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On 13 September the world recognises the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This document distils our rights, our cultural freedoms and a vision for the future that should be afforded to all First Peoples.
As First Peoples across the world, our values, our way of thinking, our expertise sits within the knowledge of our ancestors and the country. We understand that we cannot progress as individuals, but that our responsibility is to each other, to the land, to the seas and to our future generations. Our systems of knowledge and practice have given rise to the oldest continuous cultures in the world. The strength we hold allows us to survive sustained and atrocious attacks against our lands and our human rights.
As an Aboriginal educator with more than thirty years’ experience across tertiary and community settings, I have seen how education can either uphold or deny our rights.
UNDRIP makes clear that Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control our own systems of learning, to teach in our languages and to carry forward our cultural traditions. Yet in Australia this right remains unrealised.
Our children continue to face systemic barriers in classrooms from early childhood through to adulthood. As our community leaders say, children have to place their identity, culture or language at the door, and enter systems of learning that position them as being deficient, behind and failing. However, they hold knowledge and expertise that is invisible to the mainstream. The M.K. Turner Report speaks to this truth with clarity: “Our children too often fail or are harmed in Western education, Western assessment and Western standards. They are set up to fail. The evidence clearly demonstrates both the harmful effects of the current education system and the benefits of reform”.
We are determined to create a First Nation led system of learning that ensures success for our children. We see the strength of our young people when they learn in ways that are grounded in who they are. Last month, over sixty First Nations educators from more than twenty Nations gathered in Garramilla for the Utyerre Apanpe Forum. We came together with Elders, cultural professors and emerging leaders to advance a First Nations-led education system for this country. Our discussions were guided by cultural authority and by the long-term vision of the M.K. Turner Report.
That report sets out six recommendations for reform, including the establishment of an independent First Nations education system, investment in language and cultural knowledge and the creation of a national body to uphold cultural and professional standards. This is a pathway to reform and generational change.
When we teach our children through their first language and culture, we see greater engagement and stronger outcomes. Research shows that children educated in their first language achieve better results and carry improved health, wellbeing and family participation.
We have seen this at Children’s Ground where local families have worked to design education that honours local culture, law and language. Children are thriving in environments where they feel valued, proud and safe.
The United Nations Declaration was adopted in 2007. Eighteen years on, the rights it sets out must move from words to practice. For Australia this means resourcing First Nations people to lead education, protecting our languages and placing Elders at the centre of authority, guidance and teaching. It means acknowledging that quality education for Aboriginal children is inseparable from identity, Country and culture.
The M.K. Turner Report reminds us, “Education is healing. It is a place that we want our children to feel valued, loved and safe in their spirit. Where their knowledge will grow”. Education is a foundation to dignity, belonging, freedom and wellbeing for future generations.
On this anniversary of UNDRIP, we call on governments, educators and communities to stand with us. The pathway has already been gifted by our Elders. What is needed now is partnership, commitment and action so that every First Nations child can grow strong in identity, language and culture, with the full protection of their human rights.
Evelyn Schaber
Arrernte woman, Senior Lecturer and Educator, and Children’s Ground Board Member.
