1. A reflection of your own experiences of culture and identity in relation to education.

As a teenager growing up, I was always in search for who I am, what I can achieve and my purpose in life. Everyone around me was in search for their identity, trying new things, going through weird and often outrageous phases in hope for finding something to make their mark with. This culture and need to create a reputation for yourself was contagious… unless you were from the group of kids who had their whole life mapped out from when they were born and were following the ‘yellow brick road’ like robots, robots with hormones, estrogen to be specific, all in hope to meet the expectation set out to achieve.

But what motivates us all to find out who we are or what we want to be? We will cease to understand this question unless we identify that culture and education play a vital role in the way in which we take part of any activity within the education system. In fact, each individual has his or her own experiences of culture and identity in relation to education. They are important issues, which should be taken seriously when attempting to understand how and why people do certain things.

In my private high school, the education system, left students competing like animals for a scrap of meat, all fighting for the same thing, first place in academic performance. Teachers taught you to be competitive; it’s the only way you would succeed. As if that wasn’t enough… Peer groups judged you based on the brands you wore, how badass you are, how freakishly lame or antisocial, whether you’re four eyed, academically capable or not… the list goes on. All these aspects contributed to the way in which you valued your identity and culture while being educated at school.

According to the AGE Victoria “parents are using private schools to segregate their children from unfamiliar cultures (Hall, 2012, ¶ 1).

A spokeswoman for Multicultural Affairs Minister Kate Lundy said: ''Parents select a school for a variety of different reasons and they are increasingly making informed decisions (Hall, 2012, ¶ 1). '' This is true on the part of most of the students at my school. Parents chose private schools due to what they offered. For my parents, it was religion and the ability to participate in my culture in a joint environment as well as building a strong identity, which mirrored theirs. This links to what Phillips states, in regards to people identifying and empathizing more easily with those whom they have more in common with is understandable as “culture comes to be seen as the major course of peoples identity, and major determinant of their actions and behaviors (Phillips, 2006, p.5)”. 

References:

·      Hall, B. (2012). Private schools used for cultural quarantine. The Age Victoria. Retrieved September 23, 2013, from http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/private-schools-used-for-cultural-quarantine-20120306-1uieg.html.

·      Phillips, A. (2006). What is culture? In Arneil, Barbara and Deveaux, Monique and Dhamoon, Rita and Eisenberg, Avigail, (eds.) Sexual justice / cultural justice . London, UK: Routledge, 2006, pp. 15-29.

'Why are they so naughty?'

Christy Khouri

I choose to pose the question, how serious is disruptive behaviour within schools, and is it a major issue? Also, why, who and where are these issues arising- what social factors of the cultures and the identities of students are influencing students to act in disruptive manners.

Based on my past schooling both primary and secondary, I experienced classes made mostly of students who displayed erratic behaviour. When I reflect upon the earlier years of secondary school, I recall spending most of my class time waiting for a teacher who would be waiting for other students to settle down, often having to spend many of my lunch times in detentions because the rowdy bunch at the back felt like throwing their school bags at the fans. Experience wise, behaviour was one of the most significant aspects of schooling, where anyone who was in the ‘’baddest class’’ (yes we actually used those words *facepalm) was sure to not get any work done. Why were there so many naughty students? Well I always assumed it was just the location, influences from home and such. Having attended a private school in a place where students mainly ranged from lower socio economic classes, stemming from immigrant parents whom often had minimal educational history, i concluded that the wild nature of my educational experiences in primary and secondary school was because of the contextual and social features of the majority of students.

It is established that, ‘’factors in the home as being the most important causes of disruptive behavior’’ (Maxwell 2006, p 203), where often students may mirror or react against issues that arise involving their caregivers. Where the Sydney Morning Herald informs that teachers have experienced ‘’lack of administrative support, onerous compliance measures and much tougher emotional conditions than they expected to face, particularly in economically depressed areas.’’ That there is a correlation between bad behavior and students who originate from lower SES backgrounds and disruptive homes.  It seems, however, that many teachers can no longer stand the heat of such students, which begs the question of who needs to shape up. A teacher has sued the state government due to students driving him to anxiety disorders and suicidal tendencies, where the extend of such psychological harm raises the question of what schools are doing to contain students, and whether its the schools job to do so. For successful change it has been seen that

‘’school‐based strategies as the responses most likely to succeed in reducing it, particularly in‐service training in class management skills, greater pastoral care input and better liaison with outside agencies. A school‐by‐school analysis of staff attitudes showed that there were significant differences in the extent to which the staffs believed that the problem of disruptive behaviour is within the power of schools to control and some preliminary evidence was presented to suggest that this may affect the schools’ abilities to prevent and/or respond constructively to disruptive behaviour when it occurs.’’

