Islander Students Research Articles

Persevering, educating and influencing a change: a case study of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander narratives of academic success

ABSTRACTAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students’ experiences in Australian higher education continue to be influenced by the sociopolitical narratives of alterity which locate the students as more likely than their nonIndigenous peers to struggle academically and need support. These western-centric perceptions of indigeneities not only affect Indigenous students’ everyday university experiences but can even influence their decision whether to persist with their studies or not. Drawing on data collected in a large, metropolitan Australian university, this article presents a case study of Indigenous students’ ways of perceiving and resisting their positioning by the dominant university systems as ‘problematic’, at risk of failure and needing support. Specifically, the article explores educational pathways of three Indigenous students, their narratives exemplifying primary strategies of enacting and articulating resistances to the dominant education structures in order to fuel academic success.

Impact of a continuing professional development intervention on midwifery academics' awareness of cultural safety.

Cultural safety in higher education learning and teaching environments is paramount to positive educational outcomes for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (hereafter called First Peoples) students. There is a lack of research evaluating the impact of continuing professional development on midwifery academics' awareness of cultural safety. To implement and evaluate a continuing professional development intervention to improve midwifery academics' awareness of cultural safety in supporting First Peoples midwifery students success. A pre-post intervention mixed methods design was used. Academics (n=13) teaching into a Bachelor of Midwifery program agreed to participate. The intervention consisted of two workshops and five yarning circles across a semester. Data included the Awareness of Cultural Safety Scale, self-assessment on cultural safety and perceptions of racism, evaluation of the intervention, participants' journal entries, and researcher's reflections. Responses on the Awareness of Cultural Safety Scale revealed significant improvement in participants' awareness of cultural safety. There was an upward trend in self-assessment ratings. Participants reported high levels of satisfaction with the intervention or workshops and yarning circles. Participants' journal entries revealed themes willingness to participate and learn, confidence as well as anger and distress. Increased awareness of cultural safety can be transformative for midwifery academics. Workshops and yarning circles can support academics in moving beyond a 'sense of paralysis' and engage in challenging conversations to transform their learning and teaching and in turn foster a culturally safe learning and teaching environment for First Peoples midwifery students towards success.

The influence of academic discipline, race, and gender on web-use skills among graduate-level students

There is a paucity of research on the digital literacy of graduate-level students. The study examined whether academic discipline, age, gender, race, parental education, international status, GPA, and self-perceived skills is associated with web-use skills among this population. Hargittai and Hsieh’s 27-item Web-use Skills Index was used to measure web-use skills. The Kruskal–Wallis H test with post hoc Fisher’s least significant difference test was used to determine statistical differences between groups of independent variables. Academic discipline, race/ethnicity, and gender had a greater number of statistically significant differences (p < .05) with 12, 15, and 20 variables respectively. Few web-skill variables were significantly different by age, GPA, international status, and parental education with 4, 3, 2, and 3 variables respectively. Gender plays a large role in the digital literacy of graduate and professional students compared to other demographic factors. This may be due to factors influenced by gender including family life, self-efficacy, and access to technology. The high web proficiency of Asian/Pacific Islander students is consistent with past research. However, African American students were more web-proficient than Caucasian students, which is inconsistent with previous research. Academic discipline may be independently associated with varying levels of web-use scores.

Speaking back to the deficit discourses: a theoretical and methodological approach

The educational attainment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students is often presented within a deficit view. The need for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers to challenge the societal norms is necessary to contribute to the struggle for self-determination. This paper presents a theoretical and methodological approach that has enabled one researcher to speak back to the deficit discourses. Exemplification of how Indigenous Critical Discourse Analysis (in: Hogarth, Addressing the rights of Indigenous peoples’ in education: A critical analysis of Indigenous education policy, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, 2016) identifies the power of language to maintain the inequitable positioning of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples within Australian society is provided. Particular focus is placed on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Action Plan 2010–2014 (in: MCEECDYA, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Action Plan (2010–2014), 2011) and how policy discourses ignore the historical, political, cultural and social factors that influence the engagement and participation of Indigenous peoples in education today. The paper argues for the need to personalise methodological approaches to present the standpoint of the researcher and, in turn, deepens their advocacy for addressing the phenomenon. In turn, the paper presents the need to build on existing Indigenous research frameworks to continue advocating for the position of Indigenous research methodologies within the Western institution.

