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.