Education Policy, Space and the City by Gulson Kalervo N.;

Author:Gulson, Kalervo N.; [Kalervo N. Gulson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group
Published: 2011-08-01T00:00:00+00:00

This class is selected on the basis of a standardised test that can be sat by interested non-Aboriginal students within and outside the school. In addition to the school-based recommendations noted by Mr Lewis, Aboriginal students are assessed for suitability using the ‘ Coolabah Dynamic Assessment Method . . . which creates a non-threatening and culturally unbiased environment where students solve a variety of puzzles in groups of four’ (Fenton and Myers 2006: 3).

Equality of opportunity, framed within academic excellence, applies to those Aboriginal students who are deemed to be ‘bright’, but are still different from non-Aboriginal students, a differentiation based on the mode of entry to the OC. As Mr Lewis noted, recommendations of potential Aboriginal students are sought from schools, which on the one hand allows Aboriginal students to be identifi ed who may have previously been disadvantaged by other forms of testing. On the other hand there is evidence from the UK that teachers make judgements about academic ability on the basis of race, with invidious consequences for some students of colour who are deemed to lack the requisite academic potential (e.g., Gillborn and Youdell 2000).

Furthermore, the OC reconfi gures differentiation between Aboriginal students, not just between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students. While this acknowledges the heterogeneity of Aboriginal students, it also appears to distinguish between desirable and undesirable Aboriginal students. Mr Nicks stated that:

we’ve got a lot of other [Aboriginal] kids come to us, but they’re kids who are coming because they’re on about the type of teaching that we’re doing, or the high expectations of [Aboriginal] kids or the work in Aboriginal languages, or the work in Aboriginal studies and so there might be a more aspirational [Aboriginal] person who is, is starting to come to us. (Mr Nicks, Alexandria Park)

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