The Power of Words: Bias and Assumptions in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Action Plan

This paper argues that genuine engagement and consultation is required where Indigenous voice is prevalent within the policy development process for true progress to be achieved in the educational attainments of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. It is important to note that there has been little critical analysis of policy discourses. More specifically, analysis of how language is used to maintain societal constructs. By providing an Indigenous standpoint, it is anticipated that this paper makes explicit to policymakers the bias and taken for granted assumptions held by those who produced it. This paper is derived from a larger project, namely my Masters of Education (Research) thesis (Hogarth, 2015). The major findings that emerged from the data included (a) the homogenous grouping of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, (b) the maintenance of the prevalent dominant ideology of a deficit view within policy and finally (c) the expectation of government of increased engagement and connections with and by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in education without consideration of the detrimental effects of past policies and reforms. The potential implications of making explicit how language positions Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students’ educational attainment can inform future policymaking and contribute to the struggle for self-determination.

Effect of national partnerships on NAPLAN

AbstractThe annual National Assessment Program—Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) measures the literacy and numeracy skills of primary and secondary students in Australia. Under the three Smarter Schools National Partnership, additional funding is provided to the independent schools with the expectation of improving student performance. Using multilevel modelling to account for within-school variables and demographics, we analyse NAPLAN data from the 2008–2011 tests for a sample of independent schools to estimate the effect of the National Partnerships on student performance. The results indicated that on average male students performed higher in the numeracy test but scored lower in each of the literacy tests. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students scored lower in numeracy, reading, writing, and grammar and punctuation. Students from low socioeconomic status schools performed lower in writing.

Exploring Asian-American/Pacific Islander Student Grit Within the Two-Year College System

The topic of grit has been a highly sought after set of traits as it carries positive correlation with individual performance and in turn, has reflected to have a positive impact organizational outcomes. Recently, grit has emerged in higher education as a non-cognitive factor to drive student performance. Relevant research finds that there are variances in student academic performance and race. To determine if grit plays a role within that trend, the following paper examines if a difference exists between grit scores of Asian-American/Pacific Islander in comparison with the general student population.

Education Journey: Tere Api’i Ki Aotearoa

The following pe’e (chant) from Mangaia speaks to me from Avaiki. I have chosen it to express the journey of my education, and also that of other Cook Islands students studying at the University of Waikato. Most of us leave our beloved family, our village, our island, to study overseas for better opportunities in New Zealand and other parts of the world. Our supporters include our parents back home, the Cook Islands government, the people we meet, our friends, our mentors, our families here in New Zealand and ourselves. This pe’e is about learning new skills, furthering our knowledge and developing our own beliefs to help us navigate our way through the challenges of life. Our journey connects us with our ancestors who learned all the skills of navigation as they traveled from one destination to another across Te Moana Nui o Kiva (Pacific Ocean). The journey of my ancestors is rooted in mythology, in history, in memories and in shared experiences. Their journey is not just travel. It embodies new ways of thinking and new ways of learning. I think the journey of Cook Islands students at the University of Waikato is history repeating itself, mirroring the journey when we arrived here with so much excitement and fear of the unknown. This article describes some of the challenges and the opportunities discovered on the path that these students have pursued

Aloha teachers: teacher autonomy support promotes Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students’ motivation, school belonging, course-taking and math achievement

Among 110 Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, teacher autonomy support in 9th grade significantly predicted intrinsic motivation for math in 9th grade as well as math course-taking over the next 2 years, both of which in turn significantly predicted math achievement by 11th grade. In a second model, teacher autonomy support was positively associated with sense of school belonging; however, school belonging did not predict math achievement. Because of the Hawaiian cultural concept of Aloha and the effect of teacher autonomy support on intrinsic motivation, school belonging, math course-taking, and math achievement, researchers may wish to develop interventions for Hawaiian students that focus on elevating intrinsic motivation and belonging via increasing teacher autonomy support. Because Native Hawaiians and most other Pacific Islanders are involuntary minorities, this research may have implications for other involuntary minorities across the world, such as the Buraku in Japan, and the Maori people of New Zealand.

