Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T09:35:13.325Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

‘If I Wanted to Have More Opportunities and Go to a Better School, I Just Had to Get Used to It’: Aboriginal Students’ Perceptions of Going to Boarding School in Western Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2015

David J. Mander ,
Lynne Cohen  and
Julie Ann Pooley
David J. Mander*
Affiliation:
Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australian, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Lynne Cohen
Affiliation:
Faculty of Education and Arts, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Julie Ann Pooley
Affiliation:
School of Psychology and Social Science, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
*
Address for correspondence: David Mander, Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australian, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia. Email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

This study explored the experiences of 32 male Aboriginal students from regional and remote towns and communities while they attended a metropolitan boarding school away from home and family in Perth, Western Australia. Using narrative interviews it specifically investigated how these Aboriginal students construct meaning around the transition experience to boarding school. Three major themes emerged from the data: (1) Decision Making and the subthemes of Choice-less Choice and Opportunity; (2) Organisational Climate and the subthemes of School Environment and Belonging, Culture Shock, Homesickness, Identity, Code Switching, Teachers, Academic Expectations, Residential Life, and Friendships and Peer Relations; and (3) Relational Change and the subthemes of Family Dynamics, Friendships at Home, and Cultural Connectedness. This study emphasises the importance of conceptualising and understanding social phenomena from the perspective of those who actually undertake the experience, and the findings are discussed in terms of policy and practice relevant to Australian boarding schools.

Keywords

Aboriginal boarding studentsboarding schooltransitionWestern Australia
Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 44 , Issue 1 , August 2015 , pp. 26 - 36
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

