Adelaide, 23 September 2015

Red dirt curriculum and national curriculum: how do they line up?Remote Education Systems project

Introduction

• RES lecture series topics 1-7: 1) what is education for? 2) disadvantage and advantage 3) complexity and chaos 4) workforce development 5) successful remote schools 6) teacher quality and qualities 7) culturally responsive schools

• This lecture draws on the 2013 Sidney Myer Rural Lecture 3, held in Alice Springs.

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The school curriculum context in Australia

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Melbourne Declaration

National Education Agreement

National Education Reform Agreement

National Partnerships

Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership

National Assessment

Australian Curriculum National Professional Standards

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers

EAL/D Capabilities

Australian Professional Standards for Principals

Review of the Australian Curriculum

2009

2010

2008

2014

2013

2012

Australian Education Act

Review of Funding for Schooling

Standing Council on School Education and Early Childhood

Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs

Education Council

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages?

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Plan 2010-

2014

NationalAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Strategy

2015

Measurement Framework 2012

My School

Measurement Framework 2015

National Report on Schooling in Australia (annual)

RES project Aim• To find out how remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

communities can get the best benefit from the teaching and learning happening in and out of schools.

Research questions• What is education for and what can/should it achieve?• What defines ‘success’ from the remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander standpoint?• How does teaching need to change to achieve ‘success’?• What would an effective education system in remote Australia look

like?

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RES Project data sources

• Publicly available datasets (my school and Census)

• Community surveys in 10 remote communities

• Observations from site visits in 3 jurisdictions (WA, SA, NT)

• Engagement of over 200 remote education stakeholders in research processes (20 Thinking Outside The Tank sessions)

• Dare to Lead Snapshots in 31 Very Remote schools

• Reading of the relevant research literature

• 6 Post-graduate research projects in progress

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Distribution of RES results

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0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

What is education for? (n=725) What is success? (n=740) Teaching to success (n=1052) How should the system respond?(n=921)

Perc

enta

ge o

f res

pond

ents

RQs

Remote Aboriginal Non-remote

Teaching to success

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0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12%

Health and wellbeing at school

Local language Aboriginal teachers

Relationships

ESL and multi-lingual learning

Teacher qualities

Contextualised curriculum

Culturally responsive

Pedagogy

Both-ways and two way

Contextually responsive

High expectations

Classroom management

School leadership

Professional learning

Assessment and Progress

Experience

Informal learning opportunities

Time

Whole of school practices

Unsuitable teaching

Per cent of references within group

Res

pons

e

Non-remote (n=753) Remote Aboriginal (n=299)

What is Red Dirt Curriculum

• Osborne: …a curriculum that holds ‘blue sky’ thinking in one hand but firmly grasps a sense of the pragmatic in the other, and importantly, proposes what the core elements of a ‘Red Dirt’ or locally imagined and relevant curriculum might offer. Red dirt can be found across a range of landscapes and languages; from salt water country to the deserts and all points in between. (p. 4)

• Tjitayi: We’ve already got a Red Dirt curriculum and it’s always been there.

• Lester: Are the children on the APY Lands learning about what is relevant and important to them in a school context?

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What does a contextualised curriculum look like?

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Themes Includes Remote Aboriginal

Non-remote Total

Engaging, integrated content Integrated, contextualised, locally relevant 12 5 17

Language and culture Local histories, bilingual, Aboriginal perspectives, learning on country, acceptance of Aboriginal English, stories

11 7 18

Local content Adaptive to the local context, local culture, locally directed and supported

5 4 9

Meeting community expectations

Ground up curriculum, input and control from communities

3 10 13

Blending western knowledge with traditional knowledge

as opposed to imposing western epistemologies 2 4 6

Meeting student needs How to manage and respond to student needs, relate to others

2 10 12

Multiple sites for learning Using art and technology, on country 2 2 4

Supporting identities Not white ways of being, building resilience, belonging in the place

1 2 3

Appropriate assessment beyond a simple focus on literacy and numeracy 0 4 4

Don't try to cover too much Avoiding unnecessary jargon 0 3 3

Total 38 51 89

Recap: What is education for?

