- Title
- Why do Aboriginal kids switch off school?
- Creator
- Lester, John
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2016
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- This case study in one rural district in the state of NSW in Australia with high Indigenous enrolments was initiated by the local Indigenous community and Regional Education Authority to directly address serious concerns they had about Indigenous completion rates in their district. The study aimed to provide the first comprehensive holistic Indigenous examination of why Aboriginal students switch off school, when this takes place, and to propose key interventions to address the problem. The study was longitudinal and followed 43 students, across two cohorts (Year 5 and 7) from six high schools, one central school and six primary feeder schools in the district over a four year period. Key informants and data were drawn from education systems (drilling down to regional level), schools and their staff, and the Indigenous parents/community from the district. The research is grounded in Indigenous Methodologies which prioritize Indigenous voices including the author’s unique perspectives as a leading Indigenous educator and his journey in the study as Indigenous researcher. It further utilises mixed-mode tools with an emphasis on qualitative data collection including over 160 interviews embracing the storied nature of Indigenous experience in their community and schools/district, alongside supporting data collected from survey and questionnaire and existing statistical databases. Outcomes from the study clearly demonstrated the diversity of Indigenous students, their backgrounds, school results and consistently strong cultural family backgrounds. Defined engagement levels were established for the case students, namely engaged, disengaged and unengaged. These levels of Indigenous Engagement (‘ie’) call for specific strategic approaches if outcomes around retention are to be significantly improved. The research further highlighted the great strength and resilience in the Indigenous community in the face of what has become a deeply entrenched problem of misrepresentation of community by the system and schools and underestimation of both Indigenous students and community, which typically has resulted in stereotypical responses from schools and their staff. The Indigenous researcher’s own journey through the study and the impact of the research on his varied, high level, Indigenous educational leadership roles provided a further layer of personal and cultural dialogue throughout the study that offered a space for continuous reflection, analysis and interpretation. Through this reflection a level of clarity emerged which is captured through a critical use of traditional ‘Rarrk’ painting analogy possibly extending Indigenous interpretive approaches and the discourse around Indigenous research method. The findings challenge the unproblematic interpretation of state level policy and opinions generated on limited or no data.
- Subject
- education; Aboriginal; student engagement; school; quality teaching; Indigenous method; Australia
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1318450
- Identifier
- uon:23629
- Rights
- Copyright 2016 John Lester
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 15 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 602 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |