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Culturally Responsive Teaching Reflection

PART ONE: Reflect on your professional and personal experiences, knowledge and

understanding regarding teaching Aboriginal students.

The Department of Education (2015) created the Aboriginal Cultural Standards

Framework that provides educators with “a basis to reflect on their approaches to

Aboriginal education, strive for improvement, and engage Aboriginal families and

communities in schooling” (p. 3). When using the Teaching Standard in the

framework to reflect on my professional experience with Aboriginal students in a

school setting, I quickly came to the realisation that I have very little experience at

all. On my two school placements it seems that I did not have one Indigenous

student within either of my classrooms.

From this, I recognise that my knowledge and understanding on how to engage with

and teach Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students is limited. My current

knowledge and understandings that I have gained thus far in my learning and

teaching career is that the learning ability of Indigenous students should never be

underestimated. I believe that it is vital to gain a broader understanding on the

student and their cultural background and community influence, in order to

understand how to successfully incorporate this within their learning process. This

will therefore make the learning experiences provided for them relevant, engaging

and accepting of their culture’s values and beliefs.

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When reflecting upon my personal experiences with Indigenous students, I recall that

in high school I had some peers who were in fact from an Indigenous background.

Whilst being in their class, a lady who was also from an Indigenous background

would constantly visit the students in class and sometimes take the students out of

class for a small chat in her office. This lady was known as the Aboriginal Students

Liaison for the college. Although I had minimal knowledge on what the Aboriginal

Student Liaison actually did for all Indigenous students, I did notice that my

Indigenous peers seemed very supported and confident in their school abilities and

continually maintained contact with her inside and outside of the school environment.

In relation to this reflection on my personal experience with Indigenous students, I

believe that the Aboriginal Students Liaison would definitely meet the performance

descriptor “Teachers know how culture and experiences shape the learning of each

Aboriginal Student” (Department of Education, 2015, p. 10). The Aboriginal Students

Liaison would meet each of the indicators within this performance descriptor as she

knew the “cultural, language and family connections of Aboriginal students” and also

knew the “relevant background experiences that Aboriginal students bring to school”

(Department of Education, 2015, p. 10). I believe this lady has set a great example

on what I would like to be working towards, in building close relationships with my

Indigenous students.

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When looking closer at the Teaching Standard within the framework, I would rate

myself along the continuum as being within the “Cultural Awareness (Emerging)”

column (Department of Education, 2015, p. 11). Because of my limited professional

experience with Aboriginal students in a school setting, my understanding and

knowledge on them and their culture is also limited, this therefore indicates that I am

at the emerging stage of the continuum. Ultimately, after engaging with Indigenous

students in my very own future classroom, I would like to be within the “Cultural

Competence (capable)” or “Cultural Responsiveness (Proficient)” columns along the

continuum (Department of Education, 2015, p. 11). The application of these two

columns on the continuum will be evident within my teaching as I will ensure that I

“differentiate teaching strategies to respond to the specific learning needs of my

Aboriginal students” and “understand the influence of culture, language backgrounds

and family relationships on their engagement and learning” (Department of

Education, 2015, p. 11).

PART TWO: Identify and discuss the specific actions you would take to transform

your teaching practice to move towards being more culturally responsive.

The Early Years Learning Framework (2009) states that a culturally responsive

educator “respects multiple cultural ways of knowing, seeing and living, celebrates

the benefits of diversity and has an ability to understand and honour differences”

(Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations [DEEWR], p. 16).

To satisfy the learning needs of my Indigenous students and provide them with a

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safe and supportive environment, I must work towards becoming a culturally

responsive educator. Exhibiting culturally responsive qualities is the final step on the

teaching standards continuum as educators must “design or adapt resources to

support the individual learning needs of Aboriginal students” (Department of

Education, 2015, p. 11). To move towards being more culturally responsive

throughout my teaching practices, there are an abundance of strategies that I can

implement.

In my reflection above, I stated that my high school had an Aboriginal Students

Liaison which helped my Aboriginal peers when dealing with the challenges of

everyday school life. Building a strong relationship and communication path with an

Aboriginal Students Liaison at a school is essential in becoming culturally responsive

as DEEWR (2020) states that “symbolically and practically, this relationship is at the

heart of the success of many Indigenous students at school” (Forming partnerships

section, para. 7). As the Liaison keeps in regular contact with the students and their

parents, any important information regarding the student’s home life can be passed

on to myself. This therefore allows myself as the educator, to cater for the student

positively in the classroom, further reiterating the importance of maintaining a

constant partnership with the Liaison.

The educator has an important role to play in creating a safe and welcoming learning

environment for all her students. A fantastic way that I could create this atmosphere

within the learning environment is to involve parents and carers of my Indigenous

students within classroom activities. “All Australian children and young people should

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have the opportunity to learn about the histories and cultures of Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander people” and encouraging parent involvement in the classroom

is pivotal at achieving this (Education Council, 2015, p. 5). Students can learn first-

hand all about Indigenous cultures and their beliefs from the parents or carers, thus

making the Indigenous student feel more accepted in the classroom.

Another way in which I could transform my teaching practice to become more

culturally responsive is to become involved in the student’s community. Harrison &

Sellwood (2016) state that “spending time in their community will assist in connecting

with their life outside the school context” (p. 76). Not only would it be beneficial for

myself to become emersed in their community, but I should also encourage my

students to participate as well. I can achieve student involvement through incursions

and excursions that explore my Indigenous student’s culture, whether it be a sacred

place or a guest speaker coming it to teach students their sacred ways of living. This

will inspire all students to work towards becoming culturally responsive themselves

and encourage “closing the gap” by “respecting differences and diversity” (Mulford,

2011, p. 3). Participating in personal development days focused on improving

teaching practices and learning experiences for Indigenous students is another great

way to build knowledge on their beliefs and work towards being culturally responsive.

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References:

Department of Education. (2015). Aboriginal Cultural Standards Framework.

Department of Education: Western Australia.

http://www.det.wa.edu.au/policies/detcms/policy-planning-and-

accountability/policies-framework/strategic-documents/aboriginal-cultural-

standards-framework-.en?cat-id=3457058

Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR). (2009).

Belonging, being and becoming: The early years learning framework. Barton,

ACT: Commonwealth of Australia.

Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR). (2020).

What Works. The Works Program. Commonwealth of Australia.

http://www.whatworks.edu.au/dbAction.do?

cmd=displaySitePage1&subcmd=select&id=353

Education Council. (2015). National aboriginal and torres strait islander education

strategy 2015. Education Council.

http://www.educationcouncil.edu.au/site/DefaultSite/filesystem/documents/ATSI

%20documents/NATSI_EducationStrategy_v3.pdf

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Harrison, N., & Sellwood, J. (2016). Learning and teaching in Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander education. (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.

Mulford, B. (2011). Closing the gap: Teacher and school leader quality and

sustainability. Aboriginal Studies.

http://www.aboriginalstudies.com.au/content/uploads/2012/07/2011-Mulford-

CTGC-Teacher-and-Leader-Quality-Impact.pdf