Self-concept is recognised as useful in facilitating understanding of the development of resilience, academic achievement and social and emotional maturity in children. This framework is valuable for studying minorities such as Indigenous children, for who a positive self-concept is a means of bolstering resilience and mitigating the inherited structural disadvantages of colonisation. This paper aims to understand the academic self-concept of Indigenous children in Australia through analysis of univariate, bivariate and multivariate data of Indigenous children aged 9.5 to 11 years from the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children Wave’s 7 K Cohort. Results show overall positive levels of Indigenous children’s self-perception at school. Further, factors such as level of relative isolation, teacher perception, peer relationships, feedback from mother and contact with community leaders and Elders is positively associated with Indigenous Children’s schooling mathematic and reading selfconcepts. Ensuring that Indigenous students are supported by community, peers and parents, immersed in their culture and are recognised and supported by their teachers can alleviate the undesirable effects that structural inequalities may have on their academic self-concept.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Aboriginal education, LSIC, self-concept, indigenous
Research Division:	Indigenous Studies
Research Group:	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education
Research Field:	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander curriculum and pedagogy
Objective Division:	Indigenous
Objective Group:	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education
Objective Field:	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Prehn, J (Dr Jacob Prehn)
UTAS Author:	Peacock, H (Mr Huw Peacock)
UTAS Author:	Guerzoni, MA (Dr Michael Guerzoni)
ID Code:	134773
Year Published:	2021 (online first 2020)
Deposited By:	Education
Deposited On:	2019-09-04
Last Modified:	2022-10-11
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