talanoa pasifika cairns conference 2014
TRANSCRIPT
TALANOA PASIFIKA CAIRNS CONFERENCE 2014
Choices, Chances and Opportunities - EDUCATION is the future The Cairns Institute, James Cook University, CAIRNS 16-17 July 2014
TALANOA PASIFIKA CAIRNS CONFERENCE 2014 Choices, Chances and Opportunities - EDUCATION is the future
Welcome from the Chairman
On behalf of the organising committee, I would like to welcome you all to the third Talanoa Pasifika Cairns Conference 2014. It is an honour and a privilege once again to be part of this wonderful conference. Especially to host the conference in Tropical North Queensland where the rainforest meets the Great Barrier Reef—a perfect setting for a delightful experience.
This conference will see familiar faces and new faces, come together to listen to each other and both be edified.
The conference aims to advocate and promote values and qualities that are beneficial to Indigenous Peoples of the Pacific Rim including mainland Australia. The focus of the Cairns conference will be directed to education and wellbeing. The Cairns Pacific Community endeavours to connect and pursue opportunities and activities that best align with the needs of the community. The short term goals are for Pacific families to pursue positive pathways that will eventually lead them towards self-reliance and independence, both for the individual and community. By doing this, future generations will contribute to their local communities in positive, self-fulfilling ways.
This conference would not be possible without many hours and expertise donated by volunteers and organisations. I would like to specifically mention the work of Kula Manuka, Anne Holden, Margaret Osmond, Ofa Fukofuka, Eseta Tualaulelei and Jennifer McHugh.
We have also been enabled by the support and guidance of the Principals of Woree State High School (Bruce Houghton) and Woree State Primary School (Terry Davidson), Mission Australia, The Cairns Institute and James Cook University.
Lastly I would like to thank our wonderful Keynotes and Presenters for your valuable contributions.
May you all take a little something back from Talanoa to your families and to your communities and do something nice for each other. Finally education will empower individuals and families towards a better quality of life.
Mitaki kua mafola kia monuina oti tautagata moe taufanau moe taumagfaoa.
(Best wishes to all the families)
Aquilar Luki Chair of the Talanoa Pasifika Cairns Conference 2014
Contents OPENING CEREMONY ........................................................................................................ 1
PROGRAM ........................................................................................................................... 2
VENUE MAP: Ground Floor .................................................................................................. 6
VENUE MAP: First Floor ....................................................................................................... 7
COMMUNITY FEAST ........................................................................................................... 8
KEYNOTE BIOGRAPHIES ................................................................................................... 9
KEYNOTE ABSTRACTS .................................................................................................... 12
ABSTRACTS ...................................................................................................................... 14
PRESENTER BIOGRAPHIES ............................................................................................. 38
AUTHOR INDEX ................................................................................................................. 49
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OPENING CEREMONY
DATE: Tuesday 15 July TIME VENUE: The Cairns Institute 6:00-7:00 pm Preconference registration and informal greeting
Tea, coffee and light snacks
7:00-8:00 pm Welcome by Traditional Owners including traditional dance and didgeridoo
Official opening - Aquilar Luki
Prayer - Rev David Teaurere & the Mount Sheridan Cook Island Christian Church, Cairns Imene Pure (Church Song)
Mount Sheridan Cook Island Christian Church Cairns – Youth Cultural Performance
Action Song – Aru ai Iesu , followed by Korero
Drum Dance – Taku Korero, Maori e
Cook Island Community ceremonial welcome and cultural performance
8:00-8.30 pm
Thankyou to performers - Rev David Teaurere
Education Queensland - Stephen Bell
Acknowledgement of sponsors and closing - Aquilar Luki
Ute (Celebratory Song)– Traditional Song by the Mount Sheridan CICC Cairns congregation
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PROGRAM
DATE: Wednesday 16 July ROOM ROOM ROOM
TIME Main Theatre D3:063 D3:059 D3:149
9:00-9:30
Opening prayer Welcome by Professor Robyn McGuiggan House keeping
9:30-10:30 Keynote
Leon Hoponoa Talanoa is in the 'system' but out of place and value: Implications for individuals, institutions and communities
10:30-11:00 Morning Tea
11:00-11:25
Emma Thomas Ensuring ‘EDUCATION is the future’: The importance of partnerships between education providers, families and community
Goru Hane-Nou, Betty Lovai & Boe Lahui-Ako Mass education and elitism in Papua New Guinea
Lisa Scott My story: Achievements through overcoming low expectations and barriers (a Samoan girl’s narrative)
Roman Kingi, Virginia Spence, Ranandy Stanley, Kalisi Bese, Fran Timu, Emma Tanuvasa, Inez Faainga-Manu Sione & Judy Eki Pasifika families with pride and purpose – An innovative way of strengthening Pasifika communities
11:25-11:50
Marie M'Balla-Ndi & Maxine Newlands Talanoa and communicative action: Implications for Pacific media training and education
Gabrielle O’Brien One university’s approach to broadening Pasifika school students’ career choices and university study options to enhance future opportunities
Gail Mitchell, Ian Hodges & Eddie Savage RATEP: Partnership for enduring success
Nalisa Neuendorf Modernity and the emergence of contemporary Papua New Guinean identities
11:50-12:40 Workshops
Rubina Kimiia Choral participation: A catalyst for cultural intelligence and appreciation
Keneti Galo Choices, Chances & Opportunities: Moving forward using reflective practice and strengths-based perspectives
Peina Smith Successfully educating New Zealand Maori Pacific Islander children in the Australian society
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12:40-1:40 Lunch
TIME Main Theatre D3:063 D3:059 D3:149
1:40-2:40 Keynote
Sally Kift Pasifika participation in higher education: Opportunities for learning, success & retention
2:40-3:05
Debra Modra & Losa Seiler Cairns Good Start Program: Implementation and evaluation of a chronic disease prevention project for Pacific Islander and Maori communities
Wani Erick, B.L. Cox & C.C. Windsor The "Whanau Ora/Moui Olaola" (Strengthening families wellbeing) project: An exploration of perceptions of young immigrant Maori and Pacific Island families, elders and child health providers in Townsville about how to make child health services more relevant and culturally safe
Roman Kingi Greater Metro South Brisbane Medicare Local, partnering with Pasifika and Maori communities for better health outcomes
3:05-3:30
Ruth Wone Crossing cultures in schools – Exploring a framework for collaborative cultural exchange and development for students
Catherine Picton, Mike Horsley & Bruce Knight Disability in Samoa: Identity, change and progress
Aquilar Luki Home Connectedness Initiative: See others not as they are but as they may become
3:30-4:00 Afternoon Tea
4:00-5:00 Workshops
Stella Miria-Robinson Impact of education in Pacific Islander women’s lives
Mike Winton, Montez Williams & Lucy Salanoa Choices not Chances Program – Keeping it REAL at Redbank Plains State High School
5:00-5.10 Closing prayer
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DATE: Thursday 17 July ROOM ROOM
TIME Main Theatre D3:063 D3:059
9:00-9:15 Housekeeping Morning prayer Introduction
9:15-10:15 Keynote
Tracie Mafile'o How can higher education transform Pasifika realities?
10:15-10:40 Morning Tea
10:40-11:05
Karen D'Aietti Negotiating the dominant and dominating discourses in teaching in the Far North Queensland context: A teacher’s journey
Florence Boulard Australia education futures: The visible north and the invisible east
Johnson Agwu Kalu Positioning universities in Papua New Guinea to address the declining standard of the English language in the education system
11:05-11:30
Roman Kingi Promoting culture and health and wellbeing in our Niuean community
Judy Enoch & Katherine Macfarlane Ngoonbi Kuranda District Parental and Community Engagement Programme: Why education and community go hand in hand
Bruce Murray What choice, what opportunities? Confronting the neo-colonial condition in Papua New Guinea education
11:30-11:55
Gail Mitchell, Carlene Oliver & Eddie Savage Supporting Indigenous teacher education students across distances
Kula Manuka Connecting parents/carers with their children’s learning: The Every Day Counts Woree Walking Bus
Taufa Tukutau Education opportunities and lifestyle changes in two contrasting Papua New Guinea (PNG) communities over 30 years
11:55-12:20
Mike Winton Changing families’ lives – Choices not Chances Program
Ellen Field & Mary Konobo Is it all just lol or are the kids doing something?: Social networking an opportunity for positive peer-to-peer engagement, education, and action
Michelle Redman-MacLaren, Rachael Tommbe, Jane Mills, John McBride & Rick Speare Increasing knowledge increases choices: Evidence from a HIV study with women in Papua New Guinea
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TIME Main Theatre D3:063 D3:059
12:20- 1:20 Lunch Federation of Pacific Island Communities of Queensland (FPICQ) meeting to discuss and launch the Constitution.
1:20-2:20 Keynote
Tom Calma AO Title TBA
2:20-3:20 Workshops
Rev Les Baird & Anne Stephens Developing a whole-of-community suicide prevention plan for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia
Stephen Lippingwell Bridging the cultural divide for Pacific Islander success in education
3:20-3:45 Afternoon Tea
3:45-4:30
Community forum. The forum aims to give an opportunity to community members who are unable to attend the full conference to be included. The Community Panel will consist of 6 people whom we believe will represent a diversity of viewpoints about possible outcomes of the Talanoa Pasifika Cairns conference. Each member of the panel will give a short 2-3 minute talk followed questions and suggestions from the audience The closing session will provide a forum for these views to be heard, discussed, and hopefully actioned in order to provide concrete outcomes for Pasifika people—in particular, young people.
Our Panel will be • Stephen Bell, Assistant Regional Director of Education, Far North QLD Region, Department of Education, Training and Employment • Ofa Fukofuka, CAMS StateWide Pacific Island Advocacy Coordinator • Soa Joseph, representing Cairns Pasifika people • Oni Vuniyaro, FNQ Volunteers Inc • Tracie Mafile'o, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Pacific Adventist University • Emma Thomas, Associate Director, Equity & Student Engagement, James Cook University • Tom Calma AO
4:30 Closing prayer 6:00-9:00 Community feast, Idinji Youth Centre, 156 Irene St, Mooroobool (see p. 8 for more details)
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VENUE MAP: Ground Floor
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VENUE MAP: First Floor
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COMMUNITY FEAST
Conference delegates are invited to attend the official closing ceremony, that includes Hangi, Umu, cultural food, performances from a local Aboriginal group, Boigu Island dancers, Samoa, Aotearoa NZ, Cook Island, combined Woree SHS & Bentley College Pacific students as well as a performance from Pacific students current or recently graduated from JCU. Time: 6:00-9:00 pm Venue: Idinji Youth Centre, 156 Irene St, Mooroobool There will be a small cost per plate to help cover the food costs.
Photo acknowledgements L to R: http://boigu.ikc.org.au/the-coming-of-the-light-for-boigu-8th-of-july/
http://www.torresstraitheritage.com/blog/ http://msvolendam.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/the-hangi-of-the-maori/
Cairns Institute opening, July 2013
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KEYNOTE BIOGRAPHIES
Leonatasi Hopanoa
Leonaitasi Hoponoa is an educator and a PhD scholar, School of Youth Work and Human Services, University of Queensland. He was born in Nuku’alofa, Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific. Mr Hoponoa’s research interests are the complexity of young Pacific people lives and the developmental issues in the Pacific regions.
