YOUR PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

4
AND BECOMING PROFESSIONAL ABOUT
WORKING WITH ABORIGINAL AND
TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER STUDENTS
AND COMMUNITIES CHRISTINE EVANS
To preface this chapter, and the lens applied to it, a return to earlier experiences of
BECOMING: ‘becoming’ is appropriate – becoming a state-school student, becoming a state-school
conscious teacher. Upon reflection, I had, as a child, become a sound state-school student
awareness of
change from one within a culturally diverse student group. The physical environment, from infants and
way of being, doing primary school sites to the secondary school site, was not particularly diverse. It was
and understanding often characterised by interiors of neutral-coloured linoleum, regulation departmental
to another
mid-blue accents, modular timber cupboards and exteriors defined by seriously brown
brick walls, asphalt playgrounds and modestly allocated grass areas. Grey wire-fences
surrounded the built environments of almost every school site. Landscaping was limited
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to an agglomeration of concrete-bound, sandstone forms providing an edging to the

asphalt and was usually located near the entrance of the school. The plants inside were
mostly hardy ‘natives’ that irrespective of their apparent suitability seemed to struggle
to survive.
At that early age, I was becoming aware, accurately or not, that this was (normal)
schooling and that I was becoming ‘educated’ (Smyth & McInerney, 2014).
After leaving school, becoming a teacher became an important phase of my
life. What did it mean to become a teacher? Did it mean satisfactorily completing
requirements proposed by lecturers and administrators as a part of a degree? That was a
part of professional certification, but it was upon entry into the profession that I became
aware of the full array of expectations, responsibilities and opportunities that are part
of becoming a teacher (Fleming, 2013; Cole & Masny, 2014). It was also where I came
to understand some of the inequities and gaps that existed for Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander students within education systems and settings, and this gave me cause
74 to reflect again upon my own education.

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 CHAPTER 4 PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND BECOMING PROFESSIONAL 75

At this much later age, I was becoming aware that, along with other educators, I
could contribute towards change that sought to reduce inequities.
‘Becoming’ can describe the conscious awareness of change from one way of being,
doing and understanding to another. There is adjudication in this process – the self,
another or others must recognise change and have knowledge of the way of being,
doing and understanding left behind and the way of being, doing and understanding UNDERSTANDING:
supplanting it. Depending upon the context of change, the adjudicator of ‘becoming’ empathetic
awareness and
can be the self, friends, peers, colleagues, family, community members and/or appreciation
professional audiences. We become friends to others, we become older, we become of another’s
workplace associates and we become aware of ourselves in a range of ever-changing perspective, culture,
history and world-
social, economic, cultural, personal and relational engagements. For those embarking view.
upon a career as a teacher, we become ‘qualified’, we become more professional in
our teaching and learning, we may become ‘accomplished’ in particular areas and we
may not become ‘accomplished’ in others. The adjudicating audiences are, separately
and combined: the self, colleagues, higher education providers, accreditation bodies,
employers, industries and professionals, students and other communities. Marble
suggests that ‘the time frame for Becoming-teacher shifts from the all too brief pre-
service indoctrination to one that spans the career of a teacher’ (2014, p. 30).

INTRODUCTION
This chapter proposes ways of becoming more aligned with the aspirations of Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander students and community members, through pre-service and
professional experiences. It also outlines a range of strategies and opportunities that
seeks to make sense of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and CULTURE: informs all
education studies for participants in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programs through aspects of our daily
lives. It encapsulates
co-requisite, experiential learning opportunities in educational and community our view of the world,
settings (Evans, 2006). The chapter also discusses some of the challenges and dilemmas our philosophies, our
values, our history
that may be encountered in the process of developing Aboriginal and Torres Strait and so on which
Islander professional experience frameworks within teacher-education programs. we use to express
ourselves through
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I pose the question: ‘If ITE programs do not deliberately build in opportunities our social norms,
for participants to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and their customs, music, art,
food and so on.
communities, how can those teachers authentically meet the outcomes of national,
State and Territory Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education policies?’ In
answering it, this chapter advocates mandatory Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
histories, cultures and education studies within teacher-education programs, including
complementary initiatives within the professional experience components of those
programs. Additionally, it encourages pre-service teachers to approach professional
experience as a means of becoming more aware of and/or connected with the
local Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities associated with each
professional experience school placement, through appropriate liaison with university
and/or school executive and staff by initiating contact with appropriate Aboriginal
and/or Torres Strait Islander education representatives or collectives.

