Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T07:15:45.830Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Role of the Residence: Exploring the Goals of an Aboriginal Residential Program in Contributing to the Education and Development of Remote Students

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 September 2015

Tessa Benveniste ,
Drew Dawson  and
Sophia Rainbird
Tessa Benveniste*
Affiliation:
Appleton Institute, Central Queensland University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Drew Dawson
Affiliation:
Appleton Institute, Central Queensland University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Sophia Rainbird
Affiliation:
Appleton Institute, Central Queensland University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Tessa Benveniste, Appleton Institute, CQ University, CRC-Remote Economic Participation, 44 Greenhill Rd, Wayville, SA, 5034Australia. Email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Recent media and policy focus in remote Aboriginal education has turned to boarding schools. The general rhetoric is that boarding schools will allow Indigenous Australian students to have access to quality education and to learn to ‘walk in two worlds’. However, to date, there has been very little exploration of the lived experiences of Indigenous boarding schools, either from broader political and sociological perspectives, or from the schools themselves. Furthermore, understanding of how the residential side of boarding constructs the use of time and presents educational and social development opportunities is lacking. This paper aims to begin to address this, by presenting the goals and intended outcomes of a residential program for remote central Australian Aboriginal students. Through analysis of 17 semistructured interviews with residence staff, this paper identifies the two overarching goals of the program, as well as the more specific learning outcomes from which the program expects its students to benefit. The research presented is preliminary data that forms part of a broader PhD study of postboarding school expectations and outcomes for remote Aboriginal students, their families, and their communities.

