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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 9.5-11 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 self-concepts. 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. more...

This article seeks to understand who Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children select as role models, and the reasons underlying these choices. Drawing data from Wave 8 of the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children, it comprises a sample of 307 children (169 male and 138 female) aged between 10.5 and 12 years at the time of data collection. Content analysis was used to analyse survey responses regarding two questions pertaining to role models, the analytical process being underpinned by Indigenous standpoint theory. The findings show that participants tended to select role models correlating with their gender and who were Indigenous or people of colour. For boys, most selected Indigenous sportsmen, whilst girls more evenly selected mothers, women from the entertainment industry, and sportswomen. The reasons why these individuals were selected were similar for boys and girls: the role model's ability, mastery and/or competency in a given field. These findings are important for educators and schools in guiding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youths in their educational and career choices, and for policymakers in creating campaigns and pathways into fields where Indigenous persons are underrepresented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The sacrament of confession is criticised for impeding clerical reporting of information about child sexual abuse to authorities. The sacrament of confession is found within Catholicism and Anglicanism and imposes a 'seal' on priests, forbidding them from ever revealing details of the sins confessed to them. This creates a moral dilemma in cases of abuse: should the priest obey canon or civil law? There have been recent efforts in Australian Anglicanism to address this dilemma via canonical reform in 2014 and 2017. In light of these changes, this article examines the perspectives of Anglican clergy in the Anglican Diocese of Tasmania towards the confessional seal. Findings reveal that most clergy would not obey canon law and ecclesiastical instructions about maintaining the confessional seal on the grounds that this requirement contravenes their theological and moral principles. The clergy also describe their approaches to responding to information of harm revealed both in confessional and pastoral encounters, demonstrating a desire to act in ways that assist all parties involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...