Growing Our Own A twoway approach to teacher preparation for NT Catholic Schools'

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Growing Our Own A two-way approach to teacher
preparation for NT Catholic Schools.

• Professor Alison Elliott
• Head School of Education
• Charles Darwin University
• Brenda Keenan
• Deputy Director Teaching and Learning
• Catholic Education Northern Territory

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• Im Principal now, but Im looking behind
  me. and nobody is coming to take my place.. I
  wont be here forever, but who is here when I go?
  There is no one coming, no young ones. We are all
  getting old now, and if we dont do something,
  this will be a Muruntawi (white) school
• (Indigenous Principal,
  Catholic Education NT, 2008)

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Snapshot of the Northern Territory

• Australias Northern Territory is one of the
  most culturally diverse parts of the nation. More
  than 100 nationalities are represented in the
  Territorys population.
• SBS Radio broadcasts programs in 68 languages
  throughout the N.T.
• At the time of European settlement there were
  approximately 500 dialects spoken by the
  Indigenous Australian population. These dialects
  made up about 250 distinct languages. Ongoing
  colonisation and globalisation across the
  Australian continent has resulted in the loss of
  many languages. Approximately 50 Indigenous
  languages remain.

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Population

• Over the past two decades our Indigenous
  population in remote communities has grown by
  approximately 40.
• Remote Indigenous communities are growing rapidly
  and simply do not have the same range, level and
  quality of public funded infrastructure and
  services that are provided in towns of similar
  size elsewhere in Australia.
• Population of NT 212,551 (ABS 2006)
• 1.0 of Australian population (what a unique,
  complex and wonderful 1 we are)
• Median Age 30.9
• of Indigenous 31.6

• With a population of 212,000 the Northern
  Territory is the most youthful in Australia, and
  has the largest proportion less than 15 years of
  age and the smallest proportion aged 65 years and
  over. The median Age is 30.9 years almost 6 years
  younger than the national median age.

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Demographic and Geographic stats

• The Territory has a unique demographic and
  geographic profile. Indigenous Territorians
  comprise 30 of the population, most of whom live
  in remote communities spread across 1 346 200
  square kilometres.
• Indigenous students represent 39 of the
  Territory Government student cohort. A high
  proportion of these students have English as a
  Second Language (ESL). 
• Just 15 of working-aged Indigenous Territorians
  had a mainstream job at the time of the 2004
  census.
• 39.2 (approximately 18,000) of the Territorys
  Indigenous population are school aged.
• 6.4 of Tasmanias Indigenous population are
  school aged
• 5.9 of Queenslands Indigenous population are
  school aged
• 5.2 of Western Australias Indigenous population
  are school aged
• 3.9 of New South Wales Indigenous population are
  school aged
• 3.2 of South Australias Indigenous population
  are school aged
• 2.1 of the A.C.Ts Indigenous population are
  school aged
• 1.1 of Victorias Indigenous population are
  school aged
• ABS 2006

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Remote Communities

• The Territory has 641 discrete Aboriginal
  communities
• 9 towns of 1,000 2,000 people
• 50 communities with populations ranging from 200
  999 people
• 570 communities with populations of lt 200 people.
• 72 of the Territorys Indigenous population live
  on Aboriginal land outside major towns and
  certainly off the Stuart Highway
• 51 homeland learning centres
• 188 schools (152 public and 36 private schools)
• 119 schools (72 of Indigenous students) are
  located outside of Alice Springs and Darwin
• Majority of our Indigenous in the NT do not have
  good access to mainstream services
• Characteristics of discrete Indigenous
  communities
• Geographically dispersed, isolated and subject to
  seasonal conditions
• Lacking in basic infrastructure and services
• High comparative levels of socio-economic
  disadvantage
• Limited capacity to engage in social and economic
  
• development opportunities
• Source ABS 2006

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Health

• 54 of remote communities do not have a local
  health clinic (ABS 2006)
• 99 of remote communities have no substance abuse
  service (ABS 2006)
• End stage renal disease (ESRD) in some NT regions
  up to 30 times the national average.
• Projected cost of treatment for ESRD in next 5
  years is estimated to be 50 million.
• Underlying causes of chronic diseases is linked
  to poverty and disadvantage, poor living
  conditions, poor nutrition, low birth weight and
  infectious diseases.
• 2 have a womens refuge or safe house
• 2 have single mens housing
• 4 have single womens housing.

