Evaluate the interrelationship between curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment in addressing

the learning needs of one of Indigenous students:

In addressing the learning needs of Indigenous students, it is important to recognise the

significance of the interrelationship between curriculum, pedagogy and assessment within

education system. The following composition will assess how each of these foundational

concepts is applied to meet the needs of Indigenous students. The inequalities faced amongst

the indigenous students within the education system is quite evident as provided by research

regarding this issue, this research reveals that Indigenous students are less likely to complete

year 11 and 12; fall behind on literacy and numeracy and are less likely to complete tertiary

education or find employment once their education is completed (Australian Bureau of

Statistics, 2013). Through differentiation of curriculum, constructivist pedagogical practices

and different assessment strategies, it is hopeful that the needs of indigenous students will be

satisfied and up to national standards.

The Australian Curriculum provides a baseline for consistent national standards to improve

learning outcomes for all young Australians. It is set out through syllabus descriptions and

achievement standards/criteria, what students should be taught and can achieve as they

journey through their schooling lives (ACARA, 2008). The Australian Curriculum is the

foundation of future learning, growth and active participation in the Australian community. It

has key educational goals for young people which include the following; all young

Australians become: successful learners, confident and creative individuals and active and

informed citizens (The Melbourne Declaration, 2008 as cited in ACARA, 2014).

For the needs of Indigenous students to be met, it is important that cross-curriculum based

learning is practiced. It is significant to note that ACARA acknowledges the difference in

learning outcomes between Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander students and non-

Indigenous students and it is amongst their top priority to address the needs of indigenous
students (ACARA, 2014). As such, the Australian Curriculum has been focusing on two

goals in Indigenous education in contemporary classrooms: firstly, Indigenous students are

able to see themselves, their identities and their cultures reflected in the curriculum of each of

the different learning areas, and can fully participate in the curriculum and can build self-

esteem; and secondly, the Indigenous Histories and Cultures is a cross-curriculum priority

that is constructed for all students to engage in reconciliation, respect and recognition of the

planet’s oldest continuous living cultures (ACARA, 2014). However, in order for their needs

to be met within Australian classrooms, it is heavily reliant on how teachers practice these

learning outcomes, without effective pedagogical practices, the Australian Curriculum’s

response in counteracting historic and contemporary impacts of colonisation (ACARA,

2014).

The Indigenous Histories and Cultures priority offers opportunities for all students to deepen

their knowledge of Australia by engaging with the world’s oldest living cultures. However,

without pedagogy, these needs will not be met. For Aboriginal and Torres-Strait Islander

students to reach their full potential it depends heavily on how educators practice their

teaching in coherence to the NSW Quality Teaching Model (QTM).

The NSW QTM is a three-dimensional theoretical framework, with one part of the

framework is relevant to meeting the needs of Indigenous student’s, more specifically, its

Significance (Retaining Quality Teachers, 2017). It focuses on background and cultural

knowledge, inclusivity, connectedness and narrative (Ladwig & Gore, 2006). Cultural

Responsive Teaching is crucial when it comes to meeting the learning needs of indigenous

students in contemporary communities, therefore the use of the QTM, will enable the

realization of cultural knowledge and narrative to be utilised in Australian classrooms. It is

suggested that incorporating Indigenous knowledge, history and culture in all key learning

areas will increase the overall achievement of Indigenous students and only then will students
begin to realise the aims set out in the Australian Curriculum. In this case, the first step of

cultural responsive teaching in the classroom is recognising cultures for what they are and

acknowledging the fact that Indigenous students are all different, and each have specific

needs (ACARA, 2014). It must be emphasised that teachers ought to be aware and proactive

of Aboriginal culture and heritage, and treat Indigenous students with the same high

expectations as non-Indigenous students, rather than setting the expectations lower just

because of their ethnicity (Ladwig & Gore, 2006). Consequently, cultural responsive teaching

is effective in engaging with and meeting the educational needs of Indigenous students.