(Maxwell 2006, p 203).

That action must be taken by the school and teachers to encourage and provide for student’s who engage in disinterested and disorderly fashions. It has been shown, however, that teachers are failing to maintain these qualities and instead, "using sarcasm, aggression, responding negatively to mistakes. They were there [originally] for reasons such as wanting to enhance social equity, making a contribution to society, or having a personal interest in teaching and working with youth." That teacher’s hold intentions of reform and encouragement, but are not successful in maintaining effective qualities.

It has therefore been established that social factors such as low SES and disruptive homes, and also teacher’s attitudes, all hold major impacts on student’s willingness to learn and comply with the demands of a classroom.

References:

Marshall, K 2013. Sydney Morning Herald Homepage. Available from <http://www.smh.com.au/victoria/burnout-hits-one-in-four-teachers-20131005-2v13y.html > 9^th October, 2013.

Maxwell, W 2006. Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Disruptive Behaviour in Secondary Schools. Educational Review, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 203-216.

Toscano, N 2013. Sydney Morning Herald Homepage. Available from <http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/teacher-sues-over-difficult-students-20131008-2v6fd.html > 9^th October, 2013.

‘But what if I want to be a ‘geek’’

Christy Khouri

With Beauty and the Geek to loom upon tv’s later this week, I saw it fitting to address the impacts that societal stereotypes have on student’s opportunity choices. Where negative connotations are often associated with terms such as ‘geek’ and such stereotypes are often associated with subjects such as Information Computer technology (ICT). Could such stereotypes really limit students from pursuing subjects and careers they desire? Apparently they can, and do already.

With jobs in IT related areas growing, it would be assumed that more students are grasping opportunities to engage with experience and learning on such topics, but studies have shown that students are not choosing subjects such as ICT due to the image it reflects on the student’s social status as it is seen as ‘’a boring subject, devoid of interesting applications and stimulating onto to ‘geeks’’’ (Graham 2003, p 322). Where rates have dropped by around 50% of students completing ICT for their HSC, even though jobs in the subject area are growing by 7%. This is more than likely due to the fact that those who do choose to engage are viewed by other peers as being ‘’socially inadequate and isolated individual a perception which has been found to cause many students to avoid coming into contact with information and communications technology (ICT)’’ (Schott 2000, p 291). This stigma, however, has shown to be incorrect as ‘’students who are highly oriented toward ICT are… no less sociable, popular, or self-assured than their non-ICT using peers’’ (Schott 2000, p 291). Also issues of young women refraining from choosing this male dominated subject reflect issues of social associations and of gender defining ones interest which evidently still exist today.

Therefore labels and stereotypes relating to student’s academic choices have shown to have an impact on student’s final decisions in choosing not to pursue subjects of interest and for some, careers of their dreams, due to the unwanted labels that accompany the positions.

References:

Graham, S 2003. CS girls rock: sparking interest in computer science and debunking the stereotypes. ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 322- 326.

Mcneilage, A 2013. Sydney Morning Herald Homepage. Available from: <http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/the-nerd-factor-blamed-for-drop-in-it-hopefuls-20130913-2tq5m.html > 9^th October 2013.

Schott, G 2000. Examining the "Male, Antisocial" Stereotype of High Computer Users. Journal of Educational Computing Research, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 291- 303.

