DARE TO LEAD NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2008Student Attendance and Engagement The role of the teacher

Acknowledgement of CountryWe acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land and pay our respects to the elders both past, present and future for they hold the memories, the traditions, the culture and hopes of Aboriginal Australia. We must always remember that under the concrete and asphalt this land is, was and always will be traditional Aboriginal land.

Rules for communicationLet one person speak(and be heard) at a time, respect what they have to say.Be non-judgemental, honest, and trust the goodwill of the other participants.Give a faithful interpretation of ideas.Develop and clarify tasks together, using non-jargonistic language. Respect diversity and different ways of doing things. Stephanie Armstrong

Te Kotahitanga: Presentation to the Aboriginal Schools ConferenceMere Berryman

21.4% of all students in the compulsory sector are Mori85% are in English medium14% are in Mori medium17% of Mori school-leavers enroll in tertiary.Ministry of Education, 2005: Ng Haeata Mtauranga

Suspensions by ethnicityMOE, April 2003, Stand-down and suspensions report 1 January to 31 December 2002.

EthnicityPercentage of populationPercentage of suspensionsPkeh62%40%Mori21%47%Pacific8%11%Asian6%1%Other3%1%

Percentage of school leavers with little or no formal attainment(Briefing to the Incoming Minister: MOE, 2005)

In 1993 4% of Mori gained an A or a B Bursary 33% of Mori left school without qualifications.In 2002 4% of Mori gained an A or a B Bursary 35% of Mori left school without qualifications

From 1994 to 2003Retention rates for Mori boys to age 16 declined by 12.4% Retention rates for Mori girls declined by 7.1%

However Non-Mori boys declined by 0.7% Non-Mori Girls increased by 1.4%

Te Kotahitanga: Raising the Achievement of Years 9 to 10 Mori Students

Background 2001We spoke with people who were most intimately involved with the education of Year 9 and 10 Mori students:

The students themselves

Their whnau (extended family)

Their principals

Their teachers

We found that these groups drew on three discourses to explain their experiences and from which to offer solutionsChild, home and community

School structures and systems

In-class relationships and interactions

Tally of discourse unit ideas showedDiscourses Explaining Mori Achievement: Students, Whnau, Principals and Teachers 2003 Ministry of Education

Te Kotahitanga: Discursive RepositioningDiscourses (theoretical positioning) explaining Mori students educational achievement

Child/Home Structure Relationships

Discourses in terms of educator agency

Deficit Structural RelationshipNo agencyLimited agency Agentic position

(Bishop, Berryman, Tiakiwai & Richardson, 2003)

Te Kotahitanga: The Effective Teaching profileFor these Mori students, the most effective teachers were culturally appropriate and culturally responsive.

Culturally AppropriateIn visible ways, teachers create settings that are culturally appropriate for Mori students learning.If the teacher demonstrates cultural knowledge it has an effect on the children. They see the teacher as an individual who respects them and knows where they are coming from. The children see those teachers who have made an attempt to try and get on the same thought patterns, wavelength as them. (Parents, School 1)

Culturally ResponsiveTeachers create a context that is responsive to the culture of the learner.Im a Mori, they should ask me about Mori things. Ive got the goods on this but they never ask me. Im a dumb Mori I suppose. Yeah they asked the Asian girl about her culture. They never ask us about ours. (Engaged students, School 1)

Culturally Effective Teaching ProfileCulturally appropriate and responsive teachers demonstrate the following understandings on a daily basis:

They positively reject deficit theorising

b) They are committed to and know how to bring about change in educational achievement

What does this look & sound like to Mori students?

Hes not a good teacherHes not excitingHes boring, just the way he teaches us is boring

Oh, shes always nice to us with our marks and our reports, she says Im going to be strict this report. Get our reports Excellence, Excellence, Excellence.So do you think youve earned that excellence?I think Id get a Non Achieved and shes given me a Merit, its like, I didnt deserve this. Who said he is a good teacher?Hes just good at teaching.Yeah he is all about teaching and not about actually connecting with the students.

Shes dedicated to what we do in our classI think its just her passion, that she likes seeing kids achieving instead of failingFeels cool, that weve got someone whos gonna help us get through school.

Teacher typesCaringLearning

What do we need to do to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students ?A brief summary of data from Dare To Lead School Collegial Reviews

Based on the work of Russell Bishop and Mere BerrymanTe Kotahitanga Project, Waikato UniversityThe Question

Process12 School ReviewsInterviews of Students, Parents, School Executive and TeachersEvery comment noted as a strategy/issue attributed to either:Home or CommunitySchool Structures/Organisation orThe Classroom

Parents Responses

School Executive Responses

Student Responses

Teacher Responses

Staff developmentKarrathaSwan HillThornburyBairnsdale

Company Name

Campus PrincipalG. Blackley

Leading TeacherPost Compulsory

Leading TeacherA. Lane

Class Support

Attendance/Class SupportSSO

ILP/Class SupportM. Brownrigg

Koorie EducatorD. Andy

Koorie Education Support - 2008

A.P. Student LearningD. Zappia

A.P. Student WellbeingJ. Ramadge

P.D. LiteracyS. Convey

ATAS Tutors

In 2007 a team of people contributed to the development of a plan designed to improve the Educational Outcomes of the Koorie Students at Bairnsdale Secondary College.

The outcome was: The Koorie Education Plan.

These people were:

Dare to Lead, Australia: Cliff Downey & Brian Giles-Brown Dr Chris Sarra: Indigenous Education Leadership Institute, QLD Daryl Andy: Koorie Educator Dot Moffat: Koorie Education Development Officer (KEDO) The Local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (LAECG) Representatives of the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc. (VAEAI) Department of Education and Early Childhood Development Gippsland Region in Consultation with the Regional Koorie Education Committee (RKEC) & Dare to Lead.

What does good practice look like?What staff behaviours promote positive relationships and improved outcomes for Koorie students?Note one behaviour you aim to increase or improve and examples of how and where youll use it.Note how you could get feedback about your progress in putting it into practice.

Best PracticeHows youre Aunty May?Saw your mum down the street Get that finished by recessI think youd make a great doctorHow did Rumbalarah go on Saturday?What could you improve about this piece?Ill think about what you said and look into itThats my flag.