EDES600 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories, Cultures and Education

Assignment 1

Assessment description

This assessment requires you to critically analyse and reflect on a series of news items relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

You will consider contemporary issues in the context of post-colonial history, government policies and their impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Assessment details

Your task is to find three news items or stories in the media that appeared in social media, newspapers, TV or radio within the last 12 months which are related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

You will frame each of these items within their socioeconomic, educational or political contexts. You must justify your selection of each of the news items based on a set of criteria that you develop.

You are to critically analyse the significance of the reported stories and reflect on them in the light of the criteria you developed, which should include the understanding of news makers or reports of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, cultures and histories.

In your account, you need to consider the following questions:

Have the perspectives of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, cultures and histories been considered? How were they portrayed? Why are these perspectives portrayed as given in each news item or story?

What is the relevance of each of these news items to your respective local community in general and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in particular?

Does the news item include any particular stereotyping or bias? Why? Where is the evidence of bias? How is this reported evidence supported logically and in the literature?

Is there consistency in the reporting of the news items across the media? Why?

You will prepare a personal reflection on each story and its significance. You need to support your reflections by examples derived from the analysis of the news item, its context and the relevant literature.

Reflective writing

There is often confusion around reflective writing in regard to what is needed to be done. It is not enough to simply write: ‘I read this article and thought it was amazing. End of reflection.’ You need to analyse WHY and HOW you responded in the way you did and then reflect further on that.