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 76 ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER EDUCATION

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTION 4.1

I support the mandatory inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories,
cultures and education studies within teacher-education programs. Reflecting on
your teacher-education program so far, how have you had these learnings provided?
GUIDED What have you learned so far?
RESPONSE

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE IN TEACHER

EDUCATION
To optimise learning in mandatory Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories,
cultures and education studies within teacher-education programs, it is appropriate
LINK and necessary to focus upon the quality, nature and extent of the content within
dedicated subjects and that which exists across a range of discipline-specific subjects.
Craven, Marsh and Mooney’s (2003) research findings confirmed that ‘pre-service
teachers who have undertaken mandatory subjects compared to pre-service teachers
who undertake perspectives courses, feel they are more capable of teaching Aboriginal
students and Aboriginal Studies and furthermore are more likely to enjoy doing so’
(p. 57). Additionally, the authors suggest that much remains to be done and that
‘existing mandatory subjects also need to be critically examined and refined, in order
to maximise their potency’ (Craven, Marsh & Mooney, 2003, p. 66).
It is from the position of much remaining to be done that the work of customising
professional experience within teacher education programs to respectfully embed
knowledge, understandings and skills for working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander students and communities becomes particularly relevant. While the term
implies a major transformation of a conventional program it can, in fact, be through a
range of minor but strategic interventions in assessment tasks, online support and site
visits that accelerated awareness and responsiveness to Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander community aspirations and one’s own future professional obligations occurs.
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The agency of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL)
in relation to the National Professional Standards for Teachers indicates the high
priority placed upon improving teacher professional capacity to achieve improved
educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students across
Australia. In particular the policy attention to and the provision of teacher professional
learning about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and education
in relation to Focus Areas 1.4 and 2.4 demonstrate the expectation of AITSL that,
nationally, teachers become more accomplished and more responsive to the aspirations
of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Teacher registration boards
in various States and Territories have previously embarked upon this process, and
provide insights into an array of core procedural enquiries and findings. Federal
initiatives such as What Works: The Work Program (McRae et al., 2002) provide advice
to all teachers about how school staff members can develop partnerships.

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 CHAPTER 4 PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND BECOMING PROFESSIONAL 77

The precedent set by the former Board of Teacher Registration, Queensland

(BTRQ), now Queensland College of Teachers, in providing a report that
summarised the approaches taken at that time by Queensland teacher-education
programs to deliver Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, as well as
presenting summaries of consultations with the Queensland education community,
is particularly useful. The BTRQ report (2004) identified patterns in the delivery
of mandatory Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies perspectives in teacher
training and provided valuable insight into perceptions from within the teaching
profession.
Finally, and significantly, the BTRQ report revisited the recommendations from
the 1993 Board of Teacher Registration Report (BTRQ, 1993), Yatha: Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Studies in Teacher Education Conference Proceedings (BTRQ,
2004, pp. 20–3).
The Yatha Report (BTRQ, 1993) encapsulates the experience, aspirations and
advocacy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators for enhanced knowledge,
understanding and skills by the teaching profession about Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander histories and cultures. The report provided recommendations across pre– IDENTITY: a sense
of attachment or
service teacher education, teacher professional learning, research in teacher education, connecting to and
representation on decision-making bodies, and selection, recruitment and promotion, finding comfort in
among others. particular individual
and collective
Turning to the role of the AITSL, educators can see Aboriginal and Torres Strait characteristics.
Identity
Islander education identified explicitly within the standards in the Professional characteristics are
Knowledge Domain as a mandated component. Within Focus Area 1.4 ‘Strategies for both assumed by
Teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students’, graduates are required to and ascribed to
individuals and
‘Demonstrate broad knowledge and understanding of the impact of culture, cultural groups and at times
identity and linguistic background of the education of students from Aboriginal and self-identification
(assumed identity)
Torres Strait Islander backgrounds’ (AITSL, 2011, p. 9). is at odds with
Similarly, while the content within Focus Area 2.4 ‘Understand and respect dominant views
(ascribed) of that
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to promote reconciliation between person or group.
Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians’ (AITSL, 2011, p. 11) requires graduates Assumed identity
makes for a sense
to ‘Demonstrate broad knowledge of, understanding of and respect for Aboriginal
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of belonging with
and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and languages’, there remains a question those perceived to
share characteristics
about assessment. The challenge remains for teacher education administrators to find and for the othering
authentic solutions for the assessment of the teacher education aspects of student of those seen as not
knowledge, understanding and skills required to be competent in this focus area. To belonging. Identity
is a kaleidoscopic
satisfy the AITSL focus areas, ITE programs not only need to incorporate Aboriginal constellation of
and Torres Strait Islander knowledges, understandings and skills that have been aspects of a person
that will change
culturally quality assured by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (Evans, 2014; over time and
Ketchell, cited in Evans, 2014), but they will also need to demonstrate a responsible reform as a result of
altered conditions
and culturally valid approach to assessing teacher-education students’ competence in of existence, age
those areas. stages, significant
events, education
In addition to these teaching standards, two long-term goals (20 and 21) of the and experience.
longstanding National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy have

