Western Australian Centre for Rural Health, University of Western Australia, Crawley 6009, Australia.
Centre for Aboriginal Medical and Dental Health, University of Western Australia, Crawley 6009, Australia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Dec 22;19(1):88. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19010088.
While disparities in educational outcomes for Aboriginal children have narrowed in early childhood education and for Year 12 completions, these positive trends are not replicated in the intervening years where attendance, reading, writing, and numeracy targets have been missed. Erratic attendance in the primary years has the greatest impact on achievement; literacy and numeracy scores decline as absences increase. Family functioning and health, caregiver expectations, past encounters with the education system and socio-economic disadvantage are all implicated in poorer rates of attendance. In response to community concerns, an Aboriginal/mainstream partnership was forged in 2011 and began work in 2016 to address patterns of attendance and achievement among Aboriginal primary students in a regional city in Western Australia. This paper describes the innovative, community-led "More Than Talk" program and presents findings from teaching and support staff interviews two years after implementation. Qualitative methods were employed to analyse the data, develop themes, and ensure rigour. Findings highlighted the cascading impact of erratic attendance and the role of strong relationships, respect, and investment of time with children as critical elements in student engagement and wellbeing. Community-led, collaborative educational programs have the potential to positively impact Aboriginal students' engagement and contribute to culturally responsive environments. If sustained, such efforts can enable learning to flourish.
尽管原住民儿童在幼儿教育和 12 年级毕业方面的教育成果差距有所缩小，但在这些积极趋势并未在中间年份得到复制，这些年份的出勤率、阅读、写作和算术目标都未达到。小学期间不稳定的出勤率对成绩的影响最大；出勤率增加，读写和计算分数就会下降。家庭功能和健康、照顾者的期望、过去与教育系统的接触以及社会经济劣势都与出勤率较低有关。为了回应社区的关切，2011 年建立了一个原住民/主流合作关系，并于 2016 年开始在西澳大利亚的一个地区城市解决原住民小学生的出勤率和成绩模式问题。本文介绍了创新性的、以社区为主导的“不止于空谈”计划，并展示了实施两年后对教学和支持人员的采访结果。采用定性方法对数据进行分析，形成主题，并确保严谨性。研究结果强调了不稳定出勤率的连锁影响，以及建立牢固关系、相互尊重和投入时间与孩子相处的重要性，这些是学生参与和幸福感的关键因素。以社区为主导、协作的教育项目有可能对原住民学生的参与产生积极影响，并有助于营造文化响应的环境。如果持续下去，这些努力可以使学习蓬勃发展。
