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Acknowledgement

Evidence-based actions to support remote Indigenous participation in higher education: What do we know and where to next?.

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Acknowledgement

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  1. Evidence-based actions to support remote Indigenous participation in higher education: What do we know and where to next? Professor James Smith1-2, Ms. Donna Stephens2 and the Whole of Community Engagement Team11. Office of Pro Vice Chancellor – Indigenous Leadership, Charles Darwin University2. Menzies School of Health Research

  2. Acknowledgement We acknowledge that this meeting is being held on the traditional land of the Larrakia people and pay respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We recognise their strength and resilience.

  3. A team effort Information presented today is the result of collective efforts of the WCE team. It draws on a team experience.

  4. WCE Background Whole of Community Engagement (WCE) initiative: • $7.5m funding from the Higher Education Participation and Partnership Program (HEPPP) from July 2014 until December 2016 (now August 2017) • Large-scale multi-site Participatory Action Research project • Working with six remote Indigenous communities in the NT in both the Top End and Central Australia • Underpinned by a partnership approach

  5. WCE Aim and Objectives Aim: • To work with specified remote Indigenous communities across the NT to build aspiration, expectation and capacity to participate in further education Objectives: • Explore current community perspectives of further education, and linking with existing strategies for achieving quality of life aspirations; • Facilitate ongoing opportunities for community, research, academic and public policy leaders to engage in mutually beneficial relationships; and • Identify means for making education relevant and culturally and physically accessible

  6. Our communities: • Gunbalanya (n = 1,200+) • Maningrida (n = 3,500+) • Galiwin’ku (n = 2,100+) • Yirrkala (n = 840+) • Tennant Creek (n = 3,560+) • Yuendumu (n = 810+)

  7. Project Brief used during the inaugural community visit to Yuendumu in 7-9 October 2014 Sunday Canberra Times, 16 November 2014 Tennant & District Times Nov 2015; Mulga Mail April 2016; Tennant & District Times April 2016; NT News/Koori Mail Nov 2016

  8. WCE Website https://remotengagetoedu.com.au/

  9. Evidence Briefs https://remotengagetoedu.com.au/uploads/assets/uploads/files/WCE_EvidenceBriefs_Booklet_2018.pdf The Evidence Briefs represent the major themes that emerged from the initiative. They provide useful lessons about comparable remote contexts. Taking a mutually respectful approach to practice Forming partnerships with impact Building parental engagement with formal education  (a) Providing culturally safe school environments, (b) Employing culturally competent teachers and principals Incorporating Indigenous curriculum and pedagogy Investing in English language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) Ensuring intercultural education practice Mobilising Indigenous leadership and governance Supporting mentoring for Indigenous students Maximising the contribution of local Indigenous teachers

  10. 1. Taking a mutually respectful approach to practice • Background • Genuine local engagement • Privileging Indigenous voices • Key messages from WCE • Indigenous leadership is important • Acknowledge Western and cultural intersections • Take time to build trust • Considerations for policy and practice • Place-based responses are important • Systemic vs community imperatives

  11. 2. Forming partnerships with impact • Background • Indigenous community engagement • Local partnerships • Intersectoral partnerships • Key messages from WCE • Shared goals and aspirations • Partnership co-ordination needs resourcing • Considerations for policy and practice • External partnerships also important • HE partnerships can take many forms

  12. 3. Building parental engagement with formal education • Background • Historical aspects of schooling and intergenerational disengagement • Many years of curriculum development to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges and knowledge systems • Key messages from WCE • Education is valued ‘invisible’ but not without care • Understanding culture and education pathways • Parents restricted by own educational journeys • Engagement is supported when communities are cohesive • Considerations for policy and practice • Build on devolution of decision making and remove bureaucratic structures that impact on school-community partnerships • Schools and communities extend partnership and build formal pathways to VET and Higher Education including the development of community based graduation ceremonies

  13. 4. (a) Providing culturally safe school environments • Background • Building effective workforce practices and structures to support culturally inclusive and safe work places • Key messages from WCE • Tacit knowledge within organisations is acknowledged, shared and renegotiated ‘balance of power’ • Building local Aboriginal Teachers to lead and develop schools and classrooms • Build cultural resilience in a mutually respectful work practices • Considerations for policy and practice • Both department and community based cultural training is required • Mentoring and building capabilities of Aboriginal staff • Housing for local teachers • Quality education should be locally and community based to support students who are wanting to seek broader educational opportunities

