EDUC – FINAL ESSAY – DYLAN SMITH 2165258

The educational world is a hugely diverse and constantly evolving environment, it is

imperative that institutions and educators are at the forefront of effective pedagogical
strategies to best facilitate equitable learning for all students. A pivotal theme in modern
Australian teaching and educational settings lies with the positioning of Indigenous voices and
prioritisation of Indigenous learning in mainstream schools. This issue is of upmost
importance as Indigenous retention and graduation rates within these settings continue to
be problematic throughout Australia. Current policies, pedagogies and curriculums need to
be adapted and revitalised to include these Indigenous voices and position Indigenous
students in a better locus to be heard and succeed. This needs to be achieved with relevant,
meaningful and functional education that contributes to the integrity, preservation and
celebration of Indigenous culture. This essay will discuss how with the use of the Teaching for
Resistance model, and through Critical Pedagogies, used correlation with AITSL standards 1.4
and 2.4, educators and schools will best equip themselves to support Indigenous students
throughout their educational lives, whilst providing a critique the current view of ‘Closing the
Gap’ by discussing its theoretical limitations.

The analogy ‘Closing the Gap’ has been used across countless mediums, across a vast number
of demographics. From describing bridging the divide between issues of social standing, sex
and race, the basic notion of closing the gap in Australia lies around the improved outcomes
for those deemed as at risk members of the community. Areas such as employment
opportunities, health and in this case education are all focal points of the ‘Close the Gap’ basis
(Rigney and Hemming, 2014). Contrary to this colonial construction and mainstream view of
‘Closing the Gap’, an Indigenous perspective paints an entirely different picture. Through the
statistical construction of the ‘Indigenous Problem’, the Australian government has formed
means of marginalising Indigenous Australians even further in the pursuit of statistical
representations of social indicators. It is with this information that an understanding can be
formed through which educators can see that making comparisons on relative sociological
determinants of wellbeing between Indigenous, and Non-indigenous Australians is
fundamentally flawed (Pholi, 2009). (Pholi, 2009, p.10) explains that ‘The measurement of
progress in ‘Closing the Gap’ relies on comparable data, as there is little use for indicators
unique to Indigenous Australians without a comparative dataset from the non-Indigenous
 EDUC – FINAL ESSAY – DYLAN SMITH 2165258

population. This means that anything that may be uniquely positive about being and
Aboriginal or Torres Strait islander person is of little relevance to the evidence base’.
Addressing these flaws in ‘Closing the gap’ model is important, and forming a critical
understanding how this approach influences educational outcomes for Indigenous students
will intrinsically assist the movement towards the affective positioning of indigenous voices
in mainstream classrooms, through educators’ abilities to revitalise and adapt pedagogies
such as Teaching for Resistance.

Acquiring the ability to critically question societal norms is an integral way for teachers to
develop and build on the resistance model and incorporate it into their praxis. Integrating
effective resistance strategies into mainstream curriculums is an extremely effective way of
creating classroom solidarity through pedagogical practice whilst decolonising the classroom
environment. Villanueva (2013) explains that the effective decolonisation of classrooms
intersects directly with best pedagogical practice, incorporating many aspects of teaching for
resistance. It is crucial that educators actively facilitate this movement, as the impact of
colonisation and the subsequent cultural imperialism has caused urban spaces to be
saturated with colonial history, colonial imagery, colonial knowledges and a racial/ethnic
hierarchy linked to a long history of empire. By challenging this colonial idolised curriculum
model, educators are able to incorporate teaching for resistance into their classrooms by
acknowledging and utilising Indigenous customs, culture and stories as pedagogical tools with
the introduction of resistance narratives through stories, plays, films and music in everyday
teaching and assessment formats (Brougham, 1994).

Problematically, Rigney and Hemming (2014) explain that the conceptual slippage between
reconciliations is an important focal point of struggle and resistance, this particularly
pertinent in educational environments. It is clarified that due to this, achieving and
contributing to reconciliation in this context and indeed many others can be homogenised
and masked, serving only the interests of the state (Rigney and Hemming, 2014). Therefore,
trivialising the theoretical complexity of the resistance model and hindering the educational
potential of indigenous perspectives for effective resistance and transformation. Taking this
into account, the teaching for resistance model can be utilised to facilitate classroom
 EDUC – FINAL ESSAY – DYLAN SMITH 2165258

solidarity through student centred learning activities that identify the various social justice
issues surrounding Indigenous Australians and their history, in turn challenging the
homogenised model.

