Governance, Post Colonialism and Education in Australia

History of Education in Australia. Governance and

EducationAre rules, law and policy enough for social justice

in education?

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Overview• Development of Education in Australia

• Governance, Aboriginal Australia

• Colonisation by the British• Old Racism Institutional Racism• Multicultural policy and curriculum

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Broad history of Education in Australia

Pre 1848

Denominational Sporadic

decentralised run by religions Catholic or

Anglican. For the wealthy or poor

souls

1866 Henry Parkes Public Schools

ActAimed to

rationalise government spending on

schools. Provide educational

facilities to new populations

1880 Public Instruction Act

1. Introduction of compulsory education and policing truancy2. Withdraw aid to denominational schools3. Introduce Secondary education

1880Establishment of superior schools

Separate Aboriginal

Schools as white parents

complainedProtection board

encouraged attendance

By the 1830s, the idea that crime was the result of ignorance, ignorance was the result of a lack of education and, therefore, education would decrease crime, was seen as a means of forging the penal colony of Australia into an organised and orderly society. This society would be based on, but hopefully better than, the existing British system. It was, therefore, imperative that the government set up schools so that all children could be taught, not only the three "R's," (reading, writing and arithmetic) but how to be good moral, law-abiding citizens. Opponents of this idea, however, felt that the child of a blacksmith didn't need any more education than what was necessary for him to become a blacksmith, the child of a farmer only what was necessary for him to be a successful farmer, etc (McCreadie 2015)

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1905State based education. Different rules and focus of curriculum. NSW more general

academic focus 12-14yo while Victoria more

focused on vocational job preparation

1920-1944 World War I and World War II

The country high school was the dominant form of secondary education

During the great depression of 1930 fees were introduced meaning many missed out on secondary schooling

1961 Education Act Wyndham

Ability grouping and how schools could cater

for individual differences.

Introduction of a Higher leaving certificate.

Secondary Schools organised into two systems one a core curriculum and the

second followed by two years of specialist

study.A more psychological

approach

1960 1970s Post WarBaby boom and booming economy and money

poured into education. Whitlam labour

government abolished fees in 1974 for higher

education

Wyndham insisted that as all adolescents were tomorrow's citizens, some common core skills and understandings were essential for all. These skills needed to be more than merely vocational as adolescents would become citizens in a society, the nature of whose activities could not be specifically forecast.

http://www.erpjournal.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/ERPV29-1_Hughes-J.-P.-2002.-Harold-Wyndham-and-educational-reform-in-Australia-1925-1968.pdf03/11/2022 Karin Mackay 2015 1H

1980s era of economic

rationalisationTeachers now have

to go to university for qualification.Focus on teacher

quality and professionalism

Greater regulation and

standardisation

2000 Global Education Reform Movement (GERM). Education for ALL agenda. NAPLAN

Accountability and standardisation

2008 Melbourne Declaration

Cultural DiversityAboriginal Education

2011Gonski Review of

educationMore funding for public schoolsCitizenship

Melbourne Declaration: As a nation Australia values the central role of education in building a democratic, equitable and just society— a society that is prosperous, cohesive and culturally diverse, and that values Australia’s Indigenous cultures as a key part of the nation’s history, present and future

GERM When the theory was turned into actual policy, when real incentives and real sanctions were established, I realized that the theory was terribly wrong. What we now called “test-based accountability” has so many negative consequences that it undermines education, destroys teacher morale, and turns schooling into little more than preparation for testing.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBj46lkdd84

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Governance: arrangements in which public as well as private actors aim at solving societal problems or create social opportunities, aim at the care for societal institutions within which these activities are carried out. The terms governance denotes

conceptual or theoretical ideas about such governing activities (Kooiman 2006)

PolicyRulesLawPractice and implementationNorms, power and language

Can be: • at home – head of household• Community – Local government or councils• Institutions/Organisations• State Government • Federal Government• Market e.g. stock exchange or economies• Networks e.g. transport, social media

Policies and legislation combined with how these are enacted in practice determines governance03/11/2022 Karin Mackay 2015 1H

Governance and Colonisation

• Power is enacted through governance and this in turn influences the dominant discourse

• Rules and policies may be enforced or ignored by those who are charged with enacting or receiving these

• Whoever governs largely determines the rules of that society. • Self determination is a form of governance where social groups make their own decisions about their community

In Australia, evidence of dominant discourse through governance is for example:• English as dominant language• Public Holidays as being Christian• Middle class aspirations prevalent in schools• Positions of power in corporate sector held largely by men• Causican/white ethnicity prevelant in representitive governance and in media, considered “real Australian”

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What is Colonisation?

