It is widely accepted that education is a service that should be offered to any human being without taking into account social constructions such as gender, ethnicity, nationality, etc.; even tHeugh this might be the case on paper, when it comes to the actual practice of it, many communities are invisible due to their non-mainstream identities. In this respect, heavily disenfranchised aboriginal students are a group that is subjected to multiple marginalizations. It is in fact fair to establish that the very model of education greatly favors the mainstream and thereby leaves the disenfranchised unable to raise their heads above the favored mainstream.
Meher and Bellen go onto say that “[a]cross the world, education systems have not served Indigenous children well. Their literacy achievement is usually behind that of their non-Indigenous peers” (Meher & Bellen, 2014, p.10). This is a matter that can continue to demonize the very core values of democracy. In a study conducted by Meher and Bellen, aboriginal children seem to be unable to meet the challenges of formal education as they have not been “schooled” in the mainstream culture: “The research conducted to date in this project has shown promising early literacy outcomes for young Aboriginal Australian children and has contributed to more effective transitions to formal schooling” (Meher & Bellen, 2014, p.16). This failure is a threat to the democratic values upheld by any decent society. The issue needs to be addressed at a grassroots level.
It is important to recognize the enormity of the problem and that it is no simply a situation that affects a small population. As a result of massive numbers of people affected adversely, it can be easily established that values of justice and equitability upheld by democracy do not apply to these marginalized populations.: “This is particularly salient for the case of First Nations people in Canada given the impact of colonialism, forced assimilation through the residential schools, cultural discontinuity, and environmental dispossession” (Wong & Korpal, 2015, p.143). The noble institution of education, therefore, fails miserably when hundreds of thousands of students are left behind.
What is even more shocking is that this mainstream-centered education that rides on the colonizer’s language, threatens and erases multiple cultures, languages, and lifestyles: “Colonization, formalized during the 1884–1885 Berlin Conference, resulted in the partition of Africa by European powers that introduced the idea of the nation state accompanied by a single national language” (Heugh, 2014, p.352). Since according to democratic values, every man is created equal, the aboriginal children who fall through the cracks of an unfair system, bring about the arbitrariness and consequent failure of the system.
Fortunately however, human beings’ resilience amidst diversity is such that aboriginal peoples maintain their cultures despite the gigantic influence of the dominant culture, but when it comes to education, there’ a long way to go : The current journey towards reclamation of education as empowering by First Nations people within the context of the Canadian government remains fraught.” (Wong & Korpal, 2015, p.143). This persistence amidst willful or ignorant erasure cannot last forever. This is why that relevant authorities need to address the issue in a timely manner.
Hackling et al. note that “[a]boriginal children experience social and educational disadvantage and many are not engaged with schooling or learning, which results in significantly lower levels of educational attainment” (Hackling et al., 2015, p.27). The reason for aboriginal children, especially in remote schools, to fare poorly is that they are not offered any assistance, which undoubtedly escalates in remote areas: “Very little research has been conducted on the opportunities for learning created by outreach programs for Indigenous students in remote schools” (Hackling et al., 2015, p.29). To make matters worse, the reason for the anomalies in terms of aboriginal children, is rarely even studies or theorized.
The study conducted by Hackling et al. is a very significant one. It is definitely a step in the right direction: “The purpose of this study was to identify pedagogical practices, which are particularly effective in engaging Aboriginal students in learning science” (Hackling et al., 2015, p.38). If further research is carried out in this area, a solution to the problem could be attained faster and thereby uphold the values of democracy.
All in all, Canadian aboriginal students are disadvantaged in multiple ways and their poor performance in education is a result of mainstream systems that do not pay adequate attention to aboriginal education. As a starting point, the aboriginal students’ poor performance needs to be studies and theorized in order to rectify the problem and thereby uphold democratic values.
References
Hackling, M., Byrne, M., Gower, G., & Anderson, K. (2015, March). . A Pedagogical Model for
Engaging Aboriginal Children with Science Learning. Teaching Science: The Journal of
the Australian Science Teachers Association. 61(1), 27-39.
Heugh, K. (2014). Turbulence and dilemma: implications of diversity and multilingualism in
Australian education. International Journal of Multilingualism, 11(3), 247-363.
Meher, M., & Bellen, L. (2014, January 9). Smoothing Children’s Transition into Formal
Schooling: Addressing Complexities in an Early Literacy Initiative in Remote Aboriginal
Communities, Northern Territory, Australia. Early Childhood Education Journal, 43(9),
9-17.
Wong, A., & Korpal, D. (2015). EDUCATION AND THE HEALTH OF THE FIRST
NATIONS PEOPLE OF CANADA. Alternative: An International Journal of
Indigenous Peoples, 11(2), 132-146.
