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Why is Life so Hard for Aboriginal Students in Urban Classrooms?1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2015

Merridy Malin
Merridy Malin*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Education, Northern Territory University, Casuarina NT 0811.
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Extract

This paper is a report on a recent study of urban Aboriginal children at home and at school, in Adelaide It will mostly describe the situation for just three of the students in one reception/Year one classroom, as they are representative of many Aboriginal students in the other classroom which was closely studied, and in classroom whose teachers I interviewed, or who were observed by me. In other words, the situation that I am describing for Naomi, Jason and Terry is, I believe, similar to the situation for many young Aboriginal students in urban classrooms in South Australia. Naomi, Jason and Terry were three physically attractive, energetic, bright and curious five year olds. Outside the classroom they were articulate and confident but inside the classroom, by the end of the year, they were in the lowest academic group for their age, considered troublesome by their teacher, and were largely ostracised by their non-Aboriginal peers.

Type
Section Nine
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , August 1994 , pp. 141 - 154
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press or the authors 1994

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Footnotes

1.

I wish to acknowledge my appreciation of Stephen Harris's editorial advice on this article. Acknowledgment of the contributions of the many people who participated in this study in one way or another is presented in the foreword to the dissertation. I remain grateful to them.

References

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Malin, Merridy 1989 Invisibility in Success, Visibility in Transgression for the Aboriginal Child in the Urban Classroom: Case Studies at Home and School in Adelaide. University of Minnesota PhD Dissertation.Google Scholar