Mr Hoponoa has presented his research in many community, academic and school conferences in different parts of the world wherein he
embraced the following arguments.
1. That young Pacific people are not ‘sufficiently empowered’ with the key knowledge, wisdom and skills that are necessary for them to maximise their full potential
2. That the personal growth and development of young Pacific people is assumed or left to life chance rather than, intentionally and deliberately taught
3. That young Pacific people’s values are the most immediate, instant and direct forces that influence their behaviour
4. That the conventional development model in the Pacific regions requires fundamental rethinking and redirecting, for it places greater importance on “things” rather than “human beings”.
Mr Hoponoa has been developing programs for marginalised young people in Tonga, New Zealand and Australia. These programs adopt the following key principles.
I. Young people are active agents who are capable of maximising their full potential, provided they have the key knowledge, wisdom and skills and are aptly supported
II. A ‘person-centred’ approach best enables an understanding of the distinctive and complex world of young people
III. Young people have to take control of their life journey and their world.
Mr Hoponoa has been adopting the Pacific ancient wisdom of Talanoa as a liberating method of honestly understanding the complexities of life that confront our young people and the developmental issues facing Pacific societies. He argues that Talanoa as a process can provide a frame of reference which:
a. Challenges the conventional development model as fundamentally inadequate for addressing diversity, conflicting nature and the complexity of Pacific societies and her peoples, and
b. Redirects and reframes the ways in which young Pacific people are being perceived, positioned and categorised.
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Professor Sally Kift
Deputy Vice-Chancellor-Academic (DVCA), James Cook University
Professor Sally Kift joined JCU as the Deputy Vice Chancellor-Academic in May 2012. She was previously a Professor of Law at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), where she served as Law Faculty Assistant Dean, Teaching & Learning (2001-2006) and QUT’s foundational Director, First Year Experience (2006-2007).
Sally received a National Teaching Award (Australian Awards for University Teaching (AAUT)) in 2003.
In 2006, she was awarded one of three inaugural Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) Senior Fellowships for a project entitled, Articulating transition pedagogy to scaffold and enhance the first year learning experience in Australian higher education.
In 2007, Sally led a Project Team to the award of a further Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) National Teaching Award for the Law Faculty’s Assessment and Feedback practices. She has published widely on legal education and student transition, and has received numerous national and international invitations to speak on issues relating to transition and the first year experience, on curriculum design to embed and assess graduate attributes, and on the current state of legal education.
Sally is the Co-Editor of the International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education.
Professor Tracie Mafile'o
Professor Tracie Mafile’o has 15 years’ experience as an academic and manager in higher education. She is currently the Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Pacific Adventist University, located in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Previously she held the position of Director of Research and Postgraduate Studies at PAU and also worked at Massey University, New Zealand, for 7 years teaching social work at Bachelors and Masters level.
Starting her career in social work practice, Professor Mafile’o completed a PhD in social work at Massey University. Her research and publications
focus on Pacific and indigenous models of social service practice, youth development, qualitative research and HIV prevention.
Professor Mafile’o is of Tongan and Pakeha (New Zealand palangi) heritage and is linked to the Tuvalu community through both her husband and her great great grandfather on her father’s side.
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Dr Tom Calma, AO
Chancellor, University of Canberra
Dr Tom Calma, AO, is an Aboriginal elder of the Kungarakan tribal group, a member of the Iwaidja tribal group in the Top End of the NT. He is a tireless champion for the rights, responsibilities and welfare of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
Dr Calma was appointed National Coordinator Tackling Indigenous Smoking in March 2010 to lead the fight against tobacco use in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Dr Calma served as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission from 2004 to 2010. He also served as Race Discrimination Commissioner from 2004 until 2009.
He has campaigned for health, social justice, inclusion and equality issues, about which he feels strongly. His 2005 Social Justice Report laid the foundation for the Close the Gap Campaign—a collaboration of some 40 Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian health and human rights groups.
He is currently Co-chair of the Commonwealth Government’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Advisory Group and an Ambassador with Suicide Prevention Australia.
He was awarded the Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in June 2012 for distinguished service to the Indigenous community as an advocate for human rights and social justice, through contributions to government policy and reform, and to cross cultural understanding and he was the ACT Australian of the Year 2013.
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KEYNOTE ABSTRACTS
DAY 1
Talanoa is in the 'system' but out of place and value: Implications for individuals, institutions and communities
Leonatsi Hoponoa
University of Queensland
Pasifika participation in higher education: Opportunities for learning, success & retention
Sally Kift
James Cook University
From a success-based perspective, this presentation will explore initiatives and practices that benefit the learning, success and retention of Pasifika learners in higher education. Drawing particularly on New Zealand research and approaches that focus on placing Pasifika learners, their families and communities at the policy centre of that nation’s efforts to enhance Pasifika success, it will be suggested that Australian institutions should similarly be intentional, connected and holistic in their approaches. When the international agenda around inclusion of under-represented cohorts is examined, what emerges as critical is that institutions seek to engage and support the “whole student”, both academically and pastorally, and that learning relationships based on respect, trust, connectedness and inclusivity are purposefully constructed. In the specific case of Pasifika students, research also suggests that targeted solutions should extend to families and the involvement of Pasifika communities. By way of illustration, a number of Australian examples of good practice and culturally inclusive pedagogy will be discussed. It will be concluded that what works for Pasifika students will likely be of benefit to all students, as has been found to be the case internationally under the widening participation agenda.
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DAY 2
How can higher education transform Pasifika realities?
Tracie Mafile'o
Pacific Adventist University
For many Pasifika peoples, the journey into the diaspora was partly prompted by the perceived educational opportunities and benefits for future generations. Taking account of history, current realities, future aspirations and possibilities, this presentation critically examines the potential of higher education, and research higher degrees in particular, to bring about positive Pasifika community and family transformation.
Keynote paper title TBA
Tom Calma
University of Canberra
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ABSTRACTS
THEME: OPPORTUNITIES
Australia education futures: The visible north and the invisible east
Florence Monique Boulard
James Cook University
In 2014, providing all young Australians with opportunities to be actively engaged with and literate in the cultures and languages of Asia continues to be well communicated to educators through curriculum documents and the media. Whilst there is wide spread agreement that the study of Asian perspectives is important for the successful future of many young Australians, one could question why none of the countries located to the east of Australia such as New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Wallis & Futuna and French Polynesia have been mentioned in either the Melbourne Declaration (Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, 2008) or the Australian curriculum, as these countries are also some of Australia's closest neighbours.
If Australia, as a nation, is truly aiming to develop its young people into global citizens through the teaching and learning of different cultures and beliefs, then it does not seem unreasonable to say that young Australians also need to develop an appreciation for their east-side neighbours.
This paper reviews current French language curricular used in Australian schools to assist in contextualising an action research which aims to develop a change-orientated curriculum for grade eight French. This curriculum will contribute to developing the international-mindedness of young Australians with regard to their East-side neighbours.
THEME: CHANCES
Bridging the cultural divide for Pacific Islander success in education
Stephen Lippingwell
Woree State High School, Woree, Cairns
The second largest cultural group at Woree State High School are Pacific Islanders. This paper is based upon the teaching experience of the Social Science Head of Department who is working with Indigenous and Pacific Islander students at the school to increase their engagement and success in education. Educators cannot successfully empower and engage Pacific Islander students in education if they cannot bridge the cultural divide between Australian culture and values and Pacific
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Islander culture and values. Structured approaches to teaching and learning are at odds with the way Pacific Islander students learn. Creative ways of teaching must be developed and implemented. Culturally differentiated pedagogical approaches fostering connectedness to the school community are essential but problematic for teachers and school administrators. Failure to understand and develop culturally inclusive pedagogy for Pacific Islander students is counterproductive to their participation in education, often resulting in disruptive classroom behaviours, rebellion, confusion and ultimately disengagement. Highly structured and organised school settings are culturally incompatible with the more relaxed learning style of the Pacific Islander students who often feel isolated and out of place. Educational needs will differ between a student who has just arrived from a Pacific Island and a student that has had some prior experience either in a New Zealand or an Australian school. Cultural structures, traditions, male and female roles, the role of religion and cultural leaders must also be considered as variables that feed into student engagement and chance of success and wellbeing.
THEME: MULTIPLE THEMES
Cairns Good Start Program: Implementation and evaluation of a chronic disease prevention project for Pacific Islander and Maori communities
Debra Modra1, Loser Seiler1
1The Good Start Program
[email protected] or [email protected]
The Good Start Program for Maori and Pacific Islander Children (2012-2015) focuses on helping Maori and Pacific Islander children and families to build their knowledge, skills and confidence around healthy eating, physical activity and healthy lifestyle choices. The Program is a Queensland Health initiative funded under the National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health – Healthy Children Implementation Plan.
This presentation will describe the range of innovations adopted by the Good Start Program–in how the program has been designed (the Family Centred Health Prevention Model), in who delivers the program, in what activities are offered to engage with children and families, and in how the program is being evaluated.
The Cairns office has been operational since mid-June 2013 and is being run by two multicultural staff members Debra Modra–PNG Multicultural Health Worker and Losa Seiler–Multicultural Nutritionist.
Schools were identified through conversation with key community leaders and school principals. Initial contacts were made with principals and key personnel to offer 3 programs that would run for a single term each year – MPI Junior Chef, MPI Eat Well and MPI Got Talent. This approach offers the advantage of working on behaviour change with the same children over a longer period of time.
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In collaboration with The University of Queensland Evaluation Team, multiple evaluation methods are being undertaken to assess process and impact evaluation in the Good Start Program. Reporting requirements of the Program’s funding bodies, as well as a desire to engage the communities involved, is driving this evaluation plan.
THEME: MULTIPLE THEMES
Changing families’ lives – Choices not Chances Program
Mike Winton
Co-ordinator, Choices not Chances Program, Redbank Plains State High School
Redbank Plains State High School (RPSHS) has a student population of 1,465 students with 40% of students coming from the Pasifika Region. Our community is in a low socio-economic area with families experiencing third generation unemployment.
Only 25% of our graduating Year 12 students continue to tertiary education; the other 75% seek employment. The Choices not Chances Program (CNC) is important to the school as it delivers real outcomes and real opportunities to these students not pursuing tertiary study.
The CNC provides some unique programs for students to achieve their dreams. CNC also provides opportunities for the community to gain employment and training. Through these programs RPSHS has been recognised by winning two major awards:
• State winner Showcase Award for Excellence in Schools – Senior Phase of Learning • Impact Award NAB Schools First – one of 25 awarded nationally • Recognised internationally by the OECD for community programs
RPSHS shares its successes with other schools and the Coordinator, CNC now mentors these schools in the introduction of the programs. An example of this is the GenR8 Program that skills the next generation for the Transport & Logistics Industry. Piloted by RPSHS In 2012 with 10 students, it is now undertaken by 180 students statewide and 78 students at RPSHS.
