Partnerships

In Aboriginal education the partnerships that educational institutions establish between themselves and the community are crucial to the achievement of Aboriginal students. 

At the Indigenous Education, Transitions and Employment Conference in Sydney, Kate Baxter from the TAFE NSW Western Institute delivered a fantastic presentation today about building partnerships with Aboriginal communities. 

She was very open about the things that had failed and then shared the systematic steps that TAFE NSW Western had been through to re-establish the partnerships.  She spoke about the importance of recognition in building and strengthening these partnerships.

Each of the campuses in central and far West NSW have recently changed their signage to show an acknowledgement of the traditional owners of the land in which the campus sits on.  The signs are visible from the street and can be seen by passes by to show that this is not just for the people at the TAFE but the whole community to see. 

They TAFE campuses have also recently erected more flag poles on each campus so that the Aboriginal flag flies alongside the Australian flag at every campus in West and far West NSW. 

The development of the Statement of Intent which was developed in consultation with the Aboriginal community reference group is a signed commitment to engage, plan with and employ the Aboriginal community.  Additionally, it states plans of training, education and work to make meaningful careers for Aboriginal people.

All of these ideas and initiatives can be adapted to meet the needs of your school or even your workplace to develop and strengthen a partnership with Aboriginal communities.

Indigenous Education, Transitions & Employment Conference in Sydney

Today was day one of the conference and there were lots of speakers and the positivity of the speakers and the conference attendees was contagious.

For me, the best presentation of the day came from the principal and assistant principal of Narrandera Public School. 

The school has great plans to engage the community at various stages of the education its students.  When someone in the town has a baby the school send them a little welcome to the world pack. It has some information about the school, a teddy and a book and a few other things.  I thought this was a great way to let the parents know that the school community is already a part of their lives and welcoming to the school community well before school age.  This breaks down some of the barriers that exist between Aboriginal parents and the school. 

Bradley Lyne said in their school there is no negativity, its just not tolerated.  There is no whinging there is looking for solutions and they stick very closely to the philosophy of ‘don’t bring me a problem, bring me a solution’. 

Both the principal and assistant principal were sharing their experiences of how the school has changed, from “chasing kids around the school playground” to having engaged and meaningful lessons.

This is a school community that is working hard to engage its Aboriginal community and its working and the results are on the rise. 

Another speaker at the conference was Noel Pearson.  Love him or hate him you can not discount the tireless work that Noel Pearson has put into the education of young Aboriginal people on the Cape York Peninsula.  The newest development of which Pearson is the director is the Cape York Aboriginal Australian Academy.  At the Academy staff and students have an extended school days from 8:33am – 4:45pm to ensure students and teachers have time to implement their 4C’s program effectively (Class, Club, Culture and Community). 

Pearson described the education of young people in Aurukun as being a supply and demand.  This flicked a light bulb on in me, it’s like any product.  In theory, if there is a greater demand there will be an increase in supply.  In theory this meant if the community and caregivers demanded a better quality of education for their children the response would be a greater supply of education.  Pearson explained that this was not the case and the barriers Aboriginal people faced in participating in the process of education were numerous.  After a revolving door of government policy Pearson explained the conception of the Academy idea.  Which is working.

Pearson touched on previous academic success of the Higher Expectations program.  He said it still exists but because of the intrinsically high expectations of the Aboriginal people involved, it’s a self-fulfilling program.  '

- more from the conference tomorrow.

I have listed some links for other programs that got a mention today;

• Learn Earn Legend
• Higher Expectations Program
• Australian Indigenous Education Foundation
• Cape York Aboriginal Australian Academy 

Can a little bit of knowledge change a nation?

Like many Australian’s, last week I watched SBS series ‘Go Back To Where You Came From’.  After I overcame my immense shame and embarrassment for the people on the screen, I jumped onto Twitter and Facebook to read the conversations that were taking place.  I was really proud to see that people were writing such positive things and it made me realise that even the smallest piece of information can help to shift some people’s views.  

Even though all of the participants did not change their views; I was pleased to see that some of them had a partial shift from their original stand point.  From the beginning of the show when one participant said that the tragedy at Christmas Island served them right to the tears at having to leave the Congo because it wasn’t fair the Aussies got to go home, was a complete turnaround. 

I guess we can only hope and continue to share each other’s stories about disadvantage and inequality to have a greater shift in the community.  I know I’m not the only one that talks/ blogs/ tweets about education shifting viewpoints to bring around a greater equality, but I thought, given the education that many Australians received last week during the SBS series ‘Go Back To Where You Came From’ now would be a good time to share some statistics and education Australians about Aboriginal kids and their families.

