EST535_Society and Education
Unit: EST535_Society and Education
Name: Ranjeetkaur NirmalSingh Sahota
Student ID: S336952
Assignment 2: Project
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EST535_Society and Education
Table of Contents
1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..3
2. Critical discussion of the issue…………………………………………………………………………………….3
3. Impact of the chosen issue………………………………………………………………………………………….3
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….6
Video Presentation Link:……………………………………………………………………………………………….6
References ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….7
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1. Introduction
The book used is “Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia” and the issue mentioned here is
about Racism. The assignment aims to show the issue of racism used in the book and the impact
of the issue to the community.
2. Critical discussion of the issue
The book shows several common threads, as unique as each one is, the book tells about the pain
of being called out by racism. Alice mentions the issue by addressing the problem she was facing
in the school where her colleagues and teacher used to behave rudely or ignore her being
aboriginal. The character bears her teacher allegations and misbehaviour and started to feel like a
failure because she was not being able to cope up with the work.
The author has mentioned the examples of racism throughout her life experiences. However,
being a fair skinned aboriginal, she got support from her classmates and neighbour in terms of
bullying. Author has aligned the racism to the current policy making.
Due to the issue of racism, the individuals belonging from the aboriginal community are
subjected to the racist policy by some other communities (Heiss, 2018).
The context of classroom vulnerability highlighted in the book could be considered where the
author confessed to be a part of the aboriginal community, she faced barriers in achieving her
career development academic achievements (Heiss, 2018).
3. Impact of the chosen issue
The issue of ‘Racism’ directly acts against the indigenous Victorians due to its incapability to
contribute into the specific attributes in the areas of socio-economic status as well as the risk of
lifestyle. Interpersonal, and systemic racism offer the opportunity to the current policy making to
continue a dominant paternalistic approach as reinforcing racism by resolving the inequities
(Markwick et al., 2019). Would like to reflect on the aboriginal people who are compromising
the colonisation into the modern nation.
The ‘Social Justice Theory’ refers to the concept of societal justice by providing equal rights to
all the people of the society. In terms of equal rights, the factors such as equal health, wealth,
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well-being, privileges, opportunity, and justice are to be accessed regardless of the political,
legal, and economic circumstances. Due to the issue of racism, the aboriginal community suffers
from the justice of the factors like discrimination, prejudice, and poverty. Had suffered from
social injustice, the individuals of concerned communities increase the likelihood of beneficial
outcomes for their youth or kids who face barriers related to the home environment as well as in
the schools.
It reflects on whether the free marketers can encourage economic efficiency, technological
innovation, and economic growth. The approach of this theory turns out to be confused with the
approach of libertarianism (Rubinstein & de Medeiros 2015). The neo liberals dynamically
advocated the economic and societal contribution for the government in a broad manner. The
issue of racism adversely affects the wide application across the various economic disciplines of
the community. However, despite the issue of racism faced by the aboriginal community, the
approach of this theory proves to be a signified constellation of both politico and socio-economic
culture among the aboriginal individuals.
In the book ‘Growing up Aboriginal in Australia,’ the author has described the way through
which she got harassed in the classroom (Heiss, 2018). Being an Aboriginal, she faced several
questions related to the reasons behind giving up so easily as well as a broad number of unhappy
memories. As per the research done by Western Sydney University and Australian National
University, it has confirmed that more than 40% of aboriginal students harassed the racial
discrimination in the schools (McGowan, 2019). It leads to the vulnerability as most of the
students belonging from the aboriginal community confessed to felt comfortable after seeing a
peer suffering from the racial abuse in the comparable manner. Considering such consequence,
in the contemporary classrooms, the issue of racial disclination adverse impact on the academic
development and achievement of the individuals belong from the aboriginal community. It
becomes the core social determinant of the health of the aboriginals as the emotional pains
created by the issue of racial abuse acts like the brain activities’ pattern caused by the physical
abuse.
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Inclusive education theory refers to mitigate the challenges associated with the restriction of age
for having the general education classes. It aims to provide all the students with the most relevant
learning environment as well as the opportunities for achieving their best in potential. Racial
discrimination faces in contemporary Australian classroom reflect a narrow viewpoint of society
over which the aboriginal learners face barriers in achieving their development and achievement
in academic career (Shute, 2017). Implementation of a bystander program could be encouraging
in this circumstance for the staff and the students to address and prevent the racial bullying and
racism in contemporary Australian classroom (McGowan, 2019).
