Backboards to blackboards : rebounding from the margins ; a critical auto/ethnographic study of the struggle for culturally-sensitive educational pathways for Aboriginal girls

This PhD research journey describes my personal and professional involvement with the Yolngu, Nyoongar and Wongi peoples, where I consistently observed Aboriginal parents and Aboriginal teachers express dissatisfaction with the way mainstream Anglo-Celtic education was delivered in their schools and...

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Main Author: McCarthy, Helen Christine Dominica
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Curtin University 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/635
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author McCarthy, Helen Christine Dominica
author_facet McCarthy, Helen Christine Dominica
author_sort McCarthy, Helen Christine Dominica
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This PhD research journey describes my personal and professional involvement with the Yolngu, Nyoongar and Wongi peoples, where I consistently observed Aboriginal parents and Aboriginal teachers express dissatisfaction with the way mainstream Anglo-Celtic education was delivered in their schools and communities. This disparity never sat well with me and I had always wanted to write about the unacceptable inequity.As a consequence this doctoral research deploys a critical auto/ethnographic research design within an interpretive paradigm where “the writing process and the writing product are deeply intertwined”. The research became the site of exploration about the struggle for culturally-sensitive educational pathways for Aboriginal adolescent girls.The investigation took place at a metropolitan Aboriginal secondary school, where staff developed an emergent curriculum framework known as the Yorgas Program to re-engage Aboriginal learners in their schooling, through a sporting program known as the “Girls‟ Academy”. As a consequence of the Yorgas Program there were observable improvements in the girls behaviour leading to regular attendance, improved personal hygiene, greater commitment to study, self-regulation and willingness to defer risk-taking social behaviours resulting in a significantly larger number of Year 12 graduates completing their studies with the majority of students going on to traineeships or further studies.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-6352017-02-20T06:41:05Z Backboards to blackboards : rebounding from the margins ; a critical auto/ethnographic study of the struggle for culturally-sensitive educational pathways for Aboriginal girls McCarthy, Helen Christine Dominica Yolngu Yorgas Program “Girls‟ Academy” Nyoongar and Wongi peoples culturally-sensitive educational pathways Aboriginal girls auto/ethnographic study This PhD research journey describes my personal and professional involvement with the Yolngu, Nyoongar and Wongi peoples, where I consistently observed Aboriginal parents and Aboriginal teachers express dissatisfaction with the way mainstream Anglo-Celtic education was delivered in their schools and communities. This disparity never sat well with me and I had always wanted to write about the unacceptable inequity.As a consequence this doctoral research deploys a critical auto/ethnographic research design within an interpretive paradigm where “the writing process and the writing product are deeply intertwined”. The research became the site of exploration about the struggle for culturally-sensitive educational pathways for Aboriginal adolescent girls.The investigation took place at a metropolitan Aboriginal secondary school, where staff developed an emergent curriculum framework known as the Yorgas Program to re-engage Aboriginal learners in their schooling, through a sporting program known as the “Girls‟ Academy”. As a consequence of the Yorgas Program there were observable improvements in the girls behaviour leading to regular attendance, improved personal hygiene, greater commitment to study, self-regulation and willingness to defer risk-taking social behaviours resulting in a significantly larger number of Year 12 graduates completing their studies with the majority of students going on to traineeships or further studies. 2010 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/635 en Curtin University fulltext
spellingShingle Yolngu
Yorgas Program
“Girls‟ Academy”
Nyoongar and Wongi peoples
culturally-sensitive educational pathways
Aboriginal girls
auto/ethnographic study
McCarthy, Helen Christine Dominica
Backboards to blackboards : rebounding from the margins ; a critical auto/ethnographic study of the struggle for culturally-sensitive educational pathways for Aboriginal girls
title Backboards to blackboards : rebounding from the margins ; a critical auto/ethnographic study of the struggle for culturally-sensitive educational pathways for Aboriginal girls
title_full Backboards to blackboards : rebounding from the margins ; a critical auto/ethnographic study of the struggle for culturally-sensitive educational pathways for Aboriginal girls
title_fullStr Backboards to blackboards : rebounding from the margins ; a critical auto/ethnographic study of the struggle for culturally-sensitive educational pathways for Aboriginal girls
title_full_unstemmed Backboards to blackboards : rebounding from the margins ; a critical auto/ethnographic study of the struggle for culturally-sensitive educational pathways for Aboriginal girls
title_short Backboards to blackboards : rebounding from the margins ; a critical auto/ethnographic study of the struggle for culturally-sensitive educational pathways for Aboriginal girls
title_sort backboards to blackboards : rebounding from the margins ; a critical auto/ethnographic study of the struggle for culturally-sensitive educational pathways for aboriginal girls
topic Yolngu
Yorgas Program
“Girls‟ Academy”
Nyoongar and Wongi peoples
culturally-sensitive educational pathways
Aboriginal girls
auto/ethnographic study
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/635