New approach urged for indigenous education

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-18/new-approach-urged-for-indigenous-education/4966744

The education system has failed to meet the needs of indigenous students. For decades, reports have discussed the serious under-achievement of indigenous students. NAPLAN TEST and My School website shows most of the schools with low NAPLAN results are schools with high indigenous enrollment. “Suggestions that NAPLAN tests are culturally inappropriate and not in indigenous languages have been accepted arguments for poor results for many years. But dismiss test results on this basis can serve government departments with excuses rather than action.” (Ford, 2012) we shouldn't measure student’s achievement base on just NAPLAN results. However, we can’t dismiss the NAPLAN results at the same time. Indigenous affairs have suggested that poor attendance is one of the most critical factors in the difference educational achievement between indigenous and non-indigenous students. In 2011, Julia Gillard also “prioritised halving the gap in year 12 attendance in her closing the gap speech.” However, more than 200 remote schools have found improved attendance doesn’t mean better results. The question is why student doesn’t want come to school and what other barriers in their family and community.

“Poverty and disadvantage have strong negative impact on the well-being of indigenous students. This in turn affects their engagement in school and their educational achievement.”  (Black, 2008) These disadvantages may include cultural difference, disengaged parents and teaching quality.Firstly, the expectations and values of the indigenous community are very different to non-indigenous family. Some parents worried if their children get more education, they will lose their own culture and identity.  Others don’t value education and not interested in the opportunities that education can provide. The role of education in helping indigenous communities needs to be specified. Indigenous students need to acknowledge the opportunities that education can offer. Their parents should know how their children could be benefit from education. Also, the lack of understanding of indigenous culture may lead to prejudice or racial intolerance. Increase the number of indigenous teachers can support enrollment and retention of indigenous student as they have the same cultural background and share the same values. They can understand the needs of indigenous students and easy to communicate with indigenous parents. Secondly, engaged participation is a key to success in education.As Black proposed, “Parental engagement in school is associated with better student achievement and retention and greater take-up of further and higher education. Its effect is particularly strong in disadvantaged communities.”(Black, 2008)  Many indigenous parents don’t involve in their children’s education. This doesn't mean they don’t care about their children. Some indigenous parents may be too overwhelmed by long working hours or poverty to participate in activities of the school. Others with low educational levels may don’t have confident to communicate with school. Schools should encourage and enable parent to support their children’s education, providing opportunities for parents to participate and be involved in school activities. For example, the parent teacher night would acknowledge their understanding of schooling. Thirdly, teaching quality is a critical factor in the performance of indigenous students in school. There is a positive relationship between teaching quality and students educational outcomes. The effectiveness of the teacher is central to the quality of education received by the student. An experienced teacher may be able to motivate and succeed with indigenous students. However, most teachers need special training and additional skills to succeed in schools with high indigenous enrollment.

Boosting attendance doesn't translate to better school result. The traditional teaching strategy isn't working in remote indigenous school. The Prof John Halsey from Flinders University has suggest, “The focus on national standards needs to shift towards a more creative way of delivery education.” Indigenous parents, leaders and teachers need additional support to transform live and equitable educational outcomes for Aboriginal students. 

Reference:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-18/new-approach-urged-for-indigenous-education/4966744

Black, R &Morgan, S. (2008) Networks for Students. In: Black, R &Morgan, S. Beyond the Classroom: Building New School Networks. (pp. 33-51)Camberwell, Vic.

Margot, F. (2013). Achievement gaps in Australia: what NAPLAN reveals about education inequality in Australia, Race Ethnicity and Education, 16(1), 80-102.

Promote and protect the rights of international students

Over the past several years, large influxes of overseas students are moving to Australia for a better tertiary education.  According to statistics, Australia is a popular study destination with more than 200,000 international students in Australian universities. Many international students are drawn to Australia because its quality of education and the diversity of the country. However, Australia is the most expensive country in the world for international students to study and live in. The table below is the HSBC research reviewed data of the annual cost of studying abroad for international students per year in 13 countries around the world. Australia has an average tuition fees and cost of living fees about $38,000 a year. Which are 3000 more than US and 8000 more than UK.

