Australian Indigenous and Multicultural Education

This essay discusses the issues and impact of education on the development of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Australia. The Bonfrenbenner model is used to analyze the different phases of child development. The impact of school, church, and mass media is also discussed.

Running head: AUSTRALIAN INDIGENOUS AND MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION
Australian Indigenous and Multicultural Education
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1AUSTRALIAN INDIGENOUS AND MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION
Introduction
The following essay discusses about the several issues regarding the education of the
children in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander regions. The health and education are the
tow most important and basis factors for the development of the children. In order to provide the
children with the proper education, the proper analysis of their capabilities will have to be made.
The Bonfrenbenner model will have to be used in this paper to make an analysis on the This
model would have to be utilized to assess the best benefits by implementing it on the Aboriginals
and Torres Strait islanders (De Lemos, 2013). Their ideologies and the impact of media and,
school, church and other institutions will also have to be discussed. The development of the
children of these regions will have to be assessed as per the Bonfrenbenner model.
The analysis of the Bonfrenbenner model
The Bonfrenbenner model is one of the contemporary theories that is used to measure the
development of the children from several aspects. This theory is also called the bioecological
systems theory. The cultures of the people of the Torres Strait islanders and Aboriginals always
differ from that of the mainland people in the country (Garbarino, 2017). The development of the
children in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait islands will depend on the different phases of the
Bonfrenbenner model. The different phases of the model are Microsystems, Mesosystem,
Exosystem, Macrosystem and Chrinosystem. These systems are the basic standpoints to decide
the educational psychology for the children indeed (Christian & Blinkhorn, 2012).
It has been observed that the spread of education has been very little in these regions over
the years. The all over development has not been that much proper as well. The child remains at
the center of this model and the entire system goes around this. The children in the Aboriginal

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and Torres Strait islands will always be in need of the proper safety and security that would
determine the well-being of the child in the most positive manners (Garbarino, 2017). It can be
assumed that the macrosystems do have a direct impact on the well-being on the development on
these children. The children learn the things that fall within their immediate environment in the
presence of their teachers and parents. The children of this community belong to the minority
groups and they have to adopt many important things (Evans, Li & Whipple, 2013).
The mesosystem is the second stage of the child development and it focuses on the
connections that are within the macrosystems. There are certain risks in the mesosystems since
the children of the said community have not got the proper tools to support their educational
development by the support of their peers and parents. The different aspects include the
information sharing and collaboration with the children that are not observed much in this
process. The matter of social equality is most important in this section but the society does not
see them as the equal people all the time (Evans, Li & Whipple, 2013). The impact can be made
strong by the contribution of every person in this system.
The environmental factors in the child education process are the exosystems. The
pedagogical outcomes for the child largely depend on these mechanisms. This works as a
negative force for the people who belong to the minority groups like the Aboriginal and Torres
Strait islanders (Rosa & Tudge, 2013). The school policies, healthcare policies and the questions
of financial security are the major things to be considered in the development of the child
education. They face many challenges within the constraints of the society they live in (Freeman
et al., 2014).

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The macrosystem comes after this. The broader society is the main element of of this
system. The different ideologies of the parents, the political conditions of the society, the
financial attributes and other things will impact heavily in this matter (Panaretto et al., 2014).
The families and communities in different communities have different experiences. The people
belonging to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders face the problem of the dual
macrosystems. The macrosystems seriously have an influence on the lives and development of
the children. It is surely up to the parents what kind of social atmosphere they provide to the
children. On one hand there is the traditional Aboriginal macrosystem with the set of beliefs,
values and responsibilities and on the other hand there is the dominant macrosystem (Rosa &
Tudge, 2013). The children face several challenges to get rid of these complexities.
The last phase of the Bonfrenbenner model is the Chronosystem that deals with the
cultural, historical and community wise development (Rosa & Tudge, 2013). This surely has a
deep impact on the growth of the children in the different regions. The society in Australia is
very much multicultural and the children have to adapt to these societal differences so they can
be able to overcome the different challenges posed in front of them. The Aboriginal people have
felt neglected or disadvantaged because of the several implemented policies of the past
governments (Colquhoun & Dockery, 2012). These things have been very negative for the
children since thise experiences will be transmitted through generations to follow. The various
evils of society like the separation of family, subjugation to the government, bad parenting and
other things will have bad impacts on the children as per the Bonfrenbenner model (Freeman et
al., 2014).

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The impact of school and church on the children
The indigenous education on the child development will have to be provided for the
betterment of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander society. The impact of the colonization is
very much evident in the approach of the aboriginal people in Australia. They have not been to
come out of the practices they used to have in those years. One of the policies adopted by the
Federal Government was ‘Clean, Clad and Courteous’ policy. It had been noticed over the years
the aboriginal children had been let off from the morning parade since they had some severe
health and hygiene issues (Colquhoun & Dockery, 2012). This can be related to the
Microsystems since they have been largely inspired by their friends and families all over the
region. They will follow the footsteps of their near ones only. The children of the region should
be taught about the history of the region and the evil impact of the colonization on these areas.
The number of the indigenous teachers will have to be increased so the children can feel the
affinity with their own people (Cowlishaw, 2013).
The welfare and legal services
The legal services are very much needed for the proper welfare of the aboriginal people
in Australia. The employment reservation policies, the resolving of the criminal acts, the
payment of the wages to the people and many such things would be discussed for the betterment
of the aboriginals (Cowlishaw, 2013). The welfare of the Australian indigenous aboriginal
people can only be done when those people will get the equal rights like the other mainland
people of the country. All the aboriginal people should be given the same facilities in terms of
food, health, education and other amenities provided by the government. The welfare programs
and campaigns for the aboriginal people should be arranged to affirm that their rights will be
secured amidst of several problems (Anderson & Kowal, 2012).

5AUSTRALIAN INDIGENOUS AND MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION
It has been observed over the years that the aboriginal children have been very much
vulnerable. The rate of development has been very low in some of the regions as well. The
individuals should be taken care as well. The neighborhood play area should be increased and the
children of mainland Australian communities should be allowed to play with the aboriginal
children (Cowlishaw, 2013). This would be the next step towards building a unified Australia
from the social aspects. The malnutrition has been causing a huge damage in the health of the
aboriginal adults and children. The Federal Government of Australia must take up some
strategies by which they could provide proper healthy and nutritious food to all the aboriginal
people so they do not have to starve (Burridge, 2014).
The impact of mass media and social media
The aboriginal people will be highly benefitted by the use of the social and mass media.
The self-esteem of the aboriginal children will definitely increase (Burridge, 2014). The various
digital technologies will raise a concern on the minds of the people across the country. The use
of the media will make the aboriginal people respond to the various social changes. They can
communicate with the people in different parts of the country. They can also share with the
people the situation in which they live (Stoneham, Goodman & Daube, 2014).
Conclusion
As discussed in the above sections, it can be concluded that the development of the
aboriginal people in terms of health and other fields, it is very necessary that the government
should contribute properly. The development of the children in the aboriginal regions will
require the proper awareness among the people. Then only the difficulties can be taken care of to

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create a better society. The mass media and social media will also play a very important role in
this matter indeed.

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References
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