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What are the success factors for schools in remote Indigenous communities?
Dillon, Anthony William Oswald Riley, Phil Filardi, Nicola Franklin, Alicia Horwood, Marcus S. McMullan, Jennifer Anne Craven, Rhonda Gai Schellekens, Melissa
Dillon, Anthony William Oswald
Riley, Phil
Filardi, Nicola
Franklin, Alicia
Horwood, Marcus S.
McMullan, Jennifer Anne
Craven, Rhonda Gai
Schellekens, Melissa
Abstract
Indigenous Australian students generally attain poorer educational outcomes compared to non-Indigenous students. However, some remote schools are challenging the status quo by providing schooling experiences where Indigenous students thrive. Using an Indigenous research paradigm and a comparative case study methodology, we conducted interviews with stakeholders from two different remote community schools where students were predominantly Indigenous. Recognising the limitations of assessing student success solely on westernised concepts of success, we adopted a strengths-based approach. Using thematic analysis, qualitative data were analysed to yield themes that were sorted using a model of Indigenous wellbeing comprising five dimensions (academic, cultural, physical, psychological and social wellbeing). Responses from stakeholders (teachers, community leaders and students) show that success can be achieved when local culture is respected and incorporated into the curriculum by dedicated staff who maintain open communication with community. While both schools shared a largely common approach to Indigenous education, a hallmark was their responsiveness to local needs.
Keywords
Indigenous, remoteness, school, thriving, wellbeing
Date
2024
Type
Journal article
Journal
Book
Volume
50
Issue
3
Page Range
944-963
Article Number
ACU Department
Institute for Positive Psychology and Education
Faculty of Education and Arts
Faculty of Education and Arts
Relation URI
Event URL
Open Access Status
Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
License
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
File Access
Controlled
Notes
© 2024 The Authors. British Educational Research Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Educational Research Association.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.