International student has contributed more than $14 billion to Australian GDP every year. But the social protections for international student are few and hard to enforce. Some international students have suffered from discrimination based on religion, race and culture. There was also a high-profile series of criminal attacks on mainly Indian students.  As a host country, Australia has social responsibility to secure international student’s welfare and rights. The institutions of education and government should recognize the need of international student and make efforts to endorse and support their safety, dignity and rights. “Dominant notions of distributive justice have tended to fail within two categories. There is the traditional ‘weak’ liberal definition of justice as equality of opportunity and more radical ‘strong’ liberal version of justice as equality of outcome.” (Gewirtz, 1998)  As Gewirtz suggests, quality of opportunity and equality of the outcome are two categories of distributive justice. International student should have the same opportunity to access their education and equal formal rights.

Thousands of protesting Indian students and supporters hold up placards in Melbourne in 2009 as Australia scrambled to contain outrage over a wave of attacks.

In 9 October 2013, the Australian Government has flags rebuild of international education sector. The new Coalition government, which is embarking on an efficiency drive in higher education, is to develop a national strategy for international education. Although there are few details, Minister Pyne wants to extend streamlined student visa arrangements beyond universities and is reviewing the rules for post-study work rights.


Many international students are concerned about being used as a money source when they say they should be seen as ambassadors for Australian education. According to Gewirtz, “Equality of opportunity can be viewed as the existence of equal formal rights, equality of access and equality of participation.” I believe international students should have similar social rights as local students, excluding access to social security schemes.


International education brings a richness and diversity to the culture of Australia. It is essential to send a message to international student and their family that Australia welcomes and is well place to international student. Provide access to social rights and avoid violence will improve the international student’s experience of living and studying in Australia. 

Reference:

http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2013/08/australia-most-expensive-country-for-foreign-students/

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-09/an-australian-minister-flags-rebuilding-of-international-educat/5012444

Gewirtz, Sharon. (1998). Conceptualizing social justice in education: mapping the territory. Journal of Education Policy, 13(4), 469-484.

A reflection on a current educational issue in Sydney relating to culture and identity

A reflection on a current educational issue in Sydney relating to culture and identity

School as an essential part of development should not be a place where discrimination and unfair treatment exists. In NSW, the Anti-Discrimination Act makes them unlawful to expel, refuse to enrol, limit access to benefits provided by a school. It will now make private schools and private education institutions subject to the same laws that make discrimination unlawful in public schools and TAFEs. The discrimination includes race, sex, transgender, homosexuality etc. The current issue is that it is claimed that discrimination no longer exists in private schools, however through some personal experiences of the students who are homosexual from private schools, verifies the existence of discrimination.

How harmful is the discrimination if it still cannot be eliminated in private schools? Bellmore (2012) indicated that students experience the peer discrimination report lower self-esteem and higher levels of depressive symptoms. As mentioned before, private schools may have more discrimination than public schools and in addition, some of them allow the discrimination. The victims suffer from the schools and dare not reflect their situations as they know they may be expelled from the school, which is allowed in some of the private schools but actually is unlawful. The lack of sense of belonging makes them feel isolated and desperate and less likely to perform well. Minikel-Lacocque (2013) suggested a term which is called “microaggression”. It mentioned the power of words as the aggression. Although this can be considered as “micro”, the harm to these students might be ten times or hundreds of times greater as they are sensitive about other’s words or behaviours.

In my opinion, eliminating the discrimination in private schools is the priority. Although it is made unlawful, it is still not sufficient. I have some suggestions to help reduce the occurrence of discrimination. Firstly, we have to know that which schools the discrimination exist. It is efficient to ask all schools, if possible, to take a survey about the discrimination, anonymously. This is the way that allows the victims who usually keep silence to speak up and protect them in the case of expulsion. Then, it’s better to let the staffs from the Anti-Discrimination Act in NSW have a speech about the discrimination in these schools, including the harm to young children, clearly states that now it’s unlawful in private schools as well, and appeal the victims or those who are in potential to report their experience of being discriminated. Even though we couldn't eliminate all discrimination, at least we could minimise it.

