Meeting the Needs of Students and the Needs of a System
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v34i3.766Keywords:
remote schools, Aboriginal students, engagement, regional teaching, co-design, community consultationAbstract
First Nation students’ attendance, retention and engagement in remote schools has been a concern for educators and successive governments. In many communities, students are encouraged to complete secondary education at boarding school because of seemingly limited educational opportunities in their local communities. The School of Isolated and Distance Education’s (SIDE’s) vision is to provide learning opportunities for Western Australian students regardless of their circumstances through high quality, inclusive and culturally responsive programs. Vision statements are aspirational and need to be backed with strategies for implementation. One such strategy implemented by SIDE in 2024 was the establishment of a Regional Teaching Team (RTT). The RTT was established to meet the unique needs of students in the Northern Goldfields and Kimberley regions of Western Australia. These regions have a high representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Providing programs and pathways to meet the needs of Aboriginal students in remote contexts in Western Australia is not possible without a deep understanding of the context and culture of the local communities, schools and the students within them. SIDE’s RTT is committed to working with local communities to deliver co-designed culturally responsive education. It is not an easy task, and it will take time to build relationships and trust with local communities to deliver such an outcome. Whilst there is support in principle from Government agencies, disconnect still exists between policy and practice in the context of Aboriginal education in schools (Burgess, Cathie, & Lowe, 2022). The RTT aims to work with Aboriginal communities to provide them with the opportunities to communicate their goals and desires for the education of their children. Traditional measures based on attendance, completion of written tasks and grades perpetuate failure and do not inspire success or engagement.
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Copyright (c) 2024 Laura Moore, Rachael Macfarlane, Nigel Wakefield, Serena Davie
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