The workshop will outline how CNC has changed the perception of the school in the community and transformed Pasifika families shown through the presentation of the programs, extensive data and case studies. RPSHS is now regarded as an educational hub for teenage and adult learners.
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THEME: MULTIPLE THEMES
Choices, Chances & Opportunities: Moving forward using reflective practice and strengths-based perspectives
Keneti Galo
The workshop will follow my own journey as a Samoan male growing up in Mangere, South Auckland, to my current position as a clinical supervisor with Relationships Australia.
Exploring my own choices, chances and opportunities and evoking the power of reflection I will discuss the pivotal moments along the journey and facilitate moments of personal reflection for participants. I will also share key learnings for me along the journey, including the benefit of collaboration between cultures, specifically, Pacific Island culture and western culture. Further, in continuing with the use of an experiential approach, I will discuss how the strengths of Pacific Island culture can translate and be effective across the board, for all people in workplaces and education sectors.
THEME: MULTIPLE THEMES
Choices not Chances Program – Keeping it REAL at Redbank Plains State High School
Mike Winton1, Montez Williams1 & Lucy Salanoa1
1Redbank Plains State High School
Redbank Plains State High School (RPSHS) has a student population of 1,465 students with 40% of students coming from the Pasifika Region. Our community is in a low socio-economic area with families experiencing third generation unemployment. The philosophy of RPSHS is based on four expectations: Respect, Excel, Attend and Learn.
Respect • Self and others • Cultural backgrounds • RPSHS Brand/ what the school stands for
Excel • Achieve through many opportunities for students and the community at RPSHS
Attend • Be at school all day every day • 95% attendance expectations • How this has been achieved through creation of PLO • Engaging local community
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Learn • Creation of three Pathways to Learn – A B C
o Pathway A – Tertiary learning o Pathway B – School based traineeships/apprenticeships (SATS); Selection Ranking
and Academic/Authority subjects o Pathway C – SATS and employment – Choices not Chances Program creating
employment and training opportunities for students and the community The presentation will outline how REAL has changed the perception of the school in the community and addresses the conference theme. The transformation of the school has resulted in it winning two major awards:
• State winner Showcase Award for Excellence in Schools – Senior Phase of Learning • Impact Award NAB Schools First – one of 25 awarded nationally
RPSHS is now regarded as an educational hub for teenage and adult learners. The strength of the school is how it is rated in the community. This can be seen through enrolments increasing by 100 students in 2013 and again in 2014. Parent confidence is at an all-time high.
THEME: OPPORTUNITIES
Choral participation: A catalyst for cultural intelligence and appreciation
Irene Rubina Kimiiaria
Music is the universal language that creates and enables harmony amidst diversity. There is growing prospective and retrospective evidence that highlights numerous benefits of choral participation. Rather than an academic paper, this is an experiential study borne out of my personal and professional dealings as a Pacific Island musician and music educator. The aim of this presentation is to instil a deeper understanding of how choral participation becomes a catalyst that provides an opportunity to strengthen cultural intelligence and appreciation.
Forming the basis of this study is an eleven year music teaching career across mainstream and remote educational and community settings in the Far North Queensland region.
This experiential study illuminates the need for further research to explore the potential to grow cultural intelligence through utilising the platform of choral participation.
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THEME: MULTIPLE THEMES
Connecting parents/carers with their children’s learning: The Every Day Counts Woree walking bus
Mamakura (Kula) Manuka
Community Liaison Officer, Woree State School
The Community Liaison Officer's position for Woree State School is granted through Mission Australia’s Communities for Children Initiative, (CfC) which targets children 0-12 years of age. The role of the Community Liaison Officer is to: support students academically; set expectations for students and their families; provide advice to teachers on cultural issues; and provide a communication link between school and home.
This year Woree State School's priority is to ‘connect parents/carers with their children’s learning’. The flexibility and holistic approach of the model used by the Community Liaison Officer allows changes to be made to activities so that it can meet the needs of every student, from Maori to Pacific Islander, Aboriginal to Torres Strait Islanders to other multicultural and non-indigenous families within the school.
The evolving model encourages families to take part in their child’s education through many avenues such as: home visitations; parent teacher interviews; all forms of communication; community events; and school functions. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the Every Day counts Woree Walking Bus (an activity which has been running in the school since 2011), and how it has encouraged students and their families to be better prepared for school, attend every day and become role models for their siblings, neighbours and school community. The improvement in student attendance and parental preparedness resulted with improved parent/carer relationships with the school staff, and now has formed a shared understanding that they (parents and carers) are central to their children’s learning.
THEME: MULTIPLE THEMES
Crossing cultures in schools – Exploring a framework for collaborative cultural exchange and development for students
Ruth Wone
Community Education Councillor, Woree State High School
How did the project work?
Woree State High School has a diverse cultural student and staff population consisting of over 37 different cultural backgrounds from the surrounding community. In 2004, a set of Aboriginal and
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Torres Strait Islander Language Posters were displayed throughout the school. As a result, other cultural populations with distinct language differences saw this as a barrier and sought acknowledged. Then in 2008, a working party was proposed to develop a new and improved way to acknowledge other major cultural groups within the school. The Learning Support Teacher of the school organised a working party to include teachers, parents, students, staff and community members to work on the project. A new proposed series of posters was developed to represent the language background of the major cultural groups of the school; these included Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Cook Islander, Hmong, Samoan, and Papua New Guinea. The Working Party agreed that the most appropriate format was to base the format on Land, Time, Culture, Place, Relationships, and Language. The project was extensively researched that included regular community consultations. The Language Posters were launched in 2009 and now have pride of place within the school. This outcome leads to addressing other areas of concern for the School, which was about effective communication and the need to improve support to students and parents. As a result, a series of community-based projects produced rewarding and ongoing benefits to the students, parents, the school and the broader community.
THEME: MULTIPLE THEMES
Developing a whole-of-community suicide prevention plan for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia
Rev Les Baird1, Dr Anne Stephens2
1Wontulp-Bi-Buya College, 2The Cairns Institute, James Cook University
Wontulp-Bi-Buya College (WBBC) provides adult education programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Queensland. WBBC aim is to develop leadership across Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, nation-wide. In 2013, the College delivered the first intake of students of the Certificate IV in Mental Health (Suicide Prevention), funded by the National Indigenous Suicide Prevention strategy. Over 30 people from the Torres Straits, New South Wales, Western Australia and across Queensland are studying the course for one year under the guidance of Course Coordinator, Rev Les Baird. Participants are equipped with the skills to develop a whole-of-community suicide prevention plan that is driven by and for the people living in the community.
Rev Les Baird (Wontulp-Bi-Buya College) and Dr Anne Stephens (The Cairns Institute) will facilitate an interactive workshop with conference participants to showcase the teaching resources and pedagogical approach taken when teaching suicide prevention strategies, and in particular, how to develop a whole-of-community prevention plan. Conference delegates will have the opportunity to explore with Rev Baird and Dr Stephens, their knowledge of Indigenous adult education and how to better equip Indigenous communities to prevent this tragic circumstance.
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THEME: CHOICES
Disability in Samoa: Identity, change and progress
Catherine Picton1, Professor Mike Horsley1 & Professor Bruce Knight1
1Central Queensland University
Samoa is in the midst of fundamental social change as national agendas increasingly align to global ideologies. Emerging research has identified economic and religious factors as contributors to changes within the structure of Samoan families and society, reshaping concepts of collaboration and contribution. For people with disabilities these changes have the potential to dramatically impact day to day life as traditional concepts of identity are replaced by non-Pacific ideologies.
Across the Pacific, regional and national development seeks to incorporate a new global policy model into existing disability policy frameworks. Samoa is recognised throughout the region as an emergent leader in disability policy development that reflects global agendas. But how does a global model of disability fit within the fundamental aspects of Samoan cultural traditions? This paper examines a traditional Samoan perspective on disability in the context of divergent global ideologies. Using a Talanoa methodology, this research explores the existing landscape of Samoans with disabilities and traditional concepts such as contribution and collaboration which define their collective identity. Increasingly the space between traditionalism and a global human rights agenda is blurring traditional concepts of collaboration, identity development and cultural inclusion.
In this era of externally driven change to Samoa’s national agenda, the development of culturally responsive policy is a critical aspect of disability policy reform. Effective policy must enable people with disabilities access to choices that reflect their collective Samoan identity as well as provide opportunities for personal and societal progress.
Using a Talanoa methodology, this research explores the existing landscape of Samoans with disabilities and traditional concepts such as contribution and collaboration which define their collectivist identity.
THEME: MULTIPLE THEMES
Education opportunities and lifestyle changes in two contrasting Papua New Guinea (PNG) communities over 30 years
Tukutau Taufa
Adjunct Associate Professor, James Cook University
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The study among 1,000 Wopkaimin landowners of the Ok Tedi copper-gold mine, Western Province, PNG started in 1982 before mining began 1983. The 1,500 Mt Obree people of inland Central Province, PNG, with no economic project have been similarly studied as controls since 1983. The two communities have been followed up annually by the same researcher, using the same forms and equipment to monitor 85 variables ranging from socio-political, economic, environment and health. Some educational and lifestyle issues will be discussed.
First primary school established among Wopkaimins in 1972 and Obree in 1957. By 1993 there were three Community, one Technical, one High and one International Primary School with a branch of PNG University among Wopkaimins, yet their 17.5% of primary school attendance (PSA) was significantly less than Obrees’ 43.3% (Unpaired t test = 7.4; df = 21; p<0.001) with one primary school. By 2013 Wopkaimin’s PSA is 47.8% compared to 1.1% for Obree, a sad reflection of the collapse of Governments’ rural services since 1994.
Massive economic development among Wopkaimins only changed their lifestyle however they heeded health advice on smoking and alcohol drinking and its prevalence dropped, also among Obrees. Dietary advice, however, was ineffective. Their diet changed from high fibre carbohydrate to refined high fat and sugar. This is reflected in their Body Mass Index (BMI). Only one overweight Wopkaimn in 1982, by 2013, 63.9% are overweight and 26.7% obese. No overweight among Obrees in 1983. By 2012, 14.3% are overweight and 2.8% obese. The difference in BMI between Wopkaimins and Obree is statistically significant (X = 4.2; p<0.001).
THEME: MULTIPLE THEMES
Ensuring ‘EDUCATION is the future’: the importance of partnerships between education providers, families and community
Emma Thomas
Associate Director Equity & Student Engagement, James Cook University
Raising awareness of and aspirations for university pathways feature as key components in policy relating to widening access and participation for under-represented groups in higher education (Dearing, 2007 (UK); Bradley, 2008; Gale et al, 2010). Recent funding provided by the Australian government in the form of the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships (HEPP) Program (2010-2014) is geared to supporting these objectives through the creation, development and maintenance of effective partnerships between universities, schools, parents/carers and families, communities and industry.