Undeniably, education is important to both individuals and the countries, while discrimination is a sword that reduces the quality or even causes the disruption of education. The current educational issue may not be solved completely and immediately in private schools, however, with the development of one’s moral concepts, the discrimination would be decreased gradually.

Reference:

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/discrimination-has-no-place-in-schools-20130919-2u13f.html

Bellmore, Adrienne. (2012). School Context Protective Factors Against Peer Ethnic Discrimination Across the High School Years. American journal of community psychology, 49(1), 98-111.

Minikel-Lacocque, Julie. (2013). Racism, College, and the Power of Words: Racial Microaggressions Reconsidered. American Educational Research Journal, 50(3), 432-465.

Culture and Education: How Education and the Classroom can be used to impose the power and choices of those in power upon students

It can be seen that the classroom is “a place where culture is produced, consumed and regulated” (Wadham, Pudsey, Boyd. 2007, p.4). However, in analysis and understanding of this point, we generally view this as quite a positive thing, where through the interaction of culture with education, students are shaped into more aware cultural beings. Thus, it is often that we gloss over the negatives that come into play with this action, and it is one radical case in particular where this can be seen, that I believe will stick with me forever.

In late August this year, the Daily Life news site published an article titled “They’re conducting ‘virginity tests’ for high school girls in Indonesia”. The testing, which is to begin in one province in Indonesia in particular, is verified by an education officer as “for their own good”, and will be done as so;

“The test — to be conducted on female students who are typically 15 or 16 and entering the post-compulsory phase of education — would involve examining their hymen to see if they are intact. Boys will neither be physically tested nor asked if they are virgins.” (Michael Bachelard, Daily Life)

However, this action was not an isolated case in Indonesia, and the issue of female virginity and purity is one of rising importance in the now predominantly Muslim nation. Quite recently, in one significantly Islamic district, the banning from women to ride side-saddle on motorcycles was put in place, as in this case the “curves of a women’s body” were too visible, as well as the proposed banning of mini-skirts put forth by Indonesia’s religious affairs minister as an “anti-pornography move” in March 2012.

This case reveals the way in which those in power are able to abuse their authority and impose their beliefs and ideals upon those with the lesser hand, and use this as a form of social control. The significance of this can be incredibly detrimental to a child's development, where still in a developmental stage of their learning and self-identity, this sudden subjection to the stigmas and social exclusion attached to this action can cause identity confusion and self dismissal. Not only has this act sought out to strip these girls of certain civil rights, but it also acts to manipulate and impose upon them the views of those that are in power.

The school, in this regard, can be seen as less a place for developing the skills needed to become an active member of society, but more as a way in which those in power are able to manipulate and implement their views and ideals upon these children, future adult citizens of that society.

This incident however, is not an isolated one, and another example where the classroom and right to education can be abused to victimize as well as manipulate students, would be the recent event in Arkansas, where one school actually banned three students from attending classes (two of whom have disabilities) until they had provided the school with proof that they were not HIV positive. The school in Pea Ridge, had “admitted that 'the district has recently required some students to provide test results regarding their HIV status,” and as expected, the immorality of this action was immediately questioned, executive director of DRC Tom Masseau stating "The fact that the foster families have to provide documentation that the children are HIV negative before entering the school is unlawful and immoral."(Michael Bachelard, Daily Life)

Whilst however different in circumstances, this issue like the previous one, poses questions upon the issue of civil rights in regards to a students right and need for education, and the way in which this can be abused by those in power. With Education being more or less the equivalent to culture, being a culture in itself (Wadham, Pudsey, Boyd. 2007, p.1) it is thus important that this not be abused, where students grow to accept what they are being forced to in the Classroom, and then carrying out this view and ideal into the world.

Resources

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2423552/Arkansas-school-district-bans-3-children-classes-provide-negative-HIV-test-results.html

http://www.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/theyre-conducting-virginity-tests-for-high-school-girls-in-indonesia-20130821-2sai0.html

 Wadham, B., Pudsey, J. & Boyd, R. (2007). Culture and Education. Sydney: Pearson Education. Chapter 1: What is culture?

