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The impact of racism on the schooling experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students: A systematic review

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Abstract

We present results of a systematic review of empirical research on racism and the schooling experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, focussing on research published from 1989 to 2016. Our review is part of a series of systematic literature reviews on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education in Australia. It attends to diverse manifestations of racism, from institutional and systemic discrimination to everyday microaggressions, and varying levels of analysis, from individual experiences to cohort approaches. This work adopts a critical perspective on disciplinary boundaries and the outcomes discourse within the broad field of education research. Additionally, we discuss the challenges inherent in systematic review inclusion/exclusion criteria related to racism in a field such as education in which racism and discrimination are frequently misrepresented or misreported, for example, as disciplinary and behaviour management issues, disadvantage or as regional and remote education challenges. The review discusses study types and locations, explores how racism is defined and understood and details the effects of racism on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

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Adapted from Khan et al. (2003)

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Notes

  1. In this article, we use the terms ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander’ and ‘Indigenous’ often interchangeably but with recognition both of original source material and the inadequacy of these terms. When referring to specific Indigenous political collectives, we will use their preferred description such as Wurundjeri People and Kulin Nation.

  2. Where findings from a Masters or Doctoral thesis are later published in a peer-reviewed publication, the latter publication was retained.

  3. Where articles are re-published, the earliest peer-reviewed publication was retained.

  4. All other papers in this systematic review project were restricted to research published 2006–2016; whilst that period includes the nationalisation of education policies and the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) endorsement of the ‘Closing the Gap’ policy, this policy change did not explicitly address racism. Racism was clearly stated as key factor in the alienation of Indigenous people from education in the NATSIEP, hence our use of this date range.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social and Political Sciences, Faculty of Arts, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia

    Nikki Moodie

  2. School of Linguistics, Adult and Specialist Education, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, 4350, Australia

    Jacinta Maxwell

  3. Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia

    Sophie Rudolph

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  1. Nikki Moodie
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  2. Jacinta Maxwell
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Correspondence to Nikki Moodie.

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Moodie, N., Maxwell, J. & Rudolph, S. The impact of racism on the schooling experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students: A systematic review. Aust. Educ. Res. 46, 273–295 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-019-00312-8

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