Promoting academic success of Aboriginal students in modern education

Promoting the Success of Aboriginal Students in Today's Education

Aboriginal education has experienced significant developments throughout the first half of the 20th Century because of the establishment of several learning institutions and programs that primarily focus on providing Aboriginal students with a Western education. During this period, several federally-funded schools such as mission residential schools in remote regions have been established to help ensure these students obtain Western education. These efforts have been characterized by development of a framework for providing Western education to Aboriginal students in light of their language and culture. While numerous attempts have been carried out to ensure these students obtain contemporary education, there have been many concerns on how to promote the academic success of Aboriginal students. This is primarily because existing conditions in modern education have seemingly hindered the success of these students, especially in public schools. Therefore, the creation of suitable conditions that promote the success of Aboriginal students is an important consideration in today's education system.

Historical Context of Aboriginal Education

Pedagogical issues in Aboriginal education started receiving recognition by the 1960s, particularly in the federally administered schools. The recognition of these pedagogical issues in Aboriginal education was reflected by the development of federally funded schools during the first half of the 20th Century. During this period, there were numerous federal efforts to offer Aboriginal students contemporary education such as the establishment of several mission residential schools in remote areas. The unique pedagogical issues of Aboriginal students became increasingly recognized throughout the first half of the 20th Century as more Aboriginal status and non-status students were enrolled in provincial schools (Western Canadian Protocol, p.1). As a result of recognition of these unique needs, provincial and territorial ministries started to develop and establish policies and support programs that were geared towards providing Aboriginal students with contemporary education.

The development of policies and support programs included creation of Aboriginal language programs and integration of the cultural content of Aborigines into mainstream curricula. While initial initiatives towards this objective were temporal and underdeveloped, these programs have evolved significantly following the involvement of the Aboriginal people. Actually, policies and programs that focus on and support Aboriginal students have evolved and continue to evolve in both provincial and territorial schools / learning institutions. Despite the development of provincial regulations for language curricula, language curriculum development is the cornerstone of initiatives towards Aboriginal language education.

Most of the support programs developed for Aboriginal students are created and established as second language courses. In some cases, provincial and territorial ministries establish bilingual or immersion programs, especially in learning institutions where most of the students speak Aboriginal languages as their first language. In remote areas or frontier regions, schools establish support programs that focus on bridging students into instruction that is usually provided in English. However, in the recent past, there have been numerous efforts to establish a wider and more consistent policy in provincial and territorial institutions that promote integration of Aboriginal cultural content into various subject areas like physical education, arts, social studies, and science.

These significant developments in the education of Aboriginal students were initiated as part of addressing the pedagogical issues of the oppressed. According to Freire, the pedagogy of the oppressed is a tool for their important discovery (p.48). The involvement and participation of the Aborigines in the creation of these policies and support programs is a reflection of the engagement in creating the pedagogy of their freedom. Aboriginal students were largely oppressed in the education system before the first half of the 20th Century when important initiatives were undertaken to provide them with a modern education. This oppression was evident in the failure to include Aboriginal culture and language in educational programs and activities that largely focused on non-Aboriginal students. In essence, prior to the development and introduction of these varying initiatives, the education system largely focused on non-Aborigines and designed its programs and activities based on the needs of these people. This contributed to the oppression of Aboriginal students because of the lack of suitable educational programs and activities that were tailored based on their pedagogical needs and issues.

In addition to addressing the pedagogy of the oppressed, the main objective for the adoption of policies and support programs was to enhance awareness and acknowledgement of the Aboriginal cultures in the broader non-Aboriginal population and society. Moreover, these initiatives were focused on providing Aboriginal students with content that is increasingly responsive to their specific needs and issues. Currently, several territories including British Columbia have created Aboriginal studies programs, curricula, and learning resources and programs that focus on supporting Aboriginal cultures. Furthermore, all provinces and territories are increasingly encouraged to integrate Aboriginal content throughout curricula in order to incorporate the Aboriginal perspectives in the education system.

Ensuring Success of Aboriginal Students in Today's Education

In light of issues facing Aboriginal students in the modern education system and the attempts undertaken to integrate Aboriginal perspectives in contemporary education, it is important to develop and implement conditions that promote the success of these students. School administrations and experts in the field of education are facing increased need to identify suitable conditions in the education environment that would help promote the success of Aborigine students through effective integration of Aboriginal perspectives.

The first measure towards promoting the success of Aboriginal students in today's education is developing and implementing multicultural or anti-racist education. This is an important measure because one of the major issues in the education environment that affect these students is language and cultural differences, which make them feel isolated and discouraged. This type of education will help address these differences and challenges through the creation of academic content and learning environment where these students feel safe and included in the learning processes and activities. Multicultural or anti-racist education is a perspective that applies across all subject areas and deals with people's histories and experiences that have been isolated from the curriculum. The main reason for the use of multicultural or anti-racist education to promote the success of these students is that it helps ensure that the Aboriginal population is included in the curriculum and educational setting. Moreover, this type of education helps school administrators and other stakeholders in the education field to deal equitably with all cultural and racial differences in the learning environment (Au, p.10). This perspective is also beneficial in providing insights on the current status of things in relation to power relationships and equality issues.

Anti-racist education promotes the success of Aboriginal students in the modern education system by influencing decisions made by schools with regards to involvement of various people and cultures in the decision-making process. It also incorporates parents who are sometimes ignored in the decision-making processes in the education system. Therefore, multicultural or anti-racist education influences the numerous aspects in the education system and helps in creating a safe and all-inclusive learning environment that promotes the success of all students including Aboriginal students.

Secondly, the success of Aboriginal students in contemporary education can be promoted through implementing strategies that focus on developing stronger and more inclusive communities in the learning environment. These strategies should be developed on the premise of multicultural or anti-racist education and demonstrate respect to the various cultures in the learning environment. In this case, schools or learning institutions will not primarily focus on non-Aboriginal population but will ensure that their learning activities and programs are diverse and address the needs of different cultures and populations through establishment of stronger and more inclusive communities in the learning environment. The impact of these strategies in the success of Aboriginal students is their creation of a friendly learning environment where pedagogical issues and needs of all students are catered for rather than ignored. It is increasingly important for schools to develop stronger and more inclusive communities in the education setting because the learning environment is characterized by increased diversity. Actually, the learning environment comprises students from various ethnic and racial backgrounds, which implies that inclusivity is an important factor in promoting the success of all students.

The third important measure for promoting the success of these students in light of the nature and status of the current education system and environment is transformation of existing curriculum to integrate all important Aboriginal aspects and perspectives. For instance, in British Columbia, Aboriginal culture, history, and perspectives have been integrated throughout all subject areas and grade levels in the region's new curriculum (Meissner par, 10). The integration of these aspects into the curriculum has been geared towards promoting the success of Aboriginal students by demonstrating a better understanding of their pedagogical issues and needs. Moreover, these measures were centered on ensuring these students have a complete understanding of their history and other important topics or issues like inequality, discrimination, and oppression. As these issues are addressed, Aboriginal students feel more confident and included in the learning environment, which translates to their success.

In conclusion, the education of Aboriginal students has been characterized by numerous efforts since the first half of the 20th Century to integrate their perspectives in academic content and activities/programs. However, these students have experiences several difficulties that have hindered their success including language and cultural differences and decline in language. The success of these students in today's education can be promoted by establishing educational conditions like multicultural education, curriculum transformation, and inclusiveness.