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Health Cont

• Nutrition and health are closely connected to
  educational achievement, school attendance and
  literacy skills. (DEST 2003 and ABS 2005)
• The health status of Australias Indigenous
  population is poor by world standards.
• More than twice as many Indigenous babies suffer
  low to extremely low birth-weight compared to
  non-Indigenous babies and Indigenous children are
  twice as likely to be hospitalized for infectious
  diseases. (SCRGSP, 2005)
• Upwards of 70 of Indigenous children in remote
  communities suffer from chronic Otitis Media, a
  serious middle ear disease that can cause
  permanent hearing loss and inhibit language and
  literacy development. (DET, WA 2006)

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Snapshot of the Northern Territory

• Housing

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Education

• 94 of remote communities do not have a preschool
• Lowest retention rate and participation of all
  jurisdictions across Australia
• In bush communities, English is a second, third
  or fourth language and is rarely spoken at home
  while many in the Top End of the Territory might
  speak a Kriol, others would at best use an
  Aboriginal English.
• There is an enormous gap in the English literacy
  rates of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in
  Australia. The gap is even wider for Indigenous
  people living in remote and isolated communities.
  
• The gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous
  students emerges early. Non-Indigenous students
  far out-perform Indigenous students in benchmark
  tests for reading, writing and numeracy in Year 3
  and Year 5. By Year 7, the gap has widened,
  particularly for numeracy. (DEET NT 2006)
• Indigenous children living in isolated areas have
  even lower literacy rates. In the Northern
  Territory, only one in five children living in
  very remote Indigenous communities can read at
  the accepted minimum standard. By Year 7, just
  15 achieved this benchmark, 47 percentage points
  behind their urban Indigenous peers and 74
  percent less than non-Indigenous students. (DEET
  NT 2006)

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Education Cont

• Indigenous homes, particularly those in remote
  communities, have fewer books, computers and
  other educational resources than non-Indigenous
  homes. All of these factors are linked to
  childrens achievements at school and in the
  development of English literacy skills. (Bortoli
  and Cresswell, 2004)
• Absenteeism from school negatively affects
  students academic performance. Indigenous
  students miss around 26 days of school per year
  compared with 8 days for all students. Indigenous
  students living in remote and very remote
  locations are likely to miss an even greater
  number of school days. (Zubrick, Silburn, De Maio
  et al., 2006)

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Snapshot of Catholic Education Northern Territory

• 100 years of Catholic Education in the Northern
  Territory was celebrated in 2008
• Catholic schools in the Northern Territory enroll
  about 5000 students in fifteen schools -
• - Darwin
• - Alice Springs
• - Katherine
• - Nguiu (Bathurst Island)
• - Santa Teresa (vai Alice Springs)
• - Port Keats
• - Daly River
• 3 Homeland Centres
• - Kuy (Port Keats)
• - Wurankuwu (Bathurst Island)
• - Wudikapildiyerr (Daly River)
• All Catholic urban primary schools have Early
  Learning Centre's
• All Indigenous Catholic Community schools have
  Pre-schools

Darwin
Alice Springs
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Growing Our Own - Implementation Plan

• Background to Growing Our Own
• Context / rationale
• Delivery model
• Enrolment patterns
• Two-way mentoring and academic work
• Proposed course structure
• Proposed initiative
• Implementation phase
• Consultation process
• Enrolment details
• Funding requirements
• Implementation Issues
• - Risk analysis

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Background

• Aims
• Recruitment
• On-site, in-school classroom support
• Capacity building / employment opportunities
• Quality workforce
• Whole school approach
• Whole school approaches that target all aspects
  of early childhood literacy teaching are
  essential to the achievement of sustainable
  outcomes in education.

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Context

• Two-way model of teacher preparation
• Charles Darwin University Bachelor of Teaching
  and Learning
• Cultural Identity
• Culturally responsive and pedagogically strong

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Delivery Model

• Indigenous Catholic Community Schools Northern
  Territory
• On-site mentoring
• Dedicated CDU academic staff
• School Based Coordinators
• Project Officers

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Enrolment Patterns

• Candidates need to complete 320 credit points
• Unit content integrated with in-class teaching
  and learning
• Professional mentoring
• Resource intensive, support intensive, on-site
  study and practical intensive

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Two-way mentoring and academic work

• One day per week, on-site supervised academic
  work
• Professional experience placements
• On campus intensive workshop

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Consultation Process

• Whole school consultation process
• Community consultations
• Identification of potential students
• Commitment to the teaching profession

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Risk Analysis

• The calibre of teacher may determine the number
  of student teachers in the initial intake as the
  strength of this success is heavily hinged on the
  quality team teaching approach, together with
  whole school support structures.
• The class teacher needs to be a good role model
  for the AT and this it is not always possible to
  ensure this with high teacher turnover.
• A high teacher turnover is envisaged, it is
  recommended that new teachers should have a
  minimum of one year experience before taking on
  the role as mentor teacher.
• Change of indigenous staff from now to next year,
  due a number of factors but predominantly family
  and cultural commitments.
• Adequate time for daily reflection on coursework
  and planning together for teaching the next day,
  is limited after school finishes because ATs
  leave school at 3p.m. In some cases this is when
  they are paid until, or ar 4 p.m. at the latest