James Cook University (JCU) runs three major projects with the aligned goal of stimulating interest and building capacity for higher education access, participation and success amongst students from under-represented and particularly low socio-economic backgrounds. Through these projects Choices are explored and supported; Chances are provided and encouraged; and Opportunities are discovered, investigated, created, developed and progressed.
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This paper focuses on how we, as practitioners, help to ensure education and university pathways are accessible futures for all who desire them. It explores the work being done particularly under the HEPP Program by JCU in North and Far North Queensland, and specifically addresses:
• The North / Far North Queensland and James Cook University context • Barriers and challenges to ensuring equitable access and participation in higher education
for students from under-represented backgrounds • Approaches to creating effective and sustainable partnerships • Underpinning frameworks and philosophies • Successful partnerships and outcomes—the 'nets and knots' that bind us • Challenges and barriers to effective partnerships—the ‘tangles’ that might deter us • Recommendations and the future of Partnerships—Choices, Chances and Opportunities to
help ensure EDUCATION is a future for all.
THEME: MULTIPLE THEMES
Greater Metro South Brisbane Medicare Local, partnering with Pasifika and Maori Communities for better health outcomes
Roman Kingi
Greater Metro South Brisbane Medicare Local (GMSBML)
In the past 12 months since the last Talanoa Pasifika Conference GMSBML has delivered several programs targeted at Pasifika and Maori communities. These include:
• Partnering with Griffith University’s Hope 4 Health to deliver Teddy Bear Hospital to Woodridge and Marsden State Primary Schools in Logan
• Working in partnership with Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland and the Pacific Islander Reference Group and the Cook Is community to deliver a Lifestyle Modification Program for Pasifika communities
• Working with the Tongan community and the Voice of Samoa’s successful Soifua Maloloina (Samoan Healthy Lifestyle) Program, with support from Queensland Health, to transfer this model to their community
• Collaborating with MNB Entertainment and Beenleigh State High School to deliver a leadership dance program with strong mental health and wellbeing links to a group of primarily Pasifika and Maori students
• Supporting the continued delivery of the hugely successful Pasifika Families with Pride and Purpose Program with several partners with the lead agency being Queensland Police Service, Hope Centre, Griffith University, Inala Youth Services Pasifika Youth Links and Queensland Health’s Good Start Program
• A flag ship project to be delivered in August 2014 is the first ever Pasifika and Maori Mental Health Forum held in Australia. The purpose of this forum is to raise awareness of mental
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health issues for these communities, address barriers to accessing services and developing solutions. This is a joint effort between GMSBML through its Partners in Recovery Program, key stakeholders, PIR partners, Career Keys and FSG, and other important partners Queensland Health, Queensland Health’s Good Start Program, Strategix, Hope Services and Inala Youth Services, Pasifika Youth Links program.
This presentation will provide an overview of these programs, outline how they were developed with key stakeholders, examine sustainability options and have led to solutions to address health issues for Pasifika and Maori communities.
THEME: MULTIPLE THEMES
Home Connectedness Initiative: See others not as they are but as they may become
Aquilar Luki
Woree State High School
Woree State High School is a multi-cultural school with a large Indigenous and Pacific Islander student population. It has a successful track record as an all-round performer catering to the diverse learning needs of its students. The school ethos is underpinned by the Woree 4; self-responsibility, respect, effort and safety, which are reinforced through high expectations for every student a safe, caring, and positive behaviour for learning environment, linked to professional and innovative teaching and learning.
An extra complexity and challenge has been how to achieve the social, political and organisational demands placed upon it. Specifically, how the school can meet the Far North Queensland (FNQ) Regional Priorities. For example, a commitment that 100% of students will graduate as confident and healthy young Australians and achieve a suitable Overall Position (OP), the award of a Queensland Certificate in Education (QCE) or complete vocational education to Certificate III level and when they exit, at least 25 hours per week as a trainee or apprentice. In response to these challenges the school developed a number of unique strategies to support its students. For example, the homework centre for learning, the home connectedness initiative and the school manta “Every student every family, every lesson and every day counts” which assists to connect parents and students to the school community. This paper will evaluate these Islander students. Educational approaches and analyse how successful they have been in achieving strategic and mandatory educational outcomes for all Pacific Islander students.
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THEME: MULTIPLE THEMES
Impact of education in Pacific Islander women’s lives
Stella Miria-Robinson
Pasifika Women’s Alliance Inc.
Education provides opportunities for understanding, growth, strength, resilience and wisdom. A woman in Pacific Islander communities, particularly in patriarchal societies, has no voice, no individual claim to personal identity and frequently lives in ignorance of her rights in today’s world. Education changes this scenario by giving women choice and an opportunity to dream and reach for the hopes they aspire to, and the strength and self-belief to overcome the daunting challenges to achieve the previously perceived impossible dreams.
Education has been the major contributing factor in the survival of one woman and this workshop presents the platform for her to share her story. Born in a patriarchal society, it was a given cultural perception that the woman’s place was to be a home maker and child bearer. Encouraged by her parents to pursue an education in the 1970s where the then very young university, University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG), were taking predominantly male students, her journey in education has changed her life forever. Through education, a Pacific Islander woman has overcome challenges in her family life, contributed significantly in raising the platform for working women in PNG and achieved what would have been impossible if she had not pursued an education.
This workshop will highlight the resilience of Pacific Islander women who have pursued education for the betterment of their families and educating their children and sharing their knowledge with Pacific Islander communities through their services in organisations they work for or through volunteering in the community.
THEME: CHOICES
Increasing knowledge increases choices: Evidence from a HIV study with women in Papua New Guinea
Michelle Redman-MacLaren1, Rachael Tommbe2, Jane Mills3, John McBride1, and Rick Speare4
1College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Cairns, Australia, 2Faculty of Health Sciences, Pacific Adventist University, via Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 3College of Health Sciences, James Cook University, Cairns, Australia, 4College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville and Tropical Health Solutions, Townsville, Australia.
Background: Women in Papua New Guinea (PNG) have limited opportunities for training and/or education. Almost one-half the number of girls compared with boys finish secondary school in PNG.
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Opportunities for training and education are highly valued and influence choices available to women, including choices about sexual and reproductive health. This is relevant to research being conducted about male circumcision for HIV prevention in PNG.
Methods: A participatory, grounded theory study was undertaken to understand the implications of male circumcision for women in PNG, including for HIV prevention. Using a two-step approach, existing data was analysed from a large multi-site study, "Acceptability of Male Circumcision for HIV prevention in PNG" (2010-2012). Themes were identified to inform fieldwork at one rural and one urban site in PNG (2012-2014). Interviews and focus groups were facilitated with 67 women and 1 man. Data was inductively analysed to identify codes, categories and a grounded theory.
Results: Women have extensive knowledge about male circumcision, despite it being a culturally taboo subject. Women know about male circumcision through personal experiences of their partner or close family members, culturally sanctioned celebrations and/or informal and formal health training or education. Women who have training or education have greater power of choice but require a sense of safety to act upon their range of choices.
Conclusions: Women’s status and range of choices improves with access to training and education. Community-based training such as sexual health or HIV prevention training can increase the status of women and should be promoted and enacted.
THEME: OPPORTUNITIES
Is it all just lol or are the kids doing something?: Social networking an opportunity for positive peer-to-peer engagement, education, and action
Ellen Field1 and Mary Konobo2 Jr
1Cairns Institute and School of Education, James Cook University, Cairns
2University of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby, PNG
In this paper, we will discuss the role that youth-created social networks can play in positive peer-to-peer engagement, education, and in some cases action. First, Ellen Field will give an overview of findings from her doctoral research focused on the substance, structure, and dynamics of environmental peer-to-peer learning and action within youth-created social media network sites. Ellen will discuss common features of youth-created social networks from around the world and the importance of affinity spaces for young people to find like-minded others. Second, Mary Konobo Jr., a respondent from Ellen’s research study, will share the story of her environmentally-focused Facebook group, “Make A Change. Be Environmentally Friendly!”. Mary will share engagement and educational opportunities that the Facebook group offers to members of the Port Moresby community in Papua New Guinea. Lastly, Mary will summarise some of the positive outcomes of her Facebook group that she has experienced both online and in her local community.
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THEME: OPPORTUNITIES
Mass education and elitism in Papua New Guinea
Goru Hane-Nou1, Betty Lovai and Boe Lahui-Ako
1University of Papua New Guinea
This paper discusses the shift in education policy in the post-independence era and demonstrates that there has been a significant increase in educating the masses. The fortunate few who attend tertiary institutions abroad can be seen as a political imperative of the colonial education policy to educate an elite. The paper will provide a number of scenarios which may eventuate from what the mass population of PNG could consider as having unfair advantage over them; including the role of the former colonial power and other development partners in creating a new middle class in PNG. How does PNG manage the outcomes of these conflicting policies?
THEME: OPPORTUNITIES
Modernity and the emergence of contemporary Papua New Guinean identities
Nalisa Neuendorf
James Cook University
Understanding the contemporary experience of Papua New Guineans requires stepping beyond a desire to generalise views that seek to singularly define individuals and people groups.
Through a recent study as part of an honours project, it became evident that, for an identified group of Papua New Guineans, the issue of position and identity in modern society is a layered, complex and nuanced one. The study focused on Papua New Guinean perceptions and associated interactions with expatriates as they occur within service delivery in Papua New Guinea (PNG). In documenting specifically Papua New Guinean understandings there was acknowledgement of a contemporary PNG identity that underpinned participant narrative.
Study participants in Cairns and Port Moresby represented this contemporary PNG identity: urban-dwelling, modern, educated, highly mobile, and transnational individuals that do not prescribe to, encourage nor appreciate the use of generalisations that seek to singularly define and/or assume their positions and indeed their identity in modern society. Although individuals acknowledge more modernist goals and values, they are still intrinsically embedded in traditional values that pertain to traditional identities. Position and identity in contemporary society requires constant negotiation when navigating social spaces.
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Emergence of contemporary PNG identity highlights an opportunity for exploration and explanation, being mindful that the use of the term identity can be extremely fraught. It presents an opportunity to support the development of research activities and outcomes that are informed, practical and contextually appropriate and that contribute to understanding the contemporary experiences of Papua New Guineans in modern society.
THEME: MULTIPLE THEMES
My story: Achievements through overcoming low expectations and barriers (a Samoan girl’s narrative)
Lisa Scott
A registered psychologist, Lisa Scott will discuss her story on how she overcame stereotypes, a bias of low expectations (both of her and for her), systemic neglect and discrimination to currently work within a state government department (practicing community psychology). Whilst studying and working, Lisa also maintained her family responsibilities.
Utilising skills and self-reliance, as a Pacific Islander it is important that young people have role models to aspire to, and that the complex issue of education is understood in its situation alongside health, socio-economic factors, communication barriers, discrimination, limited services targeted at Pacific Island needs and cultures, and apathy.
It was necessary to overcome these barriers to forge a pathway to self-reliance and independence. Previously, there was limited meaningful engagement by government and mainstream services, which led to entire sections of the Pacific Island communities being unheard, needs unidentified, and Pacific Island families, individuals and communities being required to negotiate their way through a 'one size fits all' approach.