Graduate Standards for Teachers: Final-year Preservice Teachers Potentially Identify the Gaps

The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) were devised to identify the attributes, skills and practices required of teachers at various career stages. This study investigates final-year preservice teachers’ self-reported confidence against the APST at the graduate career stage. This mixed-method study used a Likert scale survey and interviews. Preservice teachers indicated areas of confidence, and also identified potential gaps in their teacher preparation with 30% or more of preservice teachers indicating they lacked confidence to: Use strategies to support full participation of students with a disability; demonstrate understanding for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students; engage with parents and carers to support student learning; and report on student learning to parents and carers. Qualitative data (n=10) explained reasons for these potential gaps, such as a “lack of experience in these areas of teaching” and a need for “universities to ensure experiences in these areas during practicum”.

Creating walking tracks to success: A narrative analysis of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nursing students’ stories of success

Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have higher rates of morbidity and mortality than other Australians. One proposed strategy to improve this situation is to increase the participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses, in the health workforce. Although the numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students undertaking tertiary nursing courses have increased, completion rates have not kept pace. The study aimed to describe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nursing students’ experiences of enablers for successful course completion and to develop a narrative of student experience. A qualitative study using a strengths-based approach with a narrative analysis of semi-structured interview data was conducted across four schools of Nursing in Queensland, Australia. Eight final-year Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nursing students volunteered to participate in the study. A collective story with the overarching plotline Creating walking tracks to success was developed. Six threads of experience emerged: Making a difference, Valuing Indigeneity, Healing strength of connections, Resisting racism, Embracing support, and persevering towards completion. Key success factors included resilient attributes, building supportive connections and having positive expectations of the future, along with sustained institutional support from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurse academics and clinicians. Development of tailored resilience-building training for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nursing students and appointment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander academics in Schools of Nursing that include such students may facilitate future successful completions in other programs.

Editorial

We are very pleased to bring you Volume 45 of The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education. At this moment in time, we feel that the work of AJIE has perhaps never been more important, particularly as it relates to engaging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and communities in systems of schooling. In May this year we witnessed the evacuation of school teachers from the remote community of Aurukun, Queensland in fear of violence. A group of 15 disengaged young people had threatened the School Principal and as a consequence of the evacuation, 300 engaged children were subsequently disengaged from School for the remaining five weeks of term following the closure. There is no doubt that teacher safety is paramount, similarly, there should be no doubt that community consultation and engagement in a move like this one equally so. The questions which hang in the air relate to why such levels of disengagement exist. Why are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people disengaged from schooling in Aurukun? What makes it okay that a large number of engaged Indigenous children were forcibly made to disengage from school? Why is there such disengagement from government in engaging local people in the ways in which education business is carried out with and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and communities? The papers in this volume of AJIE then, all speak strongly to issues of engagement – the kinds of pedagogy and curriculum that can and should be in place, the kinds of relationships that can and should be in place, and the kinds of outcomes made possible when such educational moves are made. A resounding message from all of the articles in this volume is that the on-going engagement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, parents, and communities is key to defining and achieving what educational success might mean for each individual child, context and classroom. This is by no means a new message, but the recent events in Aurukun remind us that it is one we must keep returning to – the stakes for complacency and forgetting are too high.

Progress towards achieving hepatitis B control in the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, and Kiribati