·         Aboriginal youth are 28 times more likely to be detained by police than non- Aboriginal youth.

·         24% of people in remote communities have a school that goes up only to year 12.

·         40% of Aboriginal children stay at school until year 12, compared to 76% of non-Indigenous children.

·         30% of adults in Aboriginal communities suffering from type-2 diabetes.

·         An Aboriginal person is 10 times more likely to have kidney disease.

·         26%of the prison population in Australia is Indigenous.  Aboriginal people make up 2.5% of the Australian population.

My favourite Tweet about the SBS program reads “reality TV meets reality”; couldn’t be more accurate.  Although there is no TV show about Aboriginal inequality, there are the damning statistics, news reports and photos.  Surely Australians can use the same passion they have evoked over the past weeks for cattle to Malaysia and boat people based on Go Back To Where You Came From’ for Aboriginal people in Australia?

Awareness + Action

Reconciliation is the coming together of Indigenous and non- Indigenous people to build a better Australia.  Seems simple doesn’t it… just when you knock it out in one sentence like that.  If it was that simple, we’d be there, but we are working towards it. 

One of the crucial steps to reconciliation is raising AWARENESS of Aboriginal culture, history and affairs.  This year the theme of Reconciliation Week is RECOGNITION!  I don’t think that this should be the theme for the week but should really be the theme of the year.  The times are changing and the conversation is shifting and we are starting to talk about the good stuff that is happening with Aboriginal people.  Recently I have been able to attend some events that have really been a celebration of Aboriginal culture.  The Message Sticks Film Festival was amazing, the Long Walk and Dreamtime at the G were awesome and the Bart Willoughby benefit concert was fabulous.  These three events allowed me to smoosh heaps of Aboriginal talent into one weekend.

It’s the celebration at events like these that gets people talking and when people get talking they start doing… which leads to the next step of Reconciliation… ACTION!

I’ve said it before and I will say it again, I’m lucky to be a teacher because schools are forums for change.  But this isn’t my only action or my only forum.  Do you have a family? Do you have a group of friends? Colleagues? Do you have a job? Do you have an income? Can you read? Can you walk? Can you sign your name?

If you have answered yes to any of these, check out the websites below to see what action you can take this Reconciliation Week.  And if there is nothing else that you can do you must continue to talk and raise awareness.

http://generationone.org.au/

http://www.indigenousliteracyfoundation.org.au/

http://www.cathyfreemanfoundation.org.au/our-programs.htm

Happy Reconciliation Week!!

Why We Need to Use the ‘R’ Word

A word that many people are afraid of is not a swear word, but will cause just as much disgust, has the capacity to stop dinner parties and ruin friendships; the label of this word will stick sometimes for a short time, sometimes forever.  To be given this title is not prestigious or one that many Australians would strive to or feel proud of… it’s the ‘r’ word, ‘racist’.  

I think we can measure the fear the ‘r’ word arouses within people by the way they preface conversations, statements and behaviours that are indeed racist.  A personal favourite of mine is “I’m not racist but…” or when questioned on such statements, conversations and behaviours the justification is “I didn’t mean it”.  I always think “you did mean it, but what you didn’t count on was me questioning you and your motives”.

To my absolute surprise over the last week it has come to my attention that the labelling of behaviour that is racist as racist is seen by some as a bad idea.

If you go to the doctor they can’t fix a broken bone if they don’t identify it as broken; if you go to the mechanic she/he can’t fix your car until they can name the problem.  How is it possible that in so many other careers that labelling a problem is a crucial part of the road to the solution?

In my professional capacity it has been suggested to me that we don’t use the word ‘racist’ when people are being racists, “we can’t use the word racist because what will the marketplace think” and “we need to be careful not to blow things out of proportion”.  Using someone’s Aboriginality as the basis of a joke, name calling or a derogatory remark that perpetuates recycled stereotypes is racism.  To me, and I’m sure to many others, the question is not what the marketplace will think of the organisation if we use the ‘r’ word to name these behaviours rather, what will the marketplace think of the organisation if this is not acted upon. If we don’t label it as racist and seek to change the attitude through education, how could we possibly move forward?  

I don’t have the answers to all the social, political and economic problems that are facing Aboriginal people and I have never professed to hold these.  What I do have is a job, a circle of friends and colleagues, a kitchen table and a voice.  Many of you have a kitchen table, a job, a circle of friends and or colleagues and a voice; you can choose to use your voice for what’s important. 

If some of the fundamental challenges that Aboriginal people face are built on racist ideologies that infiltrate many aspects of our lives, then surely a fundamental step in the solution would be to name the racism as racism, learn from it, have the conversation to change the attitude at the kitchen table, with your friends, with your colleagues and move forward together.

