CROSS-CASE ANALYSIS
The previous three chapters have shared the case studies of the ten students who participated in this study. This chapter provides information resulting from an in-depth cross-case analysis. Initially this information is organised to answer the research questions. This is followed by other significant findings. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the implications of all the findings for educators.
One important outcome of the cross-case analysis was the grouping of participating students as:
What factors influenced the students' decisions to stay at school?
For all students except Bret (one of the unexpected stayers) a large number of the retention and attainment factors identified related to both retention and attainment. This is clearly evident in Table 5.1 where these factors are classified.
Table 5.1 Total number of factors identified by participants as being important in students' retention and attainment.
| FACTORS RELATED TO |
|
|
|
| ||||||||
| The students themselves | 5 | 17 | 12 | 34 | ||||||||
| The students' teachers | 2 | 11 | 13 | 26 | ||||||||
| The students' families | 2 | 18 | 4 | 24 | ||||||||
| The students' schools | 2 | 7 | 4 | 13 | ||||||||
| The students' peers | 2 | 7 | 2 | 11 | ||||||||
| The communities in which the students live | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | ||||||||
| Multiple environments | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||
| TOTALS | 16 | 62 | 35 | 113 |
The data in Table 5.1 also indicate the importance of individual students' attitudes and behaviours associated with school and the support provided by their teachers and families in the students' retention and attainment.
The case studies and the associated retention and attainment causal network matrices in Chapters Two, Three and Four take the relationship between retention and attainment one step further; they indicate that factors related to the Aboriginal students' retention and attainment are intrinsically linked.
However, a few factors were identified in this study as just encouraging some students to stay at school.
What factors have been important in the students' success at school?
Of the 113 retention and attainment factors, 35 were believed by participants to be associated only with the students' attainment. It is significant that 34 per cent of these factors related to the students themselves and another 37 per cent to the students' teachers (see Table 5.1). Consequently, these two types of factors are examined separately.
Student factors related only to the students' attainment.
Recognition from others as being academically capable, possessing good literacy skills, working hard at school, asking for help, doing homework and/or being organised in study time, having an independent learning style and relating their school work to their own experiences or those of other Aboriginal people were considered important in the academic attainment of more than half of the students. When considering the three types of students, factors related to the students' skills, application and preferred learning styles were important for 79 per cent of the expected stayers and 50 per cent of the possible stayers but only 39 per cent of the unexpected stayers. In other words, student factors were relatively more important in the attainment of the expected stayers than for the attainment of the possible and unexpected stayers.
All the student characteristics cited above provided a basis from which teachers could support the students' learning.
Teacher factors related only to the students' attainment.
At least half of the students valued the individual and small group help, encouragement and reassurance some of their teachers provided, and the teachers' willingness to negotiate deadlines for work and the order and/or presentation of their work.
However, in comparison with the student characteristics, only two of the teacher characteristics or the way they worked with the students applied to more than half of the students. Further, of the 13 teacher factors identified, only 29 per cent were important for the expected stayers and 36 per cent for the possible stayers compared with 49 per cent for the unexpected stayers. In other words, how teachers worked with students was relatively more important for the attainment of the unexpected stayers than for the attainment of the possible and expected stayers.
The significance of the teacher factors for each group of students lies in their type as well as their quantity. The unexpected stayers identified specific examples of 'good teaching practice' as having been important to them. For example, individual teachers had been willing to negotiate with students, provided students with help without having to have been asked for it, used a variety of teaching strategies and developed special teaching strategies where necessary. These teachers had also explained work requirements clearly, facilitated opportunities for students to demonstrate their skills, built on what the students already knew and applied gentle pressure. Consequently, Fanshawe's (1976) description of an effective teacher of adolescent Aboriginal students remains as relevant today as it was then.
[T]he teacher who will effectively facilitate the growth of adolescent Aboriginals is likely to be warm, encouraging, demanding, stimulating, responsible and systematic; ...he will have a positive attitude to his Aboriginal students, valuing them as people, respecting their culture, being free from racial prejudice, and being confident in their ability to achieve demanding but realistic goals set for them; ...he will be knowledgeable not only about the subjects he teaches, but also about Aboriginals, Aboriginal adolescents and Aboriginal culture; ...he will be a clever strategist, fitting his wide range of instructional techniques to differences in the learning styles of his students; and...he will play with proficiency the role of facilitating the learning of Aboriginal students, being an innovator, and work in harmony with the Aboriginal community and the co-workers in his educating team.[30]
In comparison, the expected stayers appreciated extra academic, both in the classroom and outside it. They also valued teacher contact with their parents and teachers who took a personal interest in them as individuals.
The possible stayers identified some factors from each of the groups above. For example, all three of them valued small group help from the teacher as much as they did individual help and encouragement, just as three of the expected stayers did. Two of the possible stayers also valued teachers providing assistance without them having had to ask for it, just as two of the unexpected stayers did.
Family and school factors related only to the students' attainment.
