Australian social and cultural forces are formed through a range of diverse cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious foundations, which have a major impact on the Australian educational system. The education provided through this system also plays a role in shaping society and culture. Curriculum experiences within the schooling system have the potential to negatively influence and alienate certain students, particularly those in disadvantaged communities (Ewing, 2013). Even though Australia was built on multiculturalism and is considered a developed country, social disadvantage and inequity as well as cultural prejudice exist and undeniably affect a student’s educational experience. There is also a growing concern that the two tier educational system and the inconsistency of allocated funding defines who is able to gain access to proper education; students from a lower socioeconomic status and different cultural backgrounds are consequently overlooked. This disregard for students who need extra support isolates them from their peers. This results in the refusal to actively engage within the learning environment. Additionally, Williams, Priest, and Anderson (2016) argue that race and ethnicity are interconnected with socio-economic status. Albery and Brown (2008) go on to explain that by accepting diversity, society will be able to work towards a just education system. The educational environment is another aspect that impacts on education. Teachers have the power to create a holistic learning environment that will assist in creating a more effective pedagogic setting. Social and cultural forces do indeed impact on education through social disadvantage and inequality as well as cultural prejudice. However, education can also shape society and culture by creating positive curriculum experiences for all students as well as considering the impact of the environment on student learning. 

Social disadvantage and Inequity remain prevalent within the Australian educational system and have considerable influence on students’ educational outcomes. Currently, numerous Australian students’ curriculum experiences represent their socio-economic state rather than their abilities and skills. This is the result of an educational system constructed in a way that encourages standardisation and passivity rather than equality and respect for diversity. Lee and Burkam (2002) explain that this inequality begins at the very beginning of the schooling journey. Similarly, Thomson (2002) supports this view by arguing that the educational system itself is what creates disadvantaged children, since high-end educational facilities reflect the cultural knowledges of the socially and economically privileged (Thomson, 2002). These same people determine what is taught in the schooling system, irrevocably achieving specific education to benefit a certain type of person. Ewing (2013) specifies that it is the educational experiences at school that have the ability to disadvantage and undeniably alienate certain students, particularly those in disadvantaged communities. Respectively, attending a school within a low socio-economic community rather than one from a higher end society, dictates the type of education students receive. This education is affected by the lack of resources and financial support allocated to schools within lower socio-economic communities.

Schools within lower socio-economic communities lack the resources and support necessary to assist students in fostering positive curriculum experiences. Brown (2008) confirms that the current support provisions within low-socioeconomic schools is deficient, while Ewing (2013) explains that children who come from disadvantaged backgrounds are not provided the same opportunities as children from privileged schools. Ewing (2013) states that the Australian government has considerably reduced funding to government schools, however, independent school funding has increased. Ewing (2013) goes on to add that Australia is not providing the same educational opportunities for all students, which has resulted in a seventy per cent difference in educational achievement that is attributable to the social background of students. This determines that students from disadvantaged backgrounds and schools within a low socio-economic community require supplementary support in order to achieve a higher level of equality within the educational system. In addition, bridging the gap between disadvantaged and advantaged students will require a thorough examination of the entire education system.

The inequality between schools in low socio-economic communities and those in higher social rankings is evident. This is due to the lack of funding and resources provided to schools in underprivileged communities. Balogh (2016) investigated the Gonski Australian School funding scheme, and found that it was based on political deals, which caused inequality between different Australian states; the Australian Capital Territory received $922,749, while Western Australia only received $694,135. This inconsistency impacts the students’ curriculum experiences by depriving them of the necessary support acquired through allocated funding. The West Australian Education Minister Peter Collier indicated students in Western Australia are not less significant than students from any other jurisdiction in the nation (Balogh, 2016). Government funding should be given in concentration according to the students’ needs, which vary based on the social status of the community. If the stakeholders want to make a change,  they should allow the teachers and students to express their concerns with regards to their negative schooling experiences. All children have the ability to learn and progress, but without adequate support, and no one to listen to them, their future is one of school failure, low self-esteem and unqualified, inadequately paid employment (Ewing, 2013). Hence by encouraging a culture of high expectation for all students within the educational system, students are able to overcome their social disadvantage and focus on positive curriculum experiences. These experiences may still vary based on their social and cultural circumstances, however, they are not causing a negative impact.

Race and ethnicity are intertwined with socio-economic status, which magnifies the inequity to include cultural prejudice. This view is supported by Williams, Priest and Anderson (2016), who have indicated that socio-economic status is strongly patterned by race. While Australia attempts to assist refugees, who come from different cultural backgrounds by providing access to free English language courses (Brown, 2008), this support is not maintained and incorporated into the mainstream educational system. In turn, causing hardship and alienation among the students who transition from these support classes into conventional classes. A consequence of this alienation is that the children soon disconnect and isolate themselves from the potential possibilities that schooling can provide (Brown, 2008). In order to prevent this issue from arising, adequate support within the educational system will need to be granted. The importance of quality teaching and educational systems is vast, and should aim to discuss certain aspects of positive cultural diversity, such as specific festivals or food. This sanctions the ability to prevail over the alienation experienced by many disadvantaged students (Ewing, 2013). There need to be full-time specialist teachers or social workers within the school grounds who can provide reassurance or assistance to refugees, students in remote rural areas, students dealing with socioeconomic difficulties, and children with special physical or emotional needs. Teachers such as specific English as a Second Language specialists should be more readily available for a much longer period in order to support students with their problems in learning English or understanding other certain subjects. In classrooms, teachers find that troubled students such as refugees who have had to deal with the consequences of war, are withdrawn, aggressive, unable to concentrate, anxious or hyperactive (Coelho, 1998). Underlying inequity may possibly transpire round policies, communications, presentations, or through variations in the curriculum or program that teachers offer to particular students (Siraj-Blatchford & Clarke, 2004). This can be addressed primarily by contesting the hidden oppression that is often imposed upon particular individuals and groups (Siraj-Blatchford & Clarke, 2004). Educators must also appreciate the different cultures brought into their classroom by students. This will result in positive education, which will constructively shape society and culture by slowly diminishing the stigma around cultural difference, as well as providing equal access to education for all children.