Ethico-Politics: The Refugee 'problem' and the Issue of teaching for cultural diversity. (Michael Howlett)

It is undeniable that Australia presents a vast cultural demographic amongst its populace. A multicultural nation that strives for acceptance of all cultures and ethnicities by developing policies within the interests of a global economy whilst promoting universal understanding between divergent cultures. However, with the recent rise in refugee’s seeking a new more secure way of life, we as a nation are beginning to debate our role in ethico-politics. That being, determining to what extent Australia should be held accountable to help those in need through political discourse based on ethical and humanitarian views and needs. Furthermore, the recent rise in refugee migration has placed educational institutions in a crisis state to be able to meet the educational needs of refugee’s whilst re-educating the youth of the nation about the nature of refugee’s as “public culture has been distorted by rhetoric that dehumanises those for whom we should be showing hospitality” (Hattam & Every, 2010). Subsequently, “the experience that refugee students have in schools is very much determined by the way that refugees are thought about and represented in the public culture” (Hattam & Every, 2010) and therefore often become victims of xenophobia, racism, alienation and bullying as the Australian media often portray them as detrimental or ‘disadvantageous’ to the Australian way of life.

Chief executive of World Vision Australia Tim Costello argues that the overriding refugee problem is caused by Australia’s “distorted” view of the world. He contests that our “luck of geographical location” (2013) leaves us unable to fully recognise the extent to which others in conflict zones such as Syria struggle on a day to day basis. He evokes that “global conflict only becomes our concern when boats start landing on our shores and yet all too often we turn a blind eye to the root of the problem, that being, the reason they have come here” (2013). It is these problems such as war and famine which form a facet of the negative representation of refugees. We as a nation fear the possibility of refugee’s to take their problems to our shores with them. Yet Costello advocates that “we must confront our place in this complex global problem with fresh eyes…fresh eyes meaning looking beyond our shores and experiencing the situation in other countries” (2013).

In order to counteract the negative portrayal of Refugees within Australia and properly assume our role in the field of ethico-politics, a majority of educational institutions employ political strategies in order to provide a solution to “the fragmentation in classrooms and the wider Australian polity” (Hattam & Every, 2010) and ensure political stability in the future. Some strategies include; fun days, information days and multicultural days. Yet it is still not enough. The message is being spread but without sufficient information and purpose. Hattam and Every argue for the implementation of teacher training days in which they gain “a fuller understanding of the global dynamics propelling refugees and asylum seekers…an understanding of their complex life situations” (2010). This should be actively addressed within the curriculum along with “a repertoire of pedagogical approaches to dealing with differences at a classroom level” (Hattam & Every, 2010). In doing so, teachers are able to educate the youth of the nation on why these people have come to our shores whilst being able to effectively engage them in classroom activity and discussion without the detriment of segregation amongst the students.

Whilst confronting this issue within educational institutions is essential in order to ensure future political stability, further political work must be done to ensure the issue is met in contemporaneous society. For instance, Michel Foucault’s notion of ‘fearless speech’ (2002) works upon Costello’s demand for ‘fresh eyes’ by confronting governments on human rights issues and other aspects of ethico-politics. He proposes two essential principles to guide the process including “recognising that there exists an international citizenship amongst humanity….and to affirm the right of citizens to act and to reject the assumption that only the government has the prerogative to take action”. Both approaches will ultimately lead to a more compassionate, humanitarian Australia which recognises the crisis’s that exist within people’s lives and address their need of a more secure, stable and sustainable way of life which Australia is undeniably able to provide. Furthermore, by accepting ‘our’ home as their home, student refugees will be able to experience a more equitable educational experience.

Ultimately, the refugee problem also highlights aspects of identity politics and more specifically, the notion of essentialism. Young students (and troublingly some adults) are unable to recognise Australia as the home of refugees. They are fixated on their country of origin as their only identity which cannot and should not be assimilated within Australian culture. In order for Australia to truly adopt the multiculturalist identity that it presents itself as and fully adopt its fundamental role in ethico-politics, Foucault’s process of fearless speech and Costello’s ‘fresh eyes’ must be implemented and the Australian populace must embrace the notion of an ‘international citizenship’ (2002) and show hospitality to those who have suffered in their home land. Up to this point, it seems Australia’s refugee program works off the premise that it’s something we ‘have’ to do when it should be something we want to do.

References:

1.      Costello, T. (2013, July 19). ‘Australia’s view on global refugee problem is distorted’.

News Limited Network. Available at: http://www.news.com.au/national-news/australia8217s-view-on-global-refugee-problem-is-8216distorted8217-says-tim-costello/story-fncynjr2-1226681859346.

2.      Foucault, M. (2002). ‘Confronting Governments: Human Rights’. Power: Essential

Works of Foucault, 474-475.

3.      Hattam, R., & Every, D. (2010). ‘Teaching in fractured classrooms: refugee education,

Public culture, community and ethics’. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 13(4), 409-424.