Identity politics and Culture: Sexual Discrimination in Education

(image of Coy Mathis, from http://www.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/news-features/live-life-as-a-girl-transgender-childs-parents-sue-school-20130301-2fatj.html)

Recently, Issues of transgender marginalization as well as liberation have been quite frequent stories to top our News headlines. Even at this University transgender right's campaigns have found themselves sticky-taped to the back of bathroom doors, the colourful slogan reading "let them use these facilities without discrimination". Significantly enough, when exploring education articles on the web I stumbled upon the story of transgendered six-year-old Coy Mathis, who was subject to this exact form of social discrimination in her school, a place of which should be a 'safe house' to such discrimination.

Identified as a transgendered male at only 18 months, Coy Mathis lived her life as if she were a girl, an issue which bothered neither child not parents. This was until her Colorado school principle decided that little Coy was suddenly to be barred from using the girls bathrooms, with only the alternatives of either the boys bathroom or the nurses office. Rightfully, the child’s parents objected to this, filing a "civil rights lawsuit" against the school. Their issue was that not only would this single out the child and put them up for harassment, but also through this the child is directly exposed to cultural perceptions of what is and should be deemed as “male” and “female”, with the idea that there is no in-between, immediately making this child feel the harsh hand of marginalization and discrimination at their early formative stage. As Wadham, Pudsey and Boyd pointed out, "culture shapes education, and education shapes culture" (Wadham, Pudsey, Boyd. 2007,  pp.1) and thus, in an instance such as this where the marginalization of a child due to their being transgendered in the classroom is done, this is not only a reflection upon certain cultural views, but a reflection that will again be made when this idea is put back into culture through this child's experiences of marginalization.

This example shows how a school, the place in which a child is meant to feel safe and to develop the idea’s, values and tools in which they will later use to function within society, acts to strongly dis-benefit the child and their identity formation. So with this example, we can see that whilst Education has the obvious main aim to help our students develop their sense of identity and to benefit their transformation within society, can act to directly marginalize children deemed as ‘different’.

Reading this article I couldn't help but reminisce on all the documents I have read about gender equality in the Education system, however notably, I am yet to read anything about the focus upon the rights and focus upon transgendered children in the classroom. Transgendered people are commonely seen as marginalized by society, and with the issues of feminist equality and issues of gay rights being such a constant issue in society, transgendered rights seem to be quite infrequently published.

With "Education and schooling" being as Wadham, Pudsey and Boyd have stated, "two of the most important ways in which we learn to live within and contribute to our own cultural lives" (Wadham, Pudsey, Boyd. 2007,  p1) it is thus important for equal rights and views to be placed on these children in their formative stages in order for them to then reflect these equal ideals upon others in society.

Resources

http://www.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/news-features/live-life-as-a-girl-transgender-childs-parents-sue-school-20130301-2fatj.html

 Wadham, B., Pudsey, J. & Boyd, R. (2007). Culture and Education. Sydney: Pearson Education. Chapter 1: What is culture?

Popular Culture and Education

Popular culture refers to the cultural products mass-produced for  mass consumption, such as popular television programmes, music, blockbuster movies and magazines.  It is culture that is well-liked and accessible by many people (Griswold, 1994, p.102).

William Reynolds, series editor of Cultural Studies Toward Transformative Curriculum and Pedagogy, wrote  the article "Why popular culture in education matters". In this article, he  argues that in schools, what is taught to students –" testable, discreet forms of pre-packaged information – has become irrelevant to them. Students "suffered through, memorized, recalled and promptly forgotten"  what has been taught .(Reynolds, 2012, p.24).  He cited from Giroux, "television, music, movies,  video and computer games, and the Internet have transformed ‘culture, especially popular culture, into the primary educational site in which youth learn about themselves and the larger world’" (Giroux,  2000, p. 108). The importance and implications of popular culture with pedagogical practice is stressed. 

Theorists have often questioned the value of culture produced for mass consumption  and especially so when  culture is created for commercial gain. Popular culture exerts such a great influence on youth  and this is why popular culture is a useful tool to interest and engage students in learning.

