1967, the Year of 'Before and After' in the History of Aboriginal Education in Australia

This article explores the history of Aboriginal education in Australia, from their rich tradition of oral education to the contrived education system introduced by colonizers. It highlights the impact of the 1967 referendum and how census data has helped improve education standards for Aboriginal students. The article also suggests ways to improve education for Aboriginal students, such as special training programs for teachers and multifunctional centers for their overall wellbeing.

Running head: 1967, THE YEAR OF "BEFORE AND AFTER" IN THE HISTORY OF ABORIGINAL
EDUCATION
NAME
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Running head: 1967, THE YEAR OF "BEFORE AND AFTER" IN THE HISTORY OF ABORIGINAL
EDUCATION
1967, the year of “before and after” in the history of aboriginal education in Australia
Introduction
The history of colonization across the world is full of ambiguity. The forces that acted as the
ruler forcing colonization always said they introduced their slaves to the civilized ways of
life. The slaves, when they woke up from the slumber of slavery always said that their native
culture was better, it was not a reform, and it was a distortion of the culture that their
emperors forced on them (Peggy Brock, 2017).
The story of the indigenous people living in Australia is no different. They are also known as
aboriginal people as well. Many studies conducted in the year 2007 gives an idea that during
the 16th century, aboriginal people were carrying forward a rich tradition of learning and
education (Nicole, 2011). They were not aware of the writing techniques; however, they were
having a sense of history. They were transmitting it with the help of oral education where a
person has to learn it by heart and then pass it on to the next generation. It was the wisdom
that they were passing on from one generation to the other (Hogarth, 2015).
Many scholars may raise this question that the education system of the aboriginal people was
lacking scientific temperament (Nina Burridge, 2012). It was not progressive; it was not
connecting them to the modern way of thinking. However, now when we are already living in
the postmodern era, now when the mainstream of the human race has already touched the
pinnacle of the education systems, we are actually returning towards innocence and
unlearning many things that we learned under the pretext that we were modern.
Luckily we are living in a society that gives us the permission to think and question. Luckily
we are not a part of a totalitarian society. We can question the deeds of our ancestors and
improve a few things to correct the mistakes of the past. In the case of aboriginal people, we
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Running head: 1967, THE YEAR OF "BEFORE AND AFTER" IN THE HISTORY OF ABORIGINAL
EDUCATION
can see it very clearly that they were living in a different kind of eco-system, their education
and teachings were giving sustainability to their eco-systems (Muller, 2014). Indeed there
were some shortcomings, however, every system has its own share of shortcomings, we
should remove them and this is how a progressive society works. During the 17th and 18th
century, different sovereigns and ruler tried to change the systems and thought processes of
aboriginal people (Broome, 2010). They were putting up an act by saying that they are
progressive in their approach. However, they were introducing aboriginal people towards
some radical changes in their way of thinking, living, and culture (Nation, 2011).
Anyone following a different set of thoughts or ideas may be different from us; however, it
never means that he or she is wrong. Aboriginal people felt this unfortunate pang of being
wrong because they were different (Jon Altman, 2010). The world of education has its own
share of seasons. During the 17th century, 18th century and 19th century it was the era of STEM
education. Rest of the subjects were just following the footprints of these four streams.
Science was conquering the world and promoting the culture of rationalism. Any stream
which was not close to this STEM rationalism was gradually becoming out-dated and
redundant. The colonization of aboriginal people in Australia was following this school of
thought. Some scholars can consider it as a progressive approach because aboriginal people
were getting an exposure to the mainstream society of the world. However, the intentions
behind this change over were contrived (Sullivan, 2011). The rulers were discarding the
principles like free will thinking and scientific temper; instead, they were taming a population
for their commercial interests. A new sky of the education was opening in the life of the
aboriginal people, however; the horizons of true wisdom and free will thinking were out of
sight for them (James L. Cox, 2016).
This colonial hangover of this contrived education system lasted even after the freedom of the
aboriginal people. They were scattered by every means. They were not connected with their
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Running head: 1967, THE YEAR OF "BEFORE AND AFTER" IN THE HISTORY OF ABORIGINAL
EDUCATION
roots and the mainstream society was not ready to accept them because they were different
and regressive. The era of the colonization forced them to have an education so that they can
become useful to their masters (Heiss, 2018). However, when the rest of the societies of
Australia were celebrating a much deserve freedom. Aboriginal people were suffering from
the idiosyncrasies of the past and present (Pope, 2011).
It was the time of the emancipation for the others who were educated. Here we would like to
raise an issue connected to the educational status of a community. In a democratic country
like Australia, every community can demand equal rights and sometimes they can even
demand privileges if they belong to a weaker or underprivileged section of the society
(Gammage, 2012). The overall education level of the community plays a crucial role in it.
Only an educated community can procure proper representatives that can act as a bridge
between the authorities and the community (Steven Strong, 2017).
Now when we turn the pages of the history and check the history of the civil rights of
aboriginal people in Australia then we find a blank space for almost five decades. During the
decade of the 1950's many organizations and individuals came up with some pleas to bring in
equal civil rights for the aboriginal people (Jang, 2015). They were pleading to include a
minority in the mainstream. Most of us think that voting rights for the aboriginal people
during the first few years of the sixth decade of the 2oth century were the turning point of the
history for the aboriginal people (Melinda Hinkson, 2010). Voting gives us a voice, however,
we need words and wisdom to speak, and this is where education makes an entry in our life
and gives us the strength to cast our vote more intelligently.
