Closing the gap for indigenous children

MaGGIE DEnT

Closing the gap for indigenous children

Set the bar high – and help everyone feel accepted.

It doesn’t matter where you live in the Western world, and despite supposed economic strength, modern technology and advances in healthcare and education, today’s children are more stressed and less healthy than they should be. Sadly, indigenous children are even worse off. Even after millions of dollars have been spent on various initiatives, Aboriginal, Maori and Islander children are struggling in our schools and communities. I believe that with a strong sense of cultural knowledge and pride, strong family/ community connectedness, good supported parenting, and a decent early years’ education, we can all build the wellbeing, resilience and opportunity for indigenous children. They can become financially independent, healthier and happier. The key is the first five years of life, with the first three years being critical.

Professor Joe Starling from North Carolina University believes that vulnerable families need targeted support in the first three years and that current policies for 4- to 5-year-olds are “too late.” School communities and teachers play a huge role in the needed support system. In an effort to support parents in building children’s resilience and self-esteem, I created the 10 resilience building blocks model. Much of this model is based on ancient knowledge from indigenous cultures but it also rests on modern research:

10 resilience building blocks for children 0-12

1. Positive, healthy pregnancy

2. Good nutrition

3. Safe, nurturing care within the circle of family

4. Plenty of play

5. Build life skills

6. Meaningful involvement with positive adults

7. Clear boundaries

8. Absence of stress

9. Self mastery

10. Strengthen the spirit Although teachers may not be able to directly influence some of these building blocks (i.e. positive, healthy pregnancy), they can encourage and advocate for their school districts and health and community support networks to work together to deliver parenting education that supports families. Guiding and teaching children before they go to school undoubtedly gives them the best start. This includes helping them to do things for themselves, learning how to be a good friend, listening and speaking, taking care of their bodies, and calming themselves down.

Research shows how powerful human attachment is in developing a strong sense of self and also the role these primary loving relationships play in developing emotional, social, verbal and social skills that help our children be ready for school.

Family support comes in many sizes and shapes and programs, including programs run by charities and NGO and government agencies. We need early intervention to help get our children ready for school so that by the time they arrive in our classrooms, they have the best chance possible of striving.

MaGGIE DEnT

Changing beliefs

A huge challenge in closing the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous outcomes is to change our beliefs that limit children’s lives. All children and adults behave in accordance with their beliefs. These have been formed by our experiences, interpretation of those experiences, values, expectations, culture and society, and history. The way we behave and feel, and the language we use, are all influenced by our beliefs. Many Aboriginal and Maori people who’ve experienced racism, discrimination and school failure may still struggle to believe their kids won’t have a similar journey. Educators who’ve mostly experienced under-achieving Indigenous students may expect the same of others. The Rosenthal experiment showed the “Pygmalion effect” where a teacher’s expectations have a significant influence on student performance.

To really give indigenous children the best opportunity to realise their full potential, they need to be surrounded by people who hold positive, realistic expectations of them. We need classrooms, schools, homes and communities to work together to create an environment where those expectations can be met. This is why enthusiastic, highly competent educators are so vitally important to help change inhibiting expectations to life enhancing ones. Expectations are driven by beliefs and one of the best ways to change limiting beliefs is to show and celebrate successful indigenous students and adults. There are many examples of indigenous people who work as lawyers, doctors, surgeons, scientists, judges, teachers, artists, musicians, nurses and parliamentarians, so there is no reason why indigenous children cannot realise the same if they are provided with a healthy, positive start.

The more Indigenous people who expect their children to be capable and clever, the easier it will be for all indigenous kids. A good place to start changing old negative beliefs is to nurture the belief that the both the Aboriginal (it is the longest surviving culture on Earth) and Maori cultures are worthy of respect and honour. In New Zealand, there is one Maori language and the bi-lingual approach in schools honours the language. And I have been deeply touched by many welcoming Maori ceremonies I have had the honour to be part of – especially when whole school communities sing in Maori. It always makes the hairs stand up on my arms as it is so powerful and unites school communities. In Australia in some communities children can speak five different dialects and no English; it is no wonder they do not want to attend school where only English is spoken.

Ancient wisdom and modern knowledge

Some recent research into the mind shows that the future for all today’s children relies on having a strong positive vision built on human connectedness, social inclusion and environments that allow children to develop healthy and strong.

By three and a half most children have developed ‘mindsets’ that greatly influence their future lives. Psychologist and researcher Dr Carol Dweck studied preschoolers to explore what influences potential success and found rather than it being about ability, it was more about what people believed about why they had failed. If we believe we fail because we are dumb, we limit our future attempts at growing in ability. If we think, “I failed because I didn’t understand the question or I didn’t work hard enough” then that means we can fix that. Dweck says we create flexible or fixed mindsets — the more flexible, the better our chances of success in school and life. Dweck also found young children develop mindsets about goodness. Many kids believe they are either good or bad; others think they can get better at being good.

If we encourage children that learning and growing is the main goal of all human experience — rather than the performance itself — they will have a better chance of success. When indigenous children are given support to develop skills that ensure their readiness for starting school, they will have a different mindset toward school and learning. Another interesting dynamic that influences how well children do at school is social inclusion, something Dr Matthew Lieberman explores in Social Cognitive Neuroscience: The Pains and Pleasure of Social Life. Using brain imaging, he found that when a person experiences rejection or social exclusion, they experience a form of physical pain. Often Aboriginal, Maori and Islander children who suffer racism or rejection, or a teacher with a negative expectation of them, may tend to avoid school as a result to avoid this “pain response.” The other interesting thing Lieberman discovered was that being treated fairly activates the same parts of the brain as having our basic needs met, like drinking when thirsty, coming in from the cold or eating chocolate. It triggers the pleasure response.

These studies show all students are deeply influenced by invisible forces that are driven by human relationships. We need schools to welcome all students and have a strong expectation that with a safe, caring and engaging environment, with teachers who care and connect, every student will have a better opportunity to succeed.

We are much braver to put in effort and make mistakes if we are still valued after we mess up. It does not matter what culture you belong to; it’s how you are nurtured, parented and encouraged to do well that makes the real difference when children turn up at school. If we meet our children’s core need to know they belong, they matter and that learning and growing is what they are supposed to do — and we treat children with kindness and fairness — we could improve every child’s pathway of potential. Quite simply, every child matters, no matter what.

photo: stephen coburn