Lisa will share her story to highlight the needs of Pacific Islanders, how education provided a variety of employment opportunities, and how she has been able to carry out work across the Tablelands, the Cairns region, and currently across Cape York in a variety of non-government and government settings.
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THEME: OPPORTUNITIES
Negotiating the dominant and dominating discourses in teaching in the Far North Queensland context: A teacher’s journey
Karen D’Aietti
[email protected] 0499207670
This study takes place in the Torres Strait. It focuses on my teaching journey during a school year in a grade 6/7 classroom. The study documents through an Action Research methodology my efforts to navigate and respond to two teaching models - Explicit Instruction and Culturally Responsive Pedagogy which inform policy statements in Far North Queensland (FNQ), as well as highlighting the tensions that arise as a result of navigating this space. Using a reflective journal, informal discussions with students, yarning circles and teacher observations as sources to support my reflection on action, I endeavour to adjust my teaching practice to determine the best way to meet my learners’ needs, preferences and learning styles. It is envisaged that in this study I will listen to and respond to the voices of my students. I intend, as Hattie (2004) remarks, to make the learning more visible. Through on-going reflection, data collection and data analysis, it is anticipated that my practice will undergo change as I consider the best possible way to meet my learners’ needs. The results of this study, which ultimately journeys my development as an effective teacher, are likely to benefit students and their communities, policy makers, and Tagai State College, as well as future teachers who venture to the Torres Strait.
THEME: OPPORTUNITIES
Ngoonbi Kuranda District Parental and Community Engagement Programme: Why education and community go hand in hand
Judy Enoch1, Katherine Macfarlane2
1Ngoonbi Kuranda PaCE, 2Kuranda District State College
Parental and Community Engagement Programme (PaCE) is currently funded by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. PaCE is a community driven programme for parents and carers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people. It supports initiatives that assist families and communities to ‘reach-in’ to schools and other educational settings (including early childhood centres/preschools) to engage in their children’s education. The Ngoonbi Kuranda District PaCE program is working closely with Kuranda District State College (KDSC) to forge and strengthen relationships and to assist in developing a strong and equal partnerships between the community and the school. KDSC is a P-12 school with over 400 Students of which 39% identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. The Ngoonbi Kuranda PaCE project amongst other initiatives runs weekly homework clubs for both senior and junior students. Parents, carers and volunteer community members mentor the children by providing assistance with homework and encouraging students to
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develop positives attitudes towards education. This vital area of community engagement and knowledge exchange builds the capacity of the community to assist other students at home or in the wider community.
Furthermore, the school and members of Ngoonbi Kuranda PaCE team including Judy Enoch (Kuranda PaCE Coordinator) have developed strong links based upon honest sharing of information and experience. This strengthening relationship allows KDSC and community members to explore and understand what gaps in education students may be experiencing and how best to deliver intervention for students most at risk of not doing well in an educational environment or of becoming disengaged.
This presentation will outline some of the key highs and lows that the community and the school have experienced. It will also reflect on why community engagement is an essential part of education.
THEME: MULTIPLE THEMES
One university’s approach to broadening Pasifika school students’ career choices and university study options to enhance future opportunities
Gabrielle O’Brien1, Alison E. Green1
1Queensland University of Technology
This paper outlines how the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has, since 2012, progressively developed school, community and internal partnerships aimed at broadening educational choices and career opportunities for Maori and Pasifika students in its Moreton Bay catchment area. Within the framework of QUT’s widening participation activities and with funding from a QUT community engagement grant the University has developed a range of strategies specifically targeted at Maori and Pasifika school students to encourage aspiration to tertiary study options. These activities include outreach to secondary schools, their families and communities, with a focus on career and pathways information and advice, in partnership with school-based Pacific Islander Liaison Officers. QUT Pasifika students, who act as role models, have been integral to the development and success of these activities. Academic and pastoral support for QUT Pasifika students is also being developed. As the twelve month pilot project comes to an end many of these activities are being mainstreamed to ensure their ongoing sustainability. The presentation will outline key activities; identify success factors (such as capacity building among school personnel, QUT student ambassadors and QUT staff) which have enabled momentum to continue without dedicated staff roles or funding; and highlight lessons learned. QUT Pasifika students who have been involved in outreach activities and initiated QUT Pasifika student support networks will be involved in this presentation.
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THEME: MULTIPLE THEMES
Pasifika families with pride and purpose – An innovative way of strengthening Pasifika communities
Roman Kingi1, Virginia Spence2, Ranandy Stanley3, Kalisi Bese4, Fran Timu5, Emma Tanuvasa5, Inez Faainga-Manu Sione6, Judy Eki7
1Greater Metro South Brisbane Medicare Local (GMSBML), 2Queensland Police Service, 3Hope Centre, Griffith University, 4Pasifika Youth Links, 5Griffith University, 6Queensland Health’s Good Start Program, 7PFPP Program Coordinator
The success of the inaugural Pasifika Families with Pride and Purpose (PFPP) Program Logan has led to new program dates for 2014.
The PFPP program is a collaborative partnership with Queensland Police, Hope Centre International, Inala Youth Service (Pasifika Lipi), Griffith University, the Pacific Island Reference Group and Greater Metro South Brisbane Medicare Local (GMSBML). This program is just one example of GMSBML’s commitment to improving the health of our community and working in partnership to achieve positive outcomes for our Pasifika families.
The program has a 10 session format which focuses on key topics that will strengthen Pacific Islander and Maori families and includes topics such as employment and training, life skills, identity, culture, healthy relationships, education, leadership and mental and physical health.
The third delivery of the Pasifika Families with Pride and Purpose (PFPP) Program was recently completed in Logan, Brisbane. There will be two more programs run at Marsden and Woodridge State Primary Schools, Logan, in terns 2 and 3 respectively of 2014. Rolling out the program to other areas outside of the GMSBML catchment is also being looked at.
THEME: MULTIPLE THEMES
Positioning universities in Papua New Guinea to address the declining standard of the English language in in the education system
Johnson Agwu Kalu
University of Papua New Guinea
The declining standard of English language usage among secondary school and university students in Papua New Guinea (PNG) has become a national concern. Research findings have pointed to deficiencies in the use of English among secondary school students, school teachers, undergraduates and some university lecturers. To what extent then are English language programmes in PNG’s
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universities producing competent users of the English language for the education and other sectors of the work force? Against the backdrop of the content of current English programmes offered in most PNG universities, this paper argues that significant deficiency in English language programme content, as is currently the case in most PNG universities, produces graduates who lack the content knowledge essential for teaching the English language in schools. It is doubtful such ill-equipped teachers of English can produce proficient English students. Similarly, the programme produces fresh graduates of journalism who lack basic knowledge of English grammar essential for effective news reporting. The paper will highlight four initiatives that the Department of English Language at the University of Papua New Guinea has embarked on in order to improve English language literacy in PNG. The four initiatives are formation of the Reading Association of Papua New Guinea (RASPNG), development of a BA English Language programme, development of a BA Honours programme in English, and formation of the Papua New Guinea Network of English Teachers (PNGNET). It will also suggest other quality assurance benchmarks that would improve the quality of the English language in PNG’s education system.
THEME: MULTIPLE THEMES
Promoting culture and health and wellbeing in our Niuean community
Roman Kingi
Niue Nukututaha Association Queensland
Results from the New Zealand Census 2001 showed that of Niuean peoples, only 12 percent could hold a conversation in their language. In the 2006 census this figure had decreased slightly to 10 percent. These statistics are extremely worrying given that 22,000 Niueans live in New Zealand which is where the majority of our people reside.
The need to revive and maintain the Niue language is the key reason why the Niue Nukututaha Association Queensland was formed. This is achieved by the organisation which comprises of a Niue Language School and Queensland Niue Sports Group developing and delivering cultural and sporting programs.
The Niue language school component of the organisation, the Niue Nukututaha AogaVagahau (Language School) Niue, was formed in 2004 has been successful in teaching and promoting the Niue language and culture. We run regular Niue language classes and have participated in cultural festivals locally and run cultural workshops.
This is also a major purpose of the Queensland Niue Sports group to promote healthy lifestyles to our Niue communities. This is a big part of the programs that we develop and deliver for our Niue communities. Past achievements have included successfully running a Niue Brisbane Touch Tournament over the past 2 years and holding the inaugural Niue Netball Tournament.
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The risk to us Niueans is that we are in danger of losing our language an integral component of our culture permanently, in addition to being impacted negatively by health issues. The challenge to our organisation is to reverse these negative trends.
THEME: MULTIPLE THEMES
RATEP: Partnership for enduring success
Gail Mitchell1, Ian Hodges2, Eddie Savage3
1Manager RATEP, Department of Education, Training and Employment, 2Program Coordinator RATEP TAFE North, 3Indigenous Student Support Officer, James Cook University
RATEP is a successful community-based state-wide teacher education program that aims to increase the pool of registered Indigenous teachers and paraprofessionals in Queensland, Australia. RATEP is a joint initiative of Tropical North Queensland Technical and Further Education Institute, Education Queensland and James Cook University, in a formidable and long-standing partnership with Indigenous communities. Since its inception in 1990, the partnership has strengthened, and the model of delivery matured. RATEP plays a key and specific role through its capacity to facilitate capability growth that leads to qualifications and increased employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
THEME: OPPORTUNITIES
Rethinking the educational choices and pathways of Pacific Islander (PI) young people
Irene Paulsen
Victoria University, Melbourne
There is growing anecdotal evidence that suggests only a small number of Pacific Islanders (PI) start post compulsory schooling in Australia and few go on to complete a senior secondary level qualification at AQF Level II or higher levels (Kearney & Donaghy, 2008; Scull & Cuthill, 2010; Rose, Qanchi & Moore, 2010). Very few go on to study at TAFE or university in a space where opportunities to do so are said to be plentiful.
This paper draws on data sourced from the Australian Longitudinal Surveys of Young people (LSAY) to investigate the common pathways of young PI learners in Australia over a ten year period from 1995 to 2006. The LSAY database provides a good starting point for identifying common and/or differing patterns in the educational and employment pathways of PI. In the second part of the paper, the author will compare findings from the LSAY data with the schooling experiences of twelve
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young PI learners from Melbourne’s western region with whom the author has conducted interviews and observations over the past two years. Discussion will focus on the experiences of these student participants and their families and the factors that influence subject choice, study patterns and general school engagement as well as their education or employment transitions beyond secondary schooling.
THEME: MULTIPLE THEMES
Successfully educating New Zealand Maori Pacific Islander children in the Australian society
Peina Smith
Foundations Care, South East Region
There is certifiable and quantitative evidence that categorically supports the success of early learning initiatives and strategies for educating children and young people in the Australian education system. This is not in question. The problem is that education is not a one size fits all model and this is particularly true for many minority ethnic groups, including Pacific Islander and New Zealand Maori children.
The premise for this presentation is based well and truly “outside the box”. Accept it or not, but the onus of educating our children lies squarely in our laps as parents, aunties, uncles, grandparents, cousins, relatives and community. When we read and hear the phrase “It takes a village to raise a child” it’s true.
