Indigenous-Education-Review_DRAFT

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Review of Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory Bruce Wilson to the issue. Schools named (and identified in their Annual Operating Plans) a variety of social and emotional learning programs used to address behavioural issues. These included early intervention programs such as Families and Schools Together and Let’s Start, and school‐based programs including You Can Do It, Tribes, Friendly Schools Friendly Families, Rock and Water, Bounce Back, School Wide Positive Behaviour Support, and Restorative Practice. Even highly coordinated and effectively delivered programs did not seem to be having the desired effect and some teachers argued that the programs needed to be adapted to meet the needs of their cohort of students. Over the years there have been many attempts by the department to address the needs of Indigenous students and sometimes issues of mental health and behaviour have become absorbed into other areas. After the release of the Little Children are Sacred (2007) report into ways of protecting Aboriginal children from sexual abuse, the Keeping Safe child protection curriculum was rolled out to between 40 and 50 schools (with a focus on remote schools) in 2010–2011 to support students, families and the community to prevent and appropriately address child protection issues. Anecdotal views of recipients of the training were that it failed to meet the needs of Indigenous students, placed too much pressure on the trainer to deliver it with little departmental support beyond the initial training (there was only enough funding for one Keeping Safe trainer to cover the whole of the Northern Territory) and took the focus off wellbeing and behaviour. The initiative has largely vanished since the cessation of Commonwealth funding. In the 2011–2014 DET Strategic Plan, there was a commitment made to implementing the School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) program across the Northern Territory: We will continue to increase the number of primary and middle years schools utilising School‐Wide Positive Behaviour Support processes which ensure a focus on evidencebased practice in schools and will be explicitly included within School Improvement Plans (DET, 2011). DRAFT Since 2012 as part of the new government’s reform agenda, Student Services was disbanded and is currently undergoing a restructure. Many of the positions responsible for providing support and training to schools in key initiatives in the area of behaviour and mental health will not be continued in 2014, including the team responsible for the implementation of SWPBS. In their place, there is now a Crisis Intervention Coordinator who has responsibilities for the implementation of whole school approaches that promote positive behaviour. In the regional organisation chart, behaviour support is now focused on Positive Learning Centres (where children who are not able to function in mainstream school settings are placed) with centres in Darwin, Palmerston, Katherine and Alice Springs. SWPBS is promoted as an organisational framework designed to assist schools with a systematic approach to teaching, supporting positive behaviour and preventing problem behaviour that is disruptive to learning. It provides teachers with a clear, consistent and positive approach to dealing with issues and supporting students to learn alternative ways of managing difficult situations. To date, 45 schools across the Territory have received the training and are implementing SWPBS (with varying degrees of success) and a further 11 are on the waiting list. Recent reports suggest that the program, when effectively implemented, is making a difference. We note, however, that the original mandated approach was not universally implemented and that data required was not consistently collected or reported by schools so the department has only limited evidence of effectiveness. 93
Review of Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory Bruce Wilson Central Australia has decided to mandate a common approach to wellbeing and behaviour. SWPBS is being examined as a behaviour framework, with the intention of adding an evidence‐based social and emotional learning element tailored to meet the needs of students. The main resources required to implement this will be a Manager of Well‐being and Behaviour (who works closely with the Manager of School Capacity Building) to support and monitor schools to implement the initiative. Teachers will need to be provided with the skills, time and reflective practice tools so that they have all they need for effective implementation. The region proposes that the school should be the key resource rather than being reliant on external experts. Nutrition The review notes the value of the School Nutrition Program (SNP), introduced in 2007 as part of the Northern Territory Emergency Response and administered by the Australian Government. In 2013 the program delivered breakfast and/or lunch and in some cases additional snacks at 67 very remote schools (62 of them government schools). Only 17 of the programs are offered by schools, others being delivered by shire councils, health services, community stores, women’s centres and NGOs. The majority of employees (73%) are Indigenous. It is delivered as part of the SFNT national partnership. There is a view that funding and delivery arrangements should be more consistent. The Australian and Territory Governments are yet to reach agreement about future delivery of the program, although a reducing level of funding is available through to 2021‐22. The SNP shares goals with the intentions of the review, since it is aimed at improving school engagement and learning, although there seem to be no clear data measuring its effect. While this program is somewhat outside scope for the review, it appears to be useful and the review supports its continuation. The way forward The review supports the adoption of a common approach to behaviour management and social and emotional learning across all schools as one means of ensuring that mobile students and teachers see a greater degree of consistency in behaviour management across the Territory. It also reflects the view that programs in bush schools should be mandated. The SWPBS program is a sound model and has the advantage of being well‐supported in a DRAFT number of schools already. In recommending the adoption of this program, the key criteria are the adoption of a common, evidence‐based approach in all bush schools (and by preference in all schools) and the provision of effective support through both professional learning and access to coaching. Other programs with a similar focus should not be supported. The review recommends that the conduct of this work may require putting resources back into the delivery of initiatives that have recently been disbanded. The department has recently established a Behaviour Management Taskforce involving all the key stakeholders in education and chaired by an independent clinical psychologist and expert in wellbeing in schools. The purpose of this taskforce is to provide advice about the most appropriate behaviour management strategies. The review supports this initiative, which together with the outcomes of this review should form a coherent and consistent approach to the area. A common behaviour management framework is not, however, the key mechanism for resolving behaviour issues in schools. The strategy adopted throughout this review has been based on the view that each element of the educational experience of students should be 94
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