BackgroundHepatitis B virus (HBV) is highly endemic in many of the Pacific Island countries. Four island countries—Cook Islands, Kiribati, Niue, and Tokelau—sought to evaluate the success of their hepatitis B vaccination programs by conducting nationally representative serosurveys among children born post-vaccine introduction. MethodsCook Islands, Niue, and Tokelau conducted school-based census serosurveys because of small populations. The Cook Islands tested children in second grade; Niue tested children in early childhood education through sixth grade; and Tokelau tested children in first through sixth grades. Because Kiribati has a much larger birth cohort, it conducted a one-stage stratified serosurvey among first grade students. All four countries tested children using the Alere Determine™ rapid point of care hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) test. ResultsIn the three smaller countries, no children were seropositive for HBsAg (0/245 Cook Island students, 0/183 Niuean students, 0/171 Tokelau students). In Kiribati, 39 (3.3%, 95% confidence interval 2.4–4.6%) of 1249 students were HBsAg positive. Vaccination data collected in the Cook Islands and Tokelau showed high vaccination coverage in both countries with ⩾95% birth dose coverage and 100% 3-dose coverage. ConclusionsThe Cook Islands, Niue, and Tokelau have made remarkable progress in establishing strong vaccination programs and towards decreasing the burden of hepatitis B among children. Kiribati still needs to improve vaccination coverage to achieve the <1% HBsAg target established by the World Health Organization Western Pacific Region.

Environmental literacy in Madeira Island (Portugal): The influence of Demographic Variables

Demographic factors are among those that influence environmental literacy and, particularly,environmentally responsible behaviours, either directly or due to an aggregation effect dependent on other types of variables. Present study evaluates a set of demographic variables as predictors for environmental literacy among 9th grade students from Madeira Island (Portugal). Through a survey involving 491 students, gender, place of residence (rural and urban), 8th grade Natural Sciences discipline performance, participation in school’s environmental activities and, indirectly, socio-economic status were evaluated in their association to environmental literacy and, particularly, to each of its three main components: knowledge, attitude and behaviour. The results confirm three stronger environmental literacy predictors: rural or urban residence, depending on the components considered, higher marks in 8th grade Natural Sciences discipline and higher socio-economic status; and two weaker: female and participation in school’s environmental activities. Our findings found support in previous studies and underline the need to center socio-demographic factors in environmental education practices. Considering demographic variables as the reflex of environmental, economic and socio-cultural contexts, our results corroborate an environmental literacy’s construction framework on the light of Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory of human learning, in which real learning contexts play a fundamental role. In fact, also in environmental literacy, learning occurs through the interaction with the social environment and, to be effective, needs real learning contexts. Demographic variables confirmed as being predictors for environmental literacy in Madeira Island students seems to mirror the effects of the above framework and show strong evidences of linkage with socioeconomic status.

Critical reflections on teaching challenging content: do some students shoot the (white) messenger?

Racism is an enduring reality in Australian society for Indigenous Australians, reflecting the experiences of Indigenous peoples in colonized countries worldwide. While social work services delivered by Indigenous Australians might be the preferred option, the graduation rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from Australian social work training is low and non-Indigenous social workers provide most service delivery. As a non-Indigenous social work educator at an Australian university, I recognize that teaching culturally relevant curricula, in order to produce antiracist social work graduates who recognize racism and privilege, is crucial but challenging. The purpose of this article is to share my ongoing critical reflections, particularly with regard to student dissatisfaction and possible disengagement with difficult content, and my actions for improved teaching and learning, in order to graduate work-ready social workers.

Cook Islands students' attitudes towards physical education

Teacher education has the potential to bring changes within educational systems that can shape the knowledge and skills of future generations. Teaching in a culturally responsive manner is an important part of developing teachers to serve as key change agents in transforming education and society through research, from the perspectives of student learning and achievement in health and physical education. It was expected in this study that students' recognition of cultural activities could inspire them to engage in physical education. The aim of the study was to examine student awareness of teaching that included cultural activities, with an emphasis on Cook Islands traditional cultural values. One hundred and one students and three teachers from three different schools participated in the study. Only 5% of the student population were non-Cook Islanders. A quantitative methodology was used to analyse the results and findings of the data using an initial Exploratory Factorial Analysis (EFA) and then group comparisons. The implications of identifying Cook Islands cultural values in the curriculum of physical education and what this means for teacher education are discussed.

