Re: The Voice
Reply #120 –
I'm more familiar with the NSW system but with State run schools it would have little to do with being tied to funding levels and more to do with curriculum requirements.
Indigenous perspectives would carry across all areas of the school curriculum.
The extent to which a school is 'decorated', the involvement of outside speakers, performers, elder speakers and additional indigenous teacher's aides would be determined by the Principal, teachers and school community.
They would certainly need to demonstrate that these areas are being covered, but it wouldn't affect their funding.
In my time, schools were given a set budget, but there was also extra money assigned that was to be used on designated targeted areas. Aboriginal education was one such area, but how we used that money was pretty much up to us....artists, performers, speakers etc. If we needed a bit of extra cash for things like NAIDOC week we could use some of the global budget.
Next time you're around a kid's or grandkid's schools have a look The cultural influences are genuine and part of the educational process for indigenous and non-indigenous students as well.
I work in Healthcare, and the cultural connection is everywhere. And without trying to sound sanctimonious, it has given me a very different and positive appreciation of indigenous culture.