Transcript Is schooling good for Aboriginal children’s health? Merridy Malin Aboriginal Health Council

Is schooling good for Aboriginal children’s
health?
Merridy Malin
Aboriginal Health Council
of S.A.
June 2009
Overview: Drawing on a micro-ethnography of one
classroom, hypothesise about health promoting
pedagogy
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Connections between western schooling and health
Connecting the findings of family and classroom microethnographies
Examine the classroom dynamics in one classroom looking at:
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What does research suggest about
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What skills did the Aboriginal children bring from home to school
How did the teacher accommodate those skills in the classroom
What was the status of the Aboriginal children at the end of the
year in that classroom
what everyday situations might be stressful to children
the impact of stressful situations on the stress hormones in
children
the impact of stress on health
moderators of stress
Extrapolations on what might be healthful pedagogy
Social Determinants literature
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“The health of populations is related to features of
society and its social and economic organisation …
health is a matter that goes beyond the provision of
health services.” Acheson, in Marmot & Wilkinson 1999, p. xi;
Carson, Dunbar Chenhall and Bailie 2007, p. 9.
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This literature focuses on the social environment
rather than health services and individual psychology
or behaviour.
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Social factors include: housing, transport, racism,
employment, social supports, education, etc.
Connection between Health and Education
International literature (Caldwell 1991; Boughton 2000)
Parental
education a child survival
10% increase in literacy rates associated with
10% decrease in child mortality.
Maternal
education a child survival
Mothers with more confidence, higher expectations of
medicine, more assertive in seeking health care
Population
Years
literacy levels (Marmot 1999)
of schooling for self (Marmot 1999)
Australian research
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3 proposed pathways:
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Education a employment a income a health (Tsey)
Maternal employment a child health (Ewald & Boughton)
Education a social and emotional well being
From: Terry Dunbar and Margaret Scrimgeour (2007)
Malin research
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Ethnography
4 Adelaide families at home (2 Nunga, 2 Anglo
Australian)
3 classrooms across school year
– Participant observation
– Intensive interviewing
– Videotaping
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Reception – Year one classes
Low income Adelaide suburban school
Scenario
Naomi, Jason and Terry were 3 physically
attractive, energetic, bright and curious
Aboriginal five year olds. Outside the classroom,
they were articulate and confident but inside the
classroom, by the end of the year, they were in
the
lowest
academic
group
for
their
age,
considered troublesome by their teacher, and
were largely ostracised by their non-Aboriginal
peers.
Culture defined
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System of standards for perceiving,
believing, evaluating and acting
(Goodenough 1981)
Assumption: Culture variable &
constantly changing
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People’s behaviours change with age, size of the family
and gender
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Different generations also vary
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Commonalities, enduring traits within cultures eg middle
class Australians versus middle class people from the
USA
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Enduring traits found in this research:
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Childrearing practices
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Communication styles
Parent preferences:
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Autonomy
Self regulation
 Children
will put on a jacket when cold
 Will get something to eat when hungry
 Will ask for assistance when it is needed
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Self reliance
 Physically
tough, emotionally stoic, streetwise
Teacher response to autonomous child
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Great practical competence, ingenuity, independence:
 Talents not ‘seen’ by teacher
Not responding to teacher directives first time round:
 Child seen as disobedient, rebellious
Not monitoring teacher’s presence sufficiently:
 Child caught out doing the wrong thing
Wandering in mind and body while sizing up the
situation:
 Child seen as vague: ‘on another planet’
Not answering direct questions quickly enough:
 Child seen as not knowing
Being assertive in settling disputes:
 Child seen as aggressive
Parent preferences:
Collective responsibility
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Affiliation
- ‘Caring and sharing’
Sociability and social knowledge
Kinship knowledge
Acts of concern for others
Sharing with, assisting, supporting another regardless
of age
Parent preferences:
Affiliation cont
Nurturance – caring for younger sibling
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Awareness of whereabouts
Offering to play, take them somewhere
Carry them
Show them something
Help, feed, give information to them
Draw the attention of another to them altruistically
Explain on their behalf to someone else
Show affection towards them
Express amusement at them in good natured way
Teacher response to affiliative child
Sophisticated kin knowledge
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Knowledge not ‘seen’ by teacher - invisibility
Monitoring peers for information
Being aware of others’ whereabouts
 Being aware of others’ needs
If seen, interpreted as being a ‘busy body’
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Physical demonstrations of affection, touching,
