Sociology 11: Annotated Timeline of Indigenous Education Policies

This report presents an annotated timeline of key Australian education policies and curriculum developments from 1902 to 2019, focusing on their impact on Indigenous students. The timeline includes ten significant developments, each accompanied by a 150-word annotation. These annotations detail the title, date, relevant state or national curriculum, resulting classroom practices, and the specific impact on Indigenous students. The policies covered include the Exclusion on Demand Policy of 1902, various Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education actions and strategies, the establishment of the Parramatta Native Institution, the Assimilation Period, and the Alice Spring Education Declaration of 2019. The report highlights how these policies shaped educational experiences, access, and outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and how they influenced the development of classroom practices. The analysis underscores the historical context, the evolution of educational approaches, and the ongoing efforts to promote equity and social justice in the Australian education system. The report also covers the employment of the first Aboriginal teacher and the formation of the State Aboriginal Education Committee, illustrating the changing landscape of Indigenous education in Australia. The timeline format allows for a clear understanding of the chronological progression of these crucial developments and their effects on Indigenous students.

Running head: SOCIOLOGY
Sociology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Exclusion on demand policy -1902
Title: Student equity in Australian higher education
Date: 2016
National curriculum
Resulting classroom practice
The exclusion on demand policy of 1902 had been implemented to keep the indigenous section
of children out of the schooling system. The minorities in the society were to be marginalized
and the aboriginals were to be deprived of all the facilities. This was definitely one of the worst
case scenarios in this section (Parkes, McRae-Williams & Tedmanson, 2015).
Impact on indigenous students
This manifestation of the exclusion of the marginal people has been seen in a lot of ways. In the
federal constitution of the country, it has already been discussed to respect and recognize all the
rights of the indigenous children regarding the education. If they are excluded from the education
policy, the entire meaning of the education policy is left unfulfilled. This policy had excluded the
aboriginal children of Australia from the education and this created a huge gap between the
indigenous and non indigenous section on the basis of the literacy rate.
The aboriginal and Torres Strait islander education action -2010-2014
Title: Learning and teaching in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education.
Date: 2016

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National Curriculum
Resulting classroom practice
The education policies for the aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders had been
implemented between the years 2010 and 2014. The aboriginals or Torres Strait islanders had
been deprived of the proper education and they did not receive the minimum facilities either. In
this scenario, it was very much evident that the education action had been taken up by the
Federal Government that all the children belonging to the Torres Strait islander group will
receive the proper education within schools and the government ensured that the students will
not be victimized due to racism within the schools (Parkes, McRae-Williams & Tedmanson,
2015).
Impact on indigenous students
Under this action, all the children of the Torres Strait islanders, their families and school staff
will be safe from the victimization through the racist comments. This act is also liable to ensure
that practices within the school premises should be refined that the cultural integrity within the
school could be ensured.
Parramatta Native institution 1814
Title: Living on New Zealand Street: Maori Presence in Parramatta. Ethnohistory
Date: 2014
State education
Resulting classroom practice

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The native institutions in Parramatta and other aboriginal Australian regions had been set
up for the best interest of the common people. These black town institutions had existed between
1814 and 1829. These institutions were basically the important parts of the campaign and this
campaign had been led by the contemporary Governor Lachlan Macquarie.
Impact on indigenous students
Through this campaign, the enlightenment ideals had been propagated among the aboriginal
people near Parramatta and the nearby black areas (Bodkin-Andrews & Carlson, 2016). All the
stories of this time could be found in the colonial archive and this is definitely one of the most
important matters regarding the lives of these native people during the first half of the 19th
century. The social disruption had been brought in the regions like Eora and Cadigal. The
experiences of that time could be found through the oral histories from the families. The setting
up process of the native institutions was really very helpful for the indigenous people.
The Assimilation period
Title: Effective teaching practices for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students: A review of
the literature
Date: 2015
National curriculum
Resulting classroom practice
The assimilation period is definitely one of the most entertaining and most positive sides
of the aboriginal history in Australia. The time between the 1940s and 1960s is recognized as the

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most crucial time for the assimilation period in the Australian aboriginal society. The aim of this
entire assimilation process was to make the aboriginal section of the community to disappear
gradually.
Impact on indigenous students
This has been one of the most important factors in the society of aboriginal Australians that they
could assimilate with the colonizers and develop the singular identity in this society. Thus they
will be identified as an Australian national and not by any kind of divided identity based on their
ethnicity. The previous norms of the society had indicated the aboriginals of the country to live
in separate areas outside the country (Bodkin-Andrews & Carlson, 2016). Due to the modern
scenario, this norm had been abolished and people could very easily live in the society with all
the white people (Sarra, 2014).
Policies and procedures
Title: Strong and smart-towards a pedagogy for emancipation: Education for first peoples
Identifying high academic potential in Australian Aboriginal children using dynamic testing
Date: 2014
2015
National curriculum
Resulting classroom practice
Many policies and procedures had been implemented by the governments of Australia.
They wanted all the Australians from different backgrounds of the country could stay safe and

