Urban Aboriginal-Australian and Anglo-Australian children: In-group preference, self-concept, and teachers' academic evaluations

The in-group preference and self-concepts of urban Aboriginal-Australian and Anglo-Australian children have never been compared, nor their relationships to teachers' evaluations of academic performance. In this study, 60 Aboriginal (primarily local Nyoongah) and 60 Anglo children aged 6-12 years were tested on in-group preference; children aged 8+ were tested on self-concept. Also, their teachers evaluated them on their general academic performance. Results indicated that Anglo children showed greater in-group preference and scored higher on teacher evaluations than Aboriginal children, although there was no difference on self-concept. No correlation existed between in-group preference and self-concept. It was concluded that the problems faced by Aboriginal children are only likely to be alleviated by a great deal of structural change.