Overview: Improving the educational experiences of Indigenous students

This chapter presents an overview of the factors and priorities identified in this study as critical to improving the educational experiences of Indigenous students. A number of factors support and enable significant, sustained improvement at system, community and school levels. These include respecting the rights and values of Indigenous students, setting targets with firm time frames, working closely with individual students and their families and communities, and collecting data to monitor progress over time. At the system level, three initiatives in particular should be included in any strategy to improve the education experiences of Indigenous students: providing high-quality early learning opportunities supporting teachers and leaders to develop awareness, capability and confidence and monitoring progress across key indicators at both system and school levels. At the individual school level, the combination of priorities used will differ depending on circumstances, but at a minimum, schools should focus on: quality and effectiveness of teaching engagement with families and direct support for students. The issues faced by Indigenous students go far beyond education, but it is education that provides hope and promise to address disparities, not only in educational opportunities but also a much wider set of inequities.