Baier, M., & Welch, M. (1992). An analysis of the concept of homesickness. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 6, 54–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bessarab, D., & Ng’andu, B. (2010). Yarning about yarning as a legitimate method in Indigenous research. International Journal of Critical Indigenous Studies, 3, 37–50. Retrieved from http://www.isrn.qut.edu.au/publications/internationaljournalCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101. doi: 10.1191/1478088706qp063oaCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Commissioner for Children and Young People WA. (2011). Report of the inquiry into the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people in Western Australia. Perth, Australia: Author. Retrieved from http://www.ccyp.wa.gov.aaGoogle Scholar
Craven, R., Tucker, A., Munns, G., Hinkley, J., Marsh, H., & Simpson, K. (2005). Indigenous students’ aspirations: Dreams, perceptions and realities. Canberra, Australia: Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved from http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/higher_education/publications_resources/profiles/indig_stu_aspir.htmGoogle Scholar
Department of Education (DoE). (2002). Ways of being, ways of talk. Perth, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Enembaru, I.G. (2000). The socialisation of the Aboriginal child. In Dudgeon, P., Garvey, D., & Pickett, H. (Eds.), Working with Indigenous Australians: A handbook for psychologists (pp. 177–179). Perth, Australia: Gunada Press.Google Scholar
Fisher, S. (1989). Homesickness, cognition, and health. Exeter, UK: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Garvey, D. (2007). Indigenous identity in contemporary psychology: Dilemmas, developments, directions. Melbourne, Australia: Thomson.Google Scholar
Godfrey, J., Partington, G., Harslett, M., & Richer, K. (2001). Attitudes of Aboriginal students to schooling. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 26, 33–39. Retrieved from http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol26/iss1/5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haebich, A. (2008). Spinning the dream: Assimilation in Australia 1950–1970. Fremantle, Australia: Fremantle Arts Centre Press.Google Scholar
Harrison, J.K., & Brower, H.H. (2011). The impact of cultural intelligence and psychological hardiness on adjustment and homesickness among study abroad students. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 21, 41–62. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ991042CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hetherington, P. (2002). Settlers, servants and slaves: Aboriginal and European children in nineteenth-century Western Australia. Perth, Australia: UWA Press.Google Scholar
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC). (1997). Bringing them home: National inquiry into the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. Sydney, Australia: Author. Retrieved from http://www.hreoc.gov.au/social_justice/bth_reportGoogle Scholar
Juluwarlu Aboriginal Corporation. (2008). Ngurra Warndurala Buluyugayi Wuyumarri: Exploring Yindjibarndi Country-Gregory Gorge. Roebourne, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Juluwarlu Aboriginal Corporation, & Rijavec, F. (2004). Know the song, know the country: The Ngaardangarli story of culture and history in Ngarluma and Yindjibarndi country. Roebourne, WA: Juluwarlu Aboriginal Corporation.Google Scholar
Kearins, J. (2000). Children and cultural difference. In Dudgeon, P., Garvey, D., & Pickett, H. (Eds.), Working with Indigenous Australians: A handbook for psychologists (pp. 167–176). Perth, Australia: Gunada Press.Google Scholar
Kickett-Tucker, C.S. (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, 119–136. Retrieved from http://library.ecu.edu.auCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mankowski, E.S., & Rappaport, J. (2000). Narrative concepts and analysis in spiritually based communities. Journal of Community Psychology, 28, 479–493. doi:10.1002/1520-6629(200009)28:5<479::AID-JCOP2>3.0.CO;2-03.0.CO;2-0>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mellor, S., & Corrigan, M. (2004). The case for change: A review of contemporary research on Indigenous education outcomes. Melbourne, Australia: Australian Council for Educational Research Press. Retrieved from http://research.acer.edu.au/aer/7Google Scholar
Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA). (2008). Melbourne declaration on educational goals for young Australians. Melbourne, Australia: MCEECDYA. Retrieved from http://www.mceecdya.edu.au/mceecdya/melbourne_declaration,25979.htmlGoogle Scholar
Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA). (2011). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan, 2010–2014. Melbourne, Australia: MCEECDYA. Retrieved from http://www.mceecdya.edu.au/verve/_resources/A10-0945_IEAP_web_version_final2.pdfGoogle Scholar
Ministerial Council Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA). (2001). Exploring multiple pathways for Indigenous students: Discussion paper MCEETYA Taskforce on Indigenous Education. Melbourne, Australia: MCEETYA. Retrieved from http://www.mceecdya.edu.au/verve/_resources/exploringmultiplepathways_file.pdfGoogle Scholar
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). (2003). Values and ethics: Guidelines for ethical conduct in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research. Canberra, Australia: Commonwealth of Australia.Google Scholar
Patton, M.Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (2nd ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Pearson, N. (2009). Up from the mission: Selected writings. Melbourne, Australia: Black Inc.Google Scholar
Penman, R. (2006). The growing up of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children: A literature review (Occasional Paper No. 15). Canberra, Australia: Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved from the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/about/publicationsarticles/research/occasional/Pages/op15.aspxGoogle Scholar
Poyrazli, S., & Lopez, M.D. (2007). An exploratory study of perceived discrimination and homesickness: A comparison of international students and American students. The Journal of Psychology, 141, 263–280.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Purdie, N., Tripcony, P., Boulton-Lewis, G., Fanshawe, J., & Gunstone, A. (2000). Positive self-identity for Indigenous students and its relationship to school outcomes. Canberra, Australia: Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved from http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/indigenous_education/publications_resources/profiles/positive_indigenous_students_relationship_school_outcomes.htmGoogle Scholar
Riessman, C.K. (2008). Narrative methods for the human sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Sharifian, F. (2005). Cultural conceptualisations in English words: A study of Aboriginal children in Perth. Language and Education, 19, 74–88. doi:10.1080/09500780508668805CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shenton, G. (1841, August 14). Perth native school. The Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal (WA: 1833–1847), p. 3. Retrieved February 6, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1962Google Scholar
Sonn, C., Bishop, B.J., & Humphries, R. (2000). Encounters with the dominant culture: Voices of Indigenous students in mainstream higher education. Australian Psychologist, 35, 128–135. doi:10.1080/00050060008260334CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thurber, C. (1995). The experience and expression of homesickness in preadolescent and adolescent boys. Child Development, 66, 1162–1178.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thurber, C.A. (1999). The phenomenology of homesickness in boys. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 27, 125–139. doi:10.1023/A:1021911514768CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thurber, C. (2006). Multimodal homesickness prevention. The Camping Magazine, 79, 10.Google Scholar
Trudgen, R.I. (2000). Why warriors lie down and die. Darwin, Australia: Aboriginal Resource and Development Services.Google Scholar
Verschuur, M. J, Eurelings-Bontekoe, E. HM, & Spinhoven, P. (2001). Construction and validation of the Homesickness Vulnerability Questionnaire. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 11–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vicary, D.A., Tennant, J., Garvie, T., & Adupa, C. (2006). Can you hear me? The active engagement of Aboriginal children in the development of social policy by non-Aboriginals. Children Australia, 31, 21–26. Retrieved from http://library.ecu.edu.auCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Westerman, T.G. (2004). Engagement of Indigenous clients in mental health services: What role do cultural differences play? Australian e-Journal of the Advancement of Mental Health, 3, 1–7. Retrieved from http://pandora.nla.gov.au/tep/24225CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Westerman, T.G. (2010). Engaging Australian Aboriginal youth in mental health services. Australian Psychologist, 45, 212–222. doi:10.1080/0005006093451790CrossRefGoogle 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, Australia: Curtin University of Technology and Telethon Institute for Child Health Research.Google Scholar