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sound. The Government wanted all the people living in Australia should stay together in wide
harmony. Otherwise, the aboriginal section of the people in the country could have died out. The
policies had been implemented within the Aboriginal society that they would be able to live
happily.
Impact on indigenous students
During the early years of the British settlement, it has been shown that the British colonizers
from Europe that they wanted to keep a proper friendly relationship so they could stay together
(Sarra, 2014). In this scenario, it must be kept in mind that the reality was very different
altogether. Still, the Federal Government has stepped forward to make some statements on how
they could include the aboriginals into the mainstream society of Australia.
The aboriginal and Torres Start Islander education action plan 2010-2014
Title: Student equity in australian higher education (pp. 165-182)
Date: 2016
National curriculum
Resulting classroom practice
The Education plan of the aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders has been one of the most
crucial facts for the overall development of the people from this section. The inclusion process
for the aboriginal people has been very crucial because they are the native citizens of the country
and their talents should be utilized by the government for the development of Australia. The

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collaboration between the white people and the Torres Strait islanders had been done in the
education plan between 2010 and 2014 (Harvey, Burnheim & Brett, 2016).
Impact on indigenous students
In the textbooks, the respects had been shown to the aboriginal culture of Australia. This actually
increased the amount of collaboration between the different people of the society. The
integration principle was one of the most crucial points through which all the people in the
society could be assimilated and taught according to their capabilities.
National Aboriginal and Torres start islander education strategies 2015
Title: Striving for equity for Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
Unknown and unknowing possibilities: Transformative learning, social justice, and decolonising
pedagogy in Indigenous Australian studies
Date: 2014
2014
National curriculum
Resulting classroom practice
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander strategies had been implemented in
the year 2015 and it required the action of the Federal Government so they could implement the
education strategies properly indeed. The education ministers of the country had implemented
the strategy in the month of September in 2015 (Guenther, Disbray & Osborne, 2016).

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Impact on indigenous students
They wanted to make sure that this strategy would help the integration of the aboriginal
people within the organization. Some of the objectives of these education strategies were to
focus on redesigning the Australian curriculum, introducing the people from the aboriginal
sections of the society into the workforce, providing the assistance for the early childhood
assistance and engaging all the people from this background to get the better performances
(Somerville, 2014).
Alice spring education declaration 2019
Title: The legacy of racism and Indigenous Australian identity within education.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education
Date: 2016
2019
National curriculum
Resulting classroom practice
The Alice Spring education declaration had been made in the year 2019 and it carried
forward the objectives of education that had been set forward by the education ministry. It had
been created in the month of December. The ultimate aim of this education project was to build
up he quality schools for the betterment of the students. This strategy had focused on several
things. Basically, it had focused on support the quality of teaching and enhances the leadership

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qualities among the teachers. Apart from that, this strategy also looked at strengthening the early
childhood education to the fullest (Price & Rogers, 2019).
Impact on indigenous students
This process will develop the better partnerships for the early years of education. The
support should also be given to the senior years in the schooling process in different schools. The
risks should be outweighed through this education strategy in all levels of education (Tye, 2014).
First Aboriginal Teacher Employed
Title: Getting it right: Creating partnerships for change. Integrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander knowledges in social work education and practice
Date: 2014
National curriculum
Resulting classroom practice
The employment of the first aboriginal teacher is one of the most important factors to
show the developments of the region. The aboriginal teachers should be respected since many
people from the aboriginal backgrounds have always been one of the most important matters.
The people from the aboriginal backgrounds are now all over the country and some of them have
also represented the Government as well. This is why the teachers are now being employed by
the federal Government and this signifies their development and their will to come forward and
act as a responsible citizen (Price & Rogers, 2019).
Impact on indigenous students

