Analysis Of The Documentary 'Strong And Smart'

Words: 834
Pages: 4

The “Strong and Smart” documentary (2010) states that teachers must have high expectations for all students including Indigenous pupils. Educators must encourage students to become motivated learners and help them believe that they can be successful pupils and “could mix it with the other kids”. This idea is also affirmed by the Australian Government “What Works” program (2010). Teachers should further communicate to Aboriginal students that educators, families and community elders expect high effort and achievement from them throughout their school careers.
The documentary also highlighted the importance of acknowledging all positive academic and social student achievements. A young boy featured in “Strong and Smart” heard that a classmate
…show more content…
Chris Sarra mentions the importance of respecting insights from community elders and family members as they are experts of the children in their community. Sarra (2012) states that “they come from the same lounge room, the same kitchens, as the children in the classrooms”.
Aboriginal learning should involve many visual and kinesthetic approaches as active involvement is more meaningful for these students than passive, reticent learning. For Aboriginal students, their traditional way of engaging new knowledge was through storytelling by their elders rather than from a text. Thus, Aboriginal students are more likely to be engaged with hands-on experiences (Harrison, 2011). This is seen in the documentary segment where students are instructed by the community elders when learning the traditional Dreamtime
…show more content…
The “Strong and Smart” documentary states that good relationships must be developed between teachers, students, parents and elders. Sarra (2012) relates the importance of helping students believe that they can achieve positive results. Learners must be motivated and encouraged to believe that their goals matter, that they count as worthwhile people and that there is a place in Australia for them to succeed without losing their Aboriginal identity.
Harrison (2011) also mentions that in order to achieve classroom success, teachers must be mindful of and adhere to practices such as avoiding confrontation. It is more effective to address Aboriginal students in a calm, collected, cool manner as they respond better to this than any hostile response. The practice of “catching” students doing good work is also beneficial and will help teachers reinforce the positive behaviours they wish to