Critical Reflection on Education, Culture, and Technology in Australia

This essay offers a comprehensive critical reflection on the Australian education system. It begins by examining the impact of cultural identity on the education of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, highlighting the challenges of cultural disconnect and the importance of fostering a sense of belonging. The essay then analyzes how the mission and identity of Australian schools respond to social and cultural influences, including cultural diversity projects, language provision, and community relations. Finally, it evaluates the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on education and student learning, discussing both the benefits of enhanced research skills and the potential drawbacks of over-reliance on technology. The essay emphasizes the need for culturally sensitive approaches and the integration of ICT to create an inclusive and effective learning environment for all students.

Running head: CRITICAL REFLECTION
CRITICAL REFLECTION
Name of Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Q.1. Critically examine how cultural identity impacts on the education of students from
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds.
The hiatus between the accomplishments of the students belonging to the Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander background and the other Australian students has remained
consistent (Wilks & Wilson, 2015). Although there are several attributes contributing to this
hiatus, one of the pivotal attributes that influences the education of the students belonging to
the aforementioned background is the lack of cultural identity in the academic structure of the
various educational institutions. Identification with their own cultures provides the students
of Aboriginal and Torres Strait background with the confidence and a feeling of
belongingness, which is necessary for them to succeed in their individual fields.
According to a study conducted by Barney, several indigenous students who were
relocated to Brisbane expressed their feelings of isolation at their concerned university
(Barney, 2016). The .lack of cultural identity often makes students feel alienated among the
existing crowd and degrades their interests in the completion of the education, thereby
contributing to the hiatus mentioned previously. There are also incidents of racism and deficit
of cultural understanding from the fellow students and lecturers that further demotivates the
students belonging to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait backgrounds. Certain students in the
study also discussed the deficit in acknowledgement of diverse learning styles in accordance
with the cultural background in which they belong. It must also be highlighted that frequently
students have to choose between their cultural obligations and their education. Such choices
are difficult to make and often result in a strong obstruction in the retention of students. It can
be deduced from this study that the cultural commitments of the students must be
accommodated in the education structure to encourage them and decrease the scopes of
isolating them.

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The dominance of white culture has become so prevalent and acceptable that the
importance of knowing and understanding the indigenous culture is often neglected. The
provision of cultural insights and acknowledgement can prove to a catalyst for enhancing
students to reach their individual aims. Several parents belonging to the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait backgrounds claim that the graduate teachers often lack the responsibility to
procure a safe learning environment for the indigenous students (Anderson & Atkinson,
2014). These issues can be resolved by the incorporation of cultural sensibility and promotion
of indigenous cultures in the regular curriculum. The contribution of the teachers in the
acknowledgement and promotion of the Australian history and cultures is pivotal for reducing
the hiatus between the students of Australia and shall encourage the students to accept and
appreciate the Aboriginal and Torres Strait indigenous cultures.
The concept of a learning community is pivotal for bridging the gap between the
indigenous students and other Australian students. Several methods like face-to-face learning
and ELearning could be applied to do the same. The students coming from the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait backgrounds have a lot to share with the people who have no knowledge about
their cultures, which can be done through group projects. Therefore, with the proper inclusion
of new and interesting approaches the gap can be bridged between the students belonging to
diverse cultural backgrounds.
Q.2. Critically examine the means by which the mission and identity of schools and
systems of education in Australia respond to broader social and cultural influences and
changing values.
Australian education system houses a variety of students belonging to diverse cultural
backgrounds. Herein arises a need to incorporate these cultural diversities and integrate every
student to eliminate any scope for discrimination of any kind. Australian academic procedure

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employs several methods to achieve this:
Cultural diversity projects, programs and events: A wide range of projects are
implemented to educate on cultural diversity, for instance, School cultural exchanges,
Identity, culture and conflict kit, Cooling conflict and such other projects. In School cultural
exchanges, students and teachers of different localities and cultural backgrounds gather and
engage in learning and reflecting about different perspectives. The Identity, culture and
conflict kit includes eight video segments that promotes discussions regarding, racism,
linguistic and cultural diversity. Cooling conflicts is a method that educates students to
intervene and manage conflicts effectively. These methods influence the manner in which the
students receive their fellow companions and diminishes the adverse habits of racism, thereby
promoting cultural harmony within educational institutions (uts.edu.au, 2019).
Language provision: The prime attributes of language provision is the incorporation of
various languages for the students to learn such as Arabic, French, Australian Indigenous
languages, Chinese, German, Italian, Indonesian, Korean, Japanese, Spanish and so on.
Saturday School communities and ESL classes are employed for educating the students in
diverse languages and the English language as well.
Leadership projects and student forums: Student coming from diverse cultural origins,
participate in varied student forums, which are included in the school activities curriculum.
There are also student representative councils for voicing the concerns of the students. In
addition, there are various leadership programs organized in primary and secondary schools
for motivating students of different cultures to establish their individual personalities.
Community relations: Integrating enhanced community relations is considered as a pivotal
aspect for bridging the cultural gaps. This can be done by employment of regional staff and

