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 an d Anglo-Australian children have never been compared, nor their relationshi ps to teachers' evaluations of academic performance. In this study, 60 Abor iginal (primarily local Nyoongah) and 60 Angle children aged 6-12 years wer e tested on in-group preference; children aged 8+ were tested on self-conce pt. Also, their teachers evaluated them on their general academic performan ce. Results indicated that Angle children showed greater in-group preferenc e and scored higher on teacher evaluations than Aboriginal children, althou gh there was no difference on self-concept. No correlation existed between in-group preference and self-concept. It was concluded that the problems fa ced by Aboriginal children are only likely to be alleviated by a great deal of structural change. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.