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Colonisation and our current education system

Pennycook, A. (2002). English and the discourses of colonisation. Routledge. UK

ELT = English Language teaching

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History, every history student learns, is written by the victors. But in writing about themselves, the victors must also write about those whose lands they have occupied.

http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/events/exhibitions/2006/eora/docs/eora-guide.pdf

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Australia before white settlement

There were around 250 tribal groups and around 300 000 Aboriginal people in 1776

68,000 years agoCurrent estimates of Aboriginal arrival in Australia from Africa

60,000 years ago Human remains dated between 58,000 and 60,000 at Lake Mungo 730 km South West of Sydney

40,000 years ago Clear archaeological evidence of living in south eastern Australia

Lake Mungo

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First fleet contact with Aboriginal population at Botany Bay

1770 captain Cook came to Botany bay1778 first Fleet contactWhite people “spirits of the dead”

In January 1788, after rejecting Botany Bay as unsuitable, Governor Arthur Phillip chose Sydney Cove in the harbour of Port Jackson as the site of the first English outpost and convict colony in Australia. Early in February 1788, two boats commanded by Captain John Hunter of HMS Sirius began to survey, chart and rename the features of Port Jackson. Warrane became Sydney Cove, Wogganmagule (Farm Cove), Pannerong (Rose Bay) and Booragy (Bradleys Head). Burramatta (‘eel water place’) was at first called Rose Hill, but was later renamed Parramatta by Governor Phillip.

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Clash of CulturesLand as sacred and not owned by one person

Sharing of possessions with the group

The land is my mother contains to my spiritual ancestors

Trees, water and song lines were markers of place and culture

When Europeans cut trees and dug into the land there were misunderstandings about the importance of land and place

Aboriginal people were affected by diseases bought from Europe. The common cold and smallpox had killed half the Aboriginal population within 2 years of settlementhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qok6YM3E1z803/11/2022 Karin Mackay 2015 1H

Terra NulliusIn 1770 Captain James Cook landed in Botany Bay, home of the Eora people, and claimed possession of the East Coast of Australia for Britain under the doctrine of 'terra nullius'According to the international law of Europe in the late 18th century, there were only three ways that Britain could take possession of another country:1. If the country was uninhabited, Britain could claim and settle that country. In this case, it could claim ownership of the land.2. If the country was already inhabited, Britain could ask for permission from the indigenous people to use some of their land. In this case, Britain could purchase land for its own use but it could not steal the land of the indigenous people.3. If the country was inhabited, Britain could take over the country by invasion and conquest- in other words, defeat that country in war. However, even after winning a war, Britain would have to respect the rights of indigenous people.

Strangely Britain did not follow any of these rules in Australia. Since there were already people living in Australia, Britain could not take possession by "settling" this country. However from the time of Captain Cook's arrival the British Government acted as if Australia were uninhabited. So, instead of admitting that it was invading land that belonged to Aboriginal people, Britain acted as it were settling an empty land. This is what is meant by the myth of terra nullius.Source:The myth of terra nullius NSW Board of Studies, 1995Reproduced in the Sydney Morning Herald, 26 October 1996Racism. no way. CESCEO

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Early Australian Governance

By the turn of the century, colonial Australians had developed a system of government, land tenure and philanthropy, all of which lacked any recognition of indigenous land rights. There was however, a tradition of violence.

Colonial society, fearful of aboriginal resistance to settlement, condoned massacres of aborigines as prudent necessity. Across the continent, Aborigines fought on against the violent invasion of their lands by killing settlers, livestock, and destroying property.

In 1830, full martial law was declared in Tasmania and more than two hundred armed men formed a cordon across the island, rounded up the remaining Aborigines and exiled them to Bass Strait. 

But from the middle of the nineteenth century, improvements in gun design increased the colonists' military advantage over Aborigines. 

Massacres continued, with the last known occurring in 1929, in the country of the Warlpiri and Anmatyerre people. The casualty figures from the one hundred and forty year 'Australian war', totalled about two thousand colonists and twenty thousand indigenous Australians dead.

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The Great Chain of Being

• Hierarchy of the natural order• Progress, evolution and Darwinism

• Justification for Slavery• Possession of land and people – colonisation

• Industrialisation

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Old Racism and SlaverySlavery was based on ideas that there was a hierarchy of people based on the natural order (Biological essentialism and Darwinism). This enabled some groups of people to dehumanise the “other”. Once this was done it was possible to justify inhumane acts. White Power and supremacy were outwardly justified.03/11/2022 Karin Mackay 2015 1H

Old racism

• System of prejudice and supremacy

• Works when visible

• Works through imperialized knowledge

• Individual racism• Power applied to physical body

New Racism• System of power and domination

• Works best when invisible

• Works through privileged knowledge

• Racism built into institutions

• Power applied to social body

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Institutional or Systemic Racism

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/theatre/is-australian-theatre-racist-20140713-zt4rl.html

• Racism which is structured into political or social institutions• Occurs when organisations limit rights indirectly or directly through governance

• Reflects cultural assumptions of the dominant group so that their norms exclude others cultural practices

• Advantages some ethnic groups while disadvantaging others• Difficult to detect when institutions do not view policies as racist

• Can manifest as early school drop out or lower educational expectations, fewer employment opportunities, higher unemployment, restricted life opportunities, housing, low income

http://www.racismnoway.com.au/teaching-resources/factsheets/32.html

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Post Colonialism and Education

• Post colonialism is the experience of the coloniser and the colonised. For example how did British coming to Australia change the lives of those who came and those who were here.

