Edu424 Indigenous And Multicultural Education: Assessment Answers

Answer:

Education Policy comprises of the principles in the educational sphere that helps in operating the education system. The educational policy in Australia focuses on the aspect of improving that of the educational outcome along with well-being of the indigenous Australians so that they can excel in all the aspects in relation to education (Santoro et al., 2011).  This essay focuses on the effectiveness pertaining to ESL educational policy in Australia and the effect that ESL education has on the indigenous students of Australia. It focuses on the quality of the school education in terms of the media rhetoric. It states how the promotion of social justice is an important aspect for the Christians and how providing equal opportunities in relation to education can help in the promotion in equality within the Australian society.

English as a Second Language (ESL) policies helps in assisting the schools in Australia in the delivering of the ESL programmes on the basis of the linguistic along with the cultural needs of the student. The instructions are delivered on the basis of the stage of the schooling. I think that learning English is crucial for the success of the indigenous Australians and it can augment their opportunities pertaining to employment. According to me, educating the indigenous Australians with English as the additional language can help in developing their English language competence and it can improve the learning outcome of the students in Australia. It can help them in the aspect of pursuing of further education along with training. EAl/ D education is currently provided at the primary, high school and at the intensive English Centre (Johnson, Cherednichenko & Rose, 2016). The literacy plans in Australia make it a point that money is not required pertaining to these programs that helps many indigenous Australians to take the advantage of this facility. Australia has aacted like a leader in the arena of researching and teaching of ESL recently as the Commonwealth has allocated funds so that it can be of benefit for the students. Specialist ESL teachers have been appointed in some schools that greatly helps the indigenous Australians. ESL taskforce has prepared policy framework for that of the Ministerial Council of Education.

The Aboriginal Education and Training Policy have been developed after collaboration with the Aboriginal communities that helps in providing policy advice for that of the employees. I think that aboriginal education can increase the cultural competency of the Aboriginal staff in an organization (Aihw.gov.au., 2014). The Government of Australia has been determined to close the gap between that of the indigenous and the non-indigenous Australians. According to me, parents, communities along with the government should act like partners for providing education to the indigenous Australians. They can work in collaboration that can help in improving the quality of education provided to the indigenous Australians. I think that the Remote School Attendance Strategy of the Australian government can help in engaging the schools along with the community organizations. It can play an effective role in ensuring that the children attend school on everyday basis (Malcolm, 2011).  The Government is involved in funding programmes that can help in providing practical support to the young indigenous Australians in the different areas where a large number of youths are unemployed. According to me, the Remote Jobs and Communities Programme can help in establishing new business for the indigenous Australians.

I think that the teachers knowing how the mental structure of the indigenous students are different from that of the non-indigenous students can play an important role in mitigating the differences that is embedded in the Australian society. It is more important that the teachers are sensitive to the demands of the students that can help the students in learning properly and quickly (Wigglesworth, Simpson & Loakes, 2011).  According to me, the development of particular knowledge in the indigenous student is neglected in the event of the teacher thinking the knowledge to be culturally inappropriate. There are many teachers who neglect the aspect of written literacy pertaining to the indigenous Australians. The indigenous Australians hence finds it difficult to assimilate in Australian society (Lewthwaite et al., 2015).

The Aboriginal students work for that of the collective good instead of focusing on the arena of individual achievement. Aboriginal students focus on the aspect of what the groups can achieve on collective basis. According to me, community involvement can be made use of that can help in providing education to the indigenous Australians. The Aboriginal children within Australia have English as the third or the fourth language. I think that the teachers should be capable of explaining things in different ways that can help the indigenous Australians in the aspect of understanding and learning. It will have a positive influence on the students and it can help in ensuring equality pertaining to school education (Altman, 2018).  The education system in Australian schools should be such that it can address the concern along with needs of both the indigenous along with the non-indigenous Australians. The outcome of the indigenous Australians can be augmented by encouraging the cultural pride of the Aboriginal students.