In conjunction to this, to be an effective teacher, it is imperative to recognise the institutional

racism that is entrenched in prominent Western teaching spaces, in this case, local schools

(Quinn., et al 2011). To challenge these issues and critique these pre-existing practices,

educators need to be able to reflect on their own cultural position in the Australian classroom,

and challenge this ‘white dominance’ discourse, which will then enable them to locate where

‘white privilege’ enhances inequality for Indigenous students by favouring Western

knowledge over various cultures. To be considered an effective teacher, it is fundamental to

refrain from such Essentialist notions when implementing activities to cater to the needs of

Indigenous students. For instance, rather than implementing activities such as ‘dot paintings’

and digeridoo or boomerang activities, teachers could emphasise positive learning

environments that are inclusive of all cultures (ACARA, 2014). Project-based learning can be

used to substitute pre-existing daily activities, as teachers will be able to assess if students are

engaged in the work and responding to cultural teaching techniques.

The application of curriculum and assessment allows teachers to construct and design lesson

plans. Assessment describes activities undertaken by educators to gather information about

students’ knowledge, skills and attitudes (behaviours/values) (Hanna & Dettmer, 2004).

Assessments are associated with how much knowledge of information students have learnt
which also gives a chance for teachers to provide feedback to students and a personal

reflection on how efficient the teacher was at the task. In order to cater to the needs of

Indigenous students, it is important that Diagnostic Assessments are done at the beginning of

the learning period to determine student’s knowledge, skills and capabilities on a specific

topic, and additionally, to clarify any misunderstandings (Education and Training, 2013).

This type of assessment is useful for differentiating instruction because it allows the teacher

to modify the way they practice and draw up effective lesson plans for students to reach their

highest potential. In addition, Formative assessment tasks are relevant as they are included

throughout the topics at hand, and give feedback (Education and Training, 2013). In terms of

applying this in every day practice, Formative and Diagnostic forms of assessment are pivotal

in the development of Indigenous students, it is important to see where they are at and what

needs improving, not only for the students but also the teachers in order to close the gap.

Through assessment, teachers can observe if their methods are affective and are in line with

the Australian Professional Teaching Standards, as well as, meeting the criteria of the

Australian Curriculum. Each foundational concept needs to be integrated together to address

the needs of indigenous students, as well as, achieve the outcomes set out in national

curriculum (Ladwig & Gore, 2006). In addition, successful teaching practices need to be

administered in order to determine what is affective, and therefore it is important to evaluate

students on what they have learnt and achieved throughout topics/units.

Common discourse would suggest that learning needs specific to Indigenous students

include; not completing year 11 or year 12, as well as, being more likely to fall behind on

subjects including; maths, English, science, and technology, and lastly, being less likely to

undertake tertiary education or employment once they complete their education (Australian

Bureau of Statistics, 2013). The Australian government acknowledges these learning needs

and is responding to them through the Australian Curriculum in the terms of educational
goals. These goals include: Indigenous students must be able to see themselves, their

identities and their cultures reflected in the curriculum of each of the different learning areas,

which will hopefully allow them to fully participate in accordance to the curriculum and can

build self-esteem and also, emphasis must be placed on the Indigenous Histories and Cultures

cross-curriculum priority is constructed for all students to engage in reconciliation, respect

and recognition of the planet’s oldest continuous living cultures (ACARA, 2014).

The Australian education system is a fragmented system and is evident in how inefficient it is

at catering to the specific needs of Indigenous Australian youth. This issue is further

accentuated by the notion that pre-service teachers and teachers make bias assumptions about

Indigenous students without understanding their perspective. For instance; all Indigenous

students are not expected to undertake tertiary education or employment. In addition, the

ideas of unrefined curriculums are associated with lower expectations, which inevitably lead

to constant underachieving and failure (Hughes & Hughes, 2010).

