White Questions--Black Answers: Effective Inclusion of Indigenous Students with a Disability into Higher Education in Australia
Author: Kerr, Sharon Ann
Date: 2021-02-26
Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Social Bias,Indigenous Populations,Student Diversity,Students with Disabilities,Inclusion,Access to Education,Barriers,Student Experience,College Students,Student Attitudes,Administrative Organization,Student Needs,Racial Bias,Academic Support Services,Student Personnel Services,Accessibility (for Disabled),Cultural Awareness,Indigenous Knowledge,Higher Education,Career Readiness,Blacks

Australian higher education has its roots deep in the soil of colonisation and European imperialism. Therefore, it has developed as a system that is exclusive rather than inclusive of social and cultural diversity. The poor levels of higher education participation and outcomes for Indigenous students and students with a disability indicate the need to examine current practices and their impact on Indigenous people with a disability. This study aimed to explore how the higher education sector can mitigate barriers faced by Indigenous students with a disability and scaffold their successful engagement with and outcomes in higher education. Founded on Indigenous Standpoint Theory, as presented by Gilroy (2009a), the methodology of this research foregrounds the central role of Indigenous people with lived experience of disability--in the study design, its implementation and in the validation of the results. This research applied a mixed methods convergent parallel design. As described by Creswell and Plano Clark (2011), the study involved collecting and analysing two distinct datasets. The Quantitative Track comprised an audit of Australian university websites and a review of Disability Action Plans to ascertain the nature of service delivery. The Qualitative Track comprised listening to the stories and truth-telling of five Indigenous people with a disability who had undertaken higher education in Australia. Following the collection and analysis of the unique datasets, a process of comparison and identifying relationships between the two Tracks was undertaken. The study revealed the following six key findings: (1) Systemic barriers for Indigenous students with a disability were created by variable and bureaucratic institutional processes. Examples include the widespread requirement for medical diagnosis of a disability before the provision of assistance and lack of flexibility in course design, delivery and assessment; (2) The Indigenous perspective of on disability was found to be a dual consideration with Indigenous students not presenting for disability support and Indigenous staff not accessing disability services and supports for their students; (3) Institutional supports for Indigenous students and students with a disability were siloed into different areas, creating a lack of clarity for Indigenous students regarding where to go for help and placing them at risk of missing out on services and supports available to non-Indigenous students; (4) Systems were not cognisant of the additional barriers faced by students who were both Indigenous and had a disability; (5) The ineffective transition from higher education to employment was a major frustration. Participants found themselves in a continuous loop of attempting further qualifications to improve their life opportunities; and (6) There was a desire for and appreciation of supportive and respectful communications from support services. Further, a spirit of resilience, determination and the desire to succeed was observed in participants. This study has identified a need for both public and private providers in the higher education sector to effectively coordinate their support services for Indigenous students with a disability. Within the current institutional funding model, this cohort may be better served by ensuring the following: (1) Services are coordinated and easy to navigate within the institution; (2) Students can present for supports without requiring supporting documentation to verify disability; (3) All staff are committed to the principles of person-centredness to ensure that individual student needs are recognised and supported; (4) Materials are produced following the principles of Universal Design of Learning to mitigate the need for students to declare that they have a disability; and (5) There is institutional commitment to cultural safety to ensure that knowledge of and respect for Indigenous culture, community and knowledge is embedded throughout all facets of the institution. This thesis presents a framework to provide a pathway for institutions to achieve these desired outcomes and embed the processes in their Disability Action Plans.