Joanna Pantermarakis

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Reflection:
Aboriginal and Culturally Responsive Pedagogies has taught me valuable regarding

Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander students’ way of learning, Aboriginal education, the

Australian education system and Australian educational policy. Having this information will

enable me to cater for the learning needs for a diverse range of learners, especially Aboriginal

students who have been impacted by systemic white hegemony (Price, 2015). Upon

reflection, the knowledge I have attained has informed me of the challenges that I will

encounter during my teaching career and how to resolve any probable issues in regards to

this.

Throughout the duration of my practicum and the duration of the course Aboriginal and

Culturally Responsive pedagogies, I have learned about being culturally competent, as well

as, culturally responsive, as a future educator. Firstly, I learned what being culturally

competent consists of, and it is the ability to interact effectively with people of different

cultures (Price, 2012). Additionally, it is also to be respectful and responsive to health beliefs

and practices, and more specifically in the classroom, culture and linguistic needs of different

demographics. Being culturally competent is essential for me, especially being a future

educator, upon reflection I have been developing those skills through reflections after each

class I have taught. It consists of expanding my worldview and being able to interact with

positive and enthusiastic attitudes towards cultural differences. Although I have not taught

Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander students in my practicum, I was still able to develop my

cultural competence by being in charge of a different religious group of students prayer time.

After spending time with them, my perceptions were broadened and allowed me to

communicate effectively with these students as I understood them better.

Upon reflection, information regarding Aboriginal students has taught me racial discourses

are prominent within Australia’s western education policies (Price, 2015). In this way, the
Joanna Pantermarakis
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role of acceptance and respect needs to be increased as Aboriginal students are not being

focused on. This is a challenge that all educators are faced with, and to ensure that all

students have equitable chances to a quality education. This obstacle can be achieved if

teachers become culturally responsive and competent (Perso, 2012). Teachers need to

frequently reflect on their own pre-existing knowledge and beliefs in reference to Aboriginal

students, in order for cultural competence to be achieved (Craven, 2011). By completing self-

reflections frequently throughout my teaching career, I believe will enable me to become a

more supportive teacher, who is more culturally competent to deal with any issues preventing

Indigenous students getting a quality, equitable education.

This course also taught me that high expectations are essential in creating a healthy classroom

environment for Aboriginal students (Sarra, 2014). By setting high expectations, Indigenous

students will be encouraged to become stronger, smarter individuals by accepting their

Aboriginal culture and establishing a positive cultural identity (Sarra, 2014). An obstacle that

I may face is that, rather than setting high expectations, I may differentiate learning and

accommodate it, rather than address the real issue at hand. However, now that I recognise this

behaviour I am able to correct it.

To ensure success within the classroom, it is important to emphasise different learning

strategies for Indigenous students (Price, 2015). Through the employment of new learning

strategies, we can see the improved ability for Indigenous students to make connections with

their cultural identity and their everyday lives (Deer, 2013). The Eight-Ways Framework is

significant in this instance, as focuses on using collaborative work, trial and feedback,

imagery, and spontaneous learning, which coincides with Indigenous student’s various

learning styles (Yunkaporta, n.d.). After considerable reflection, I believe that a challenge I

may face as a future educator would be trying to effectively engage with Indigenous students

and perspectives. However, by communicating actively with Aboriginal students to broaden

my own cultural perception will allow me to make connections with Aboriginal culture and

histories, to help me make further positive teacher-student relationships with students.

During the Aboriginal and Culturally Responsive Pedagogies course, group work was a

fundamental area of the unit that we had to complete. The group assessment required many

hours of work and an equitable about of work amongst the group to ensure an effective and

successful group. My main area was to focus on creating the History section and assisting in

creating the webpage, however, we would work together as a group to collect information

regarding the Aboriginal site, Red Hands Cave. Some of the activities included in my section

of the assessment, was too do a UNESCO World Heritage assessment site, as well as, have an

Aboriginal tour guide take the students on a guided tour around the site, outlining the history

of it. As these strategies relate to the Eight-Ways framework, they are effective as they rely

on the strengths of Indigenous students, as they focus on Indigenous history and culture.

In summary, as a whole, studying this course and enhanced my teaching practice as it has

given me a greater understanding of cultural competence, which will enable my impact on

students learning. This course has significantly reinforced the practice of self-reflection that I

must complete frequently throughout my career as an educator that will improve my

understanding of Indigenous culture and my practice overall.

Reference List
Craven, R. (Ed.). (2011). Teaching aboriginal studies: A practical resource for primary and
secondary teaching (2nd ed.). NSW, Australia: Allen & Unwin.
Deer, F. (2013). Integrating Aboriginal perspectives in education: Perceptions of pre-service
teachers. Canadian Journal of Education, 36(2), 175. Retrieved from [Link]
[Link]/stable/pdf/[Link]?refreqid=excels
ior%3A9e8f1167dee641182f5b46e96bae92cd
Perso, T. (2012). Cultural responsiveness and school education with particular focus on
Australia’s first peoples: A review and synthesis of the literature. Menzies School of
Health Research, Centre for Child Development and Education, Darwin Northern
Territory. Retrieved from
[Link]
ponsiveness%20and%20School%20Education%20March%202012%[Link]
Price, K. (2015). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education: An introduction for the
teaching profession (2nd ed.). Port Melbourne, Victoria: Cambridge University Press.
Sarra, C. (2014). Strong and smart–towards a pedagogy for emancipation: Education for first
peoples. New York, New York: Routledge.
Yunkaporta, T. (n.d.). The eight-way framework of Aboriginal Pedagogy. Retrieved from
[Link]
[Link]