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Risk Analysis Cont

• This model places a high demand on the classroom
  teachers skill, energy and time.
• The success of the this project is heavily
  reliant on a strong classroom teacher both for
  practical application as well as after school
  support.
• If the classroom teacher is indigenous, and has
  only a three-year Diploma of Teaching, several
  issues may arise family supporting family
  compromising their ability to critique classroom
  teacher is mentoring a student to a higher
  qualification two-way learning cannot occur.
• Experienced non-Indigenous teachers remarked on
  how tired they are, living and working in an ESL
  context and cross-cultural situation. Whilst
  professionally committed and finding it
  fulfilling, it is nevertheless exhausting, and
  they expressed concern for their health with an
  added responsibility of mentoring our students.
• Illness is common issue (e.g. one day the
  previous week, there had been 19 staff away from
  Wadeye school)

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Risk Analysis Cont

• Culture and customs and family commitments might
  mean that students have to miss a series of
  lectures.
• Possible pitfalls would be for an AT to be placed
  with a family member. It also raises the issue of
  the Two-Ways learning if both are Indigenous.
• In addition to staff turnover, if there is change
  of principal s/he might not be as supportive if
  the initiative, or prefer to set other priorities
• English literacy may be a challenge
• There may be a language barrier between student
  and lecturer
• It may take a while for new classroom teachers to
  relate the concepts of AL
• The program will be pressurised, fitting four
  years of study into two or three, requiring a
  level of commitment from the AT that they might
  struggle to provide, given the other constraints
  and demands in their lives.

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Risk Analysis Cont

• The course does require Western critique and
  reflection. A risk would be that the Two-ways
  processes might not be strong enough to
  explicitly develop these skills.
• Timetabling for after school planning may be
  compromised with the many after school meetings
  that are currently in place e.g. whole staff
  meetings, planning togethers, AL professional
  development
• Schools might prioritise other meetings/activities
  such as culture days or excursion/behaviour
  management demands, which would impact on the ATs
  ability to attend lecture days
• General timetabling at the class level or the
  school level might not prioritise the one day
  release of the AT which needs to be regular and
  non-negotiable
• ATs might find it difficult to see themselves as
  full-time students who are completing course work
  in the classroom, because they only have lecture
  contact one day a week. This might imply that
  they are first and foremost an AT who is studying
  part-time. It would be preferable if they would
  see themselves as full-time students who, in the
  completion of their AT role, are also meeting
  course requirements.

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Growing Our OwnA two-way approach to teacher
preparation for NT Catholic Schools.

• Questions / Answers?

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References

• Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS),
  Population Characteristics, Aboriginal and Torres
  Strait Islander
• Peoples, 2004, page 35.
• Australian Bureau of Statistics, The Health
  and Welfare of Australias Aboriginal and Torres
  Strait
• Islander Peoples, 2005, 2006.
• Bortoli and Cresswell, Australias
  Indigenous Students in PISA 2000 Results from an
  International Study, Australian Council for
• Educational Research (ACER), Research
  Monograph No. 59, August 2004, page 14.
• Commonwealth Department of Education, Science
  and Training (DEST), Final Report of the National
  
• Evaluation of National Indigenous English
  Literacy and Numeracy Strategy, Dec 20
• Department of Education and Training, Western
  Australia (DET WA) Conductive Hearing Loss and
  Aboriginal Students, 2006. website
• http//www.det.wa.edu.au/education/abled/apa
  c/resources/pdf/conductive20hearing20loss.pdf
• Mellor S and Corrigan M, The Case for Change,
  a review of contemporary research on Indigenous
  education outcomes, Australian
• Education Review, ACER, 2004, page 39
• Ministerial Council on Education,
  Employment, Training and Youth Affairs,
  Australian Directions in Indigenous Education
  2005-2008
• Carlton South, 2006
• Steering Committee for the Review of
  Government Service Provision (SCRGSP), Overcoming
  
• Indigenous Disadvantage Key Indicators
  2005. Commonwealth of Australia, 2005
• Teaching Reading, Report and Recommendations,
  National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy,
  Department of Education, Science and

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Growing Our Own A two-way approach to teacher
preparation for NT Catholic Schools.

• Professor Alison Elliott
• Head School of Education
• Charles Darwin University
• Brenda Keenan
• Deputy Director Teaching and Learning
• Catholic Education Northern Territory