How do Indigenous students and their families define success in education? Reporting on the results of Indigenous-led qualitative interviews and participatory diagramming

Indigenous education has long been considered a critical area to the fulfilment of Indigenous rights and the rectification of Indigenous socioeconomic exclusion. Several approaches have been adopted to try and lift Indigenous education outcomes, most of which have failed to reach their intended targets. These approaches have occurred with limited Indigenous control and have consistently fallen short in measuring what matters to Indigenous students and families. Little research has been conducted on how Indigenous students and their families in Australia define educational success, particularly within the urban context. If Indigenous education outcomes are to improve, policy needs to reflect the aspirations and values of Indigenous students and families. Underpinned by an Indigenous Research Methodology, this paper explores how Indigenous students and their parents/carers define educational success. It finds that definitions vary in significant ways to policy definitions. While educational success is typically indicated by narrow measures of attendance, academic achievement and Year 12 completion in policy, definitions of educational success of the Indigenous participants in this research is far broader. The findings of this paper suggest that policymakers need to look beyond the narrow targets currently used to measure educational success if outcomes for Indigenous students are to improve.