Assessment 2 - 10096097
Assessment 2 - 10096097
SID: 10096097
Word Count: 2168
Worldviews in Pedagogy: A paper on the importance of cultural inclusivity.
schooling system designed around the European worldview. The European Educational
historically lived and learned their whole lives through a symbiotic relationship with their
environment (Hewitt, 2000; Sherwood et al, 2014). This cultural paradigm is deeply
entrenched in the Aboriginal psyche and is part of the self-image of Indigenous Australians
From the early 1800s, the Australian government put forth policies to assimilate Indigenous
Australians into white culture, beginning with harsh, racist overtones and progressing to a
milder, but equally toxic paternalistic approach (Beresford, 2003a; Lowe 2014). This
approach has decimated Aboriginal culture and has had a terrible effect on the capacity of
Aboriginal students to engage with white Australian education, and often causes Aboriginal
The relevance for teaching practice is that Aboriginal children have historically been at a
are also often fettered by a myriad of access issues through low socio-economic status
(Ferfolja, Diaz & Ullman, 2016). Since the 1970s the Australian government has tried to
counteract the endemic racism that has dogged Aboriginal people since the white
Name: Carys Arnold
SID: 10096097
Word Count: 2168
colonisation of Australia (Price, 2014). There is even debate about whether Aboriginal
curriculum ought to be devised for them (Beresford, 2003b). The government is currently
focused on embracing cultural diversity and the onus is on the teacher to ensure racial
biases do not play out in their classrooms (NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA), n.d).
Teachers must adjust their pedagogy to include Indigenous Australians. Some Aboriginal
pedagogies have been shown to have great similarity to Western research into education.
For example, Vygotsky’s theory of scaffolding is very similar to the traditional Aboriginal way
of learning, and may be useful in teaching Indigenous children (DEC, 2012). Robert Epstein
posits that adolescence is an artificial extension of childhood and teenage children ought to
be treated as adults (Dumas, 2002). Similarly, Aboriginal children are not held separate to
adults, they are embraced as valued members of society (Sims, O’Connor & Forrest, 2003).
As a result, it should not be a difficult task to include these pedagogies in the classroom
since similar tactics have been known for years. Hewitt promotes two-way learning as a
technique to improve both Aboriginal and other Australian students’ results. The NSW
Department of Education and Training (DET) recognises that multicultural knowledge and
methodology is key to good pedagogy (DET, 2003). Good pedagogies also include reciprocal
communication (DET, 2003) as learning is a social act (Smith, 2010; Moore, 2012). Good
teachers will adapt their pedagogies to the needs and abilities of their students and must be
aware of the cultural lens through which people view the world (Spradlin, 2012). More
broadly, these techniques can be used to ensure culturally appropriate pedagogies are a
part of every lesson plan, and can be modified to the culture of the students in each class.
Particularly for English, it should be useful in engaging students with increasingly difficult
Hewitt’s article conveys no clear purpose, no clear results and is almost entirely a
commentary on Hewitt’s own experiences (Fosset et al, 2002; Finlay, 2006). The qualitative
research Hewitt undertakes as part of his paper is based on changes made to a university
course after a three-year period of research conducted by the Australian Catholic University
(ACU). It is difficult to ascertain whether Hewitt’s own data is relevant as no specific results
or information from the ACU research is shown and there are no comparisons made to the
experiences of Aboriginal students of the ACU prior to the changes. Hewitt’s process of data
(Sallee & Flood, 2012), by only including such a specific sample, there is almost certainly bias
in the results (Reeves, 2008; Strassberg & Lowe, 1995). It may have been useful to include
some Indigenous Australians who had completed the course prior to changes being made
since the article mentions a collection of positive experiences, but no negative ones.
Indigenous Australians who had a negative experience in this course may have had valuable
perspectives to offer and would have added some depth to the results (Crotty, 1998). In
addition, there is no reference to the date or place the data was collected, whether it was
entirely conducted through written responses, and minimal reference to the behaviours of
the group throughout the course, all of which can detract from the findings (Kervin et al,
2016).
While he identifies his role in the creation of the unit, Hewitt does not acknowledge bias, an
essential step for any researcher (Kirkwood & Price, 2013). Hewitt states that he and his
fellow faculty members participating in the program “have undoubtedly become better
Name: Carys Arnold
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teachers as a result of the experience.” (Hewitt, 2000, p116), however, he does not provide
any evidence to prove this statement, neither in student results, nor feedback from
Despite the limitations to his data gathering, Hewitt places his study in the context of wider
background research on the issue before critiquing the strategy employed by the ACU.
Hewitt has acknowledged the concept of worldview, and detailed explanations of Aboriginal
is focusing his study on collecting the opinions of those the revised pedagogy will affect the
most, thus enriching the study. It would have been interesting to see research on these
university students taking their place in the classroom to see the effect in schools.
