A systematic review of pedagogies that support, engage and improve the educational outcomes of Aboriginal students

This review analyses studies that identify pedagogies to support, engage and
improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student outcomes. Some studies focus
on pedagogies to support and engage, while others describe pedagogies that are
designed to improve engagement, attendance and academic skills. The role of context
emerges as a key theme, particularly in remote areas. In larger studies, Aboriginal
students are often a subset of a larger student group, included because of socioeconomic
status and achievement levels. Key findings indicate a disconnect between
practice and outcomes where links to improved outcomes are by implication rather
than evidence. Further, definitions and detail about pedagogies are mostly absent,
relying on ‘common understandings’ of what pedagogy means. This review highlights
that most of the research identifies effective pedagogies to engage and support
Aboriginal students rather than to improve their educational outcomes.