Voting rights and rights to education are a different thing. A herd of uneducated voters can do
no good for the basic spirit of the democracy. It is the education that really matters. The real
turning point in the history of Australian aboriginal people was the referendum of 1967 when
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Running head: 1967, THE YEAR OF "BEFORE AND AFTER" IN THE HISTORY OF ABORIGINAL
EDUCATION
the government of Australia decided to include Aboriginal people in the census of the
country. Census is not a head count; it gives us an idea of the human resource that forms the
backbone of any democracy. A presence in the census always increases the responsibilities of
the government sector to include a community in the mainstream. The planners of the
economy can quantify the efforts, they can launch some studies based on the geographical
presence of the community and finally, they can draft a document of the reforms.
At the beginning of this compilation of the facts and thoughts, we talked about some studies
where they researched the education culture prevailing among the aboriginal communities
during the era of the 17th and 18th century. This research was an outcome of the success of the
planning commission in identifying the strength and density of the aboriginal population in
Australia.
Any successful education standard reform program needs numbers. It needs the identification
of key result areas. Now let’s check the timeline of the history once again, in the year 1963
Charles Perkins won the degree of Graduate of art from the University of Sydney. Why we
are treating this degree as the first step of Neil Alden Armstrong on the moon. We have a
strong reason behind it, with this degree; Mr. Perkins became the first ever aboriginal
graduate of Australia. On the timeline of almost sixty-three years, he was the only graduate
till that time. The 1967 referendum became functional by 1971 (Jon Altman, 2010). Since
then the educational reforms never took a back seat, we always saw an increase in the number
of the aboriginal students.
Conclusion
An increase in the attendance levels and a decrease in the number of the dropouts may
hold the key
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Running head: 1967, THE YEAR OF "BEFORE AND AFTER" IN THE HISTORY OF ABORIGINAL
EDUCATION
How can the census make a difference? The census allows us to check the growth of the
literacy rates and other tangents connected to the education on a different scale. One such
scale is the national minimum standard of the education. Let's have a look at some data
gained through the census of 2016 and try to draw some conclusions out of it. When it comes
to the knowledge of numeracy and reading at the level of class three, here we find that ninety-
five percent of the students of the aboriginal status are either above the line or on the line. In
this similar fashion, when it comes to grammar and punctuation, 51 percent of students are
not above the line of national minimum standards. We are able to produce this data because,
first the census identified the presence of aboriginal students and later on the researchers
worked upon them to find out the truth behind it (Jang, 2015). When we talk about the
literacy rates of Australia in general then we face a different set of questions because we are
dealing with an educated community. However, in the case of the aboriginal population, the
parameters change drastically. For instance, a simple increase in the attendance of a student
in the school and colleges can give us hope that the rate of the literacy will increase in the
coming years.
The stream of an education is an energy that has the power to change the personality and the
thought process of a person, grab them when they are kids, if we can intervene them during
the primary school days and introduce education as a new lifestyle to them then we can find
great results and keep a check on the number of the dropouts and expect more graduates in
the future.
On micro-level authorities can come up with special training programs for the teachers that
are involved with the studies and welfare of the aboriginal people. The policymakers can
provide a kind of artillery support to the teachers working on the ground zero with aboriginal
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Running head: 1967, THE YEAR OF "BEFORE AND AFTER" IN THE HISTORY OF ABORIGINAL
EDUCATION
people. Let's take the example of Koorie Group working in the state of Victoria. In order to
keep a check on the dropout rate, they started an education plan where apart from the kids
they also educate the parents with the right tips on parenting. It was a great initiative; the
teachers interacted with the parents and help them in getting the subsidy offered by the state
government. The active participation of the teacher is important. Any teacher should never
forget that he or she is acting as a face behind the numbers of the success (Heiss, 2018).
Koori foundation also set an example of sorts when they came up with some multifunctional
centers to look after the overall wellbeing of the aboriginal kids. This value addition increased
the loyalty of aboriginal children with the system and the education. This example also gives
us a theory that instead of just focusing on the learning process of the kid, a teacher should act
as a social intervention in the life of a kid. He should try to create an eco-system around the
kid where fruits like education and wisdom can flourish. In the case of an aboriginal child
heading towards literacy, the role of a teacher is not confined to classroom alone. He should
act like a mentor for the kid. Education is not the final output; the application of the education
for the welfare of the kid is the ultimate output that they should seek (Gammage, 2012).
According to an estimate, aboriginal people are a minority in Australia they represent only the
three percent of the overall population. The referendum of 1967 did have a “before and after”
impact on the education-related numbers and standards of the aboriginal people because it
was the time when census started counting their presence. This data helped planning
commissions of the states and country to come up with welfare schemes. With each census,
they introduced new variables to evaluate the success and failures of previous programs.
These evaluations also helped the educationalists to figure out some new roles and
responsibilities for the teachers. With the help of census data, they perceived a macro picture
of this minority population. With the help of the feedbacks of the teachers, social servants and
humanitarian experts sitting at the helm of the NGO's, also got an insight about allocating the
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Running head: 1967, THE YEAR OF "BEFORE AND AFTER" IN THE HISTORY OF ABORIGINAL
EDUCATION
funds in the right direction for the best impacts. If we consider 1900 as the activation point of
the timeline for the reform attempts guided for the welfare of aboriginal people, then it took
sixty years when Australian education system finally produced the first ever graduate student
that represented the aboriginal community in the league of scholars. It happened in 1960, two
years down the line, in 2020, sixty more years will pass, we are optimistic that this time
Australian education system will present a bright picture of educated aboriginal people.
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Running head: 1967, THE YEAR OF "BEFORE AND AFTER" IN THE HISTORY OF ABORIGINAL
EDUCATION
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Running head: 1967, THE YEAR OF "BEFORE AND AFTER" IN THE HISTORY OF ABORIGINAL
EDUCATION
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