The data indicate the importance of parental support in Aboriginal students' attainment, the importance of student motivation in their school success and the role of individual teachers in helping Aboriginal students to succeed, particularly the less academic students. Academic support programs were important for some students, but it was how the teachers worked with the students, both individually and in groups, that really affected the students' academic progress and gave them the incentive to keep working.
However, the case studies showed that many of the factors that helped the students to succeed at school also influenced the students' decisions to stay at school and vice versa.
How are these retention and attainment factors interrelated?
A large number of factors which were important in both the retention and attainment of the student participants related to the students' families.
Family factors related to both the students' attainment and their retention.
The seven family factors that were relevant for at least half the students relate to the immediate family. For example, the parents of all participating students encouraged and supported the students to stay at school and to succeed. In addition, all but one set of parents expected their children to get a job when they left school, and all but two sets of parents actively supported the student's career choice. For eight students this support and encouragement from parents was seen by participants as a reflection of the value these parents placed on education. In response, six students wanted to please their parents, or at least not to disappoint them.
Of particular interest was the distribution of the seven factors discussed above across the three groups of students. Five factors were common to all the expected stayers. In comparison, only three of them were common to all the possible stayers, and only one to all the unexpected stayers. In other words, the support the expected stayers received from their immediate families was more consistent than that received by any other group of students.
Six sets of parents recognised that the students had ability, and a slightly different set of six parents actively supported their children's learning by helping with homework or liaising with teachers. It is interesting that parental expectations did not directly correlate with perceptions of ability. For example, despite the fact that her parents did not see her as being as capable as her younger sister, they still expected Sally (one of the possible stayers) to finish Year 12 successfully and to find employment. Further, although two of the three unexpected stayers were recognised as having ability they had comparatively less support from their families than either the expected or possible stayers.
The factors discussed above emphasise the importance of family values and expectations, and their effect on students' attitudes and aspirations, particularly for the expected stayers and the possible stayers, at least in a pragmatic sense.
Individual teachers had also encouraged all students to stay at school and to keep on working.
Individual teacher factors related to both the students' attainment and their retention.
All students had been taught by at least one teacher who had recognised their academic or special potential and/or their goal orientation. This reflected the positive attitudes these teachers had towards the students and the expectations they, as teachers, had for the students. The data also emphasise the importance of positive interactions of teachers with the students. For example, teachers' sensitivity to cultural issues and the students' feelings, and teachers' assistance in 'fighting' against racism using the structures available in the school to deal with instances of racism rather than putting up with them, were important for two of the expected stayers.
All the possible stayers were motivated by a curriculum focus on careers. Despite this, Larry (one of the possible stayers) reserved making any career decisions, even when encouraged to look at school as leading somewhere. Presumably the expected stayers had already taken the careers focus on board or initiated it themselves; they were already motivated enough not to need this extra encouragement from their teachers, or this teacher focus was no longer important for them.
Three factors were more important for the unexpected stayers than for any other students. Two of the three unexpected stayers appreciated that at least some of their teachers were consistent, fair and respected them as individuals. Some teachers even went to the extent of developing special teaching strategies to help these students learn. In addition, the positive focus of discipline at their schools had helped two of them stay at school.
This stresses again the importance of the student factors in their retention and attainment.
Student factors related to both the students' attainment and their retention.
All ten students wanted to succeed and/or learn. This desire to learn was mainly pragmatic; all students, except one of the unexpected stayers, had decided on a career and were working towards it, or they were looking at further study before making a definite career choice.
All of the expected stayers were described as being confident or said they were able to encourage themselves. All the expected stayers, all the possible stayers and one of the unexpected stayers had either a positive self-concept and/or a positive academic self-concept. In addition, all the expected stayers and two of the three possible stayers (compared with only one of the three unexpected stayers) were described as being determined and/or persistent, or said that they had pushed themselves so that they would succeed. These findings concur with those by others[31] that goal directed values and intrinsic motivation are important factors in students intentions to complete school. They also support previous evidence that for students in general and for Aboriginal students in particular[32] positive views of self are associated with students' retention and attainment. These links have previously been thought to be correlational rather than causal.[33] However, the case studies suggest that the links are bi-directionally causal, part of a positive spiral that intensifies as students progress through secondary school.
McInerney found that students' self-reliance (defined as self-concept for the task of learning) and confidence were major determinants of Aboriginal students' attitudes to staying at or leaving school. For the student participants in this study these factors were also important, but they were associated with both retention and attainment.
Overall, more student characteristics associated with retention and attainment applied to the expected stayers, fewer to the possible stayers and least to the unexpected stayers. However, there were two notable exceptions; all the unexpected stayers had an independent learning style and had experienced positive behavioural change.
Other factors that positively influenced the retention and attainment of the students related to the students' schools and their peers.
School and peer factors related to both the students' attainment and their retention.
Scott and McInerney both found that peer pressure could directly affect Aboriginal students' staying or leaving decisions. For students who participated in this study peer pressure was important but it affected the students' attainment as much as their retention. It was the mutual positive peer influence that was important; most stayers chose their friends on the basis of their attitudes to school and believed that they and their friends could positively influence each other to stay at school and achieve success.