From my experience as a student, I also feel  that the way lessons in schools are traditionally taught can be boring and do not capture the interest of the student and motivate student  learning. In my opinion, we should remind ourselves that our students are living in the digital age and that popular culture including the media exert a great influence on their lives. The majority of their information comes in visual forms. We should think about increasing students' learning by making such media accessible in the classroom. Therefore, education today should be expanded to include popular culture.

Traditional methods of teaching stem from the notion that if something is fun or entertaining, then it cannot be educational. However, more and more teachers are exploring  non-traditional methods  of teaching that have benefitted  students in today's schools. Students are exposed to edutainment and infotainment. Although movies, theatre, and films are more accepted in the classroom, many studies suggest that video games, comic books, graphic novels and other popular culture can be added to our existing curriculum with positive results. To interest and motivate our students, we can find movie trailers, online videos, visual cartoons and comics related to the topics we are trying to teach. As teachers, one of our greatest weapons against students' waning desire to learn is harnessing that which interests them most: popular culture.

References:

Giroux, H. (2000). Popular Culture: Schooling and Everyday Life (Critical Studies in Education Series)

Griswold, W. (1994). Cultures and Societies in a Changing World. Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press

Reynolds, W. (2012).  Why Popular Culture In Education Matters.

http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/MediaManager/File/popularculture(jan12)web.pdf

Attendance and learning for indigenous students

Different people have different learning techniques and style. When teachers are trying to give student the most effective education possible it is important to first consider what the learning style and techniques students have in order to provide the environment that gives students the opportunity to utilize what they are good at. Not only does by doing this help students to encode new informations easily but also boost students motivation in learning so that they are more unlikely to get distracted by things around them. In relation to the education of indigenous people, they have the highest truancy rate in schools than people from another community and background. Therefore as educators we need to ask ourselves what causes this problem, what can we do to motivate indigenous students to go to school and minimise their distractions. In relation to this topic of question, i have found two piece of news article which contains arguments against each other.

The first piece of article, in fact a news reported by ABC news, on wednesday September 18 argues that an improvement in attendants for indigenous people does not mean a better result in education and that it is important that we look away from the national standards and focus on a new approach that solve this problem by researching creative ways that boosts their motivation in learning instead of their attendance. In order to boost students motivation in learning we should, as argue by John Houlsey interviewed in the news, look at how and what children are learning in their context such as "...out in the community, out in the bush, in ceremonies....." For more information of the news check out this link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-18/new-approach-urged-for-indigenous-education/4966744 

In the second article we can see a completely different point of view from the first one in relation to the problem of indigenous truancy because this article supports the idea of good attendance equals to good educational results. In this article it is being mentioned that in order to solve the truancy problem of indigenous students it is important that some kind of enforcement should be applied. In the article it is reported that in order to improve the attendance of indigenous students Mr Abbott and the coalitions decided to appoint truancy officers to give out fines to indigenous family that fails to see their kids to school. More information can be found here: http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1368038/abbott-to-appoint-truancy-officers-to-indigenous-areas/

For me personally I agree with the first article because I believe that motivation in learning is what causes truancy. Therefore even if we are able to decrease the truancy rate without having the motivation to learn students can still choose to not pay attention in class and hence are not able to achieve a better result. I understand that sometimes it is very important to get people to school and that the good intentions behind Mr Abbott's policy, but personally i believe that it is a more effective approach to search for ways to get students motivated in going to school in the first place instead of enforcing it because after all we the reason that we want children to attend school is because we want them to learn.

Reference:
 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-18/new-approach-urged-for-indigenous-education/4966744 

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1368038/abbott-to-appoint-truancy-officers-to-indigenous-areas/

It is important that school should consider Aboriginal culture in education

It is important that consider Aboriginal student’s culture.

According to the new paper article “Schools should consider Aboriginal culture”, it is expounded in recent years that some remote Aboriginal communities still have extremely low rate of school attendance and Mr Osborne suggests government to pay attention to Aboriginal culture in order to improve their attendance rates (2013). Mr Osborne is a senior researcher at the Cooperative Research Centre for Remote Economic Participation.  

