Reflections and refractions: power, politics and place in one Australian Aboriginal community
Reflections and refractions: power, politics and place in one Australian Aboriginal community Conference Paper
AARE 2015: Coast to coast: locations and directions in educational research
- Author(s): Burke, P, Guenther, J
- Published: 2015
Abstract: This paper takes a socio-historical perspective to a range of issues arising at the cultural interface within one western desert Aboriginal community (X). The authors reflect upon how these issues have impacted upon teaching and learning in a context that is highly politicised. The study on which this paper is based goes beyond those causes typically identified as underlying the profound disadvantages affecting the education of Aboriginal people i.e. geographical isolation, minimal use or knowledge of Standard Australian English (which accounts for significant proportions of Aboriginal children who begin school in remote parts of Western Australia); and a high degree of chronic health conditions. It explores how power, knowledge and Aboriginal-state relations have conspired to create a perfect storm between school and Council such that students have at times not been permitted to attend and Aboriginal education officers often fear reprisals. In this context arbitrary school closure and Aboriginal customary law have occasionally taken precedence over human rights and exercise of state law. This paper examines perceptions about Aboriginal self-government and the limits of authority through the lens of performance/performativity theory.