More specifically, five students thought that the good relationships they had with all their peers and the positive peer pressure or support provided by their peers had helped them to stay at school and to succeed. The retention and attainment of the other five students was seen to be influenced by either one or the other of these two factors. Consequently, peers remained important to the retention and attainment of all students.
Only one whole school factor was seen to have been important in both the retention and attainment of the majority of the students. Six students (all the expected stayers and two of the three possible stayers) had benefited from their schools' work experience program. Work experience opportunities confirmed for the students what they wanted to do when they left school or made them change direction slightly. For example, Helen had been able to work in two specific areas of interest in her own community and, having done work experience at Aboriginal Legal Aid, she decided not to be a lawyer and opted for a career in the media. Because work experience was part of the whole school curriculum it was distinct from any career focus taken by individual teachers in their particular subject areas.
Although local work experience opportunities have been identified as being important for students' retention[34], there is some evidence from this study that such experiences also spurred students on to achieve at higher levels. For example, Nicolas' efforts in typing improved significantly after he had decided to pursue a clerical career with DEET (now DEETYA). Similarly, after deciding that she did not want to work in child care, Marcia was determined to qualify for university entrance to keep her options open.
The students' Aboriginality was also important to them and they expressed this is a variety of ways.
How do these students express their Aboriginality and how do others see them expressing it?
In addition to the retention and attainment data, there were 91 factors associated with students' Aboriginal identities. In Table 5.2 these have been categorised in a similar way to the retention and attainment factors listed in Table 5.1. This categorisation was possible because participants indicated whether or not they believed individual identity factors were related to the students' retention and attainment. Some participants explicitly stated their views on this; others implied it by the context within which they talked about the identity factors.
Table 5.2 Factors identified by participants as being important in the students' Aboriginal identities.
| FACTORS RELATED TO |
|
|
| ||||||||
| Students and their familiies | 16 | 2 | 18 | ||||||||
| The students themselves | 5 | 13 | 18 | ||||||||
| Students and their schools (including teachers in general) | 4 | 12 | 16 | ||||||||
| Students and their peers | 7 | 8 | 15 | ||||||||
| Students and individual teachers | 1 | 13 | 14 | ||||||||
| A variety of multiple environments external to the student | 4 | 2 | 6 | ||||||||
| The communities in which the students live | 3 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||
| TOTALS | 40 | 51 | 91 |
As the data in Table 5.2 indicate, families were important in the students' development of their Aboriginal identities. However, few of these family identity factors related to the students' retention and attainment. In comparison, although the total number of student identity factors equalled the number of family identity factors, by far the majority of the student identity factors were also associated with the students' retention and attainment. Family factors are examined in detail in the next section of this chapter. This section focuses on how the students expressed their Aboriginality.
Non-student participants identified a variety of factors associated with the students' Aboriginal identities.
Student factors related to the students' Aboriginal identities.
Eight students (all the expected stayers, all the unexpected stayers and one of the possible stayers) were seen by others to express pride in their Aboriginality. They expressed this pride in a variety of ways including:
References to other factors such as colour[35], 'language' or 'lingo'[36], defiant or militant pride[37] and wearing clothes or ornaments reflecting the colours of the Aboriginal flag[38] were less prevalent than the literature would suggest.
As the following section indicates, the students' pride in their Aboriginality came largely from their families. However, the students were also provided with opportunities to express this pride at school and in community activities.
To what extent have various factors in the lives of individual students fostered their Aboriginal identities?
All student participants had both immediate and extended family support for their Aboriginal identities, regardless of the Aboriginality of their parents or whether they were expected, possible or unexpected stayers. However, the ways in which this support had been provided varied according to the personal circumstances of the students and their families.
Family factors seen to be important for the Aboriginal identities of the students.
Four of the five factors that applied to at least half of the students related to the students' extended families. Nine students had frequent contact with their extended families, seven students valued contact with their grandparents, seven students were involved in exploring their family heritage and five students lived close to their relatives. In addition, for all students except Gina, at least one family member had been or was employed by an Aboriginal organisation or in a specific Aboriginal role in a non-Aboriginal organisation.
Although there was no identifiable trend in the distribution of the family factors influencing the students' Aboriginal identities between the expected, possible and unexpected stayers, more of these factors did apply to those students who have two Aboriginal parents than to those who have only one. There were important reasons for this but not all were to do with the Aboriginality of the students' parents, as the following discussion indicates.
For example, although Gina, who lived with her non-Aboriginal mother, did not have frequent contact with many of her father's extended family, early in her life and at various times since then she had spent extensive time with her Aboriginal grandmother. She valued the cultural knowledge and family history her grandmother was able to share with her. In comparison, Lucy complained that she hadn't had enough direct contact with her Aboriginal relatives; she blamed both them and her Aboriginal father for this.
The importance of close relationships with the extended family to Aboriginal identity is emphasised by the fact that, when it was not there, it was actively sought. For example, Helen's mother had put a lot of time and energy into finding her relatives after being brought up in foster care. In addition, Larry and his family were now actively engaged in reconstructing links with their family and their tribal heritage. Similarly, Nicolas' mother, who had only maintained contact with part of her family, actively helped Nicolas seek out other relatives when he became interested in his family heritage.