Barriers and enablers to retention of Aboriginal Diploma of Nursing students in Western Australia: An exploratory descriptive study

BackgroundNursing education appropriate to the learning needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students is essential to prepare them for registration as nurses. Despite incentives to encourage the recruitment and retention of such students, a disproportionate number commence but do not finish their nursing studies. ObjectivesTo describe the barriers and enablers to the retention of Aboriginal students in a Diploma of Nursing course (Enrolled/Division 2) in Western Australia. DesignAn exploratory descriptive design was used. SettingsOne metropolitan educational facility catering for Aboriginal people offering an 18-month course in a block release format. ParticipantsA convenience sample of 16 students aged 18+years. MethodsNewly enrolled students (n=10) participated in an investigator-developed survey to explore their motivation for entering the course. Nine of these students and a further seven students who were nearing the end of their course participated in focus groups to explore their experiences of nursing education. ResultsSurvey respondents had a mean age of 32.7years; most were female, had nominated family as influential in the decision to enroll, and commenced with a friend. Regarding recruitment and retention, the qualitative data highlighted the importance of students': perceptions of the training organisation, characteristics, experiences of nursing education, and sources of support. ConclusionsStrategies that develop individual's resilience and engage supportive networks can assist Aboriginal students to negotiate tertiary nursing study. Academic skills assessments supplemented with tailored educational support at entry can resource students to navigate increasingly complex course content. Flexibility throughout the course enables students to negotiate study in a context of ongoing family and financial obligations.

Listening to and learning from the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to facilitate success

Drawing on interviews with current and past Indigenous undergraduate students at the University of Queensland (UQ), this paper reports on findings from a project that explored the experiences of Indigenous Australian students and identified inhibitors and success factors for students. It also discusses one of the outcomes of the project and planned future developments that aim to provide better support for Indigenous Australian students at UQ. By knowing and acting upon the kinds of mechanisms that can assist Indigenous students, their experiences of tertiary study can be enhanced, leading to more students enrolling in and completing university study.

No Data, No Justice: Moving beyond the Model Minority Myth in K–12 Education

Abstract Due to the “model minority myth,” Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students are often left out of the national discourse on educational equity. As a result, obtaining more data on AAPI students (i.e., data disaggregation) has become the primary civil rights issue in education for AAPIs. This paper examines challenges facing AAPIs in elementary and secondary public schools, passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act, and progress made to disaggregate data on AAPI students. The authors highlight additional opportunities and strategies for advocates at the local and national level to improve educational outcomes for all AAPI students by 2040.

The Pacific Written Tradition

The Pacific Written Tradition Craig Santos Perez (bio) In 2010, I read aloud from my new bookto an English class at one of Guam’spublic high schools. After the reading, I notice a student crying. “Whats wrong?”I ask. She says, “I’ve never seen our culturein a book before. I just thought we weren’t worthy of literature.” I wonder how manyyoung islanders have dived into the depthsof a book, only to find bleached coral and emptiness. They teach us that missionarieswere the first readers in the Pacific becausethey could decipher the strange signs of the Bible. They teach us that missionarieswere the first authors in the Pacific becausethey possessed the authority of written words. Today, studies show that islander students readand write below grade level. “It’s natural,”they claim. “Your ancestors were an illiterate, oral people.” Do not believe their claims.Our ancestors deciphered signs in nature,interpreted star formations and sun positions, cloud and wind patterns, wave currents andfish migrations. Always remember what navigatorPapa Mau once said: “if you can read the ocean you will never be lost.” Now let me tell youabout the Pacific written tradition, about howour ancestors tattooed their skin with defiant scripts of intricately inked genealogy, storiesof plumage and pain. Or how our ancestors carvedepics into hard wood with a sharpened point, [End Page 110] their hands, and the pressure and responsibilityof memory. Or how our ancestors stenciledhieroglyphic poems on cave walls with clay, fire, and smoke. So the next time someone tells youislanders were illiterate, teach themabout our visual literacies, about how we still read and write the intertextual sacrednessof all things. And always remember: if youcan write the ocean we will never be silenced. [End Page 111] Craig Santos Perez Craig Santos Perez is a native Chamorro from the Pacific Island of Guam. He is the author of three books, most recently from unincorporated territory [guma'], which received an American Book Award 2015. He is an associate professor in the English department at the University of Hawai'i, Manoa. Copyright © 2016 University of Wisconsin Board of Regents