The fabric of the “typical” Pacific Islander or New Zealand Maori home is the family. We are intrinsically grounded to our ancestral and cultural belief that “The collective is, and always will be more important than the individual.” The imperative for our people must be that secular learning cannot be ignored and should be prioritised in every aspect of home life. Education circumscribed into a predetermined mainstream style curriculum has its place in predominantly first language English speaking households.
This presentation will explore:
• Parenting considerations as they pertain to educating our children in our homes and our community
• Desire vs need vs want to be educated—sowing the seed of education • Creating an environment that is conducive to secular learning for our children • The “Education Vision” and how beneficial it will be for the family and the collective • Where to from here • The tuff stuff-wagging, smoking, drinking, drugs, defiance, aggression, behavioural issues,
suspensions and exclusions.
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THEME: MULTIPLE THEMES
Supporting Indigenous teacher education students across distances
Gail Mitchell1, Carlene Oliver2, Eddie Savage3
1Manager RATEP, Department of Education, Training and Employment, 2Indigenous Student Support Officer TAFE North, 3Indigenous Student Support Officer, James Cook University
RATEP is an award winning Australian teacher education program which provides opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to gain teaching qualifications while studying in their home communities. This presentation details the structured support offered to students studying via RATEP as they develop the academic capital required to become successful independent and critical learners and professionals. While support is provided explicitly by on-site Teacher Coordinators and by Indigenous student support officers, within RATEP the expectation is that support is integral to everybody’s work and so must be built into curriculum, pedagogy and assessment to ensure students meet their full potential.
THEME: MULTIPLE THEMES
Talanoa and communicative action: Implications for Pacific media training and education
Dr Marie M'Balla-Ndi1, Dr Maxine Newlands1
1Journalism Programme, James Cook University, Townsville
This paper analyses some concepts relevant to general communication in the South Pacific, such as talanoa.
The authors will argue that innovative approaches not solely derived from applicable western theoretical paradigms, but that also take into serious consideration an oceanic body of knowledge, are crucial for future journalism and communication studies.
Drawing on the Habermasian ‘Theory of Communicative Action’, this paper will demonstrate that some aspects of this theory carry interesting parallels with general and professional communication practices in South Pacific countries.
Through examples around the communication of social justice issues, such as environmentalism and indigenous rights, this paper will explore ways of closing the gap between talanoa and western media practices within education. In other words, how informed communication can provide fresh educational approaches to give a greater equilibrium of voices, by understanding the role of tradition and community as crucial for journalistic practice to challenge and contest governance in island communities.
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In this paper, the authors argue two key points; 1) Traditional practices in the South Pacific are alive and well, and highly relevant to studying media discourse, journalistic practice and communications; and 2) western education of media discourse needs to embrace talanoa to be better informed in policy, political and media decision making processes.
The discussion of this paper has major implications when considering the education given to Australian journalism students, and the training offered to Pacific journalists mainly by Australian and New Zealand donors.
THEME: OPPORTUNITIES
The “Whanau Ora/Moui Olaola “ (Strengthening Families Wellbeing) Project: An exploration of perceptions of young immigrant Maori and Pacific Island families, elders and child health providers in Townsville about how to make child health services more relevant and culturally safe
A.W. Erick,2, B.L. Cox and C.C. Windsor2,3
1QUT Prof Doc Student, 2QUT Lecturer/Supervisor, 3QUT Assoc Prof /Supervisor
The study will explore the perceptions of Maori and Pacific Island families , Elders and Child Health providers living in Townsville about how to make child health services more relevant and culturally safe.
In the expanding Maori and Pacific Island communities in Australia there are indicators of social disadvantage in relation to healthcare information and access. As more Maori and Pacific families are making their homes in Australia, health issues such as preventable childhood diseases, commonly seen among Maori and Pacific Island families in New Zealand, are becoming increasingly evident in this country. Research that could be used to potentially improve service delivery and access to services is crucial. This study will use a decolonisation and participatory action research (PAR) methodology to gather data from young immigrant families, community Elders and Child Health providers in the communities which will then be examined using perspectives derived from cultural safety theory. The decolonisation and PAR approach shifts away from the traditional top-down view of research in recognising that people with knowledge about their life situations are best positioned to bring about change. A possible outcome of the project will be to explore strategies to develop resources that will contribute to the achievement of sustainable, relevant and effective outcomes. This research applies a model by Ramsden on cultural safety integrated with the knowledge of the participants to understand their health and health challenges.
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THEME: OPPORTUNITIES
What choice, what opportunities? Confronting the neo-colonial condition in Papua New Guinea education
Dr Bruce Murray
School of Education, James Cook University, Cairns
Every year, graduates of the PNG school system are faced with the brutal reality that, due to the gross imbalance between positions available and numbers of graduates, most of them will not have an opportunity to obtain wage employment or to undertake further training. While this phenomenon has been a recurring theme in PNG since colonial times, little has been done to substantively address the problem and the social-wealth gap is ever-widening between most school leavers and the small proportion of school graduates who are able to access the spoils of PNG’s development. The formal schooling system has been a significant factor in the development of a society of “haves” and “have-nots”, in essence functioning as both selector and socialiser. PNG follows a model of schooling and a rationale for education little different to that bequeathed to it by its former colonial master, Australia, and educational planning and policy in PNG appear imbued with many of the utilitarian notions on the role of schooling that inform the provision of education in Australia. If the current widening gulf of social inequity in the country is to be addressed, however, PNG educational leaders need to disabuse themselves of their neo-colonial mindset and search for potentially viable, alternative models of connecting schooling with community realities. Consultation with leaders in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education in Australia who are seeking to establish the unique demands of Indigenous education within a western-oriented economic structure might provide a valuable start point to such an exercise.
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PRESENTER BIOGRAPHIES
Reverend Les Baird
Lecturer in Indigenous Mental Health (suicide prevention) at Wontulp-Bi-Buya College in Cairns, Fr Leslie Baird is an Aboriginal trainer and previous health manager from Yarrabah. He brings his experience in managing the Yarrabah suicide crisis from the mid-90s and subsequent inception and growth of men’s
group and family wellbeing (FWB) initiatives in response. Les has also been instrumental in the establishment and development of community controlled health service in Yarrabah called Gurriny Yealamucka Health Service.
His roles have included project manager for the Building Bridges suicide prevention project in which knowledge was shared from the Yarrabah men’s group to men’s groups in Kowanyama, Hope Vale and Dalby. His current roles involve teaching community members from Cape York and Torres Strait and form other communities across Australia in suicide prevention. Fr Les will draw on his extensive experience in working with Indigenous people to assist with community negotiations, contribute to FWB training and also provide mentorship for non-Indigenous researchers.
Florence Monique Boulard
Florence is originally from New-Caledonia but decided to come to Australia to pursue her tertiary studies. In 2007, she graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education. She then moved to Townsville where she worked as a French high school teacher. Her
passion for teaching and learning led her to complete her Master in Education in 2011 at JCU for which she wrote a thesis on international-mindedness. The same year, she received a highly commended from the QLD College of Teachers placing her in the top ten early career teachers in the state. Florence has held the position of Modern Languages Coordinator and French lecturer for JCU since 2012. She is also in the second year of her PhD entitled: Education futures in the tropics. Australia and the French Pacific Islands: Educational strategies for the development of internationally-minded Young Australians.
Karen D’Aietti
My name is Karen D’Aietti. I am studying a Doctorate of Education through JCU. I have an undergraduate degree in German, Italian and Linguistics, a Masters in Applied Languages, TESOL diploma and teaching diploma. I possess over 13 years teaching experience – 7 years as an ESL lecturer, predominantly in New Zealand and I have been working with Indigenous communities in FNQ for the past six years. Also, I have worked on a specialised reading program entitled
MULTILIT (making up for lost time in Literacy). I am now in my third year as a primary school teacher in the Torres Strait where I am currently researching the pedagogy of explicit instruction and culturally responsive teaching.
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Judy Enoch
Judith is from the Kuranda community and has been extremely active in a variety of roles for many years in the Kuranda and wider community. She has a Bachelor of Education (BEd), majoring in history and is currently working for Ngoonbi Cooperative Society where she is the Coordinator - Ngoonbi Kuranda District Parent and Community Engagement (PaCE) program. PaCE is a
programme for parents and carers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people which is community driven. Judith helps build links between schools and parents and carers to improve educational outcomes.
Wani Erick
Wani is a Registered Nurse of Pacifica heritage who has worked for over 20 years both in New Zealand and in Australia having completed her Bachelor of Health Science Nursing degree and a Graduate Diploma and Postgraduate Diploma (New Zealand MIT and Massey University). She holds a Masters Degree from James Cook University in Queensland with specialisation in Advanced Nursing Practice in Indigenous Primary Healthcare and Child Family
Health.
Combined with international exposure (NZ and Australia), she was an author and co-author on publications for an international collaborative study between Canada, New Zealand and Australia in affiliation with the National Centre in HIV and Epidemiology and Clinical Research, UNSW and Townsville Aboriginal and Islanders Health Services.
Wani is completing her doctoral thesis at QUT titled “An exploration of perceptions of Maori and Pacific Island families in Townsville about culturally safe child health services”.
Ellen Field
Ellen Field is a doctoral candidate at James Cook University in the School of Education and the Cairns Institute. She is a dedicated educator who aims to improve the sustainability of the formal education system by working collaboratively with students, teachers, administrators and policy-makers to reshape 21st-century schooling. Ellen's work and research continually takes her to exploring strategies for and practices of informal networked learning. Her
SSHRC-funded doctoral research is focused on analysing the substance, structure, and dynamics of how youth engage in self-directed environmental peer-to-peer learning within social media sites. She is a founding member of mawimbi, an online sustainability portal that connects youth from around the world to facilitate project-based learning.
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Keneti Galo
South Auckland born Samoan, Keneti Galo moved to Australia in 1998 and began work with at-risk and disadvantaged young people within the youth justice and care and protection sector, then moving onto a position at Djarragun College.
Following a move to Brisbane in 2003 Keneti continued his work with young people, working in child protection and managing residential care facilities. In 2009 he began work with Relationships Australia Queensland as a Youth Support Coordinator. Keneti has also travelled throughout Queensland delivering programs for young people.
In 2011 Keneti graduated from QUT with a Master of Counselling. Currently he works as a Clinical Supervisor/ Counsellor at venues across Queensland with Relationships Australia.
Alison E. Green
Alison is a New Zealander who has worked in the higher education sector – as a lecturer, research officer and in equity roles – for a number of years. She first worked with Maori and Pasifika tertiary students in Auckland in the 1980s and 1990s. Since moving to Australia, Alison has been involved in university-Pasifika
community engagement projects while working in equity roles at both Griffith University and the Queensland University of Technology. She recently, co-led (along with Gabrielle O’Brien) the QUT school-university-community partnership project aimed at enhancing Maori and Pasifika school students’ educational outcomes and higher education aspirations.
