Education of Aboriginal Children

The education of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander has become a focus of the NSW Department of Education while making policies of education in Australia as the nation strives to bring equality for them. The education of Aboriginal students has faced a number of challenges in the past which led to their continuous educational failure. The overt or covert form of racism has always remained a feature of Aboriginal educational polices, which has always marginalized these students. Any member of the society should not be deprived of education as it is a social resource. Teaching and learning practices need to consider the special requirements of the diverse range of groups and curriculum needs to be designed in such a way that it does not perpetuate the inferiority of anyone’s belief system. This essay will be looking at the historical legacy of Aboriginal students which deciphers the educational disadvantage experienced by them through teaching practices, curriculum and policy. In order to discuss the implications for teaching and learning, Transformative theory of learning along with Butins theory and Piane’s frameworks will also be highlighted. This essay will also throw light on Marxist theory and Pierre Bourdieu’s various forms of capital to show the discrimination experienced by Aboriginals.
The poor educational outcomes for the Aboriginal students owe to the impact of colonilisation where the educational policies were driven by racism. It was till 1950’s that Indigenous students were denied access to equal opportunities of education and racism was a governing force behind this policy (Gray & Beresford, 2008). They were considered inferior to white people and were forced to live apart (A.P.Elkin, 1930’s cited by Gray & Beresford, 2008). Various policies were implemented which allowed the removal of Aboriginal students from schools (Heitmeyer, 2004). Whereas some children of Aboriginal origin were forcibly placed in the missions, the others were a