'The Aboriginal Problem': Education, Economic and Social deficit. (Michael Howlett)

It is a well-known fact amongst the Australian populace that the indigenous population experience a range of deficits in regards to social, economic and educational experiences. These perceptions of deficit have in many ways characterised the fluctuating relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians since the early settlement. There have been a variety of initiatives aimed at confronting these deficits from both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal parties. Such developments date back as far as the early settlement and have continued through to the process of assimilation and more recently, the official recognition of Indigenous land rights. Along with these strategies exists a wide range of support programs for Indigenous Australians in order to assist them in experiencing a more equitable educational and social experience. These governmental programs also unequivocally ensure lasting support in regards to economic stability. Yet the issue is still, in many ways, ever-present amongst Australian society. In his article ‘Honouring Our Strengths’, Scott Gorringe argues that:

“nothing significant has changed….all that seems to happen is that pictures get moved around a bit on the wall, or we put some new paint on them, yet when it all comes down to it- it’s still the same old outhouse that we are looking at” (2011).

Essentially, his point can be simplified down to the fact that whilst Indigenous support programs support a stable lifestyle. The fact remains that without these political initiatives, majority of the indigenous population would struggle to find suitable educational resources and potentially live an economically unstable life. Therefore, the issue is being ‘sustained’ not in any way, as Gorringe contests, solved. “Nationally we have struggled to solve the ‘Aboriginal Problem’….now the white fellas and the Indigenous fellas are having a go together. Yet I am not sure it will be ‘solved’ this time either” (2011).

Gorringe explains “Deficit Discourse” as the overriding component of the issue which seems to be unchanging. “Since contact White men have looked at me in a certain way…I was seen to be doing something wrong…I lived in houses made of made of grass and tree branches…what is more disgusting is that 200 years later it’s still happening” (2011). This suggests that the startling issue here which formulates the recognition of the ‘Aboriginal problem’ is covertly, racism. The indigenous population are still perceived as somewhat a ‘primitive’ culture yet their educational and economic needs are equal to that of non-Aboriginal Australians. For the ‘Aboriginal Problem’ to truly be overcome, the indigenous population must be seen as equal to that of non-Aboriginal Australians in regards to education, economic stability and social discourses. Whilst government parties are clearly doing what they can, Gorringe argues that “only Aboriginal led initiatives can navigate effectively through this challenge” (2011).

Similarly, in a feature article within The Australian newspaper, former Aboriginal affairs minister Fred Chaney argues that a solution will only be met by “engaging Aborigines”, saying he was “tired of hearing high policy and big ideas about how to alleviate Aboriginal disadvantage” (2009). He argues that rather:

           

“The really important thing is to get permanent gains, not to waste money. Those permanent gains will be best obtained if the Aboriginal people are strongly involved…and that takes time” (Chaney, 2009).

The governmental instigated initiatives to date all seem fixated on the notion of a quick fix, adhering to scrupulous timelines and “harsh deadlines” (Chaney, 2009) to alleviate Aboriginal deficit. Chaney rightly advocates that more attention should be paid to cause and effect of government policies which confront Aboriginal disadvantage, stating that “I would like to see more attention being paid not to speed of action, but on the effectiveness of action” (2009).

It is undeniably clear that the Australian government are exploring a range of different ways to confront Aboriginal deficit. Yet there is also no denying that these almost fantastical approaches are in search of a ‘quick fix’ and will in no way, in the long-term, alter the Aboriginal way of life in modern society. They will only sustain and ensure the longevity of the indigenous population with no essential alternation in living an independent way of life. As both Gorringe and Chaney argue, the indigenous deficit lifestyle cannot continue to simply be accommodated for. For lasting changes to take effect, the Aboriginal population must experience change first hand and be personally implemented in strategies aimed at reducing Aboriginal deficit and abolishing the proposed ‘Aboriginal problem’.

References:

1.      Chaney, F. (2009, July 11). ‘Engage Aborigines to solve race problems’.

The Australian. Available at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/engage-aborigines-to-solve-race-problems-rudd-urged/story-e6frg6n6-1225748424439

2.      Gorringe, S. (2011). ‘Honouring our Strengths: Moving Forward’.

Stronger Smarter Institute, QUE, 21, 21-37.