Some links below will give you a little insight to some of the stereotypes we are working against.  They can also give you a good basis to start your own conversations with your friends, colleagues and family.

http://www.reconciliation.org.au/home/get-involved/learning-tools/mythbusters

http://www.racismnoway.com.au/

Can we learn from Bolt?

Unfortunately Andrew Bolt does not stand alone in his view that Aboriginal people are dark skinned, live in the bush and must live a traditional lifestyle to be “really Aboriginal”. Bolt quite openly has the view that if you are Aboriginal and you don’t fit this mould, you are not really Aboriginal? To him I would be one of those people. I’m Aboriginal, I live in the city, I finished high school, I went to university and too many peoples surprise I’m currently studying a masters. 

In a professional capacity I have had many people say bizzare things to me like “oh you went to private school?  So were you on a scholarship?” “Oh you grew up in the suburbs?” The element of status quo pusher inside me always wants to respond by being facetious however overtime I have learned that I have more chance of changing these attitudes and beliefs through the simple art of narrative.  Everybody has a story and everyone’s story can teach us something, it might be little, it might change our lives and the learning may be delayed.  How does being Aboriginal automatically relate to scholarship or living in the bush? 

I’m a teacher and so Aboriginal kids that I work with often shock me at the negative things that are said to them, I try my hardest to reassure them and without sounding trite I really do admire them because they are at the cold-face of the change that more and more Australians are talking about. I frequently remind them that being a part of change is difficult but it’s our job, if our parents, our grandparents and our Aunties and Uncles didn’t fight for change and said it was too hard where would we be today?

If I can say this to 14 year old boys, I can say it everyone.  Change is hard.  And it’s that simple. When people learn to drive and they stall; they start again, when we are learning to walk they fall; they start again.  I’m not suggesting that for one second we step back in time and start again, what I am saying is learn from this.  From the negative and vitriolic nature of people like Bolt, we must look at the crazy outrageous elements and think, what can we learn from this as a broader community… In my opinion we can learn that for many reasons Aboriginal people don’t have a “look like type”, we don’t all live in the bush, we work in many different industries and we will stand up for ourselves if  you try to push us around. 

Just take a moment to look at all the amazing things that Aboriginal youth are doing and celebrate those, don’t find one bad news story to hold onto it especially if makes you mad, find a good news story that you want to share.

Check out the work of these young Aboriginal people spreading the word about equality and change.

http://www.youtube.com/user/DesertPeaMedia#p/u/0/opDj4Bne-po

Recent Events

As Australians celebrated the national ‘Close the Gap’ day, we again heard the news reports and the read the papers that have rehashed the statistics.  70% Indigenous students do not attend school regularly; Indigenous people are three times more likely to be unemployed.  On March 24 we read the blogs that were also posted support for the Close the Gap campaign.  Many of which outlined the positive contributions of many organizations that continue to work towards equality.  I loved that I could jump online and see so many people talking about the same things I talk to people about. 

Throughout the day I read a lot of information some well researched, some opinion and some that was trash.  It was the trash that stopped me in my tacks. Not only did some of the things posted online make me feel physically ill, but they left me breathless and made me feel un- Australian.  Racism isn’t completely foreign to me, I have had a few choice phrases thrown at me by all walks of life, what I have never seen is so many people use the words “them” and “us”.  Who is them? Who is us? I thought Australians were all working towards the same goals, equality for all Australians through education and meaningful employment… it seems that there are some people that think access to education and employment is only on offer if you aren’t Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.  It would appear that I have been living in a state of naivety for a while.

I hear a lot of people in my life say “I don’t have the answer”, or “what can I do, I mean really I’m one person” or “they don’t really want our help”.  To me these quotes present me with two main challenges for society.  The first of these challenges is time. People need time to make a commitment to changing the way Aboriginal people are marginalized; it is strange to me that people can commit to a TV show but can’t commit to support a cause.  If we take the time talk about the things that lead to disadvantage, we can do to change them.  The more aware you are, the more knowledge you have and sharing the facts with your friends, family and colleagues can lead to change.  The second challenge is doing what we can… the laid back attitude that is so fondly looked upon as a classic Australian attribute can’t apply to this aspect of our lives (and by our I mean all Australians). 

So to pass it on, the knowledge not the problems, I encourage you to look at the websites listed below.  Sign up to Generation One, check out ANTaR and Reconciliation Australia.  It’s well worth your time.

http://generationone.org.au/ 
http://www.reconciliation.org.au/
http://www.antar.org.au/