The variety of different but interrelated family factors common to the majority of the students is an indication of the importance of kinship to Aboriginal identity. This concurs with findings.[39] However, peers also played a part in fostering Aboriginal students' identities.
Peer factors seen to be important in fostering the Aboriginal identities of the students.
Nine of the ten students mixed mainly with Aboriginal students when not in the classroom. All other peer factors also related to the students' association with their Aboriginal peers. The importance of the peer identity factors supports previous findings that close association with other Aboriginal students is a major factor in students' Aboriginality.[40] Certainly, mixing with other Aboriginal students was seen by teachers as the main way in which students identified as being Aboriginal.
A number of other factors were also perceived to foster the students' Aboriginal identities.
School, teacher, community and multiple environmental factors seen to foster the Aboriginal identities of the students.
Physical, human, curriculum and financial resources in schools, or able to be accessed by schools, to support Aboriginal students also supported the students' identities and/or encouraged them to express pride in their Aboriginality.
Other factors identified as fostering the students' Aboriginal identities made it easier for the students to see the relevance of at least some of the work at school and/or encouraged the students to stay at school. These factors are examined in the following section.
What is the relationship between the Aboriginal identity of the students and their retention and attainment at school?
McCarthy[41] asked the question, "how does racial difference operate in education?" He examined four types of relationships that governed the uneven interaction of raced, classed and gendered minority and majority actors in the school setting: relationships of competition, exploitation, domination and cultural selections. He argued that it was the 'cultural selections' relationship that... ...is the totalizing principle of 'difference' that organizes meaning and identity-formation in school life. This organizing principle is expressed in terms of cultural strategies or rules of inclusion/exclusion or in-group/out-group that determine whose knowledge gets into the curriculum... [42]
The data collected in this study illustrate how important such a relationship is in students' retention and attainment at school. There were 51 factors associated with the students' identity, retention and attainment (see Table 5.2). The following section examines the major trends among these factors starting with the three largest groups of factors, those related to the students themselves, their schools and individual teachers.
Student factors seen to be related to the students' Aboriginal identities and to their retention and/or their attainment.
The vast majority of the students, in a conscious effort to make their studies meaningful for themselves, related the work to their own experiences or gave an Aboriginal perspective to topics wherever they could. In addition, most students took every available opportunity to learn about Aboriginal issues and/or to share cultural knowledge with their teachers. Some even spoke or wrote publicly about Aboriginal issues both in and out of class and/or had chosen a career that related to their Aboriginality.
By actively participating in discussions of Aboriginal issues, giving examples from personal experience or putting Aboriginal perspectives into their work students could demonstrate their pride in their cultural heritage. Both Helen and Lucy did this even when it may not have been so welcome: Helen because she felt she needed to educate some teachers and Lucy because she felt so strongly on some issues. Larry went further than that. He actively challenged the 'white' accounts of early Australian settlement by non-Aborigines and their accounts of Aboriginal history. By doing so he would have been strengthening his own Aboriginal identity.[43]
Three of the expected stayers and two of the unexpected stayers had made a conscious decision that they did not want to be like their Aboriginal peers who had left school. None of the possible stayers had made such decisions. Other writers have recorded similar findings.[44] Some Aboriginal students are able to stand apart from the negative influences of some of their peers and to react positively to negative community perceptions and stereotypes.
Individual teachers also supported the students' identity, retention and attainment.
Teacher factors seen to be related to the students' Aboriginal identities and to their retention and/or their attainment.
For all students it was important that teachers established good relationships with them. This confirms results of previous studies into the retention and attainment of both non-Aboriginal students[45] and Aboriginal students.[46]
The students felt that it was up to the teachers to make the first moves in establishing these positive relationships. According to several students teachers could do this by consistently behaving in non-racist ways and by being culturally aware and sensitive to Aboriginal students' feelings. In addition, according to Helen and Marcia, it was important for teachers to deal with racism in class and to help Aboriginal students to deal with it. In a supportive environment these students felt that they were better able to get on with their work and to achieve success.
Significant others felt that, for five students about whom they were being interviewed, the academic support received from the schools' Aboriginal Education Resource Teachers (AERTs) was important for the students' Aboriginal identities as well as their attainment. However, AERTs provided other kinds of support that also related to students' attainment. For example, the AERT at Toby's school supported him in negotiating to do an exam earlier as he had family commitments when it was scheduled.
For five students it was important that at least some teachers incorporated Aboriginal perspectives or issues and/or encouraged the students to include cultural input or alternative perspectives in their work. This served two purposes, it helped the students relate more closely to the work and it affirmed and fostered the students' Aboriginal identities. In addition, some teachers introduced students to prospective careers more specifically for Aboriginal students or facilitated the students' exposure to these possibilities. Helen, Nicolas, Larry and Bret had benefited from this.
