Language and literacy challenges for Indigenous children in Australia

Abstract

Despite considerable effort, progress in ‘closing the gap’ in literacy and in school retention in Indigenous communities is very slow. The reasons for continuing problems are many and various and are generally known at social and environmental levels. In this paper, I identify and emphasize the importance of proximal factors in understanding difficulties in learning to read competently. These are influences that are closer to the actual process of learning to read, since they reside within the child and family, and strongly influence the early pathways into success in reading. These factors are not specific, they apply to all beginning readers, but they have been neglected in the many attempts to improve academic success in Indigenous children. They include particularly a degree of competence in the English language and knowledge of the basic building blocks of successful reading skills. While no-one would deny that maintaining Indigenous cultural languages is important, the hard fact is that all children need to read the English language if they are to fulfill their educational promise in Australian society. Early failure in this task sets up risks of entrenched learning difficulties and a cascade of negative effects on school experiences and on social adaptation and mental health. Hence, prevention and early intervention to prepare children for school is critical to their futures. I argue that collaboration with families and communities in attending to the need for building school readiness in their children is essential for better outcomes in Indigenous education. In addition, better training in teaching methods based on the science of reading is a basic necessity if teachers are to meet the challenges they find in their classrooms.