Abstract
This paper draws from a study that explored issues of student equity, marginality and diversity in two secondary schools in regional Queensland (Australia). The paper foregrounds interview data gathered from administration, teaching and ancillary staff at one of the schools, ‘Crimson’ High School. The school has a high Indigenous student population and is well recognised within the broader community as catering well to this population. With reference to the school’s concerns about Indigenous disadvantage and the various approaches undertaken to address this disadvantage, the paper articulates the significance of educators being critically aware of how they construct race and use it as an organising principle in their work. This awareness is central to moving beyond the culturalism and racial incommensurability that tend to predominate within Indigenous education—where cultural reductionism homogenises indigeneity within and against a dominant White norm. With reference to a specific approach at the school designed predominantly for Indigenous male students—to foster inter-cultural awareness and respect through sport—we highlight ways in which notions of culturalism and racial incommensurability might be disrupted.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anthias, F. (2002). Where do I belong? Narrating collective identity and translocational positionality. Ethnicities, 2(4), 491–514.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2006). Indigenous Statistics for Schools. Retrieved July 22, 2009 from http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/cashome.nsf/home/ISS%20Indigenous%20statistics%20for%20schools.
Banks, J. (2010). Multicultural education: Characteristics and goals. In J. Banks & C. Banks (Eds.), Multicultural education: Issues and perspectives (pp. 3–30). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Benhabib, S. (2002). The claims of culture: Equality and diversity in the global era. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Bishop, R. (2003). Changing power relations in education: Kaupapa Māori messages for “mainstream” education in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Comparative Education, 39(2), 221–238.
Carrim, N., & Soudien, C. (1999). Critical antiracism in South Africa. In S. May (Ed.), Critical multiculturalism: Rethinking multicultural and antiracist education (pp. 153–171). London: Falmer Press.
Dilg, M. (Ed.). (2003). Thriving in the multicultural classroom: Principles and practices for effective teaching. New York: Teachers’ College Press.
Doherty, C., & Singh, P. (2004). Global cultural flows and pedagogic dilemmas: Teaching in the global university contact zone. TESOL Quarterly, 38(1), 9–42.
Donald, J., & Rattansi, A. (1992). Introduction. In J. Donald & A. Rattansi (Eds.), ‘Race’, culture and difference (pp. 1–10). London: Sage Publications.
Fraser, N. (1997). Justice interruptus: Critical reflections on the ‘postsocialist’ condition. New York: Routledge.
Fraser, N. (2008). Rethinking recognition: overcoming displacement and reification in cultural politics. In K. Olson (Ed.), Adding insult to injury: Nancy Fraser debates her critics (pp. 129–141). London: Verso.
Fraser, N. (2009). Scales of justice: Reimagining political space in a globalizing world. New York: Columbia University Press.
Gay, G. (2000). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. New York: Teacher’s College Press.
Gillborn, D. (2000). Anti-racism: From policy to praxis. In B. Moon, S. Brown, & M. Ben-Peretz (Eds.), Routledge international companion to education (pp. 476–488). London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Hingangaroa Smith, G. (2003). Indigenous struggle for the transformation of education and schooling, keynote address to the Alaskan Federation of Natives Convention, Anchorage, Alaska, October, 2003.
hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. London: Routledge.
Keddie, A. (2012). Educating for diversity and social justice. New York: Routledge.
Keddie, A., & Mills, M. (2007). Teaching boys: Classroom practices that work. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin.
Keddie, A., & Niesche, R. (2012). ‘It’s almost like a White school now’: racialised complexities, Indigenous representation and school leadership. Critical Studies in Education, 53(2), 169–182.
Lewthwaite, B., & McMillan, B. (2010). “She can bother me, and that’s because she cares”: What Inuit students say about teaching and their learning. Canadian Journal of Education, 33(1), 140–175.
McConaghy, C. (2000). Rethinking indigenous education: Culturalism, colonialism, and the politics of knowing. Flaxton: Post Pressed.
Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs. (2008). Melbourne declaration on educational goals for young Australians. Carlton South: MCEETYA.
Mohanty, C. (2003). Feminism without borders. Durham, London: Duke University Press.
Moreton-Robinson, A. (1998). When the object speaks, a postcolonial encounter: Anthropological representations and Aboriginal women’s self-presentations. Discourse Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 19(3), 275–289.
Moreton-Robinson, A. (2000). Talkin’ up to the white woman: Indigenous women and feminism. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press.
Nakata, M. (2007). The cultural interface. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 36, 7–14.
Nieto, S. (1999). The light in their eyes: Creating multicultural learning communities. New York: Teacher’s College Press.
Queensland Department of Education and Training. (2011). Embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives in Schools. Queensland Government. Retrieved July 1, 2012 from www.deta.qld.gov.au/indigenous/pdfs/eatsips_2011.pdf.
Reid, J., & Santoro, N. (2006). Cinders in snow? Indigenous teacher identities in formation. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teachers Education, 34(2), 143–160.
Santoro, N., & Reid, J. (2006). ‘All things to all people’: Indigenous teachers in the Australian teaching profession. European Journal of Teacher Education, 29(3), 287–303.
Sarra, C. (2003). Cherbourg State School: Strong and smart. What Works Program: Improving Outcomes for Indigenous Students. Retrieved July 1, 2012 from http://www.whatworks.edu.au/dbAction.do?cmd=displaySitePage1&subcmd=select&id=111.
Sleeter, C. (2005). Un-standardizing curriculum. New York: Teachers’ College Press.
Spivak, G. (1990). The post-colonial critic: Interviews, strategies, dialogues. New York: Routledge.
Tamir, Yael. (1999). Siding with the underdogs. In S. M. Okin & J. Cohen (Eds.), Is multiculturalism bad for women? (pp. 7–20). Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP.
Acknowledgments
The research from which this paper is derived was supported by ARC Discovery: DP1093082.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Keddie, A., Gowlett, C., Mills, M. et al. Beyond culturalism: addressing issues of Indigenous disadvantage through schooling. Aust. Educ. Res. 40, 91–108 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-012-0080-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-012-0080-x