Moving Forward Together in Aboriginal Women's Health: - Theses ...

Moving Forward TogetherJanet KellyAnother participant felt that young Aboriginal women struggled with lack ofinformation, wrong information, low self confidence and being scared toconnect with people to ask questions and get help (HS I4). She stressed theimportance in supporting young women and helping them to get past theirfears through building relationships of trust, and a safe atmosphere (HS I4).She favoured experiential learning with the support of a trusted staff member.She indicated that the cultural background of the staff member was notimportant, what was important was that mutual trust and respect could be builtup over time.The impact of culture, families and social classCo-researchers discussed mixed feelings about the impact of culture, familiesand communities on young Aboriginal women and their ability to succeed inschool. One participant said;I don’t know what it is, this culture. Maybe it’s a sense of belonging andbeing part of a community, having a connection and understanding thesame words and gestures.Many of the young girls have both white and Aboriginal heritage and Ithink we need to find some way where they claim both. (HS I3)Another teacher questioned the ‘all positive’ role of culture and whethersometimes the less ‘culture’ a student has, the easier it is for them in the widereducation and social system. She gave an example of one young woman whohad little contact with her family and was raised away from Aboriginalcommunity members. From this interviewee’s perspective;This young women works with all the systems and social requirementswell, she has no younger siblings to care for and has not been subjectedto the negativeness and discriminating stuff about white people. She doesnot know about her heritage; she has no trouble working the system (HSI4)This teacher placed the importance of education over the importance ofconnection to culture and heritage. She went on to discuss challenges for269