Submission to The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Indigenous Affairs

Indigenous education, as a distinct pedagogic field, can be characterised in modern policy terms as either an attempt to attain statistical equality with non-Indigenous Australians, or the pursuit of cultural imperatives through self-determined, educational development. While certainly not mutually exclusive, policies surrounding Indigenous education have oscillated, pendulum-like, between the two positions. The degree to which policy emphasis has concentrated on educational equity, as opposed to more self-determined forms of education, has shifted, as policy has shifted in Indigenous affairs at a national level. These sometimes dichotomous positions in policy are set against an unresolved historical legacy of institutionalised racism, systemic underfunding and assimilationist ideals that have dominated educational provision for Indigenous students in Australia.