ABSTRACT

Educational underachievement is well documented for minority students living in Australia. Our work with Mãori and Pacific Island (MPI) students highlights several factors that impede their participation in education. Drawing on four case studies of MPI university students, we report on the educultural factors that functioned to constrain or positively impact their academic participation. Template analysis was used to analyse in-depth interviews with the students and highlighted some cultural and relational tensions as possible barriers to successful participation. However, a number of mitigating factors including student-teacher relationships, teacher characteristics and pedagogies supported their pursuit of, and engagement in higher education. The data suggests that MPI students benefit from strong relational connections with teachers throughout their educational experience. This conclusion has implications for an educultural pedagogy to be considered in teacher education courses and for in-service professional learning for teachers working across education sectors.

摘要

居住在澳大利亚的少数族裔学生的教育成绩不佳是有据可查的。我们与毛利人和太平洋岛屿（MPI）学生的合作着重强调了一些阻碍他们参与教育的因素。我们以MPI大学生的四个案例研究为基础，报告了可制约或积极影响他们的学业参与的教育因素。模板分析被用来分析与学生的深入访谈，并强调一些文化和关系上的紧张关系可能是成功参与的障碍。但是，许多缓解因素包括学生与教师的关系，老师的特点和教学方法，支持了他们对高等教育的追求和参与。数据表明，MPI学生在整个学习过程中都受益于与老师的牢固关系。这一结论对在教师教育课程中考虑的教育教学法和跨教育部门工作的教师的在职专业学习都具有启示意义。