The impact on learning outcomes is quite severe on a collective scale. According to Hughes

and Hughes (2012), the highest failure rates are within Indigenous populated schools (i.e.

schools that consist of over 75% indigenous population). This accounts for 20,000 students

situated in remote and rural locations, which are holistically welfare dependant (Hughes &

Hughes, 2012). Due to the needs not being addressed, it is no coincidence that these schools

have failure rates of over 90% (Hughes & Hughes, 2012). Not only does it affect learning

outcomes for students, it also affects staff turnover rates and teaching practices, which only

cascades into harsher impacts on Indigenous students in a social context. Instead of focusing

on ‘special’ literacy and numeracy programs, teachers should re-direct their attention towards

effective teaching practices, attendance, class management and longer school hours in order

to combat these consequences.

needs of indigenous students as a collective. This coincides with the first Australian

Professional Teaching Standard: know students and how they learn, as it highlights strategies

on how to understand students (AITSL, 2014). In relation to Indigenous students, standard

1.3: Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds; and

standard 1.4: Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, are of

particular significance as they place emphasis on how teachers should develop effective

strategies that address learning outcomes and needs through the use of expert and community

knowledge (AITSL, 2014).

It is the teacher’s role to design an effective way of teaching content without being negligent

in addressing issues. For instance, practical ways of teaching content in this case would be,

Cultural responsive teaching and constructivist teaching methods. It also the teacher’s duty to

evaluate their methods in terms of the way they choose the relevant content within the

Australian Curriculum to teach their students. Standard 6: Engage in professional learning;

highlights how teachers need to engage with Australian Professional Standards for Teachers

in identifying and planning their own needs in order to meet the needs of the students.

Educators are also responsible for creating opportunities to assist students in understanding

and respecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, culture and languages (AITSL,

2014).

Moreover, Assessments and reports are key in Australian classrooms as they evaluate how

students are progressing and responding, and it also gives teachers information on how they

performing as educators. Professional standard 5.2: Provide feedback to students on their

learning; discusses the teacher’s role in designing effective assessment strategies, which

targets providing feedback based on student’s achievement (AITSL, 2014). It is also the

teacher’s role to conduct informal assessments throughout the unit, whether it is observations
or just questioning students which are noted down. These are important because it can bring

awareness to individual student’s needs, as a teacher it is important to be aware of the

specific issues of each individual student, as it can help improve future lessons.

In conclusion, it is important to consider the interconnection between curriculum, pedagogy

and assessment whilst addressing Indigenous student’s needs. Without teaching methods and

assessment, the curriculum, even with its implementation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander Histories and Cultures program, will not be sufficient enough to hold its own when

dealing with Indigenous students. In summary, the teacher has a proactive role in creating

lesson plans and assessments in order to engage with Indigenous students individually and

effectivetly.
Reference List:

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2013). Reflecting a nation: Stories from the 2011
census, 2012-2013. Retrieved March 2017, from
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012%962013&num=&view

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) (2014). Australian

Australian Institute for Learning and School Leadership (AITSL) (2013). Australian
Professional Standards for teachers. Retrieved from
http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers/standards/list

Hanna, G. S.,Dettmer, P. (2004). Assessment for effective teaching : using context adaptive
planning. Pearson A and B, Boston

Hughes, H., Hughes, M. (2012, July 6). Poor education is letting Indigenous children down.
The Drum. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-07-06/hughes-and
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Ladwig, J., Gore, J. (2006). An assessment practice guide: Quality Teaching in NSW Public
Schools. Department of Education and Training Professional Learning and Leadership
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Quinn, D., Duff, A., Brodie, T., Darzanos, K., Smith, E., Carmody, M., Dansie, B. (2011 ).
Indigenous knowledge, cultural awareness and communication skills for information
technology, engineering, mathematics and environmental disciplines. Paper presented
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2011: Meeting the challenges: standards, leadership, practical solutions and student
engagement. Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia.