Abstract
This chapter focuses on the applicability of universal design for learning principles for First Nations students. It looks at a pre-tertiary course designed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in Australia that has been very successful at supporting students not only to transition successfully into higher education, but also to decolonize their understanding of themselves as learners and rewrite their own educational narrative about what is possible for them. Following a description of the history and context of the course design and development, the chapter examines the philosophies and practices of the course through the lenses of the three key principles of UDL: multiple means of engagement, multiple means of representation, and multiple means of action and expression. While there are clear limitations regarding the extent to which the UDL principles can be overlaid upon an existing course, the comparison does show that intentional design that subconsciously shares these principles can help students to overcome structural learning barriers and create inclusion.
TopIntroduction
The Preparation for Tertiary Success (PTS) course is taught by Batchelor Institute in the Northern Territory, Australia in partnership with Charles Darwin University. It is a course specifically designed to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult students from across Australia to develop the academic and lifelong learning skills needed to successfully access and participate in University level courses. While the course was not intentionally designed using UDL principles, upon examination the knowledge and delivery principles that underpin this model certainly reflect the UDL principles of:
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Multiple means of engagement
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Multiple means of representation
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Multiple means of action and expression (CAST 2018)
This chapter will explore the development, delivery and success of the PTS course between 2011 and 2018. It will examine the empirical research that underpins the course and how these ideas align with UDL principles. It will then identify why and how the unintended alignment with UDL principles has led to greater inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students into the tertiary education system in Australia.
Background
In Australia, as in many places globally, until fairly recently Higher Education (HE) has been considered the domain of elites and limited measures have been taken to address the social, educational and economic inequalities that stemmed from this. However, in recent decades there has been increasing recognition that all of society benefits when our institutions are inclusive of a range of talents, experiences and knowledge perspectives (Novak and Bracken 2019). But the legacy of decades of barriers to HE have required specific interventions. In recognition of the need for increased access for, and inclusion of, certain equity or non-traditional student groups within the university population, enabling, bridging or foundational programs are offered by a large number of universities in Australia as alternative entry pathways (Pitman et al 2017, Hodges et al 2013). These enabling programs are often based in universities and they do not charge tuition fees, as the programs receive funding from the Australian Government. Their focus is on the equity goal of widening access to HE to students from non-traditional backgrounds, especially those from low SES backgrounds (Hodges et al. 2013). Hodges and others (2013, p 5) note that ‘enabling programs are a very successful pathway for non-traditional students into HE, enabling around half of their students the opportunity to access undergraduate study’.
First Nations students represent one of six officially recognized equity groups of students in Australian HE policy (Pitman et al 2017). These six equity groups identified by the Fair Chance for All statement (DEET, 1990) are:
• people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• women (particularly in non-traditional areas of study)
• people from non-English speaking backgrounds
• people with a disability and
• people from rural and isolated areas.
Evidence suggests that, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in particular, enabling programs have been significant in raising historically low university participation rates (Pitman et al 2017), and that such programs have contributed to a 70% increase in the number of First Nations students in HE award courses in Australia (Commonwealth of Australia Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet 2016). According to Pitman and others (2017), of the 38 Australian HE institutions offering enabling programs in 2015, 14 of these institutions were running programs specifically designed for First Nations students. One of these institutions is Batchelor Institute, Australia’s only dedicated dual sector provider of tertiary education for Aboriginal and Torres strait Islander students (Batchelor Institute Strategic Plan 2015-2020). It delivers an enabling program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students called the PTS course.
Key Terms in this Chapter
ELLI: ELLI stands for Effective Lifelong Learning Inventory. It is a tool used in the Learning Power approach that provides students with information and knowledge about themselves as learners in relation to seven learning dimensions.
First Nations: A term used to respectfully encompass the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and identities.
Aboriginal: The term Aboriginal in this chapter refers to the first nations people who live on the mainland of Australia and Tasmania. This term encompasses many dozens of specific regional identities, language groups and representatives of various country.
Block Release: A mode of study where students complete their studies on campus in back-to-back blocks of time, while also continue to learn online when they are not on campus. Frequently used to support students who are geographically distant from large urban centres where University campuses are located.
Indigenous: The term Indigenous is used in certain publications and by certain people quoted in this chapter as an alternative to First Nations.
Both Ways: An educational philosophy that acknowledges and creates space for both First Nations and Western knowledges, skills, and ways of learning.
High Expectations: The term high expectations and high expectations relationships stem from the work of Dr Chris Sarra and the Stronger Smarter Institute. It acknowledges that the colonization of Australia has led Australian society to have low expectations of First Nations students guided by a deficit thinking mentality. High Expectations relationships is an intentional and explicit response by educators, institutions, and students to deliberately subvert that paradigm.
Deficit Thinking: A legacy of colonization that negatively impacts First Nations student educational success.
Learning Power: Learning Power is a term developed by researchers out of the University of Bristol focused on how individuals, teams and organizations learn and change.
Torres Strait Islander: The term Torres Strait Islander used in this chapter refers to the people whose traditional lands and waters are the 274 islands located in the Torres Strait, located between Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Preparation Course: The term preparation course, also called bridging course, foundation course and pre-tertiary course, refers to course that support pre-tertiary learners to prepare for undertaking tertiary courses, particularly at University.
Aboriginal English: Aboriginal English refers to the various kinds of English spoken by Aboriginal people throughout Australia. These dialects of English have much in common with other varieties of Australian English, but there are distinctive features of accent, grammar, words and meanings, as well as language use. Aboriginal English features often show continuities with the traditional Aboriginal languages. Aboriginal English is a powerful vehicle for the expression of Aboriginal identity.