Indigenous-Education-Review_DRAFT

Recommendations

Info

Review of Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory Bruce Wilson The review reported in 1999, presenting 151 recommendations to government. The recommendations touched on virtually every area of the work of the department highlighting system changes urgently required to better support schools. In 2005 the department compiled an implementation status report on the recommendations. Of the 151 recommendations, 82 had been implemented fully and 51 were partially implemented with ongoing action. Seventeen recommendations were assessed as being superseded by new policy or legislation, and one, departmental housing for local recruits, had not had any government action (LLISC, 2005: 7 and 64). The current review has taken account of the Learning Lessons discussion and recommendations, and they are referred to at points throughout this report. The earlier review has provided a baseline for this work. A more detailed discussion of Learning Lessons and the Department’s response to it is provided in Appendix 1. Community survey As part of the data‐gathering exercise, a survey of attitudes to education was developed and made available online. Appendix 5 provides the results from the data questions. In addition, respondents were invited to provide written responses to a set of open‐ended questions. These responses are in the process of being analysed by theme, and will be used in the final report. The survey received over 400 responses. Respondents were most positive about the performance of Government schools in preparing all children (not specifically Indigenous children) for early years learning, transition into primary school then into middle schools, parent engagement and the value placed by parents on education. Responses to statements about Indigenous education were more negative. The most highly negative response was to the statement ‘I think the government education system in the Northern Territory is meeting the needs of Indigenous children’. Other statements receiving negative responses concerned improving learning outcomes for Indigenous children, and teaching English literacy to Indigenous children with English as an additional language or dialect. DRAFT These responses suggest that among those who answered the survey, there is a reasonable degree of confidence in the education system in general, but a significantly negative view about the extent to which the government education system meets the needs of Indigenous students. Limitations The reviewer acknowledges a number of limitations to this report: initial data gathering in a small number of areas has not been completed. There is, for example, work still to be done on an examination of the effectiveness of Direct Instruction, closer study of Homeland schools, a further consideration of some aspects of community engagement and workforce planning, and programs for high achievers; the situation continues to change as work is undertaken. Recent releases of NAPLAN and NTCET results provide additional data that will be incorporated in the final report. The implications of the recent Australian Government announcement of the Remote Schools Attendance Strategy have not been fully analysed; and the timing of completion of this report was not ideal, since it coincided with end‐of‐year leave for some respondents. Fact checking with some areas of the Department and other agencies is not complete. 21
Review of Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory Bruce Wilson Nevertheless, the analysis and recommendations represent a considered, evidence‐based position. It will benefit most from a broadly based and thorough consultation process. Approach to recommendations The recommendations from each section of the report are provided in the Executive Summary and in the relevant chapters of the report. This review aims to illustrate the kind of strategic approach it proposes for the DoE. Where ambitious efforts have clearly failed it is proposed that they stop. Where resources are limited, it does not propose unrealistic demands. Where solving a problem is beyond the capacity of the Department, it says so. The approach is evident in three characteristics of the discussion and recommendations in the Draft Report: 1. They are pragmatic. The review makes recommendations based on what is repeatable across multiple sites and hundreds of classrooms, on what an actual workforce can realistically deliver in the Northern Territory. 2. The recommendations do not address everything to do with Indigenous education. They cover a relatively small number of major issues and seek to point the way forward for each. The focus is on those areas where action is most needed, most likely to achieve significant improvement and likely to require a manageable level of resourcing. 3. The recommendations involve difficult judgments about where to put effort, energy and resources and, correspondingly, where to pull back. This reflects the view of strategy taken in this report: it is as much about what you choose not to do as what you choose to do. So the review argues for a vigorously pragmatic approach, priority attention to a limited range of areas, and focusing resources where they are likely to achieve the greatest benefit. It is also important to acknowledge from the outset that this review has made a pragmatic decision to focus on the skills and knowledge that underpin success in the western education system. Some people will find this a challenging position. The review has taken as a non‐negotiable that there must be an explicit focus on improving unacceptably low outcomes for Indigenous children and that this will not be achieved unless there is rigorous and relentless attention to learning English and gaining the skills that support participation in a modern democracy and economy. DRAFT 22
Page 1 and 2: Bruce Wilson, The Education Busines
Page 3 and 4: Review of Indigenous Education in t
Page 21: Review of Indigenous Education in t
Page 73 and 74:
Review of Indigenous Education in t
Page 75 and 76:
Page 77 and 78:
Page 79 and 80:
Page 81 and 82:
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
Page 97 and 98:
Page 99 and 100:
Page 101 and 102:
Page 103 and 104:
Page 105 and 106:
Page 107 and 108:
Page 109 and 110:
Page 111 and 112:
Page 113 and 114:
Page 115 and 116:
Page 117 and 118:
Page 119 and 120:
Page 121 and 122:
Page 123 and 124:
Page 125 and 126:
Page 127 and 128:
Page 129 and 130:
Page 131 and 132:
Page 133 and 134:
Page 135 and 136:
Page 137 and 138:
Page 139 and 140:
Page 141 and 142:
Page 143 and 144:
Page 145 and 146:
Page 147 and 148:
Page 149 and 150:
Page 151 and 152:
Page 153 and 154:
Page 155 and 156:
Page 157 and 158:
Page 159 and 160:
Page 161 and 162:
Page 163 and 164:
Page 165 and 166:
show all

Indigenous-Education-Review_DRAFT

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?