  14. 4. (b) Employing culturally competent teachers and principals • Background • Culturally competent workforce and teachers • Understanding whiteness • Avoiding stereotypes • Starts at a departmental level • Key messages from WCE • Embed local curriculum into school • Build local workforce • Seek examples from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities • Considerations for policy and practice • Pre-service teacher training and professional placements • Link to professional standards • Provide lead teachers and principals with training

  15. 5. Incorporating Indigenous curriculum and pedagogy • Background • Pedagogical practices focused on literacy and numeracy irrelevant to communities • Need for more holistic learning pedagogies • Need to link to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge systems and already developed knowledge work e.g. Fire knowledge • Key messages from WCE • Longstanding call for language and cultural learning as the foundation of other learning • Community leaders and elders have a key role to play in school curriculum knowledge and delivery • Considerations for policy and practice • Both-ways education needs further development • All students should be engaging in Aboriginal culture and language courses • Development of a framework that enables the critical examination of knowledge • Preservice teachers should be exposed to Indigenous knowledge systems within the course and through the engagement of traditional elders

  16. 6. Investing in English language, literacy and numeracy • Background • LLN skills provide basis for further education • Limited policy attention • Key messages from WCE • Challenge for 85% in remote • Important for lifelong learning • English LLN + local Aboriginal languages • Considerations for policy and practice • Implement the LLN Action Statement • Sustainable resourcing

  17. https://remotengagetoedu.com.au/blog/indigenous-adult-english-literacy-and-numeracy-in-the-nt-november-workshop/https://remotengagetoedu.com.au/blog/indigenous-adult-english-literacy-and-numeracy-in-the-nt-november-workshop/

  18. 7. Ensuring intercultural education practice • Background • Beyond ‘both-ways’ • Unpacking interconnectedness between Western and Indigenous knowledge systems • Co-existing differences and sameness • Key messages from WCE • Sharing of insider/outsider perspectives • Tricky to negotiate – goodwill and creativity required • Self-determination and control are central features • Considerations for policy and practice • Interculturality needs to be prioritised by DoE as an area for action • All teaching staff and principals must be sensitive to intercultural intersections

  19. 8. Mobilising Indigenous leadership and governance • Background • Many managers in remote settings are non-Indigenous • Indigenous leadership is critical to broker culturally meaningful solutions in education • Key messages from WCE • Deep engagement with challenges of local leadership • Many community-based staff were involved on School Councils • Need to broker and negotiate identity pressures • Considerations for policy and practice • Implement actions outlined in the Collective School Council Statement on Remote Education • Build youth leadership capacity

  20. 9. Supporting mentoring for Indigenous students • Background • Strong evidence for mentoring (incl Indigenous mentoring; peer-to-peer) • Minimal (formal) examples in remote contexts • Key messages from WCE • Locally specific mentoring is beneficial • Education and career pathways; mediation; academic mentoring • Can impact on engagement and attendance • Considerations for policy and practice • DoE should invest in community-led mentoring initiatives • Universities can partner in mentoring activities

  21. https://remotengagetoedu.com.au/events/remote-indigenous-youth-leadership-summit/https://remotengagetoedu.com.au/events/remote-indigenous-youth-leadership-summit/

  22. 10. Maximising the contribution of local Indigenous teachers • Background • Celebrating the rich histories and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Teachers: Yolngu Teachers, Tiwi Teachers, Bini Teachers • Leadership “the mix of conceptual, cultural and experiential contributions they offer” • Key messages from WCE • History of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers D-Bate, RATE, GOO • Cultural brokers • Community support • Considerations for policy and practice • Capacity building and recognition of skills and knowledge • Mentoring and support • Access to training spaces and time away from classroom • Priority for undergraduate courses

  23. Opportunities for system change • Connect, Discover, Grow - CDU Strategic Plan 2015-2025 • Globally recognised for Indigenous leadership • A critically engaged university of the region • CDU VET Strategic Plan 2017-2019 • Partnership development • Valuing cultural knowledge • Adopt culturally responsive administration and HR practices – travel, procurement, employment

  24. Funding Acknowledgement We acknowledge that the WCE initiative was funded through the Australian Government’s Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Programme

  25. Professor James Smith Adjunct Professorial Research Fellow Office of Pro Vice Chancellor – Indigenous Leadership Charles Darwin University T. +61 8 8946 8685 | james.smith@menzies.edu.au

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