sitting close to
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… distracting
Teacher response to affiliative child cont
Stating achievements collectively “We made …”
• …not acknowledged/ noticed
Speaking on behalf of other children
• …being ‘busy body’
Drawing attention to others’ achievement
• …being ‘busy body’
Lack of practical academic support
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Less time on task
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Reading aloud at school individually
Instruction time given for individual & small group
Time left to work independently
Time spent in ‘time out’
Encouragement to read at home
Poor quality time
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At end of lesson during classroom disturbance
Placement in group below child’s attainment level
Social exclusion by teacher
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Teacher displayed irritation or dislike of child and did not trust their
ability to shoulder responsibility
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Nunga students reprimanded and punished more often
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Punishments were more severe
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Jokes not acknowledged
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Teacher did not share her personal stories
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Assertions were doubled checked
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Seen as behaviour problems
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Excessively controlled in daily work
Social exclusion by teacher
cont
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Correct academic responses were not recognised
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Good work received with surprise, scepticism
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Their satisfaction at positive feedback interpreted as bragging
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Punishments resulted in negative academic outcomes
Social exclusion by peers
After Nunga children were censured:
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Other students ostracised them
– Refused to play with them
– Moved away from them
– Made faces at them
Nunga children responded by:
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Pleading for acceptance
Offering food or money
Expressing anger
Social withdrawal
Angry outbursts at teacher and peers
Seeking repeated affirmation of work from teacher
General outcome
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Invisibility syndrome
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Failures highly visible in
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Achievements not seen
low expectations
not trusted
punishments
Evidence of distress
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Seeking repeated affirmation of work from teacher
Angry outbursts with friends
Angry outbursts with teacher
Family, environment, stress & health
during childhood – MV Flinn 1999
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10 year ethnographic study of 264 children, aged
2 months - 18 years
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Marker of stress was cortisol, obtained from saliva
swabs taken randomly several times per day
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Diary kept of events immediately before swab
Chronically stressed children had
higher levels of cortisol and
experienced more illness
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“Chronically Stressed” - involved 2 or more events of
– parental conflict,
– mild abuse or neglect,
– an anxious or inhibited temperament,
– parent alcoholism,
– few friends,
– involvement in theft, fighting, running away,
punishment, quarrelling, embarrassment
Hypothesised biological pathway
Racism, Poverty, etc.
FlightFright
response
Daily
Stress
Daily
FlightFright
response
Sympathetico-adrenaline pathway:
• Increased heart rate
• Increased metabolic rate
• Increase blood pressure
• Constriction of blood vessels
• Increased perspiration.
Adaptive for short lived stress (for flight) but
In the longer term
Sympathetico-adrenaline
pathway:
Affects immune system, blood
clotting, inflammation & an
increased susceptibility to all major
diseases
Moderators of stress
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Social support (Stansfield 1999, Syme 1998, Cobb 1976)
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Cultural factors (Jackson & Sellers 1998; Niles 1999: Syme 1998)
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Emotional support - Information to help resolve problems;
Access to support networks; Boosting self-esteem by others
Instrumental or practical support – resources, money
Strong sense of cultural identity
Shared sense of spirituality
Family support
Associating with members of one’s cultural community
Individual temperament & personality
Education & social and emotional well
being
Hypothesis: Education will enhance the SEWB of
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children if offering:
Social support
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Emotional support-Information to help resolve problems;
Boosting of self-esteem by others
Instrumental or practical support including sound teaching
methodologies
Cultural support / inclusion:
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Strong sense of cultural identity
Family support
Associating with members of one’s cultural community
Sandi Hudspith’s research
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Learning to Belong: An Ethnography of
Urban Aboriginal Schooling. PhD thesis,
Charles Darwin University 1996
School – Health connection hypothesis
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Health effects of schooling may be cancelled out in
Australian contexts by marginalising processes of
colonisation.
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School failure is partly the result of marginalising
practices.