Australian Aboriginal culture includes a number of practices and ceremonies centered on a belief in the Dreamtime. Language groupings and tribal divisions exhibit a range of distinct cultures. Their distinctive culture brings difficulties to aboriginals who are trying to integrate into the mainstream non-aboriginal society. 

 In Aboriginal history, there is a turning point---“the stolen generation” refers to a generation that was deeply affected by the Australian government "assimilation policy". From 1869 to 1970, Australian government forced 100000 Australian Aboriginal children to leave their parents, and live in white families or in government agencies. As a result of that, Aboriginal children and parents have a long period separation. This policy caused Aboriginal to be averse to western culture and their education. In addition, most of the white family discriminated against them, abused them and forced them to forget their language and culture; they were forced to learn the language and way of life of white people. All these compulsory measures add unto Aboriginal children’s negative emotion of receiving western education. Meanwhile the lack of access to a proper education caused psychological and physical damage to most of the Australian Aboriginals. In 1997, Prime Minister John Howard promised to improve the indigenous people's standard of living, including reducing child mortality, improve the literacy rate and the average life expectancy, etc.  

After years of effort, Aboriginal children have more opportunities to be educated compare to before, but in fact there is still a gap between Aboriginal students and non-Aboriginal students. Culture and Aboriginal identity are the factors causing this “gap”, on other hand SES is another important element affecting Aboriginal children educational rights. Aboriginal in Australian society is in a low economic status, they are classified as disadvantaged group in our society, and I believe being socially disadvantaged can lead to more educational disadvantages, which can then lead to an employment disadvantage, creating a vicious cycle. For improving their educational level, Australian government should consider Aboriginal students cultural backgrounds. In my opinion, Australia needs to be able to accommodate, bear and accept different cultures. I believe culture should not be seen as an advantage or disadvantage, because different culture has their own values, and none should be judged. In the article Mr. Osborne mentions about a school that taught Aboriginal students “in their own language and about their own culture, while still improving English literacy and numeracy to prepare them for university entry.” (Sam Osborne, 2013) The example demonstrates that Aboriginal students can improve their English skills and prepare for university entries even when they are taught in their own language. Meanwhile I think assimilation through forcing all students to follow western education systems is not always a good way to educate Aboriginal student, government and teachers should consider their culture and in order to encourage Aboriginal children’s study passion.  

Reference:  

1.     VANOVAC.N (2013), Schools should consider Aboriginal culture, news.com.au, reviewed from http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/national/schools-should-consider-aboriginal-culture/story-e6frfku9-1226722232796 22/09/2013 

2.     Mackenzie.A (2013), The History of Australian Aboriginal Education, reviewed from 

www.ehow.com/facts_6179254_history-australian-aboriginal-education.html#ixzz2feKPpqcU 22/09/2013 

"Asian" identity in Australia

5. "Asian" identity in Australia

In May 2013, a woman got away from being convicted after racially abusing an Asian student on a public bus in Sydney. This is not the first time for such incident in Australia, but why? How does the Asian identity impact their daily lives, education, and career in Australia? Asian is the primary source of immigration. From the perspective of an ordinary Australian, Asian people's primary goal in Austria is to earn money, and therefore taking job opportunities away, and Asians have also inflated house prices, therefore Australian have disgruntled feeling about Asian. On the other hand, In an Asian’s perspective, they provide lots of money to the Australian government and society, they pay double or even triple tuitions to be educated and they deserve respect from the society. 

