'It Would Give You a Space to Be Yourself': Increasing a Sense of Belonging for Aboriginal Students in Boarding Schools

Autor/inn/en	Whettingsteel, Emma; Oliver, Rhonda; Tiwari, Reena
Titel	'It Would Give You a Space to Be Yourself': Increasing a Sense of Belonging for Aboriginal Students in Boarding Schools
Quelle	In: Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, 30 (2020) 2, S.84-110 (27 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1839-7387
Schlagwörter	Group Membership; Interpersonal Relationship; Indigenous Populations; Minority Group Students; Boarding Schools; Foreign Countries; Psychological Patterns; Cultural Isolation; Interior Design; Participatory Research; Action Research; Freehand Drawing; Group Activities; Student Attitudes; Teacher Attitudes; Positive Attitudes; Educational Facilities Design; Educational Environment; Australia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Gruppenzugehörigkeit; Interpersonal relation; Interpersonal relations; Interpersonelle Beziehung; Zwischenmenschliche Beziehung; Sinti und Roma; Boarding school; Internat; Ausland; Raumgestaltung; Forschungstätigkeit; Projektforschung; Drawing; Zeichnen; Gruppenaktivität; Schülerverhalten; Lehrerverhalten; Lernumgebung; Pädagogische Umwelt; Schulumwelt; Australien
Abstract	Sense of belonging is a fundamental human need that can affect long term education and health outcomes. It can also be impacted by the design of the built environment, in this case by the interior design of boarding schools. Within the emerging literature pertaining to experiences of boarding school for Aboriginal students in Australia, issues of loneliness, isolation, homesickness, and the feeling of being 'between two worlds' are commonly reported. However, there is currently a dearth of literature that connects these issues with a potential role for design. Therefore, the aim of this project was to address this gap through Participatory Action Research (PAR) in which data was collected through yarning and drawing with 52 participants. 27 current boarders (all Aboriginal people, 2 male, 25 female), 18 recent alumni (All Aboriginal people, 3 male, 15 female), and 7 boarding staff members (1 Aboriginal person, all female) participated. Four themes emerged that suggest a role for interior design in increasing student sense of belonging. These relate to the institutional characterisation of current boarding schools (Place Identity), avoiding 'all or nothing' social interaction through flexible spaces (Interior Relationships), allowing student participation in ongoing interior design (Spatial Voice), and the provision of spaces that offer social and cultural relief (Third Space). These are described in this paper using the voices of the participants. It is proposed that, although these findings report only a particular collection of voices, the potential application of these ideas may be broad and of benefit to many students. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia. P.O. Box 659, Wembly, Western Australia 6913. Tel: +08-9285-0626; e-mail: admin@spera.asn.au; Web site: http://www.spera.asn.au/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01