ERIC Number: EJ1444767
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Oct
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-1478-2103
Structural Change and the Governance of Indigenous Schooling in Australia: What's the Problem Represented to Be?
Policy Futures in Education, v22 n7 p1261-1277 2024
The Australian "National Indigenous Reform Agreement" (Closing the Gap) aims to address inequalities in various aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' lives. Scholars have repeatedly critiqued its failure to tackle structural inequalities. The agreement was revised in 2020. The current study adopts Carol Bacchi's 'What's the Problem Represented to be?' approach to critically analyse the recently revised "National Agreement on Closing the Gap." This study shows that the main problematisation still concerns the unequal life outcomes between First Peoples and non-Indigenous Australians, but the major difference from the previous agreement is that such problematisation recognises the strong influence of structural inequalities. Findings indicate that Indigenous schooling is governed by the Agreement through discourses of structural change and the inherent comparative framework. This can condition the restructured relationship between First Peoples and the settler state, which makes it difficult to move beyond a comparative framework and a reductive understanding of self-determination. This study argues that the reconstructed relationships open opportunities to challenge settler colonialism in schooling and education policies. However, they should not be utilised to displace sovereignties and genuine self-determination.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Indigenous Populations, Governance, Equal Education, Educational Change, Achievement Gap, Educational Policy, Decolonization, Racism
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A