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0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16% 18% 20%

Language, land and culture

Identity

Strong in both worlds

Employment and economic participation

Meaningful engagement in the world

Community leadership and participation

Learning

Choice and opportunity

Holistic

Further learning and skills

Socialisation to schooling

Fun

Sport

Not sure what for

Power

Per cent of references within group

Res

pons

e

Non remote (n=378) Remote Aboriginal (n=347)

How could we go about building a Red Dirt Curriculum?

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Local and external opportunities

Local content

Red Dirt Curricum

External content

Culturally, contextually responsiveLanguage

LiteracyNumeracy

ScienceHistory

Arts

Local culture Local philosophy Western philosophy

Language, land and culture

Identities

Economic participation

Two ways, both-ways

Local language English language

Bilingual/ESL/EAL/D

External support

Local governance

Local and non-local educators

Pedagogy/delivery

Local knowledge expertise

Strong in both worlds

Teacher qualitiesLocal language teachers

Community engagement

Parent/community involvemnt

Academic outcomes

Australian Curriculum: Friend of Foe?

The AC can be our friend1. It does to some extent do what its sets out to do2. Encourages inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander topics

through the cross-curricular priorities and makes them explicit3. Provides for ‘general capabilities’ that allow assessment and reporting

beyond the content of the learning areas

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Australian Curriculum: Friend of Foe?

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4. An array of resources for teachers to create, use, share and discuss.

Australian Curriculum: Friend of Foe?

5. Explicitly encourages Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives

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But what about Maths and Science?

• What would you do with this?

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Drawing on existing resources

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Other examples of Red Dirt Curriculum

• Learning on/through country (Fogarty & Schwab 2012)• First language and two language programs (Children’s Ground 2013)• Intergenerational knowledge transmission (Arnott et al. 2010)• Strengthening identity (Yiriman Project 2015)• Arts based projects (Kral & Schwab 2012)• Family strengthening programs (Guenther 2011)• And much more

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Conclusions

1. In the last 7 years Australia’s education systems have consolidated significantly. Does this represent a problem for contextualised delivery of curriculum?

2. Yet there is a demand for a contextualised ‘Red Dirt’ curriculum…3. And there is no reason why Red Dirt cannot sit comfortably alongside

Australian Curriculum.

But importantly, a Red Dirt Curriculum requires the involvement of local knowledge experts for its delivery. It requires a commitment to the value of local philosophies, both-ways pedagogies, local governance and the primacy of local

language.4. How to do Red Dirt Curriculum cannot be centrally mandated.

There is no substitute for effective local school leadership, good teaching practice, strong parent and community involvement in school and a shared commitment to the

learning needs of local people

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Further reading

Osborne, S., Lester, K., Minutjukur, M., & Tjitayi, K. (2013). Red Dirt Curriculum: Reimagining Remote Education. Paper presented at the Sidney Myer Rural Lecture 3, Desert Knowledge Precinct, Alice Springs. Video recording retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za6w8ph_VDg&feature=youtu.be

Disbray, S. (2014). Curriculum as Knowledge System: The Warlpiri Theme Cycle. Paper presented at the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR), ANU, Canberra. http://caepr.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/Seminars/presentations/Disbray_Warlpiri_Curriculum.mp3

Guenther, J. (2015). Overview of Remote Education Systems qualitative results. CRC-REP Working Paper. CW025, Ninti ONe lImited. Retrieved July 2015 from http://www.crc-rep.com.au/resource/CW025_RemoteEducationSystemsQualitativeResults.pdf.

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More about RES

http://crc-rep.com/remote-education-systems

John Guenther0412 125 661john.guenther@flinders.edu.au

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