Teachers at two different schools recognised the strength of a special group of Aboriginal students at their schools and consciously worked with the group instead of singling out individual students, something about which Aboriginal students can be rather sensitive. In fact, one of the schools had deliberately kept a special group of Aboriginal students together in junior secondary school. This indicated the importance of whole school priorities and programs in the students' identity, retention and attainment.
School factors seen to be related to the students' Aboriginal identities and to their retention and/or their attainment.
The most significant school factor in the students' identity, retention and attainment was the appointment of Aboriginal Education Workers (AEWs) and/or AERTs. The AEW and AERT salaries were additional to school staffing numbers and were allocated by the Aboriginal Education Unit of DECS according to the numbers of Aboriginal students in the school. In every school where they were appointed participants talked about their role in the school in relation to the student participants. Most of the students also recognised this. All of the other school factors were facilitated by the AEWs and/or AERTs.
AEWs were important to individual students in chasing up their absences, helping them sort out their personal problems and liaising with parents. They were also important resource people for the schools' Aboriginal Studies and Australian Studies programs, for the implementation of the Social Justice Action Plan, the Anti-Racism Policy and special curriculum activities, and for the functioning of Aboriginal student support and parent awareness (ASSPA) groups. In comparison, the AERTs were generally important in arguing for, introducing and implementing special curriculum programs, activities and awards for Aboriginal students, organising the schools' Homework Centres, tutorial assistance under the Aboriginal and Islander tutorial assistance scheme (AITAS) and the formation of the ASSPA group, and in managing both financial and human resources associated with all of these.
Although individual schools organised the above functions slightly differently, it was the combined activities of the AEWs and AERTs in all the areas mentioned that supported the identity, retention and attainment of the student participants. A number of outcomes were significant for specific groups of students and are, therefore, discussed in more detail below.
The school identity, retention and attainment factors relate to more of the expected and possible stayers. For example, AITAS tutorial assistance was important for the attainment of three of the four expected stayers, one of the possible stayers but none of the unexpected stayers.
The importance of Aboriginal Studies to Aboriginal students has previously been noted.[47] Both Australian Studies and Aboriginal studies give students an opportunity to recognise cultural unity and diversity, and develop a shared sense of history. In this study, Aboriginal Studies or the Aboriginal perspective of SACE Australian Studies were more important for the students who have only one Aboriginal parent than for those who have two Aboriginal parents.
In addition, all three unexpected stayers, two possible stayers and one expected stayer, had benefited from special courses, classes or activities their schools offered for Aboriginal students or students at risk of leaving school early. For example, Gina was in a special class for students thought to be at risk of not succeeding at their SACE, Bret was able to do Nunga Drama and Nunga Music in addition to other Drama and Music classes, Toby worked with the Youth Strategy support person, Larry was able to do Nunga Art and Lisa and Sally were both involved in producing newsletters for all Aboriginal students and their parents as part of their English courses.
Thus, subject options were important for the students, but not just for the students' retention. Options such as those listed above facilitated the students' opportunities to relate to the work they were required to do, to identify as Aboriginal and to express pride in their Aboriginality, just as internal course options provided by teachers had done. The special awards for academic achievement by Aboriginal students won by Helen and Lisa served a similar function.
Peers were also important for the students' identities and for their retention and attainment.
Peer factors seen to be related to the students' Aboriginal identities and to their retention and/or their attainment.
Six students chose to work with other Aboriginal students in their classes whenever they could. Five of these students had been part of special groups of Aboriginal students in junior secondary school. All other peer factors that were important in the students' identity, retention and attainment also related to friends supporting each other, even in terms of providing friendly competition.
The case study data support previous findings that friends were important both academically[48] and socially[49] for students in general, that positive peer influence was important in Aboriginal students' motivation,[50] that successful Aboriginal students deliberately chose their friends on the basis of their attitudes to school[51] and that friendly competition was important for Aboriginal students' attainment.[52]
Overall, the students' Aboriginality was an integral part of their schooling and affected both their retention and their attainment. The participating students would have been unlikely to stay at school and achieve success if they had not, along the way, become secure in their Aboriginal identity and proud of it.
In addition to the six sections above where data from the cross-case analysis was used to answer the questions originally posed, there were other significant findings that emerged from the data. These are discussed in the following sections.
Other significant findings
Because of their Aboriginality, all student participants were 'different' from the majority of students in their schools. All the student participants experienced their "Aboriginality as a relation to non-Aboriginality"[53] as a result of the racism to which they and their Aboriginal peers were subjected. They also suffered identity crises. These issues have received little attention in the literature relating to Aboriginal students' retention and attainment. In addition, the data revealed that there were some significant similarities and differences between the expected stayers, the possible stayers and the unexpected stayers. The following three sections discuss each of these findings in turn.
Racism
Participants identified a total of 24 different factors that related to racism. These factors have been divided into two groups: those which had negative outcomes for the students and those which, because they were addressed, had more positive outcomes for the students.
Racism factors identified by participants that had negative outcomes for students.
The data indicate that all the students were subject to racism from their non-Aboriginal peers. Some of the racism from students was overt, but most was covert or behind the students' backs, probably because all students were aware of the consequences of overt racist behaviour at school. Despite this, racism from non-Aboriginal students was compounded by some teachers who were perceived by the student participants in particular to be racist because they did nothing about racism from non-Aboriginal students in their classes.
