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The importance of Aboriginal Education Workers for decolonising and promoting culture in primary schools: an analysis of the longitudinal study of Indigenous children (LSIC)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2019

Huw Peacock  and
Jacob Prehn
Huw Peacock
Affiliation:
Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor Aboriginal Research and Leadership, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 22, Sandy Bay, Tasmania 7005, Australia
Jacob Prehn*
Affiliation:
Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor Aboriginal Research and Leadership, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 22, Sandy Bay, Tasmania 7005, Australia
*
Author for correspondence: Jacob Prehn, E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Aboriginal Education Workers (AEWs) are utilised by primary and secondary schools to improve components of success for Aboriginal students, liaise with their families and the Aboriginal community and contribute to developing and promoting an Aboriginal pedagogy. Despite the challenging role of decolonising the school environment, the important work undertaken by AEWs can be misunderstood and underappreciated by the Western school system. This paper aims to measure the influence of AEWs on Aboriginal culture within schools using quantitative data from Wave 7K Cohort of the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children. Results show that there is a positive impact on Aboriginal culture within schools through having an AEW present all or some of the time. For Aboriginal children to grow up strong, employment of an AEW is important to decolonise the school environment and provide a holistic education.

Keywords

Aboriginal childrenaboriginal education workersculturelongitudinal study of Indigenous children
Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , August 2021 , pp. 196 - 202
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2019

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