The purpose of this essay is to acknowledge the conditions that impact upon Indigenous students’ education. This will be reached through analysis of the concepts of race, racism and whiteness in Australia. These key understandings of Indigenous students’ will be incorporated into my own critical pedagogy in order to demonstrate how I would teach for reconciliation in my classroom. The concepts of race, racism and whiteness have produced unequal outcomes for Indigenous students to a vast degree in Australian society. The term ‘race’ has a historical context in Australia that is not acknowledged highly enough. During the Colonial Period (1840-1900), European colonists aimed to civilise the Aboriginal people through Christianity, in mission …show more content…
As well as this, we should raise awareness to non-Indigenous students so they can be respectful of all cultures within their community (Diplock, 2015). I believe that a critical pedagogy when teaching Indigenous students can make a positive difference to their education. My teaching will emphasise theory and practice in new, collaborative ways (Diplock, 2015). My teaching will be aligned with the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership’s standard 2.4 (AITSL, 2014). When conducting my lesson planning, I will focus my attention on Indigenous culture so all students can understand Indigenous people’s values, beliefs and traditions (Diplock, 2015). An example of my critical pedagogy would occur in a step-by-step sequence. Firstly, the ‘initiation’ of the Indigenous studies would take place to allow students an equal opportunity to familiarise themselves with key Indigenous understandings, i.e. discussing Aboriginal words, reading Indigenous books, etc. Secondly, students need to acknowledge the Indigenous history in Australia, whereby I would ‘explain the injustice.’ Films such as The Rabbit Proof Fence could be an eligible teaching resource for students to analyse