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Even people like Matthew Myers had been appointed in the Federal Court and they represented
the society. Many people from this background have done wonders and it is the time for the
teachers to come to the frontline and educate the next generation properly.
State Aboriginal Education Committee -1977
Title: Dreams and aspirations of mobile young Aboriginal Australian people
The determinants of Indigenous educational outcomes. Canberra, ACT
Date: 2015
2018
State curriculum
Resulting classroom practice
The state aboriginal education committee had been set up in the year 1977. This
education committee had set up some plans that would help the country to proceed forward and
include the aboriginal children into the social education channels. Many proposals had been
given to make the education strategies a grand success (Lloyd et al., 2015). According to the
proposals of this committee, all sorts of education would be given to the people of the
community so all the aboriginal people in the society could get education for free and later utilize
that education for the betterment of the country (Harrison & Sellwood, 2016).
Impact on indigenous students

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These strategies were meant to provide better outcomes for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
islanders so they could execute their plans safely. These plans of the committee would definitely
cater to the betterment of the country and improve the rate of literacy.
ACARA development
Title: Situating the challenges in current languages education policy in Australia–unlearning
monolingualism
Date: 2014
State or national curriculum: National curriculum
Resulting classroom experience: This development of the curriculum had been made base on
the collaboration between the state and the nation. It had been approved in the year 2009 by the
joint work of the state ministers of education and the Council of Commonwealth (Scarino, 2014).
The ACARA board will be responsible for finding any kind of problems that should be evaluated
and new measures can be taken in that place. This development has been very effective also.
Impact on indigenous students
The curriculum is provided to all the schools through the online medium in different
states and territories so it can be distributed among the schools. The feedback collection is kept
on regarding its impact on the indigenous students (Scarino, 2014). The motivation is given to all
the indigenous students in this matter.
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL)

11SOCIOLOGY
Title: Pedagogies and practices for developing innovation capability: Beyond the AITSL
standards
Date: 2018
National curriculum
Resulting classroom experience: This is a national curriculum in which the guidelines for the
teachers have been prescribed. The self assessment tools for the teachers have been provided ion
this kind of curriculum (Hill, Keane & Seemann, 2018). The standards have been set in this
section to know how a person could become the successful school teacher. The teacher standards
are followed by the persons who are in the profession of teaching in the classrooms.
Impact on indigenous students: Its impact on the indigenous students is indeed very important.
The students are benefitted by the teacher standards as they tend to follow this pattern properly
and guide the students towards the proper success (Hill, Keane & Seemann, 2018). The migrant
teachers will also be able to assess their skills and provide the best quality of teaching to all these
indigenous students.
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)
Title: Giving back: report on the'Collaborative research in Indigenous geographies' workshop,
Date: 2016
National curriculum
Resulting classroom experience: This is one of the best curriculum experiences that have been
introduced after 1970 by the Federal government of Australia. This is an independent statutory

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authority of the Government that focuses on the overall developments of the curriculum
(McLean et al., 2016). This authority has provided the important information from the research
on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders. Therefore, this research evidence has been largely
helpful for them in different aspects to teach them in the classroom sessions.
Impact on indigenous students: The overall impact of this education standard has been
immense on the indigenous students. The efforts of their research have enabled these people to
know about their past cultures and keep a track of the other developments regarding their culture
(McLean et al., 2016).
Melbourne Declaration,
Title: Multilingualism and assimilationism in Australia's literacy-related educational policies
Date: 2015
State curriculum
Resulting classroom experience: This curriculum has created a huge impact on younger
generation of the Australian people. The Australian people will get all types of better solutions in
their approach to literacy, numeracy and all other issues. The high quality schooling system of
Australia will provide their students with best quality teaching facilities (Schalley, Guillemin &
Eisenchlas, 2015). The international benchmarking level has been very much exceptional in all
the levels in the world. Therefore, it would be only important to know that the classroom
experience is world class compared to other countries.
Impact on indigenous students: The impact of this approach will be very crucial for the
indigenous students in all the ways. The indigenous students will learn all about the national

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values of Australia and the concept of democracy within the country (Schalley, Guillemin &
Eisenchlas, 2015). This will increase their literacy skills indicating at the country’s growth.

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References
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identity within education. Race Ethnicity and Education, 19(4), 784-807. Strong and
smart-towards a pedagogy for emancipation: Education for first peoples. Routledge.
Chaffey, G. W., Bailey, S. B., & Vine, K. W. (2015). Identifying high academic potential in
Australian Aboriginal children using dynamic testing. Australasian Journal of Gifted
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Guenther, J., Disbray, S., & Osborne, S. (2016). Red dirt education: A compilation of learnings
from the Remote Education Systems project.
Harrison, N., & Sellwood, J. (2016). Learning and teaching in Aboriginal and Torres Strait
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capability: Beyond the AITSL standards. Fostering design-led innovation capabilities.
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