The impact of the issue of racism in my aboriginal community needs a solidarity that stands with
the struggle for justice, humanity, and truth. As such they treat in an unfair manner regarding
their religions, ethnic background, colour, and descent (Shute, 2017).
In the book Growing up Aboriginal in Australia,’ as the author was a fair skinned Aboriginal,
she stated that she was not being acknowledged as an aboriginal. The black skin aboriginals
suffer from the classroom bullying whereas the fair skinned aborigine, supported by the
classmates. Teachers need to implement the culture of ‘Soft Racism’ throughout the teaching
practice. Being an aboriginal the author was less likely to answer the questions asked in the
classroom (Heiss, 2018).
The approach of ‘Deficit discourse’ reflects on the disempowering patterns related to practice,
language and thought based on which the individuals of a community represent people in terms
of failures and deficiencies at the same time. The study mentioned about the disclosure of
representing the groups or the aboriginal people in terms of deficiency like failure, lack and
absence (Fogarty, 2018). It could enhance the appropriateness of the cross-cultural determinants
in terms of well-being and wellness of the aboriginal community.
The approach of educational theory on racism is that the education policy represents
philosophical decisions on social effects, and the kinds of people that society finds acceptable.
Educational racism is noticeable in the schools in several different forms. Although the
educational disadvantage is an issue in all educational systems around the globe, it is high in
Australia (theconversation.com 2017).
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Conclusion
The current study has evaluated the issue of racism considering the book ‘Growing Up
Aboriginal in Australia.’ The aboriginal community faces abuse in racism in the workplace,
contemporary classroom, and the political consequences. It can be recommended that an
appropriate campaign against racism needs to take place by the community chief over which the
adverse impact of the concerned issue will be pointed out for the emotional and social well-being
of the aboriginal people in an effective manner.
Video Presentation Link:
https://youtu.be/nRi9WbdjRMA
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References
Fogarty, W. (2018). Deficit discourse and strengths-based approaches (7th ed., pp. 1-36). The
Australian National University.
AssignmentTutorOnline
Click to access Deficit_Discourse_and_Strengthsbased_Approaches_FINAL_WEB.pdf
Haug, P. (2017). Understanding inclusive education: ideals and reality. Scandinavian Journal of
Disability Research, 19(3), 206-217. https://doi.org/10.1080/15017419.2016.1224778
Heiss, A. (Ed.). (2018). Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia. Black Inc.
Markwick, A., Ansari, Z., Clinch, D., & McNeil, J. (2019). Experiences of racism among
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults living in the Australian state of Victoria: a
cross-sectional population-based study. BMC Public Health, 19(1).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-6614-7
McGowan, M. (2019). Racism study finds one in three school students are victims of
discrimination. the Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/australianews/2019/aug/27/racism-study-finds-one-in-three-school-students-are-victims-ofdiscrimination. [Accessed on 10 September 2020]
Milatovic, M. (2018). Book review: growing up Aboriginal in Australia edited by Anita Heiss.
LSE Review of Books.
Moodie, N., Maxwell, J., & Rudolph, S. (2019). The impact of racism on the schooling
experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students: A systematic review. The
Australian Educational Researcher, 46(2), 273-295. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-019-
00312-8
Opotow, S. (2018). Social justice theory and practice: Fostering inclusion in exclusionary
contexts. The Oxford handbook of social psychology and social justice, 41-56.
https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=bSJLDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA41
&dq=social+justice+theory&ots=2SHSGuUlMm&sig=1qPmtDCaODVn6omL4C_8fGic
cdQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=social%20justice%20theory&f=false
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Rubinstein, R., & de Medeiros, K. (2015). “Successful Aging,” Gerontological Theory and
Neoliberalism: A Qualitative Critique. The Gerontologist, 55(1), 34-42.
https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnu080
Shute, T. (2017). Monochrome racism: Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal attitudes towards racism
in the 21st century. Ethos, 25(1), 7.
https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=780626774622224;res=IELHSS
ISSN: 1448-1324
theconversation.com (2017) THE CONVERSATION Retrieved from:
https://theconversation.com/educational-disadvantage-is-a-huge-problem-in-australia-wecant-just-carry-on-the-same-74530 [Accessed on 10 September 2020]
Walter, M., Martin, K. L., & Bodkin-Andrews, G. (Eds.). (2017). Indigenous children growing
up strong: A longitudinal study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.
Springer.
www.oecd.org (2019) Education Policy Outlook Snapshot: Australia Retrieved from:
http://www.oecd.org/education/highlightsaustralia.htm [Accessed on 10 September,
2020]