Opinion piece
By Howard Salkow
TAFE Teacher
The notion that Indigenous culture acts as a barrier to achievement in vocational education and training has been rejected by findings which suggest Indigenous cultural engagement should be viewed as part of the solution, and not as part of the problem.
In his recent paper entitled Cultural dimensions of Indigenous participation in vocational education and training: new perspectives, and published by the National Centre for Vocational Education and Training (NCVER), Dr Alfred Michael Dockery says it appears attachment to traditional culture fosters improved education and training outcomes, and that Indigenous people access VET for cultural pursuits.
The study develops new measures of cultural engagement that look at the aspects of culture in rich detail, such as cultural identity, language, and participation in cultural events and traditional economic activities.
It also takes into account that while we sometimes speak of ‘Indigenous culture’ as though there is only one culture, the reality is that there is considerable diversity among Indigenous people from different regions.
Using data from the 2008 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey and building on work he undertook in 2009, Dockery’s research provides a number of key messages that will assist in furthering Indigenous education.
Dockery says that Indigenous students with a strong cultural identity are more likely to participate and achieve in education and training and the labour market, irrespective of whether they lived in remote or non-remote areas.
He argues that these findings suggest that cultural engagement can promote a strong sense of self-identity for Indigenous students which, in turn, can lead to greater resilience and well being.
The report says although strong cultural identity is beneficial to students, language remains a concern. It adds that participation in education and training is higher for those with English proficiency and do not speak Indigenous languages; and those who speak an Indigenous language also have lower income and employment outcomes.
The poorer outcomes for those who speak an Indigenous language apply across the spectrum of indicators: educational attainment, participation in educating and training, labour force participation, employment propensity and income.
An important result in the study is the evidence of strong incentives for Indigenous Australians to invest in education and training. It finds that substantial benefits in terms of employment opportunity and income accrue to Indigenous Australians as a result of the completion of additional years of schooling and post-school qualifications.
This applies to individuals living in both remote and non-remote areas, but not those in very remote communities.
In terms of the fields of study and training, those with a strong cultural identity have undertaken courses in numeracy, literacy; and trade and labouring training. This is clearly vocationally, rather than culturally oriented, and likely to boost outcomes in the mainstream labour market.
The study also shows that those with a strong sense of cultural identity are no more likely to study society and culture or creative arts; nor are they more likely to have undertaken music, art or crafts training when they have recently completed a training course.
Dockery says that the most significant finding is the rejection of the view that Indigenous peoples’ engagement with their traditional culture directly limits educational attainment or participation in vocational training.
He concludes that the evidence is that Indigenous people do not face a trade-off between their cultural aspirations and pursuit of further education and training.
Cultural dimensions of Indigenous participation in vocational education and training: new perspectives is available at: www.ncver.edu.au/publications/2573.html