All children have the right to relevant inclusive curriculum that embraces quality education. The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] (2016) states that students who have English as a second language require specific support to build English language skills to access the Australian Curriculum. While English is a vital aspect of experiencing the curriculum, students also need to be taught to embrace their social and cultural background, and learn how to utilize these previous skills to assist them in furthering their education. Pung (2006) describes the assimilation of refugees as “trying not to stand out…or bring shame” to their race; this ideology stems from the cultural prejudice formed by social generalisations or inaccurate analysis of personal experiences. Albery and Brown (2008) state that curriculum experiences are most effective when diversity is viewed as a resource rather than a hindrance. Furthermore, Ewing (2013) explains that students who have a cultural background other than that of the leading Anglo-Saxon Western society, frequently discover that the formal intended curriculum does not reflect their own life experiences and beliefs. Hence, modifying the curriculum to include cultural experiences that students bring to school, will enable students to relate to the information; subsequently, they are more open to engage in classroom activities. Since teachers are the implementers of curriculum experiences, they need to work towards positive changes in school cultures and the classroom environment.

The method teachers establish to develop their pedagogical environment, influences the curriculum that children potentially experience. Reggio Emilia’s approach to education discusses the concept of the environment as being the third teacher (Strong-Wilson & Ellis, 2007). Moreover, Robson (2004) describes this ‘third teacher’ as a dynamic force capable of supporting all aspects of children’s development. By regarding the environment as an educator, it becomes apparent that surroundings do indeed contribute to students learning. This contribution is established through student seating arrangements and proximity to other students, what students are looking at, how students get from one place to another, location of reading corner, and the effect of the environment on a student’s mood (O’Donnell, Dobozy, Bartlett, Nagel, Spooner-Lane, Youssef-Shalala, Reeve & Smith, 2016). The main purposes of a classroom comprise of security and shelter, social contact, symbolic identification, task instrumentality, pleasure, and growth (O’Donnell, et al, 2016). This implies that teachers need to develop an environment that allows for connections that are based on trust, flexibility, and concern for students as individuals are established (O’Donnell, et al, 2016). The need to feel safe and secure within the learning environment can be formed through the establishment of personal space, such as an allocated desk or storage space. Similarly, the design of the classroom will encourage certain positive interactions and discourage disruptive ones, creating social contact between students in order for them to feel a sense of security and belonging. Students feel the need to express themselves, teachers should encourage this need by allowing them to make the classroom their own, through a sense of symbolic identification as a whole classroom unit and as an individual, which will allow a sense of comfort. When teachers work alongside students to support them in investigating and expressing their questions and ideas, they foster an appreciation for discovery and learning (Hill, 2005). Similarly, creating a physical environment to cater for group tasks, individual work and quiet spaces creates variety within the classroom. Students spend a vast amount of time within the classroom. Accordingly, they need to be able to interact with the environment around them easily in order to gain a pleasurable and comfortable experience. O’Donnell, et al. (2016) explains that a well-designed classroom can promote cognitive and emotional growth by offering resources and opportunities that intrigue, excite, and challenge students.

For forty weeks of the year, classrooms are where students spend most of their time. Consequently, it is not unexpected that the physical environment of the classroom affects students’ behaviour. Moreover, teachers have the power to create a functional pedagogical community for them that will stimulate learning and support growth in children as well as promote social interaction. Students’ success will depend on how competently they can work in a community, whether they are able to seamlessly function in the classroom, and stay focused on the goals of the class. It is vital to plan educational settings as positive and welcoming environments to activate successful learning (Strong-Wilson & Ellis, 2007). Educational institutions are required to establish a means of creating communities where learners not only share multiple perspectives, but can be themselves, so they can discover who they are, what they care about and by what methods they can promote and support each other and the community as a whole (Ewing, 2013). Providing students with independence through ‘freedom of access’ will give them a sense of maturity as well as a sense of control (Robson, 2004, p. 211). Placing equipment in easy to reach areas for children will give them this sense of freedom and control.

Social and cultural forces do indeed impact on education through social disadvantage and inequality as well as cultural prejudice. However, education can also shape society and culture by creating positive curriculum experiences for all students as well as considering the impact of the environment on student learning. The curriculum can negatively impact and isolate certain students, particularly affecting those in low socio-economic communities. Additionally, cultural prejudice, as well as social disadvantage, still exist and can result in negative educational experience for the students. There is increasing concern for students who live at a social disadvantage, as bridging the gap between the two-tier educational systems is becoming increasingly harder. This system harbours cultural prejudice and inequity, in terms of misdirected and inconsistent allocation of funds and resources, which place these students at a growing disadvantage. Moreover, the learning environment also impacts thus creating a safe and all-inclusive learning environment will assist in establishing a comfortable setting for the students. As O’Donnell et al (2016) states that a well-designed classroom will, in fact, promote cognitive and emotional growth as a result of the comfort in their environment. Ultimately, students who live on the boundaries of mainstream societies will continue to struggle if stakeholders do not address socioeconomic disadvantages, cultural prejudice and the need for an engaging learning environment that supports positive curriculum experiences.