In our society, differences in identities will result in various judgments of people, and therefore leading to discrimination. Asian is a distinct identity and the Asian identity impacts everyone who carries the identity in society. Like the student that was abused on the bus, I have faced some similar situations in the past. Once I was on my way to go back home and then I heard someone in the back shouting out “Why do Asian people come to Australia, what do they know about Australia? they should go back to their own country.” Then a guy agreed by saying “yes! Exactly! They came to Australia to get our jobs and earn our money, what the...” I was aware that they were aware of my presence, at that moment I felt embarrassed, angry, helpless and innocent. I believe most Asian students have come across similar situations like the ones I have experienced in Australia. Our identities have become a burden for us in the Australian society, but it's just what we are, and we were born with it. Lewis (2000) demonstrated that “The intersection of ‘race’, gender and class is subjectively lived, that it is part of social structure and involves differential treatment.”(Brah.A, 2004). As Lewis mentioned “race”, gender and class is an intersection in social, but how to we face the “race” in social or school is people subjectively decision. A large proportion of racial judgments are negative, it raises discrimination problems in our society, and it's also against the equality of human rights. Discrimination even extends to education. When I was studying in high school, local students and teachers would automatically put an “Asian” label on me; and as a result of that, very few local students would talk with me or become friends with me, because they thought Asian student are not good at English, they are “not at the same level with us”, and the teachers doesn't offer us equal chances to express our opinions.

In my opinion, the Asian identity brings racial discrimination to Asians outside of their homeland. Some Australians deny that they are racism, but at the same time, still use offensive language against Asians; Australians also think Chinese are rich, loud and impolite. The “rich” identity label also causes Chinese people to become targets of robbery or theft. To come to my conclusion, Asian identity has caused much trouble and has brought disadvantages for Asians in the Australian society. Discriminations against people of different ethnicity in Australia are not an insubstantial problem. Discriminations leads to unfairness in both workplace and educational institutions, and therefore it will be a potential security problem for Australia. 

Reference: 

1.    Casben.L (2013), Sydney woman escapes conviction over racist bus rant against Asian student, ABC News, review from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-06/woman-escapes-conviction-over-racist-bus-rant/4868340 22/09/2013

2.    Brah, Avtar and Phoenix, Ann (2004). Ain’t I A Woman? Revisiting Intersectionality. Journal of International Women's Studies, 5(3), 75-86. Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol5/iss3/8

Current issue in Sydney: Schools working to resolve racism in schools.

There are no words to describe how racism feels. Everyone deals with it differently. Some people lash out verbally, others withdraw into themselves. Some people can talk openly about how it feels, others hide it deep within... How many of our children are trying to learn in racist classrooms? How does a child reach their full potential and exercise their rights as citizens of this country when they are given messages every day that they are worthless human beings? What if it was your son or daughter? What would you do? (Mark Williams, 1999)

With the rise in multiculturalism within schools, the concept of racism is also growing. On the basis of identity and culture, students within the schools are faced with many problems that affect their educational culture and stability. Schools in general should focus on the awareness of the actual concept of what is racism and the way it affects individuals so that students learn to think before they speak. As in some occasions many students take part in an act of racism whereby they specifically humor themselves by ridiculing another individual due to their race. As seen throughout history till recent day racism has been an issue in the educational system. It went from issues of domination of whites, to Indigenous Australians issues in education, to those migrating from different countries having difficulty in gaining a sound and peaceful education due to their race. As the Wed 31 Jul 2013 article ‘Teachers, pupils on mission to tackle racism in Australian schools’ points out in 2013 there has been a series of high profile racist incidents that have caused a number of concerns. One of the main ones schools and teachers should ask themselves is enough being done to address racism and prejudice in schools.

As teachers racism needs to be a concept in which we have to understand how to have effective classroom management strategies in which to deal with racial incidents. This can be difficult as teachers need to choose their choice of words carefully as they could be misunderstood by students. Also to have a notion that everybody is equal is an important concept to raise about students. As the video how Jihad Dib Punchbowl boys’ principle deals with racism is that he creates a family relationship within the school with the students emphasizing that everybody should be treated equally and well. Also celebrating different customs is a striking procedure he includes in his school system that in my opinion is a positive way of making students more aware and acceptable of the different races and cultural identities within the school.  Implementing changes to the school curriculum to suit the needs of the variety of students regardless of their race is most important to start within the school atmosphere and then working towards classroom interactions.  

