The “perfect score” : the burden of educational elitism on children in out-of-home care
- Authors: Wilson, Jacqueline , Harvey, Andrew , Goodwin-Burns, Pearl , Humphries, Joanna
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Education in out-of-home care : international perspectives on policy, practice and research p. 211-223
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- Reviewed:
- Description: Annual media attention in Australia on the students and schools with the highest scores in the final year of secondary education (Year 12) promotes a narrow and elitist perception of the educational value of such statistical achievement. This in turn leaves disadvantaged students and their schools effectively stigmatised. Various disadvantaged groups benefit from equalising processes built into the senior-year system, but children in or recently discharged from out-of-home care (OHC) and adults who were in care as children are excluded from the official list of “equity” groups at secondary and tertiary levels. A very small percentage of those in OHC complete secondary school successfully, and even fewer care-leavers attempt tertiary education. We argue that the elitist ethos embraced by the secondary education system and legitimised by the media plays a key role in disadvantaging these groups. We examine as case studies the media coverage of final secondary results, juxtaposed with the experiences of several care-leavers currently attending a regional university, as gleaned from in-depth interviews and enrolment data-analysis. These accounts consistently affirm an array of systemic and cultural obstacles to the successful pursuit of their education.
The impact of enabling programs on indigenous participation, success and retention in Australian higher education
- Authors: Pitman, Tim , Harvey, Andrew , McKay, Jade , Devlin, Marcia , Trinidad, Sue , Brett, Matthew
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Indigenous Pathways, Transitions and Participation in Higher Education : From Policy to Practice Chapter 14 p. 235-249
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- Reviewed:
- Description: Indigenous people remain extremely under-represented in Australian higher education. Despite a substantial increase in the overall number of Indigenous university enrolments since the demand-driven system was introduced, representation remains well below population parity (cf. Department of Education and Training 2015; Wilks and Wilson 2015). Along with participation rates, the university success and retention rates of Indigenous students are also relatively low (Behrendt et al. 2012). The causes of this under-representation and under-achievement have been well-documented. At one level, the relatively low secondary school completion and achievement levels of Indigenous people help to explain under-representation at the next level of education. At a deeper level, educational outcomes reflect broader disadvantage, historical exclusion and discrimination, and a system of education in which respect for culture and diversity often remains limited (Liddle 2016).