Racism from both non-Aboriginal students and teachers had the potential to restrict the retention of the students participants in this study because one of the ways to avoid it would have been to leave school like so many of their Aboriginal peers had done during their junior secondary school years. More specifically, racism in students' classes had the potential to restrict the students' attainment because one way to reduce it was to not attend particular classes where the teachers were either perceived as being racist and/or did little to counter the racism from non-Aboriginal students. If they did go to these classes there was still a tendency for the participating students, and other Aboriginal students, to isolate themselves from interactions with the teacher and other students so that they did not draw unnecessary attention to themselves. By withdrawing from full participation in class the students would have reduced their potential to achieve at high levels.
In addition, some students and some of the parents thought that individual teachers were covertly racist. For example, Helen and Marcia and their mothers thought that Aboriginal students were sometimes treated differently when they should not have been. On the other hand, some students felt that they had been treated the same when perhaps they should not have been. For example, Helen, Marcia and Larry felt that teachers should have taken account of cultural etiquette and made some allowances for them at times. Larry, in particular, did not like having attention drawn to himself in front of other students; he thought he was being picked on when this happened. He could accept that he had not always done the right things, but he would have preferred it if the teachers had spoken to him individually. In Helen's case, earlier in her secondary schooling, she had felt uncomfortable when a teacher had forced her to make eye contact when the teacher had not yet built up a relationship with her. As for Marcia, she had particularly disliked being forced to have physical contact with boys she did not know personally. Although those sorts of things no longer really bothered Helen or Marcia, they still felt teachers should not impose non-Aboriginal behaviours on Aboriginal students. In all instances the students would have felt shamed, something commented on by Marcia and her mother, Larry and his sister, and Lucy.
The pressure from early school leaving Aboriginal peers to stop working and to leave school has been included as an aspect of racism for the following reason. It is likely that these Aboriginal students had internalised the negative community expectations of Aboriginal students at secondary school. This conclusion is supported by the fact that, both before and after they left school, the leavers accused those Aboriginal students who worked hard at school, tried to succeed and looked toward finishing school, as being 'white' or 'coconut', challenging their Aboriginal identity. Although Lucy was the only student who reported being accused of this, half the students participating in this study had been and to some extent still were pressured by their Aboriginal peers to stop working and to drop out of school.
Only students with one Aboriginal parent (one possible and two unexpected stayers) still reacted negatively to racism although students with two Aboriginal parents had done so in the past. Significantly, all the expected stayers, two of the possible stayers and one of the unexpected stayers had learned how to deal with racist incidents so that these no longer presented a barrier to their retention or attainment. However, this did not mean that the students' sensitivity to racism had diminished.
In general, this group of racism factors applied to students in all three groups (expected stayers, possible stayers and unexpected stayers) regardless of the Aboriginality of the students' parents.
However, when the students involved themselves in dealing with racism rather than just reacting to it, there were more positive than negative outcomes.
Racism factors identified by participants that had more positive outcomes for students.
The general trend was for these racism factors to apply to all three groups of students. All of these factors had more positive outcomes for the students because they were associated with ways in which the issue of racism was dealt with in the students' schools, families and communities. Participants commented that schools had implemented the Anti-Racism Policy, developed grievance procedures to be used by students and had taught the students how to use them. As a result, both staff and students had guidelines to follow in combating racism in their schools. In addition, students had developed their own support strategies.
Helen and Gina, two of the four students who had been taught ways to deal with racial harassment and/or conflict, had become leaders in this area and had taught other Aboriginal students how to use the resources of the school to deal with it. Helen strongly believed that education was the only way to eliminate racism in the long term. In one instance she had insisted that the school take this approach, and that was why she had chosen a career in which she could act as an educator. This is one example of a productive response to prejudice.
In addition, special Aboriginal friends had helped the students resist negative pressures from their disinclined Aboriginal peers, especially in the earlier years of secondary school. They also provided ongoing support to overcome the negative effects of racism, particularly that from non-Aboriginal students.
Consequently, despite the problems all the student participants had experienced with racism, all had resisted the negative pressures associated with it, stayed at school and succeeded in at least some areas of the curriculum. Support from their families, some of their peers (both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal), and some of their teachers had helped them to deal with the general and specific issues of racism. However, along the way they had been confronted by identity crises, the subject of the next section.
Identity crises faced by the students
All student participants in this study identified strongly as Aboriginal. Dudgeon and Oxenham[54] differentiated the following five stages in Aboriginal people acquiring an Aboriginal identity: internalisation and shame, resistance, acceptance and hostility, consolidation and self-actualisation.
Most of the time, all of the students behaved as if they had gone past the stage of internalisation and shame. The negative stereotype of Aboriginal students not wanting to succeed at school and dropping out early was prevalent in all their schools and communities, reinforced by the vast majority of their peers who had gone along with it. However, all the participating students had consciously decided that they were going to be different. Nevertheless, 'shame' was talked about by some students and close family members as being something that cropped up every now and again. For Toby and his mother it was when Toby was teased nastily about his dark skin colour. However, for Marcia and her mother 'shame' was associated with particular activities at school and for Larry and his sister it occurred when they had attention brought to them in class.
