dominant culture, as the unnamed is the norm, and the exception proves the rule. This explains my inability to identify aspects of the ‘Australian culture’, but I have been informed by an International Australian resident that he, too, finds it difficult to isolate what constitutes as the Australian culture. I will be interested to see how my understanding of this premise develops over the course of the class.
When considering Indigenous education in the context of SCPE I was drawn to consider other so-called “Indigenous Issues” also: the statistics quoted about their low academic achievement and school attendance, their poor living conditions and overall health, their decreased life expectancy, and their general inequitable treatment in society. The Government, in an attempt to abate these shameful statistics, was driven to implement the NT Intervention – with what has been described as a resounding failure by many affected individuals (and, to be fair, has been labelled a success by others). I feel very strongly about the need to address the disparity between the health, education and opportunity of European and Indigenous Australians, as the right to a successful and healthy future should not be determined by race, but a question has been tugging at the corner of my mind for a couple of days, and surfaced in earnest this morning: success according to who?
Indigenous students do not achieve as highly on NAPLAN tests? Their literacy and numeracy is lower than the national average? Their task comprehension is lower than their peers? They are less successful? But success is a relative measure, as is what to place importance on and what to disregard. Indigenous cultures are not English-based, they do not historically value televisions, money or facebook – they do not complete standardised tests to measure comparative proficiency in written comprehension. What they do value (please feel free to correct any inaccuracies here) is their community, their family, their history, their land, their heritage, their culture. Who are we to label them as ‘unsuccessful’? What European-based education system has the right to judge the performance of people from other cultures? What measure of success is this, really? I am quite certain that I would fail a test set by the Ngunnawal peoples regarding what they value: should I, too, be regarded as a low-achieving, ‘at-risk’ individual who has limited chance of succeeding in life? How can this possibly be an equitable society when the dominant culture judges the success of individuals on how well they have assimilated into it? Assimilation is not inclusion. Attending school is compulsory (and in some cases, welfare payments to the family now depend on it), and I am not juxtaposing that this should be revoked; what I do know, however, is that what to explore, what to learn, what to study at school, what to value should be a decision made by the individual, and not something thrust upon them by an education system designed by the dominant culture in a society.
Unfortunately, I can proffer no solutions, provide no remedies, fix no problems; at this stage of my education career all I can state is that the status quo is not inclusive, and that it is not acceptable.
Sociocultural politics of education: I believe over the next nine weeks we shall have an interesting time together.
– For Science!
Synergistic Bonding in the Classroom! 