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‘So, What is Wrong with Indigenous Education?’ Perspective, Position and Power Beyond a Deficit Discourse
Open accessAbstract
It is the aim of this article to provoke debate and encourage greater scrutiny regarding the use and meaning of the expression ‘Indigenous education’ within the discursive practices, research and policy in Australian education. Drawing on Hall's (2007) development of ideas from Foucault that give rise to ‘Indigenous education’ being viewed as a ‘regime of truth’, it is my contention that the widespread and largely uncritical use of this expression is contributing to sustaining deficit assumptions regarding the engagement and outcomes of Indigenous students within Australian schools. To explore this concern, I will first ‘archaeologically’ excavate (Scheurich, 1997) the emergence of this ‘regime’ within the Australian setting. Following on from this, I will discuss and reflect upon recent debates associated with initiatives designed to ‘close the gap’ when comparing Indigenous and non-Indigenous student achievements in education. Given the changes inaugurated by the Labor-led ‘Education Revolution’ since 2007, this is a particularly pertinent line of inquiry to take up, with the focus of this article largely concerned with its impact in the Queensland setting.
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“the emphasis on individual and cultural deficiencies perpetuates assumptions that our system should seek a quick fix to remedy disparate experiences and outcomes (Altman & Fogarty, 2010; Vass, 2012) rather than focus on addressing core systems of oppression and systemic inequities that permeate social and educational institutions.”
From What Is Deficit Thinking? An Analysis of Conceptualizations of Deficit Thinking and Implications for Scholarly Research (2019) · cites this paper as Vass, 2012
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Cited by
Patton Davis, L., & Museus, S. D. (2019) · Currents: Journal of Diversity Scholarship for Social Change · doi:10.3998/currents.17387731.0001.110 · Cited by 221
Metadata
- Authors
- Vass, G.
- Affiliations
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Vass, Greg
- ORCID
- Vass, Greg
- Venue
- The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education
- Publisher
- The University of Queensland
- Published
- 2012-01-22
- Volume
- 41
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 85-96
- ISSN
- 1326-0111 (ISSN-L)
- 2049-7784
- OpenAlex
- W2064792261
- Cited by
- 88
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 2.20
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Locations
- The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Griffith Research Online (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights
- Social Sciences › Education › Indigenous and Place-Based Education
- Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Migration, Education, Indigenous Social Dynamics
- Keywords
- indigenous education, deficit discourse, regimes of truth, Michel Foucault, Indigenous students, educational revolution, Queensland, Australian education policy, indigenous identity
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