Goru Hane-Nou
Dr Goru Hane-Nou is a graduate of the Murdoch University Western Australia. He is a Senior Lecturer and is currently employed as the Coordinator of the Distance Program in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Papua New Guinea. He has background in sociology of education and has participated in numerous local conferences and international meets including being engaged in a range of research and consultation projects.
His current coordination role of the Distance Education program in the School of Humanities in UPNG raises an interesting challenge. The challenge is to realise the value of distance program in the arts and professional studies program for teachers. The synergy is to provide appropriate bench marking processes and to clearly articulate full externalisation of foundation year off-campus humanities disciplines to be taught in the distance mode. Reflections on this aspect form the basis of the paper which embrace among other things, the need to heed the choice of education for ‘the many rather than a few.’ Sensitivity to addressing the plight of many does spur on his passion for following best practices in teaching and learning to help those students who strive to attain the best outcomes through their own struggle.
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He is a former Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences in the University of Goroka, and currently continues to be the longest serving member in the National Education Board, the supreme policy making body of the education system in Papua New Guinea. He was a recipient of the International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) to the United States in February 2013.
Ian Hodges
Ian Hodges has 30 years’ experience in education across primary, secondary and adult levels, with the majority of these in cross-cultural contexts across Australia and also overseas. Ian’s experience includes 20 years working in Indigenous education in Western Australia, Northern Territory and Far North Queensland, specialising in the teaching of EAL/D and gaining post graduate TESOL qualifications to Masters level. For the past 5 years Ian has been Program
Coordinator and Support Teacher within RATEP at TAFE Queensland North – Cairns campus.
Johnson Agwu Kalu
Johnson Agwu Kalu is currently a senior lecturer and head of the Division of English Communication at the University of Papua New Guinea. His teaching and research interests include ESP course design, English for science and technology, genre analysis, mass media discourse, English syntax, academic literacies, and writing in English second language contexts. Prior to moving to the University of Papua New Guinea, he taught at the Papua New Guinea
University of Technology, Federal University of Technology, Abeokuta, the University of Lagos, the University of Swaziland and the University of Botswana.
Mary Konobo
Mary Konobo Jr., creator of the Facebook group “Make A Change. Be Environmentally Friendly”, has been raising environmental awareness online since 2012. Born in the countryside of Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, Mary has always been passionate about the nature and fascinated at how it works. She started engaging in environmental awareness and education in 2010
when she was in high school. She is currently doing her Bachelor in Science at the University of Papua New Guinea. She plans to expand her online group to primary schools, high schools and universities in and around Papua New Guinea. Her main aim is for Papua New Guineans to recognise the importance of the natural environment and to take care of it.
Boe Lahui-Ako
Mr Boe Lahui-Ako is currently a PhD research scholar at the James Cook University, Cairns Campus, Australia. He has held positions within the University of Papua New Guinea since 2002 as the Director of the Centre for Teaching and Learning & In-house Training, Deputy Dean of Research; the Acting Dean of Research and Postgraduate Studies; and as a Senior Lecturer coordinating the
Bachelor of Arts (Professional Studies in Education) program with the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.
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Aquilar Luki
Aquilar Luki was Niue Island born commenced work as a Community Liaison Officer (CLO) 2008 after obtaining his Bachelor of Community Welfare Degree as a mature age student from James Cook University Cairns. He is married to Sisifo Luki (Satele) from Samoa: they have six children—five sons and one daughter (four married), and twenty grandchildren.
Katherine Macfarlane
Head of Senior School Kuranda District State College
Mamakura (Kula) Manuka
Mamakura (Kula) Manuka is the Community Liaison Officer for Woree State School and has been in the position since 2010. Her position is funded by Mission Australia's Communities for Children Initiative.
Kula's greatest success in life would be her five children. She is well supported by her family and her partner, Mahana Tai. Kula comes from the Cook Islands and has lived in Cairns for over 17 years. She hopes to attend JCU in the near future to further her studies.
Marie M'Balla-Ndi
Dr Marie M'Balla-Ndi is a lecturer in multimedia journalism at James Cook University. Marie is originally from France and moved to Australia in 2008 to undertake a Master in Journalism at the University of Queensland, in Brisbane. Since 2009, she has been a foreign correspondent for the Caledonian daily newspaper, Les Nouvelles Caledoniennes and a contributor to Francophone and
Anglophone news outlets around the South Pacific region. Marie has completed a PhD in journalism at the University of Queensland. Her doctoral research examines the impact of tradition and modernity on contemporary journalism practice in the South Pacific region, with a focus on Vanuatu, Samoa and New Caledonia.
Stella Miria-Robinson
Stella Miria Robinson obtained a Bachelors of Arts Degree at the University of Papua New Guinea in the late 1970s at a time when few women were given the opportunity to pursue university education in PNG. She later graduated with a Masters in Business Administration at Deakin University in Victoria. Stella has a background in administration, management and human resource management. She has worked in the public and private sectors in PNG and Australia. Being one of the few women who were the first to attend university in PNG, Stella has had the opportunity to mentor other women through the United Nations Development Program Empowerment of women
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in PNG in the late 1980s. She has a passion for education, empowerment of women and is a role model for the youth from various ethnic communities. As the Multicultural Adviser for Uniting Care Community Qld, Stella continues this passion through her work and also as a volunteer to the Pacific Islander communities in South East Queensland through the Pasifika Women’s Alliance Inc. and the Pacific Islander Reference Group.
Gail Mitchell
Gail Mitchell is a descendant of the Gudjula people of the Charters Towers region. Gail has a teaching background and has been involved in education for 30 years across various sectors from playgroups in early childhood to adult education. Currently Gail has two roles—state wide coordination of RATEP which is a community base teacher education program for Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people in partnership with TAFE Qld and James Cook University and manages the Indigenous Schooling Support Unit.
Bruce Murray
Bruce Murray is a Lecturer in the School of Education, James Cook University, Cairns, where he currently lectures in undergraduate and postgraduate teacher education. Bruce obtained his Doctorate in Education from Monash University, focusing on educational policy making in Papua New Guinea (PNG). He has had extensive experience in education at a wide range of levels, including primary, secondary and tertiary education and he has also worked as an educator in the
Australian Defence Force and the Commonwealth Public Service. He has taught in Australian schools as well as in Indonesia, the United Kingdom and Papua New Guinea. He grew up in Papua New Guinea, worked there as a teacher and educational administrator for thirteen years and has maintained an ongoing interest in and concern with educational developments in that country. Bruce’s main academic interests lie in the fields of development education and pre-service teacher education.
Nalisa Neuendorf
Nalisa recently completed an Honours degree at James Cook University, in the field of Social Science (Anthropology). Her thesis reported original research, focused on Papua New Guinean understandings and perceptions of PNG-expatriate interactions in PNG, her country of birth. An important component of this research was to understand the contemporary experience of Papua New
Guineans. As an early career researcher, she would like to contribute towards a greater understanding of the contemporary experience of Papua New Guineans.
Nalisa has research experience working under the supervision of Dr David MacLaren (School of Medicine and Dentistry, JCU) as a research officer in support of social and HIV prevention research in PNG through the SDA Responses to HIV in PNG Study and Collaborative Infectious Research in PNG and also in the Solomon Islands. She has recently taken up a position as research assistant working under the supervision of Professor Rosita Henty (Faculty of Arts, Education & Social Sciences, JCU) and Dr Michael Wood (Faculty of Arts, Education and Social Sciences, JCU).
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Maxine Newlands
Dr Maxine Newlands is a lecturer in multimedia journalism at James Cook University. Maxine's research focuses on environmental politics from emissions trading, carbon tax to environmentalism, activism, protest, social justice, journalistic practices and occasionally sports media. Maxine has been lecturing in environmental politics and journalism both in the UK and Australia. Maxine's
journalism appears in the Ecologist Magazine, The Conversation and Protestcamps.org. Maxine is a member of the Journalism Education Association of Australia, a Research Fellow at the London East Research Institute, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Gabrielle O’Brien
Gabrielle has beens a Senior Equity Officer with QUT’s Equity Services for the past 14 years and has worked in higher education for 19 years. Currently, her main role is coordinating QUT’s Widening Participation Strategy which aims to increase participation of people from low-income backgrounds into higher education. She is also on the working party for the Queensland Widening
Participation Consortium. Gabrielle also supports the recruitment and retention of all equity target groups within QUT. QUT’s Maori and Pasifika school-university-community partnership project has been a key focus of Gabrielle’s work for the past 12 months and has led to her Chairing a Maori and Pasifika Working Party for QUT focusing on a whole-of-university approach to access and retention of Maori and Pasifika students within QUT.
Carlene Oliver
Identifies as an Aboriginal woman and is a descendant of the Djiru people from far North Queensland. In 2006, while completing a traineeship in business with TAFE North, Carlene was able to secure a role with TAFE in the Away From Home Base Unit as an administration officer. It was during this time that her interaction with remote indigenous clients and students gave her an interest and passion to assist and support indigenous students while studying at TAFE.
After three years in the AFHB unit of booking travel and accommodation for students to attend TAFE residentials, it was time for a change and Carlene then moved into the role of a student support officer. During her 4 years in this role, Carlene has seen numerous indigenous students reach their educational goals which have been very rewarding.
Catherine Picton
Catherine Picton is currently a doctoral student at Central Queensland University. With a background in education, Catherine has taught extensively in Samoa igniting an interest in disability in the Pacific. Over the past several years Catherine has been conducting research on disability in Samoa. Using a Talanoa approach, she is examining the perceptions of disability, contemporary discourse and current policy development. Catherine anticipates the results of
her research will have an application to the continued development within the disability sector ensuring Samoan cultural values are embedded in progressive development of policy and practice.
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Michelle Redman-MacLaren
Michelle is an Australian social worker who has worked in rural, remote and international settings for over 20 years. Passionate about working in the Pacific, Michelle is involved with HIV and other public health research, including research capacity strengthening in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Michelle is currently completing her PhD about the implications of male
circumcision for women in Papua New Guinea, including for HIV prevention.
Lucy Salanoa
My experience with Education Queensland began in 1995, when a pilot position was created for an Assistant Community Liaison Officer. It was originally targeting the Samoan community. I was not only to work at Redbank Plains SHS, but also three feeder schools in the area with a high enrolment of Polynesians (Kruger, Goodna and Camira SS). By the end of the year, the position became
permanent, and the ACLO catered to all Pacific Islanders & Maori students. Leaving the school in 2000, my priority and focus was on raising our seven children. In 2010 my 7th/last child entered prep, and the position of a Pacific Islander Liaison Officer (PILO) at RBSHS was advertised. I was successful again with the position and began the second chapter of my career. With the school receiving the federal government funding, they created a new position, “Community Liaison Officer”, whose core priority would be ATTENDANCE. This position opened doors of great opportunity. I now work not only with students but go to families' homes, to small businesses, churches, feeder schools, Colleges, Universities and the wider community. I am blessed.
