Centre for Positive Psychology and Education Home
Dr Gawaian Bodkin-Andrews
Gawaian Bodkin-Andrews was awarded his PhD in 2008, with the main focus of the research being on the causal impact of multiple dimensions of self-concept, motivation and perceptions of racial discrimination over varying schooling outcomes for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian secondary students. From this he has developed a keen interest in Structural Equation Modelling techniques applied to the disciplines of cross-cultural, social and educational psychology and is currently heading an ARC Indigenous Researchers Development Grant seeking to qualitatively examining the impact of racial discrimination on Indigenous Australians. Due to his experience across his own research projects and assistance he has provided for a number of other research projects, he has strong experience in developing robust research designs, piloting and developing psychometrically sound instrumentation, administering surveys, conducting interviews across a wide range of age-groups, and undertaking advanced quantitative and qualitative data analysis. He currently has four journal publications, 18 peer reviewed conference publications, and has three first authored journal publications under review in leading journals.
Qualifications
BA (UWS), BA Hons (UWS), PhD (UWS)
Current Grants
Thesis Title
Abstract
With demographic studies repeatedly highlighting the disadvantaged status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students across nearly all educational settings, it is essential that research seek to unravel the causal role of psychological determinants that may either reduce or contribute to this status. As a result, the focus of this thesis was to examine the impact of the psycho-social constructs of multiple dimensions of self-concept, motivation and perceptions of racial discrimination over Indigenous and non-Indigenous students’ educational outcomes. Utilising a barrage of Structural Equation Modelling techniques, measures of both the psycho-social constructs and educational outcomes were assessed as to the equivalence of their validity across the Indigenous and non-Indigenous student groups, how the constructs may differ across the two groups, and finally how the psycho-social constructs and educational outcomes may be causally related to each other (independent of home socio-economic resources). The results suggested that not only were the measures utilised valid and equivalent in their meaning across Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, but also that academic components of self-concept and motivation should be considered powerful indicators of educational engagement and performance for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. In addition, the results highlighted the need to more carefully address the potential effects of perceived racial discrimination for not only Indigenous students, but also (although to a lesser extent) non-Indigenous students.
Selected Publications
Craven, R.G., & Bodkin-Andrews, G.H. (2011) What research tells us. In R. G. Craven (Ed), Teaching Aboriginal studies. Sydney, NSW: Allen & Unwin.
Bodkin-Andrews, G.H., O’Rourke, V., Grant, R., Denson, N. & Craven, R.G. (2011) Validating Racism and Cultural Respect: Understanding the Educational Impact of Perceived Discrimination and Multiculturation for Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Students. Educational Research and Evaluation, 16(6), 471-493.
Bodkin-Andrews, G., Dillon, A. & Craven, R. (2010) Bangawarra'gumada - Strengthening the Spirit: Causal modelling of academic self-concept and patterns of disengagement for Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australian students. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 39, 24-39.
Bodkin-Andrews, G.H., Seaton, M., Nelson, G. F. Craven, R.G. & Yeung, A.S. (2010) Questioning the General Self-Esteem Vaccine: General Self-Esteem, Racial Discrimination, and Standardised Achievement across Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Students. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 20(1), 1-21.
Bodkin-Andrews, G. H., O, Rourke, V. & Craven, R. G. (2010) The utility of General self-esteem and domain specific self-concepts: Their influence on Indigenous and non-Indigenous students’ educational outcomes. Australian Journal of Education, 54(3), 277-306.
Bodkin-Andrews, G.H., Ha, M.T., Craven, R.G. & Yeung, A.S. (2010) Construct Validation and Latent Mean Differences for the Self-Concepts of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Students. International Journal of Testing, 10(1), 47-79.
Bodkin-Andrews, G., Ha, M.T., Craven, R.G. & Yeung, A.S. (2010) Factorial invariance testing and latent mean differences for the Self-Description Questionnaire II (Short Version) with Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian secondary school students. International Journal of Testing, 10, 47-79.
Bodkin, F., Bodkin-Andrews, G. & Robertson, L. (2008) Wiritjiribin: The first Lyrebird. Wildlife Australia Magazine, 45(4), 35-37.
Bodkin-Andrews, G.H., & Craven, R.G. (2007) Smothering or smouldering: The dark side of motivation in Indigenous Australian students. In N. Parbury & R. G. Craven (Eds), Aboriginal studies: Making the connections (Collected papers of the 12th National Aboriginal Studies Association Conference, November, 2-3, 2006, 146-165). Sydney, Australia: Aboriginal Studies Association.
Craven, R.G., & Bodkin-Andrews, G. (2006) New Solutions for Addressing Indigenous Mental Health: A Call to Counsellors to Introduce the New Positive Psychology of Success. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 16(1), 41-54.