Keywords

Indigenous educationremote educationboarding schoolsresidential programstructured time
Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 44 , Issue 2: Red Dirt Revisited: Examining remote learning and education experiences , December 2015 , pp. 163 - 172
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barker, J.E., Semenov, A.D., Michaelson, L., Provan, L.S., Zinder, H.R., Yuko, M.,. . .Lillard, A. (2014). Less-structured time in children's daily lives predicts self-directed executive functioning. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1–16. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00593.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bass, L.R. (2014). Boarding schools and capital benefits: Implications for urban school reform. Journal of Educational Research, 107 (1), 16–35. doi: 10.1080/00220671.2012.753855.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blomfield, N., Corey, J., & Barber, B.L. (2012). Exploring the positive peer and identity experiences occurring in Australian adolescents’ leisure activities. Australian Educational & Developmental Psychologist, 29 (1), 44–51. doi: 10.1017/edp.2012.8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Busseri, M.A., & Rose-Krasnor, L. (2009). Breadth and intensity: Salient, separable, and developmentally significant dimensions of structured youth activity involvement. The British Journal Of Developmental Psychology, 27 (Pt 4), 907–933.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chandler, M.J., & Lalonde, C.E. (2008). Cultural continuity as a moderator of suicide risk among Canada's first nations. In Kirmayer, L. & Valaskakis, G. (Eds.), Healing traditions: The mental health of Aboriginal people's in Canada: University of British Columbia Press.Google Scholar
Chandler, M.J., Lalonde, C.E., Sokol, B.W., Hallett, D., & Marcia, J.E. (2003). Personal persistence, identity development, and suicide: A study of native and non-native North American adolescents. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 68 (2), i–138. doi: 10.2307/1166217.Google ScholarPubMed
Coatsworth, J.D., Sharp, E.H., Palen, L.-A., Darling, N., Cumsille, P., & Marta, E. (2005). Exploring adolescent self-defining leisure activities and identity experiences across three countries. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 29 (5), 361–370. doi: 10.1080/01650250500166972.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dockery, A.M. (2010). Culture and wellbeing: The case of Indigenous Australians. Social Indicators Research, 99 (2), 315–332. doi: 10.2307/40927594.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drummond, A. (2012). The Australian curriculum: Excellence or equity. A rural perspective. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, 22 (3), 73.Google Scholar
Drummond, A., Halsey, R., Lawson, M., & van Breda, M. (2012). The effectiveness of a university mentoring project in peri-rural Australia. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, 22 (2), 29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellinghaus, K. (2006). Indigenous Assimilation and Absorption in the United States and Australia. Pacific Historical Review, 75 (4), 563–585. doi: 10.1525/phr.2006.75.4.563.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Engel, M.H., Phillips, N.K., & DellaCava, F.A. (2012). Indigenous children's rights: A sociological perspective on boarding schools and transracial adoption. International Journal of Children's Rights, 20 (2), 279–299. doi: 10.1163/157181811×612873.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans-Campbell, T., Walters, K.L., Pearson, C.R., & Campbell, C.D. (2012). Indian boarding school experience, substance use, and mental health among Urban two-spirit American Indian/Alaska Natives. American Journal of Drug & Alcohol Abuse, 38 (5), 421–427.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fawcett, L.M., Garton, A.F., & Dandy, J. (2009). Role of motivation, self-efficacy and parent support in adolescent structured leisure activity participation. Australian Journal of Psychology, 61 (3), 175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kickett-Tucker, C. (2009). Moorn (Black)? Djardak (White)? How come I don't fit in Mum?: Exploring the racial identity of Australian Aboriginal children and youth. Health Sociology Review, 18 (1), 119–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kowal, E. (2008). The politics of the gap: Indigenous Australians, Liberal Multiculturalism, and the end of the self-determination Era. American Anthropologist, 110 (3), 338–348. doi: 10.1111/j.1548-1433.2008.00043.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larson, R. (2000). Towards a positive psychology of positive youth development. American Psychologist, 55, 170–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larson, R., & Verma, S. (1999). How children and adolescents spend time in the world: Work, play and developmental opportunities. Pyschological Bulletin, 125 (6), 701–736. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.125.6.701.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lloyd, K., & Little, D.E. (2010). Self-determination theory as a framework for understanding women's psychological well-being outcomes from leisure-time physical activity. Leisure Sciences, 32 (4), 369–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lock, G., Reid, J., & White, S. (2011). Investing in sustainable and resiliant rural social space: lessons for teacher education. Education in Rural Australia, 21, 67–78.Google Scholar
Performance and Evaluation Branch. (2013). Cape York welfare reform evaluation, 2012, Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Retrieved September 2014 from http://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/03_2013/cywr_evaluation_report_v1.2_0.pdf.Google Scholar
Robbins, R., Colmant, S., Dorton, J., Schultz, L., Colmant, Y., & Ciali, P. (2006). Colonial instillations in American Indian boarding school students. Educational Foundations, 20 (3/4), 69–88.Google Scholar
Ryan, R.M., & Deci, E.L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55 (1), 68–78. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, A. (2009). Indigenous peoples and boarding schools: A comparitive study. Retrieved September 2014 from http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/E_C19_2009_CRP_1.doc.Google Scholar
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1991). Basics of qualitative research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Trainor, S., Delfabbro, P., Anderson, S., & Winefield, A. (2010). Leisure activities and adolescent psychological well-being. Journal of Adolescence, 33, 173–186. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2009.03.013.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Waterman, A.S. (2004). Finding someone to be: Studies on the role of intrinsic motivation in identity formation. Identity, 4, 209–228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watts, C.E., & Caldwell, L.L. (2008). Self-determination and free time activity participation as predictors of initiative. Journal of Leisure Research, 40 (1), 156–181.Google Scholar
Wilson, B. (2014). A share in the future: Review of Indigenous education in the Northern Territory, May 2014. Retrieved May 2014 from http://www.education.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/37294/A-Share-in-the-Future-The-Review-of-Indigenous-Education-in-the-Northern-Territory.pdf.Google Scholar
Woods, E. (2013). A cultural approach to a Canadian Tragedy: The Indian residential schools as a sacred enterprise. International Journal of Politics, Culture & Society, 26 (2), 173–187. doi: 10.1007/s10767-013-9132-0.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zubrick, S.R., Silburn, S.R., De Maio, J.A., Shepherd, C., Griffin, J.A., Dalby, R.B., . . . Cox, A. (2006). The Western Australian Aboriginal child health survey: Improving the educational experiences of Aboriginal children and young people. Perth: Curtin University of Technology and Telethon Institute for Child Health Research.Google Scholar