Crucial in this movement towards developing a successful teaching for resistance model, is
the growth and utilization of a critical pedagogy. For emerging and accomplished teachers
alike, a critical pedagogy holds vital responsibility in providing them with a firm understanding
of the role that institutions such as schools play in a class, gender and importantly in this case,
a race divided society. This understanding will place educators in the best position to shape
their praxis to facilitate equitable classroom environments for their students (Duncan-
Andrade and Morrell, 2008). One of the most effective and applicable forms of the Critical
Pedagogy framework penned by Paulo Freire, has a direct relationship with the Teaching for
Resistance model. Problem posing education is an educational model aimed at freedom, and
emphasises that teachers must see themselves in partnership with their students (Duncan-
Andrade and Morrell, 2008). This praxis driven process is intended to be recurrent, and
actively encourage students to become social agents, developing an awareness and their
capacity to confront real-world problems that face them and their community (Duncan-
Andrade and Morrell, 2008). This model affords students the opportunity to:
 Identify a problem
 Analyse the problem
 Create a plan of action to address the problem
 Implement a plan of action
 Analyse and evaluate the action
Much in the same way as Brougham (1994) challenges students with the Teaching for
resistance model to:
 Initiate: issue Identification is initiated with the presentation of resistance narratives.
 Analyse: Analytical strategies help students identify and focus on the social justice
issue.
 Owning: Students reflect on the social justice issue and workshop ideas.
 EDUC – FINAL ESSAY – DYLAN SMITH 2165258

With a firm understanding of the theoretical frameworks, educators can facilitate their
ideologies and understanding of these models through practical based means. Classroom
application of these pedagogies, used in conjunction with industry standards such as the
Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (AITSL), ensures that these methods can
contribute to genuine forms of reconciliation through teaching for social justice. As a pre-
service teacher, I plan to shape my teaching around social justice and enable learning for all
using the Teaching for Resistance and Critical Pedagogical frameworks. By offering students
the opportunity to identify social issues affecting them and their community, then providing
students with the chance to present lived experiences, perspectives and solutions, I will
provide my students with unique and quality opportunities to understand oppression and
social justice issues (Brougham, 1994). I plan on achieving this in accordance with (AITSL,
2011) standard 1.4 by designing and implementing effective teaching strategies that are
responsive to the local community and cultural setting, giving students various opportunities
to extend their knowledge of Australia’s first people and present in ways culturally
appropriate and respectful to Indigenous culture. Conversely, by concentrating classroom
activities around various cultural, historical and societal triumphs, heroes and interests, I will
enable, in accordance with (AITSL, 2011) standard 2.4 the demonstration of my broad
knowledge of, understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories,
culture and languages, whilst developing and challenging students critical thinking
surrounding their view of oppression, injustices and cultural identity. This will provide my
students with the opportunity to reach consensus on an explanation of a range of injustices,
enabling them to articulate their finding and attitudes in such a way to give justice to the
oppressed and provide a solid base for resistance action for Indigenous and non-Indigenous
class members alike (Brougham, 1994).

Through the understanding and facilitation of the Teaching for Resistance and Critical
Pedagogical frameworks, there is a genuine opportunity for educators to question curriculum
and adapt it to support and promote resistance, whilst empowering Indigenous members of
the classroom and invoking a critical understanding in their non-indigenous peers. It is
imperative that these pedagogical tools are adapted and brought into the classroom to help
adhere and achieve connection with (AITSL) standards 1.4 and 2.4 thus creating inclusive and
 EDUC – FINAL ESSAY – DYLAN SMITH 2165258

equitable classrooms for all students. Indigenous Australian culture, language and history Is a
vital pedagogical tool that will assist Indigenous and non-Indigenous students alike form
better understandings of Australia’s history and contribute to genuinely measureable forms
of divide closing dialogue, forging solidarity amongst the future of this country, its children.
But first, to achieve this, dated and colonialized pedagogies and classrooms need to make
way for forward thinking classrooms of resistance.

References:

 AITSL, A. 2011, Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. [eBook] Melbourne,

pp.1-24. Available at: http://aitsl.edu.au
 Brougham, BL 1994, 'Appendix D: teaching programs and resources', in BL Brougham
(ed), Teaching for resistance: report of the Education for Social Justice Research
Project, Texts in Humanities and the Centre for Studies in Educational Leadership,
Adelaide, S. Aust., pp. 113-117.
 Brougham, BL 1994, 'Structure of the draft model', in BL Brougham (ed), Teaching for
resistance: report of the Education for Social Justice Research Project, Texts in
Humanities and the Centre for Studies in Educational Leadership, Adelaide, Sth. Aust.,
pp. 34-43.
 Duncan-Andrade, J.M.R & Morrell, E 2008, ‘Contemporary Developers of Critical
Pedagogy’ in The Art of Critical Pedagogy: Possibilities for Moving from Theory to
Practice in Urban Schools, Peter Lang, New York, pp. 23-48.
 Pholi, K., 2009. Is' Close the Gap'a useful approach to improving the health and
wellbeing of Indigenous Australians? Australian Review of Public Affairs: Journal, 9(2).
 Rigney, D. and Hemming, S., 2014. Is ‘Closing the Gap’Enough? Ngarrindjeri
ontologies, reconciliation and caring for country. Educational Philosophy and
Theory, 46(5), pp.536-545.
 Villanueva, S.T., 2013. Teaching as a healing craft: Decolonizing the classroom and
creating spaces of hopeful resistance through Chicano-indigenous pedagogical
praxis. The Urban Review, 45(1), pp.23-40.
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