According to me, the quality of the school education according to the public rhetoric has undergone a lot of improvement in the recent times however there still exists a gap between the indigenous and the non-indigenous students.  The public rhetoric regarding the indigenous students revolves around the well-being of the indigenous students. Sustained improvements have been made in relation to the education of the indigenous Australians that has built respect along with trust among the indigenous communities. The public rhetoric has pointed out the the role that the indigenous parents along with the leaders for brining about improvements pertaining to the education of the indigenous Australians. The formal agreements between the indigenous leaders and the education leaders have proved to be successful in setting out the provision pertaining to education of the indigenous students. According to me, Closing the Gap framework of the Australian government can be said to be an excellent example of the time-bound target that has helped in removing the differences between the indigenous and that of the non-indigenous Australians (Day et al., 2015).  The media has pointed out that progress made pertaining to the target of Closing the Gap has been quite disappointment. I think that system level action can help to a great extent in changing the educational experiences for the indigenous students of Australia. According to me, system level effort can help in initiating the process of change at local level but the local provisions can help in determining what kind of influence it will have on the indigenous students of Australia. There should be quality teachers who can adapt to different contexts that can help in providing education to the indigenous Australians. There should be personalized academic programs along with guidance system that can help in the cause of providing proper education to the indigenous Australians.

The Christians in the society have an obligation of supporting the social justice and they believe in the fact that an individual should be committed for the promotion of social justice in the society. The Christians believe in the fact that one should adopt a lifestyle that is suited to the social responsibility. I think that the policies and programmes in Australia aimed to benefit the indigenous Australians is an act of social justice as it can being about the development of the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander. The educational policies and programmes can improve the lives of the indigenous Australians and improve their standard of living. It can close the gap that exists between the indigenous and the non-indigenous Australians and bring them together in the society. The Australian government wants to improve the life chances of the Indigenous Australians by the help of education. It helps in promoting social justice as it aims at achieving equality in relation to education of the non-indigenous Australians.

The policies in relation to ESL programme can help in meeting the cultural needs of the indigenous Australians. Learning the English language can greatly help the indigenous Australians and it can augment their employment opportunities. Aboriginal education can increase cultural competencies of the indigenous Australians. It can close the gap that prevails between indigenous and that of non-indigenous Australians. The teachers being capable of explaining a particular thing in different ways can work greatly to the benefit of the indigenous Australians. It can ensure the fact there exists equity within the Australian educational system. The public rhetoric has stated that improvements have been brought about in the education system of the indigenous Australians but there still remains a gap between indigenous and non-indigenous students. The educational policies can be useful for the indigenous Australians and it can aid in promoting social justice within the Australian social structure. It can pave the path for the developing of the Aboriginal people and can improve their standard of life. System Level effort can help in bringing about changes at that of the local level and the local provisions can have an influence on the aspect of learning of the indigenous students of Australia.

References:

Acara.edu.au. (2011). English as an Additional Language or Dialect: Teacher Resource [Ebook]. Retrieved from https://www.acara.edu.au

Aihw.gov.au. (2014). Positive learning environments for Indigenous children and young people [Ebook]. Lucy Ockenden. Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/indigenous-australians/positive-learning-environments-for-indigenous-chil/contents/table-of-contents

Altman, J. (2018). In search of an outstations policy for Indigenous Australians. Canberra, ACT: Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Research School of Social Sciences, College of Arts & Social Sciences, The Australian National University.

Day, A., Nakata, V., Nakata, M., & Martin, G. (2015). Indigenous students' persistence in higher education in Australia: contextualising models of change from psychology to understand and aid students' practices at a cultural interface. Higher Education Research & Development, 34(3), 501-512.

Johnson, P., Cherednichenko, B., & Rose, M. (2016). Evaluation of the More Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Teachers Initiative project.

Lewthwaite, B., Osborne, B., Lloyd, N., Llewellyn, L., Boon, H., Webber, T., ... & Harrison, M. (2015). Seeking a pedagogy of difference: What Aboriginal students and their parents in North Queensland say about teaching and their learning. Australian Journal of Teacher Education (Online), 40(5), 132.

Malcolm, I. G. (2011). Issues in English language assessment of Indigenous Australians. Language Assessment Quarterly, 8(2), 190-199.

Santoro, N., Reid, J. A., Crawford, L., & Simpson, L. (2011). Teaching Indigenous children: Listening to and learning from Indigenous teachers. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 36(10), 65-76.

Wigglesworth, G., Simpson, J., & Loakes, D. (2011). Naplan language assessments for Indigenous children in remote communities. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 34(3), 320-343.