A Model for seeding success for Aboriginal students

Despite efforts of educators and researchers to address issues of Australian Indigenous education, many Aboriginal Australians have remained disadvantaged. Australian education has largely continued to fail in providing Aboriginal Australians with educational outcomes and life opportunities comparable to their non-Aboriginal peers. Actions taken to address such issues are often based on certain assumptions which, though well intended, are often lack of evidence of tangible results and sustainability. Ways to make a real difference to the present situation requires scientific and systematic investigations that can inform policy and practice on the basis of a sound theoretical model and evidence derived from rigorous testing with sound methodology. This paper presents a model for seeding success for Aboriginal students, which emphasizes an intertwinement of theory, research, and practice and suggests ways to improve the education of the long disadvantaged group.