Indigenous-Education-Review_DRAFT
Indigenous-Education-Review_DRAFT
Indigenous-Education-Review_DRAFT
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<strong>Review</strong> of <strong>Indigenous</strong> <strong>Education</strong> in the Northern Territory<br />
Bruce Wilson<br />
NATSIEAP and the CET were tasked with working with School Operations, schools and local <strong>Indigenous</strong><br />
stakeholders to support them to establish, implement and maintain SCPAs in accordance with the goals<br />
of the NATSIEAP.<br />
Between 2010 and 2012 the CET developed resources to guide the development of SCPAs and<br />
established 45 agreements. The SCPAs varied in their level of engagement and scope, but they all<br />
broadly had an emphasis on schools and their <strong>Indigenous</strong> communities making a commitment to<br />
working together to support improving the educational outcomes of their children.<br />
The CET identified several challenges to the implementation of the SCPAs particularly where the<br />
communities had already worked to develop RLPAs. They had difficulty encouraging some regions to<br />
use established and consistent approaches to community engagement and to use the resources<br />
developed. There also appeared to be a disconnection between development and implementation of<br />
the SCPA as there was little systemic support provided to schools and inconsistent take up of the<br />
reporting tools for accountability and monitoring the implementation of the agreements. There were<br />
also competing priorities for schools and communities so in many cases the process was very slow or<br />
non‐existent. Since 2012, this work has been halted altogether and only one RMIE position remains.<br />
These efforts at broad approaches to community engagement have not achieved the success they<br />
aimed for. The review argues that the failure of these very ambitious attempts at community<br />
engagement occurred in part because they were aimed at a very broad group of target schools, not<br />
focused on specific activity and did not address clear outcomes. Equally importantly, they suffered from<br />
‘policy churn’ and the cessation of funding, so they were not given the chance to succeed.<br />
It would be preferable to adopt a model that builds specifically on Department strategy in <strong>Indigenous</strong><br />
education, which ought to assist in maintaining a consistent approach and focusing the engagement<br />
effort. A new round of community engagement should build on existing agreements where these are<br />
valued, ensuring that these models provide examples of success from planning through to<br />
implementation and outcomes. A new round should also focus on specific initiatives in this report and in<br />
the resulting strategic plan. It will, for example, be essential to work closely with communities affected<br />
by secondary education provision trials of residential facilities. This work should aim to ensure common<br />
understanding of what is proposed (including service changes that will directly affect each community<br />
and the benefits their children will receive as a result), establish common expectations, identify<br />
requirements of both communities and the Department, and set criteria and reporting arrangements to<br />
ensure continuing communication and engagement. In this model, community engagement is a key<br />
service to ensure the effective implementation of strategic goals, and will help ensure that communities<br />
are supported in shaping initiatives to their own expectations and needs.<br />
<strong>DRAFT</strong><br />
This approach will require the involvement of staff dedicated to the community engagement process,<br />
and the development of a clear statement of roles and responsibilities of this team and of regional and<br />
school personnel. These responsibilities should be carried through into duty statements and position<br />
descriptions and form part of school review and principal accountability arrangements.<br />
Integrated services<br />
The third area related to community engagement is the development of integrated family services. This<br />
report briefly discusses LIPs as one existing model. Chapter 6: Early Childhood, discussed the<br />
development of Child and Family Centres as a specific integrated initiative.<br />
LIPs were developed in 15 remote communities (Remote Service Delivery Priority Sites). Plans set out<br />
agreed priorities, actions, responsibilities and commitments for each location for government and the<br />
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