Centre for Positive Psychology and Education

Although there has been a growing acceptance of the promotion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives being incorporated into the all levels of learning within Australia, some commentators and researchers have questioned the usefulness of such practices (e.g. Johns, 2011). Indeed, from a quantitative perspective, a review of the existing Aboriginal Education literature produces mixed findings as to the effectiveness of culturally inclusive frameworks within education. Underlying such a controversy are serious questions that must be asked as to whether the ‘power’ of quantitative statistics is being most optimally utilised within the Aboriginal Education framework (Walter, 2006).  Addressing this question, this presentation shall utilise data from a serious of separate studies attempting to address the educational engagement and achievement patterns of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students (with comparisons with their non-Indigenous peers). Variables such as prior achievement, grades, self-concept, motivation, cultural respect, teaching strategies, and racial discrimination will be analysed largely from the foundations of the structural equation modelling framework, and utilise the likes of invariance testing, non-linear mediation, latent interaction modelling, and causal-ordering techniques. More importantly, how the afore mentioned variables may or may not interact with Aboriginal students’ sense of cultural identity will also be addressed. Overall, the results suggest that the role of identity within the learning environment is dynamic and complex, and that future quantitative research investigating the role of identity must not only utilise statistical techniques sensitive to such complexity, but also be sensitive to the future of Aboriginal education. 

Dr Gawaian Bodkin-Andrews, of the D’hawaral nation, 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. He is currently heading an Australian Research Council (ARC) Indigenous Researchers Development Grant seeking to quantitatively and qualitatively examine the relations between positive psychology constructs, racial discrimination, and academic engagement and achievement patterns for Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth. He is also a CI on another ARC project, and a PI/mentor on another two ARC post-doctorate grants. Due to his experience across a diversity of 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. His research has also attracted a number of national and international awards, and he currently has seven journal publications and 19 peer reviewed conference publications.