issue 1 09 - APS Member Groups - Australian Psychological Society

Education support programme89significant challenge being confronted bymany parents residing in rural, regional andremotes areas of WA and involvedconsiderable disruption to the family unit. Itequally illustrated to us the strongcommitment and lengths that many parentswent to, to exercise their right to be able tochoose the educational pathway they wantedfor their child.It was quickly realised the servicesoffered by the programme needed to beinclusive of all students (e.g., both day andresidential students) across the 16 residentialschools rather than only focusing onsupporting the residential students from rural,regional and remote regions. This was achallenge as the programme was initiallyfunded only to support residential students,not day students. To address this wesuccessfully highlighted with the federaldepartment funding the programme that likeresidential students, many of the day studentsalthough not in enrolled as boarding studentswere also adjusting to a new environment andexperience where a temporary new home,city and school are merged together during aschool term and they were similarly spendingan extended period of time away from theiroriginal home, traditional country and family(i.e., both immediate and extended family).Supporting individual students acrossmultiple residential schoolsPrevious research has highlighted thatnew residential students face a number ofsignificant challenges while studying andliving away from home (Fisher, 1990;Morgan, 1993). Adjustments for many of theresidential students included moving awayfrom a context where Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander children compose the majorityof students at a school, into a situation wherethey were now the minority. There was also asignificant reduction of physical contact withfamily members from daily contact, to asituation where for extended periods of timephysical contact was not possible andcommunication was limited to telephone,email and other means rather than through faceto-faceinteractions.Although previous research has shownthat some students adjust quickly and gain agreater appreciation for routine and disciplinewhile living away from home, for other studentsthe residential setting with reduced freedom,specific rules, including new and different valuesystems, is a difficult adjustment to make(Downs, 2003). To address this issue, weestablished and undertook regular one-on-oneor small-group, face-to-face meetings at eachschool with students. This involved developinga roster of school visits where regular weeklygroup meetings across the 16 residential schoolswere held to listen, to talk and to discuss issuesstudents were contending with while studyingaway from home. For example, meetings wouldinvolve talking about day-to-day factorsincluding completing homework anddeveloping study skills (e.g., goal setting,prioritising tasks and time management) andschool activities, while also providing supportwith living and family issues, peer relationshipsand during times of homesickness, lonelinessand longing for country. During these meetingswe positioned ourselves with students as moreof an educational mentor looking holistically atthe overall educational experience for eachstudent rather than just focusing on sequentialeducational milestones.As colleagues we shared a commonphilosophy towards working with young peoplewhich was to first and foremost (before ‘all’else) invest time and establish a trustingrelationship with students. How the relationshipwith each student evolved was differentdepending on individual needs, wants, interestsand expectations. To achieve the bestrelationship possible with each student weworked hard at steadily fostering a positivemicro-environment around our meetings bybeing genuine, non-threatening and nonjudgmental.It was essential from ourperspective to ensure that each student wasrecognised and felt valued as an individual.Importantly, we encouraged students to take anThe Australian Community Psychologist Volume 21 No 1 June 2009