• Edward Said’s Orientalism (1974) is one of the main theorists to use postcolonial theory. Also see Homi Bhabha (1994) hybrid space between cultures.

• It is well documented how Aboriginal people were impacted such as through assimilation, loss of language and culture , death and disease but it is also the way the coloniser has been influenced such as intermarriage and adapting to the local landscape .

• Also there are other groups who were impacted by British colonisation. For example the Irish, Italian, Chinese and Afghanis were all early migrants to Australia who were constituted as the “other.”

• The British were the ruling class and had the power to enforce their system of law and governance. Their views and attitudes shaped dominant cultural practices such as language taught, educational practices, and parliamentary systems which made laws.

• This had the effect of setting British ways of talking, acting, values as superior and investing these with power and cultural capital

• The British system of governance in Australian education has had the effect of embedding traces of British Eurocentric perspectives into the curriculum. These are often not obvious and can be thought of as the “hidden curriculum” of how to act, how to speak and what is considered proper English rather than integrating multiple cultural viewpoints.

• Other times post colonial perspectives are more obvious when we take a careful look at the curriculum structure. We can ask what is included, what is not included and what is focused upon and how it is taught and this will tell us who is the dominant group03/11/2022 Karin Mackay 2015 1H

White Australia Policyhttp://www.abc.net.au/archives/80days/stories/2012/01/19/3415230.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptxlehKaBE4

The White Australia Policy was passed in 1901. This was one of the first policies passed in the new federal parliament. The aim was to create a homogenous British like culture in Australia.03/11/2022 Karin Mackay 2015 1H

1.1Community harmony is promoted through school policies and practices which counter racism and intolerance and develop intercultural understanding.

1.2Schools will provide teaching and learning programs that enable all students to identify as Australians within a democratic multicultural society and to develop the knowledge, skills and values for participation as active citizens.

1.3Schools will ensure inclusive teaching practices which recognise and value the backgrounds of all students and promote an open and tolerant attitude towards different cultures, languages, religions and world views.

1.4Students who are learning English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D) are provided with appropriate support to develop their English language and literacy skills so that they are able to fully participate in schooling and achieve equitable educational outcomes.

1.5Schools, through differentiated curriculum and specific teaching and learning programs, will address the learning needs of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds requiring specific support.

1.6Schools will promote positive community relations through effective communication with parents and community members from diverse cultural, linguistic and religious backgrounds and by encouraging their active engagement in the life of the school.

NSW DEC Multiculturalism Policy statement

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http://www.crc.nsw.gov.au/legislation_and_policy/principles_of_multiculturalism

NSW Principals of Multiculturalism

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Who is responsible for implementing

Multicultural Policy?

• The Deputy Secretary, Schools is responsible for ensuring the implementation and monitoring of the policy and the Department’s Multicultural Plan.

• 4.2Executive Directors and Directors are responsible for examining practices and procedures that support NSW Government schools to ensure that they are consistent with the policy.

• 4.3Principals are responsible for ensuring that school policies and practices are consistent with the policy and for including multicultural education strategies in their school plans. They are also responsible for ensuring that the EAL/D Annual Survey is completed accurately to provide information on English language proficiency of students for resourcing purposes.

• 4.4All staff members are responsible for ensuring their practices are consistent with the policy.

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Deconstructing the Curriculum and school practices

• Need to look critically at the curriculum documents and how we teach. Whose point of view is being represented? Whose cultural practices are highlighted? What is left out?

• Also need to question how the anit-racism and anti-discrimination policies in schools are being implemented

• Need to consider the letter of the law and the “spirit” of the law

• Ethically are social justice issues being addressed at a whole school level?

• Is there a dedicated anti-discrimination contact in the schools?• Are student leadership positions reflective of the diversity in the school community?

• What whole school programs are in operation to address social justice issues like racism, sexism, social disadvantage, homophobia?

• What accommodations are made for ESL and refugee studetns

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Responding to Racism• Racism no way program see here http://www.racismnoway.com.au/• Naming racism as racism rather than bullying• Avoiding bystander silence. • Teaching directly about racism• Challenging institutional racism• Understanding racism • Understanding Aboriginal creole, Aboriginal English second language practices rather than poor English

• Deconstructing white privilege and disrupting Eurocentric perspectives.

• Reflecting diverse community perspectives in content chosen in KLA’s

• Providing alternative perspectives to racial media stereotypes

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