Students who experience racism can be affected in a sense were they have reduced levels of confidence, feelings of insecurity whereby if a student has high potential will possibly head towards failure. Educational outcomes depend solely on the way in which educators within schools provide a sound environment whereby students can gain an education. As in the article Jihad Dib aims to build a sense of belonging in his school regardless of race or cultural background, he builds a sense of ambition and encouragement for a all students. For further insight on the Jihad Dibs progress in punchbowl boys and other videos on the awareness of racism visit the website:

 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-31/hip-hop-helps-students-overcome-racism-in-Australian-schools/4854174

School Choice and the Role of Culture

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In The Sydney Morning Herald dated 18 February 2013(Monday), there was an article titled "School choice is not just keeping the faith".  SMH journalists Josephine Tovey and Georgina Mitchell wrote that "When it comes to where their children will be educated, many parents are making decisions based on reasons other than religion."  It is becoming very popular for parents to choose religious schools for their children. Compared to public schools, enrolments in independent and catholic schools are increasing at a faster rate.

Dr. Helen Proctor from the University of Sydney says, "It's one of the great paradoxes of Australian education.....we are one of the least religious nations in the world, yet we have this large and increasing attendance of children in religious schools."

Public schools form the vast majority of schools in NSW. Although religion is not taught as a compulsory subject in public schools,  the schools like to celebrate the diversity of the backgrounds of their students and will often integrate a study of various cultures of their student population into their teaching curriculum (Parker, 2011, pp. 107).

Parents have to pay higher fees in private schools than public schools. The two types of private schools are catholic schools and independent schools. Most NSW independent schools are religious schools, varying from Islamic to Christian schools. The amount of school fees charged by the private school does not indicate the academic performance of the school. Some schools with high school fees produce mediocre academic results but schools which charge less obtain better results(Parker, 2011. pp.134).

According to Dr. Helen Proctor,  parents choose non-public schools because they were disaffected with public schools.

In my opinion, parents feel that they are buying a good education for their children by enrolling them in a private school. The following are some reasons why parents choose religious schools:

1. Almost all the best private schools in Sydney are religious schools. This is why many non-religious parents enrol their children in them.

2. Parents have the perception that the teaching is superior in a private school compared to a public school.

3. There will be more competitive higher achieving students in private schools. As competition improves performance, students will perform well academically.

4. Parents feel that public schools have poor reputation particularly in the area of discipline. They attempt to  “protect” their children from other children whom they think are not well-behaved or are of bad influence.

5. Parents feel that the stronger emphasis on values in private schools is beneficial for their children. They expect areas like sex education and principles of social justice to be taught. Proctor says that parents choose religious schools because of their strong emphasis on social justice and charity.

6. Parents feel that private schools have  new buildings and good facilities.

On the other hand, there are parents who send their children to public schools instead of religious schools because they want the diversity the public schools offer and the understanding of different faith and cultures. 

Parents' choice of schools for their children show the way they understand education and how they make sense of the options of schooling. Wadham et.al. say  "Culture is the embodied lenses we inherit from the past via which we look at the world.....we make sense of everything around us and of ourselves" (Wadham et. al., 2007,  pp.21).

According to Ann Swidler, "culture influences action not by providing the ultimate values toward which action is oriented, but by shaping a repertoire or 'tool kit' of habits, skills, and styles from which people construct 'strategies of action'" (Swidler, 1986, pp.273). Culture is the "toolbox" that can be used and drawn upon to interpret , make sense of the world and solve problems. Different tools within each kit are used to make sense of different situations. Parents draw upon the tools of their past experiences to make sense of education and choice of school. From here, we can see that culture plays an important role in the process of school choice.

References:

Campbell, C., Proctor, H., Sherington, G. (2009). School Choice: How Parents Negotiate the New School Markets in Australia. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

Parker, M. (2011). My School. Sydney: Random House.

Swidler, A. (1986). Culture in Action: Symbols and Strategies. American Sociological Review 51:273-86

Tovey J,Mitchell. G,2013 "School choice is not just keeping the faith"Sydney Morning Herald

 http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/school-choice-is-not-just-keeping-the-faith-20130217-2el4a.html#ixzz2f4W7OCnQ

(Accessed on 18 September 2013)

Wadham, B., Pudsey, J. & Boyd, R. (2007). Culture and Education. Sydney: Pearson Education. Chapter 1: What is culture?