As a teacher in an Australian school with a particularly high number of low-income citizens and students, I am completely aware of the importance of cultural awareness and diversity when it comes to dealing with underserved populations, particularly aboriginal and indigenous students. One of the concepts I try to bring forth in my own teaching is transformational leadership , in which teachers provide a more collaborative and engaging environment for learning, cultivating skills instead of acting in a transactional, one-sided manner with students (Painter-Morland, 2008). When applying this to my particular education context, I believe transformational and emergent leadership can provide a greater level of ethical responsiveness, cultural literacy and communication between students of aboriginal and non-aboriginal populations, as well as improve academic performance for aboriginal student populations.
In my own teaching philosophy, I strive to facilitate a sense of emergent leadership, using community development aspects to further my teaching outcomes. Onyx and Leonard (2011) provide particular inspiration in their discussion of how leadership affects change. The authors note that “leadership is an essential element of change,” noting new ways to try to improve upon existing systems (pp. 1-2). While no system is perfect, efforts can be made to improve upon a system through collective action, as each individual takes clear action in conjunction with others to form a group. This can create better social capital amongst everyone involved in the group, creating a more cohesive system that offers better outcomes, stronger leaders in the community, and a clear vision that they can articulate more effectively.
Leaders in these systems have stronger commitment and higher energy, and share in key decision making; they can also delegate tasks to colleagues, successfully network, and so on (pp. 11-12). I take these attributes to heart, doing my best to have these values reflected in my own teaching style. There are times in which I fail, of course, but I do my best to reflect on those moments and learn from them so that they do not happen again. My ideal goal is to become an effective school leader, not just for these students but for other teachers as well; by making these changes, I can hopefully inspire others to do the same. These leadership philosophies are not exclusive to teaching, but I believe they heavily inform the way I prefer to deal with my classroom and its unique challenges, particularly in the realm of aboriginal and indigenous education.
Applying these principles to aboriginal and indigenous populations, there are a number of unique challenges that lie within these underserved populations. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators repeatedly suffer from a lack of quality resources, which effectively robs them of the ability to teach children what they need to keep up with non-Aboriginal student populations in Australia (Price, 2012). Conversely, in many non-Aboriginal schools, students are not being taught about Aboriginal history and culture, which dramatically underserves those Aboriginal students who do attend non-Aboriginal schools.
This also serves to further widen the culture and education gap these two populations receive, creating further divides and offering a separation of the two cultures that makes Aboriginal relations harder to facilitate. In my teaching of Aboriginal students, I put forth my best efforts to bring about a more diverse and inclusive environment, teaching about both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal history and culture in my classes. This allows both cultures to learn from each other, while minimizing the colonisation of one culture over another; the overall goal in my teaching is to showcase the values and differences of both cultures and bring about an embrace of said values.
One aspect of this issue that I am always interested in is the impact of aboriginal teachers on native education settings; in indigenous communities, aboriginal leaders are asked to provide a vital role in the facilitating of education for their students, often having to exert a greater, more comprehensive leadership role than has been previously asked of them (d’Arbon, 2009). Comparing a generalized picture of educational leadership to that of an indigenous educational leader in an Australian aboriginal community, research shows that educational leaders who are indigenous and who teach indigenous populations demonstrated a concrete sense of cultural confidence and identity. They also provide an element of intercultural advocacy and awareness to their students, facilitating a greater sense of interculturalism that serves well as a leadership attribute. These findings inspire me to instill this same intercultural awareness in my own classrooms.
One of the most important aspects of teaching, particularly in the Australian school system and its accompanying diversity, is being able to act as a school-leader. Even on an administrative level, the best teachers and principals “carry a deep pedagogical knowledge and a clear understanding of children’s developmental milestones,” allowing for the school itself to provide as clear and diverse and education as possible for each child (Garner and Forbes 2013, p. 1065).
Inclusive education is a cornerstone of teaching to diverse populations, particularly those of indigenous and aboriginal descent; positive-minded, transformative leaders are necessary to facilitate as positive and productive and environment as possible for these students, particularly given the often marginalized status of aboriginal students. The best outcomes for students like these will often come from the vocation of school leadership, making it incredibly important as an aspect of education. Teachers are best facilitated by school leaders who will “learn and plan appropriate strategies and monitor progress” for students, providing evidence-based practice and collaboration on a professional level (p. 1083).
As someone who values the attributes of transformational leadership, emergent leadership and school leadership, I desire to integrate all of these attributes as best I can in the performance of my duties. In my curriculum, I attempt to follow the conceptual framework set forth by the Australian F-10 Curriculum on Student Diversity, related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures (Australian Curriculum, 2014). Among these attributes includes the need to establish to students that Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders are two unique cultures with their own distinct makeups, both of which have their own connection to the country of Australia, whether geographical or spiritual.
Furthermore, I do my best to integrate my Aboriginal students into discussions of language groups, Aboriginal ways of thinking and spirituality, and the history and politics of Aboriginal relations in Australia. By entering into these discussions, non-Aboriginal students are able to learn greatly from my Aboriginal students without it appearing as though I am holding them up as props. Instead, the open, fair and even-handed discussion that takes place is incredibly valuable, and is something that has helped inter-student relations immensely.
Of vital importance to me is to instil in my students a sense of importance to the contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations. This is done in order to showcase the value of diversity and inclusiveness, while not wallpapering over or homogenising these populations in order to erase them. The differences in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, particularly family structures and spiritualities, are often the most challenging discussions to be had in our classrooms, but they often facilitate greater outcomes and a sense of understanding between students. While I have encountered my fair share of discrimination and teasing of Aboriginal students in my classrooms, I have taken great care to curb that behaviour as much as possible while also turning it into a teaching moment.
Outside of the classroom, the administrative and structural aspects of a school and my role as teacher is also important for facilitating these values. Looking at the organisational culture of a school, particularly through a context of inclusive education, is important for teachers and students alike, whether native or aboriginal. Without the proper resources and infrastructure needed to facilitate the diverse and myriad needs of a school that includes indigenous and aboriginal students, these students will not have the care and communication they need to keep up with their fellow classmates. Leadership in education is bolstered by the organisational culture of a school, which requires transformative school leaders who can bring about greater ethical conduct in a school, as well as facilitate an environment of sharing and collaboration.
I personally believe that the tenets of Onyx and Leonard (2011) would help to create better school leaders and attributes that would help create more inclusive environments for aboriginal and indigenous students, and make more transformative teacher-leaders. I believe if I were to work to increase engagement, offer autonomy to teachers and students, and address learning needs of all students, I could become more of an effective, transformational leader with my own education setting. The diverse population of my low-income area in which I teach would benefit from a strong, ethical sense of educational leadership, and I could better serve the marginalized groups of aboriginal and indigenous students which I currently teach.
References
Australian Curriculum. (2014). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures. Australian Curriculum. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/crosscurriculumpriorities/Aboriginal-and-Torres-Strait-Islander-histories-and-cultures.
D’Arbon, T. Fasoli, L. Frawley, J. and Ober, R. (2009) Linking worlds: Strengthening the leadership capacity of Indigenous educators in remote educational settings. Research Report, ARC Linkage Project
Garner, P. & Forbes, F. (2013). School leadership and special education: Challenges, dilemmas and opportunities from an Australian context. Support for Learning, 28(4), 154-161.
Onyx.J & Leonard, R. (2011). Complex systems leadership in emergent community projects. Community Development Journal. 46(4), 493–510