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bi-lingual liaison workers to promote communication with specific linguistic and cultural
groups in an educational institution. The encouragement of the use of bi-lingual staff in the
parent teacher meetings helps the parents and relatives coming from particular cultural
backgrounds to communicate without any hindrances. Lastly, providing a substantial list of
information documents and policy statements translated in over forty languages and making
them available online further helps the integration of the diverse cultural backgrounds
(Kearney, Wood & Zuber-Skerritt, 2013).
With the advancement of the above-mentioned methods, the Australian educational
system has enhanced its approaches to make every student; teacher and parent have a sense of
belongingness and are no longer isolated based on cultural differences.
Q.3. Analyze and critically evaluate the impact of information and communication
technology on education and student learning in contemporary society.
With the advent of Information and Communication technology, it has become
increasingly essential and widespread method employed in the education system of the
contemporary society. This upgradation from the traditional learning systems enhances the
creativity, skills and communication power of students involved. For implementing, a
learning environment based on information and communication technology, laptop learning,
smart classrooms, e-learning, didactic stimulations and equipment and such other methods
are employed in various educational institutions (Noor-Ul-Amin, 2013). The information and
communication technology influences students by improving their research skills and opens
to them a world of information that can be accessed with just one click. The technology eases
things for students who are employed in part time jobs by making it manageable for them to
avail information. The technology has evolved the teaching process as more and more
educators prepare lesson plans and other materials for better and easy learning and grasping

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of concepts by students. In this manner, the educators have then scope to improve their
professional image as well. The standards of interaction among students and teachers, ability
to work, rising interests in subjects and such other facets have been amplified by the
intervention of the information as well as communication technology.
It must be noted that with a certain change comes some adverse effects of it as well.
Since the inclusion of the communication and information technology has made knowledge
widely available and easily accessible, it has also made the students indolent (Fu, 2013).
There are cases wherein students delay or deny to attend classes due to the ease of availing e-
learning classes even from outside the classroom threshold. Due to the availability of every
form of information to every kind of student, there are certain students who waste their time
on non-educative sources of learning thereby getting addicted to such sources and imposing
over themselves negative effects of the information and communication technology. The
negatives effects of using too much online avenues for purposes other than education can
hamper the progress of the learners.
In this era of worldwide growth, the hold of information and communication
technology cannot be avoided and is gradually becoming a need for the students and teachers
around the world. The information and communication technology has become a fundamental
aspect of the social system by integrating significant enhancement of communication among
diverse cultural communities. The inclusion of the information and communication
technology in the educational system has not been uncomplicated and easy. Since it is a
change in the method of educating and learning hence, the functional position of the teachers
needs to change accordingly (Gil-Flores, Rodríguez-Santero & Torres-Gordillo, 2017). The
direct and indirect effects of the information and communication technology is undoubtedly
immense. It has made people more knowledgeable and instilled in them more flexibility and
adaptability to new notions, by developing their professional skills and technological

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knowledge. In spite of having its adverse effects or banes, the contribution of the information
and communication technology has made innovations more common and development more
easy globally.

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References
Anderson, P. J., & Atkinson, B. (2014). Closing the gap: Using graduate attributes to improve
Indigenous education. International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives,
12(1).
Barney, K. (2016). Listening to and learning from the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander students to facilitate success. Student Success, 7(1), 1-11.
Fu, J. (2013). Complexity of ICT in education: A critical literature review and its
implications. International Journal of education and Development using ICT, 9(1),
112-125.
Gil-Flores, J., Rodríguez-Santero, J., & Torres-Gordillo, J. J. (2017). Factors that explain the
use of ICT in secondary-education classrooms: The role of teacher characteristics and
school infrastructure. Computers in Human Behavior, 68, 441-449.
Kearney, J., Wood, L., & Zuber-Skerritt, O. (2013). Community-university partnerships:
Using participatory action learning and action research (PALAR). Gateways:
International Journal of Community Research and Engagement, 6, 113.
Noor-Ul-Amin, S. (2013). An Effective Use of ICT for Education and Learning by Drawing
on Worldwide Knowledge, Research, and Experience. ICT as a Change Agent for
Education. India: Department of Education, University of Kashmir.
Uts.edu.au. (2019). Retrieved 8 August 2019, from
https://www.uts.edu.au/sites/default/files/rcd_reportfinal0708.pdf
Wilks, J., & Wilson, K. (2015). A profile of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander higher
education student population. Australian Universities' Review, The, 57(2), 17.