While his own data collection is not reported in line with best practice for research (LeBlanc
& Quintiliano, 2015), in the context of the research and literature he references, Hewitt
Student engagement is a key factor in their academic success (Tadich et al, 2007). English
can be particularly isolating considering its basis in European culture (Canagarajah, 2003)
and most texts are of white European origin (NESA, 2012). Because of this, it can be difficult
for students of differing cultural backgrounds to engage with topics as they see no relevance
Name: Carys Arnold
SID: 10096097
Word Count: 2168
to their life (Milner, 2014). Those texts that are from different cultures are still analysed
through the European learning style and Aboriginal students can have difficulty engaging
with English lessons if they do not incorporate traditional Indigenous Australians learning
The lesson plan under scrutiny in this paper is a Stage 5 English lesson on language
structures of the spoken word, titled “Close look at speeches” (Lesson Plan – English, n.d.). It
is designed to build on previous lessons around written language structures. Based on the
review are students listening to two speeches, and then writing their own.
First, students compare Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a Dream” speech to Richard Gill’s
TED talk about the value of music education, with emphasis on the similarities and
differences in language structures. Prior to listening to the speeches, the class has two
minutes to research each of the orators. The weakness of this activity when examined under
the findings of the Hewitt article is that it is steeped in the European teaching style. Both
speeches have the same structure – one-person orator-style – and allows for only the most
superficial cultural context surrounding Martin Luther King. Both the speech structure and
the lack of cultural knowledge can be a huge barrier for students of different cultures to
engage with (Biggs-El, 2012; DET, 2003). The lesson plan has therefore been modified to
replace the Richard Gill talk with two speeches – one each from an Aboriginal man and
can speak about any topic they like, they are restricted in the style of speech they give. This
for Aboriginal students (and by extension, students of any non-dominant culture) to draw
on the learning techniques valued in their culture (Hewitt, 2000). When teachers create a
culturally relevant learning environment, students have achieved better academic results
(Ladson-Billings, 2007; Flory & McCaughtry, 2013). The lesson plan has therefore been
updated to explicitly encourage students to use a style of oration that may come more
naturally to them. This can even be a useful learning experience for the teacher too (Tadich
The main point of the article is to impart the importance of recognising Indigenous culture
Australia (Hewitt, 2000). One of the core foundations of the Quality Teaching Framework is
cultural knowledge (DET, 2003). With deeper knowledge comes a greater understanding of
the commonalities people of different cultures share (Ferfolja et al, 2016; DEC, 2012).
Students benefit from learning from a variety of cultural contexts and perspectives (DET,
2003) and the best pedagogies for Aboriginal students actually benefit students of all
cultures (DEC, 2012). As it is essential to the mental health and wellbeing of Indigenous
students to have an emphasis on their culture in their education (Price, 2014), two
The first speech was given by Jack Patten at Australia’s 150th Centenary and delves into
issues of slavery and human rights. This speech adds the perspective of Aboriginal culture
Name: Carys Arnold
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and gives more context to Martin Luther King Jr’s address. It is important to add historical
context as this will deepen the students’ understanding of the culture surrounding both
speeches (Castaneda, 2004). The comparison will allow students to focus on the language
structures and is likely to improve their results (Hammond, 2006; Price, 2014). The second
addition is from a TEDx event with Jacinta Koolmatrie, an archaeologist whose speech
focuses on the links between collective Aboriginal memory and recent archaeological
findings. This speech uses the Aboriginal storytelling technique, and as a result, is an
excellent resource (DEC, 2012; Price, 2014). Again, this speech gives more perspective to the
first speeches as it discusses Aboriginal issues within Australia since white colonisation. All
three speeches form a narrative of sorts, designed to engage students in the same way
Aboriginal Elders use narrative to teach lessons (DEC, 2012). The Koolmatrie speech is
placed last as it segues into the second activity – the student-directed speeches.
For the second activity updated in the learning plan, students are given free rein to style
their speech. Studies have shown that students are more likely to engage with their learning
when given the opportunity to self-direct (Tadich et al, 2007). Allowing students to draw on
their own backgrounds in creating speeches enables them to utilise their cultural language
patterns in tandem with the language structures under scrutiny in the lesson (Paris, 2015).
When students feel personally connected to the topics they are studying they are also more
likely to achieve better academic results (Linan-Thompson, Lara-Martinez & Cavazos, 2018),
so it is beneficial for all students to draw on their cultural norms to both write the speech
and decide its audience. For Aboriginal students, the speech could take the form of a yarn,
the traditional teaching tool for Indigenous Australians (Yunkaporta & Kirby, 2014). Other
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SID: 10096097
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forms of cultural expression could be rap or poetry (Biggs-El, 2012), or spoken word as an
As English consists of such a wide range of topics including various forms of spoken texts
such as film, poetry and drama, there are many opportunities in which to add resources
from Aboriginal and other cultures (NESA, n.d.). One of the main criteria for teachers is to
encourage the growth of literacy, critical creative thinking, and diversity (NESA, n.d).
Multicultural pedagogies encourage critical thinking and self-awareness (Rios & Stanton,
2011) and the lesson plan has been updated to address all three of these areas.
Cultural contexts and pedagogies are imperative for successful learning. People determine
their sense of personal identity and worldview through every aspect of the culture they
grow up in. Hewitt’s article highlights the importance of drawing on these cultures to
further the educational prospects of multicultural students. It is a pedagogy that will benefit
all students.
Name: Carys Arnold
SID: 10096097
Word Count: 2168
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