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Commonplace practices can marginalise
unintentionally and create stress
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Socially supportive and ‘inclusive’ practices which
facilitate child learning most probably promote child
health
Concluding statement
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Health does impact on the child’s
accessibility to education
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Western education is likely to be health
promoting for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander children if it offers ‘social support’
and is ‘culturally and socially inclusive’
References
Boughton, B. 2000. What is the connection between Aboriginal
Education and Aboriginal Health? Occasional Paper series,
Issue 2, CRCATH, Darwin
Brunner, E.J. and Marmot, M.G. 1999. Social organization, stress
and health. In M.G. Marmot & R.G. Wilkinson (eds), Social
Determinants of Health. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Caldwell, J & Caldwell, P. 1991. What have we learnt about the
cultural, social and behavioural determinants of health? Health
Transitions Review, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 3-17.
Dunbar, T & Scrimgeour, M. 2007. Education. In Carson, B.,
Dunbar, T. Chenhall, R.D. & Bailie, R (eds.), Social Determinants
of Indigenous Health. Allen & Unwin. Crows Nest
Flinn, M.V. 1999. Family environment, stress, and health during
childhood. In C. Panter-Brick & C.M. Worthman (eds.),
Hormones, Health and Behaviour: A Socio-ecological and
lifespan perspective. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp.
105-318.
References cont.
Gallaher, G, Ziersch, A, Baum, F, Bentley, M, Palmer, C,
Edmondson, W & Winslow, L. 2009. In Our Own Backyard:
Urban Health Inequities and Aboriginal Experiences of
Neighbourhood Life, Social Capital and Racism. Adelaide:
Flinders University.
Goodenough, W. 1981. Culture Language and Society. Reading,
Mass: Addison-Wesley Modular Publications, No. 7.
Malin, M. 2003. Is Schooling Good for Aboriginal Children’s
Health? Occasional paper series, no. 3, pp. 312-29.
Malin, M 1997. Mrs. Eyers is no ogre: A micro-study in the exercise
of power. In G. Cowlishaw and B. Morris (Eds.), Race Matters:
Indigenous Australians and 'Our' Society. Canberra: Aboriginal
Studies Press, pp.139-158.
Tsey, K. 1997. Aboriginal self-determination, education and health:
Towards a radical change in attitudes to education. Australian
and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, vol. 21, pp. 77-83.
Contact Details
Merridy Malin
Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia
[email protected]
Phone: 8132 6700
THANK YOU
Racism & Mental Health
Rollock and Gordon (2006) and Miliora (2000) found racism
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Generates internal stresses in individuals resulting in mental health
problems. Can lead to limitations in lifestyles ; can lead to depression,
anxiety, substance abuse, and chronic physical health problems.
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Gallaher, G, Ziersch, A, et al, (2009) survey of 153
Aboriginal people in Adelaide found:
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Substantially lower levels of trust in institutions among the
Aboriginal people when compared with non-Indigenous
people
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93% of Aboriginal people reported experiencing racism at
least sometimes
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66% experienced it often
Responses to racism (Gallaher et al)
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People believed that the experiences with racism impacted on
both their physical and mental health.
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94% reported they felt frustrated/angry or annoyed
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69% avoided situations in response
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Over 66% reported physical responses including headaches,
stomach aches, pounding heart, shaking
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More than 50% reported feeling ashamed, humiliated, anxious,
fearful, powerless, hopeless, depressed
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People who regularly experienced racism were more likely
than not to have poor mental health
Upstream - Midstream- Downstream
Psychosocial Factors
Government
Policies
Physiological systems
Endocrine
Control
Economic, Welfare, Health
Immune
Housing, transport, taxation
Global Forces
Culture
Social
determinants
Employment
Housing
Education
Racism
Income
Beliefs
Values
Norms
Stress
Isolation, anger
Networks
Social Support
Self esteem
Biological reactions
Health Behaviours
Hypertension
Smoking
Adrenalin
Alcohol
Glucose intoleranc
Addictive behaviours
Suppressed immune
function
The control factor
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Mapping the pathway from employment to ill
health - Whitehall study
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The lower in the hierarchy the poorer the health of
white, middle-class bureaucrats
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High demands at work and little discretion for how
the demands are dealt with
In the industrialised world for almost every
disease there is a stepwise gradient