Here, 'shame' mainly related to being asked to act contrary to their values and beliefs associated with their Aboriginality rather than 'shame' at being Aboriginal because of the negative stereotypes associated with that. Only Lucy referred to shame in that sense. For her it occurred when thinking about the problems many Aboriginal people, including some of her uncles, had with alcohol.
There was no resistance from any of the students to identifying as Aboriginal, although Gina had been encouraged to do so by her non-Aboriginal grandmother. In fact, for all of them that would have been quite difficult for, as Toby and Gina put it, they were 'too dark' to convincingly deny it. However, Lucy could not understand why some Aboriginal students did resist identifying as Aboriginal when she knew they were. She even got angry about their resistance.
Many of the students had either recently worked through some of the behaviours associated with the stage of acceptance and hostility, or they recalled having done so earlier. For example, Larry and Lucy had tried 'wagging' school along with their Aboriginal peers who intended to leave school early. In addition, Larry had gone through a phase in junior secondary school where he did little or no work even when he was at school. Both had decided against continuing this kind of hostility. However, both Larry and Lucy continued to express hostility in different ways; Larry challenged the 'white' accounts of Australian history and Lucy got angry about the 'whites' introducing alcohol to the Aborigines.
Nicolas, Gina and Toby had recent histories of inappropriate behaviour at school, mainly associated with teasing about their Aboriginality, and both Marcia and Helen recalled that they had also reacted negatively to racist taunts in either primary school or early high school. In all cases the students were challenging the authority of others to be racist towards them but did not know how to do this positively. Marcia, in particular, had been hostile towards teachers she felt did not support her cultural identity; she had refused to fully participate in those classes. She and Helen perpetuated this kind of hostility somewhat by not going to extra classes for English provided by their teacher. Instead they both had support from an AITAS tutor. Although Bret had also had behaviour problems at school, there is no evidence that these were directly associated with any hostility against the 'oppressors'. In fact, quite the opposite was true; Bret was a peace maker.
Even though there was still some evidence of hostility, all participating students had decided to stay at school and succeed. They were doing it for themselves, their parents and even for their peers. In the process most took the opportunity to learn as much as they could about Aboriginal history, culture and issues as possible, either in general or more specifically related to their own families. Some, like Helen and Lisa, became politically active, leading their schools' Aboriginal student groups and being active in their whole schools' Student Representative Councils. By usefully employing their energies in such activities, the students were consolidating their identities.
For five students there is also evidence that they had reached the stage of self-actualisation. For example, Helen spoke up in front of the whole school about the need for more Aboriginal representation on the school SRC, Bret actively worked towards reconciliation after a particularly nasty incident of racism at the school, Lisa was described as having a 'wonderful overview of how thing fit in' in relation to society in general, Sally was perceived as promoting Aboriginal people in a positive image, and Lucy's father felt that Lucy was now developing as a person because she was confident of who she was.
Thus, the case studies presented as part of this research have provided evidence for the existence of the five stages of identity crisis for Aboriginal students as defined by Dudgeon and Oxenham.
Although this study has shown that families provided support to the student participants, particularly in terms of their Aboriginal identities, evidence has also been provided that schools and teachers can play a significant role. Support from individual schools is closely related to 'school type'.
School type
Studies into the retention and attainment of students in general have found that these are related to the type of school students attend.[55] Such studies have compared the retention of students at state and private schools, and the attainment of students at senior secondary colleges and secondary schools (both state and private). The apparent advantages of private schools related to the cohorts of students and socio-economic advantage because support structures from home were reinforced by the school.
Such studies are irrelevant here as all students attended state schools in the country. However, the issue of 'type of school' is not. It is significant that six students attended schools where at least 10 per cent of the students were Aboriginal. Of the other four students, three attended schools where there were large numbers of Aboriginal students, particularly in the junior secondary years, even if the percentage of students was less than ten.
The number of Aboriginal students at a school was important because it was on this basis that extra staff could be allocated to the school by the state's Aboriginal Education Unit. As indicated in part of the earlier discussion, AERTs and AEWs played a crucial role in supporting the students' identities and their retention and attainment. Their presence, and the roles they performed, assisted schools to include Aboriginal students as a valued 'in-group' in the school and Aboriginal knowledge in the schools' curriculum.
Just as there were similarities and differences between individual students, there were also some significant similarities and differences between groups of students.
Similarities and differences between the three groups of students
In relation to the retention and attainment of the students, the expected stayers had more in common with each other than individuals in other groups had with each other, including their personal characteristics and the consistency of the support and encouragement from their families.
For example, all the expected stayers:
Given the fact that the expected stayers had quite a lot in common with each other, it is possible to draw a causal network matrix conceptualising the interrelationships between all the factors that were important in the retention and attainment of at least three of these four students. Figure 5.1 is such a conceptualisation. Again, this causal network matrix reflects 'local causality'[56] because it is based on actual data from four Aboriginal students.