Eddie Savage
My name is Eddie Savage and I am the Indigenous Student Support officer at James Cook University in the School of education. My father is from Mauer (Rennel) which is an island in the eastern Torres Straits and my mother is an Aboriginal woman from the Birrigubba Nation in Townsville. I have 4 other siblings and a large extended family. I have four daughters and one son ranging
from 24 yrs to 9 yrs old. Education has always been at the forefront of me and my brothers and sisters lives as Mum was the Community education Counsellor at our local high school for 16 years and continued at district education level for 11 years. Her service was over 26 years. My father worked very hard in the railways to ensure we could complete our schooling and not need to drop out at an early stage. His service in the railways was also over 25 years.
Education and social justice practices were instilled in my family as being the key assets to fulfilling a good lifestyle in mainstream society, but also allowing us to maintain our string cultural beliefs.
I hope by attending this International conference that I will gain more knowledge and wisdom from Elders, presenters and other participants who will be sharing their stories. I am proud that I am from two very strong cultural groups and will also be happy to share my story.
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Lisa Scott
Lisa Scott is of Samoan heritage, and currently works with Queensland Government. She has worked hard to overcome barriers to education and employment. Lisa works from a strengths-based practical approach and has lengthy experience in community development projects. She has worked in both the non-government and the government sector, and has established
projects and programs, many of which are still running today. Lisa is also a registered psychologist, has two children, and maintains her cultural links through her extended aiga (family).
Peina Smith
My name is Peina Smith, my Iwi is Ngati Kahungunu. I am the youngest of 9 children, I have four grown up children of my own and am l presently living in Marsden with my beautiful wife of 31 years.
My high school years were spent at the Church College of New Zealand and my tertiary education was at Waikato University where I studied business management, historical methodology and research, and Maori language. I continued my studies in Queensland in the area of child youth and family intervention.
I was a policeman for many years in Wellington and Hamilton before moving to Australia and working in the Child Protection Sector these past 11 years.
He whakatauki
Anne Stephens
Anne's background spans education, project management and research. She was writing professionally for Outback Magazine from the age of 16 and has always been involved in communicating science and ideas to various audiences. Anne has managed conferences and events, film-making competitions, hosted public forums, public rallies and gala dinner fundraising events. She was a
senior communications officer with the Queensland Department of Education and the Arts and consultant to Network Ten’s Children’s Television Production Unit.
Anne has an enduring interest in grassroots social movements. She was a foundation board member of Food Connect Inc, a community supported agriculture social enterprise based in Brisbane; media and events manager for the Save the Mary River campaign, and the State Coordinator of Conservation Volunteers Australia from 1992-96. She is currently a Director of Foodswell Ltd., and a member of the Remote Indigenous Gardens Network.
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Taufa Tukutau
MD (Flinders), FACTM, MPH (Harvard), MMed (O&G) (UPNG), DObst. (Auck) DMS (Papuan Med Coll)
Taufa attended primary school at Bougainville, PNG, High School in Fiji, and Medical School in Port Moresby before working as a Medical Officer in PNG
Provinces. He joined Community Medicine, Medical Faculty, at the University of PNG and simultaneously worked in the Obstetrics & Gynaecology Hospital. Taufa went overseas for postgraduate training in Australia, New Zealand, UK and United States, and was Associate Professor Public Health & Tropical Medicine, James Cook University in 2001. In mid-2004, he became the Medical Officer at Arawa Hospital, Bougainville under Australian Volunteers International/AusAID when Central Bougainville people refused PNG doctors. Due to an illness in 2005, he retired early. He continues annual short teaching blocks at the Medical School, UPNG under AusAID, as well as annual rural research.
Emma Thomas
Emma is Associate Director for Equity and Student Engagement at James Cook University (JCU). Over the last three years, Emma has developed and implemented strategy and deliverables under the commonwealth government’s Higher Education Participation and Partnerships (HEPP) Program,
which seeks to raise access and participation in university for students from low socio-economic backgrounds. Working particularly into the Partnerships element, Emma and her teams run extensive outreach programs with the schools sector (secondary and primary), communities, government organisations and councils, parents and families, industry and seven other universities across Queensland. The program supports and builds capacity for access to university (from Year 6 to adults) through a range of activities, camps, on-campus events, professional development, advice and guidance, awards and scholarships.
Emma has extensive experience working with a diverse range of young people, adults and professionals, in a range of educational settings which have included Australia, the UK, Europe and Africa.
Emma has a Bachelor of Laws with a joint Honours in Literature, and a Masters degree in Education with Honours. In 2012, she was awarded the Vice Chanellor’s annual Award for Excellence in Leadership for her work on the HEPP Program and at JCU generally, which also includes leadership and management of the Careers and Employment service.
Montez Williams
Montez Williams was born in Samoa, raised in New Zealand and has been living in Brisbane for the past 7 years. She has 6 sisters and 5 brothers whom have taught her great lessons about life. Her mother taught her the best lesson and that was to always be humble and be grateful for what you have. Whether it be a piece of bread or a loaf of bread, be grateful. Her father taught her the value of work. By his trade as a blacksmith, he provided well for his big family. He too, came from a family of 13.
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Montez’s career started at the age of 21 when she worked as the Export Representative for Capral Aluminium servicing the South Pacific region. At the age of 23 she got married and started her family. After having her 4 daughters, Montez studied part-time towards her Certificate in Tourism. In 2001 she started her 5 year career in the airline industry with Air New Zealand. Montez and her family enjoyed travelling during this time and still continue to do so even now. One of her life changing trips was to Brisbane in 2005 for her friend’s wedding. She saw how wonderful Brisbane would be for her family and in 2006, moved over with her husband and 4 daughters.
While staying home to raise her young family, she soon got to make new friends and got involved in the local school and church communities. She volunteered her time to many of the events for her local school communities. In 2013 she was employed with her new role as the Pacific Islander Liaison Officer for Redbank Plains SHS.
Montez’s motto is Good Better Best, Never let it Rest, until your Good is Better and your Better is Best.
Mike Winton, Co-ordinator, Choices not Chances Program, Redbank Plains SHS
Mike’s career spans five decades. After leaving school he completed studies in Industrial Chemistry. Mike soon realised that this career pathway was not for him. Mike then spent the next 33 years with Queensland Health working in areas of mental health, HR, industrial relations, public hospitals and Capital Works Branch; the highlight being six years on the personal staff of a number of Ministers for Health.
Further study and a change of career in 2002 saw Mike join the staff of the Special Education Unit at Redbank Plains SHS. Here he co-developed the Choices not Chances Program and began his passion for working with disadvantaged youth, completing further tertiary studies in youth work, mental health and community welfare. Mike was nominated for Ipswich Citizen of the Year 2013 in the Australia Day Awards for his work with youth in the area of disabilities.
Ruth Wone
Ruth is an Aboriginal woman with a mix of Aboriginal and New Zealand ancestry. She has always acknowledged her heritage and embraces both cultures. She has lived and worked in FNQ all her life. Currently works as a Community Education Counsellor at Woree State High School. Ruth manages to fit in a fulfilling life as single Mum, Indigenous Education worker and recently
enjoying being a first time Grandmother. She is a member of various committees and supports many community events. She involves herself, her family and students to experience as many cultural experiences that connect them to country. Ruth is an avid educator for the development of opportunities that can influence people’s choices for economic advancement of indigenous peoples. She has worked in a various community environments for over 20 years by promoting and advocating cultural values to social establishment for a more beneficial and productive society. Additional skills include youth work with multi-cultural groups, teenage guidance, child safety regulations and family referral services. Demonstrated achiever of school community based programs with commendable outcomes, business practices, and cultural protocols.
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AUTHOR INDEX Baird, Rev Les ........................................................................................................................................ 20 Bese, Kalisi ............................................................................................................................................. 31 Boulard, Florence Monique .................................................................................................................. 14 Calma, Tom ........................................................................................................................................... 11 Cox, B. L. ................................................................................................................................................ 36 D’Aietti, Karen ....................................................................................................................................... 29 Eki, Judy ................................................................................................................................................. 31 Enoch, Judy ........................................................................................................................................... 29 Erick, A. W. ............................................................................................................................................ 36 Faainga-Manu Sione, Inez ..................................................................................................................... 31 Field, Ellen ............................................................................................................................................. 26 Galo, Keneti ........................................................................................................................................... 17 Green, Alison E. ..................................................................................................................................... 30 Hane-Nou, Goru .................................................................................................................................... 27 Hodges, Ian ........................................................................................................................................... 33 Hopanoa, Leonatasi ................................................................................................................................ 9 Horsley, Mike ........................................................................................................................................ 21 Kalu, Johnson Agwu .............................................................................................................................. 31 Kift, Sally ................................................................................................................................................ 10 Kimiiaria, Irene Rubina .......................................................................................................................... 18 Kingi, Roman ............................................................................................................................. 23, 31, 32 Knight, Bruce ......................................................................................................................................... 21 Konobo, Mary ....................................................................................................................................... 26 Lahui-Ako, Boe ...................................................................................................................................... 27 Lippingwell, Stephen ............................................................................................................................. 14 Lovai, Betty............................................................................................................................................ 27 Luki, Aquilar .......................................................................................................................................... 24 Macfarlane, Katherine .......................................................................................................................... 29 Mafile'o, Tracie ..................................................................................................................................... 10 Manuka, Mamakura (Kula) ................................................................................................................... 19 M'Balla-Ndi, Marie ................................................................................................................................ 35 McBride, John ....................................................................................................................................... 25 Mills, Jane .............................................................................................................................................. 25 Miria-Robinson, Stella ........................................................................................................................... 25 Mitchell, Gail ................................................................................................................................... 33, 35 Modra, Debra ........................................................................................................................................ 15 Murray, Bruce ....................................................................................................................................... 37 Neuendorf, Nalisa ................................................................................................................................. 27 Newlands, Maxine................................................................................................................................. 35 O’Brien, Gabrielle .................................................................................................................................. 30 Oliver, Carlene ...................................................................................................................................... 35 Paulsen, Irene ....................................................................................................................................... 33 Picton, Catherine................................................................................................................................... 21 Redman-MacLaren, Michelle ................................................................................................................ 25 Salanoa, Lucy ......................................................................................................................................... 17 Savage, Eddie .................................................................................................................................. 33, 35 Scott, Lisa .............................................................................................................................................. 28 Seiler, Loser ........................................................................................................................................... 15 Smith, Peina .......................................................................................................................................... 34
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Speare, Rick ........................................................................................................................................... 25 Spence, Virginia ..................................................................................................................................... 31 Stanley, Ranandy ................................................................................................................................... 31 Stephens, Anne ..................................................................................................................................... 20 Tanuvasa, Emma ................................................................................................................................... 31 Taufa, Tukutau ...................................................................................................................................... 21 Thomas, Emma...................................................................................................................................... 22 Timu, Fran ............................................................................................................................................. 31 Tommbe, Rachael ................................................................................................................................. 25 Williams, Montez .................................................................................................................................. 17 Windsor, C. C. ........................................................................................................................................ 36 Winton, Mike .................................................................................................................................. 16, 17 Wone, Ruth ........................................................................................................................................... 19