Figure 5.1A causal network matrix conceptualising the interrelationships between the various factors important in the retention and attainment of at least three of the four expected stayers.
These characteristics applied less generally to the possible stayers and least to the unexpected stayers. For example, all the possible stayers had:
In comparison, although all three of the unexpected stayers were proud of their Aboriginality, two were not seen by non-student participants to consistently demonstrate positive self-concepts or they said themselves that they were not always confident. In addition, none of the unexpected stayers had been motivated by a career focus. Further, data concerning the attainment of the students has already shown that how teachers encouraged and supported the students' learning was most important for the unexpected stayers.
Overall, the unexpected stayers had least in common with each other and relatively little in common with any of the expected and possible stayers.
Summary of the Major Findings
So far this chapter has analysed across cases the retention, attainment and identity data relating to the individual case studies. Common and distinctly different factors within and across groups of students, and for individual students, have been identified and discussed in relation to the literature. The following patterns have emerged:
In summary, much of the data produced supported previous findings that Aboriginal students' retention and attainment are closely related to the support and encouragement they have receive from their families and that schools can reinforce this by providing stimulating and supportive learning environments. The data also emphasised the relationship of Aboriginal students' security in their own identities to their retention and attainment, and the importance of the role specialist support staff in schools play in this.
The next part of this chapter discusses the implications of these findings, particularly for schools and individual teachers concerned with supporting Aboriginal students at secondary school.
Implications of the findings for schools and individual teachers
The importance of a supportive group of students
As this study has demonstrated, many Aboriginal students, particularly in their junior secondary years, benefit from having a support group of other Aboriginal students to help them to stay at school and to achieve. This presents a challenge for schools - to recognise early in their junior secondary schooling those Aboriginal students who work well together and then to keep them together as much as possible and for as long as possible. These are not necessarily close friendship groups or ability groups but groups of Aboriginal students who have positive attitudes towards school and learning. The groups should not be too big but big enough so that if one or two students do drop out there is still a core left to continue.
The right teachers for Aboriginal students
If, as the data suggest, the quality of teaching is more important for the unexpected and possible stayers than for the expected stayers then, wherever possible, Aboriginal students should be taught by the best junior secondary teachers in the school. This will maximise their chances for succeeding and staying at school.
Training and development for teachers
Given that teacher relationships with Aboriginal students appear to be so crucial to the students' retention and attainment, all schools need to continually inservice staff on how to:
Advice to teachers of Aboriginal students
In addition to acquiring the skills listed above, concerned teachers of Aboriginal students can assist them to stay at school and to succeed by behaving in the following ways:
Ways the case studies can be used
School administrators can take the case studies that are included as part of this study and utilise them to inservice staff on how to help their Aboriginal students stay at school and succeed. For example, the case studies can be used as models to reflect on the positive qualities of individual Aboriginal students in the school and their potential to succeed. Examination of the case studies, particularly the conceptualisations, can assist staff analyse where extra input by the school and individual teachers could improve outcomes for Aboriginal students. Further, teachers can relate individual case studies to similar Aboriginal students in the school and share these case studies with the students, thereby providing role models the students can aspire to be like.
[30] Fanshawe 1976, 19-20.
[31] Scott 1987 and McInerney 1990a, 1991, 1992.
[32] Power 1984, Ainley and Sheret 1992a and Finn 1989 for students in general; Chadbourne 1987 and Day 1994 for Aboriginal students.
[33] Finn 1989.
[34] Braithwaite 1987.
[35] Tonkinson 1990; Hudspith and Williams 1994.
[36] Schwab 1988; Dudgeon and Oxenham 1990; Hudspith and Williams 1994.
[37] Barwick 1988; Groome 1988.
[38] Schwab 1988; Dudgeon and Oxenham 1990.
[39] Schwab 1988, Groome 1988, Fesl 1989 and Tonkinson 1990.
[40] Dudgeon and Oxenham 1990; Pettman 1992.
[41] McCarthy 1990, 79.
[42] McCarthy 1990, 84.
[43] Day 1994.
[44] Jordan 1984, Scott 1987 and Day 1994.
[45] Fanshawe 1976, 1989; Batten and Girling-Butcher 1981; Connell et al. 1982; Abbott-Chapman et al. 1986; Abbott-Chapman 1987, 1990; House of Representatives Standing Committee 1989; Johnston 1990.
[46] McInerney 1990a, 1991, 1992; Walsh 1993.
[47] Harris 1980; Fesl cited by Sykes 1986.
[48] Johnston 1990; Wentzel 1991.
[49] Wentzel 1991.
[50] McInerney 1990a, 1991, 1992.
[51] Day 1994.
[52] Day 1994.
[53] .Dodson 1994, 9.
[54] Dudgeon and Oxenham 1990.
[55] Power 1984; Abbott-Chapman 1987; Smith and Tomlinson 1989.
[56] Miles and Huberman 1984.
[57] LeCompte and Preissle 1992, 841.