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 78 ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER EDUCATION

been to ‘enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students at all levels of education
to have an appreciation of their history, cultures and identity; and provide all
Australians students with an understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander traditional and contemporary cultures’ (DEET, 1989, p 15).

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTION 4.2

The refinement of F–10 Australian Curriculum: Science in late 2018 included
95 elaborations or practical examples available for teachers to learn from on the
ACARA website. How important is it that teachers engage with such ideas, and why
GUIDED do you think these examples are important?
RESPONSE

Various governments and human rights organisations recognise the necessity of

providing enabling mechanisms in education to address discrimination and inequity.
In Australia, the New South Wales Education Act 1990 No. 8 (NSW Government, 2013)
states under Section 6 that:
It is the intention of Parliament that every person concerned in the
administration of this Act or of education for children of school-age in New
South Wales is to have regard (as far as is practicable or appropriate) to
the following objects: … / … 6(f) provision of an education for Aboriginal
children that has regard to their special needs, 6(g) development of an
understanding of Aboriginal history and culture by all children.

Internationally, there is recognition by the United Nations of indigenous peoples’

entitlement to educational access. The UN Human Rights Council requested a study
by the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on this matter. The
subsequent report (UN, 2009, p. 11) asserts that:
States are expected to equip indigenous communities by integrating
their perspectives and languages into mainstream education systems and
institutions, and also by respecting, facilitating and protecting indigenous
peoples’ right to transfer knowledge to future generations by traditional
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ways of teaching and learning.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have an expectation that Australia
upholds determinations such as these, as well as others articulated in the Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN, 2008). Article 21 states that:
Indigenous peoples have the right, without discrimination, to the
improvement of their economic and social conditions, including, inter alia,
in the areas of education, employment, vocational training and retraining,
housing, sanitation, health and social security (UN, 2008, p. 9).

Consistent with UN policy on indigenous rights, there is an expectation, in Australia,

that education providers will continue to demonstrate consistency with the National
Goals for Indigenous Education (DEST, 1990), in which consultation and/or partnership

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 CHAPTER 4 PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND BECOMING PROFESSIONAL 79

with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in educational decision-making is

an expectation.
In that regard, State and Territory Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education
Consultative Groups (AECGs)1 are significant providers of cultural quality assurance
services to curriculum authorities, school administrators, teachers and students and,
in some cases, to higher education administrators. Significantly, What Works: The
Work Program (McCrae et al., 2002) provides advice to teachers about how school
staff members can develop partnerships. In several What Works: The Work Program
resources, State or Territory AECGs contribute to the provision of that advice.

APPLIED LEARNING ACTIVITY 4.1

Bishop and colleagues (2003) argue that culturally responsive teachers of Māori
students demonstrate the following understandings, which they have called ‘The
Effective Teaching Profile’:
• They reject deficit theorising as a means of explaining Māori students’ edu-
cational achievement levels.
• They know and understand how to bring about change in Māori students’
educational achievement and are professionally committed to doing so.
In your professional experience placements, what observations have you made of
supervising teachers applying these understandings in relation to Aboriginal and GUIDED
RESPONSE
Torres Strait Islander students?
WEB ACTIVITY

BUILDING ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT

ISLANDER HISTORIES, CULTURES AND EDUCATION
INTO PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
In an educational environment that is increasingly standards and outcomes-based,
it is important to focus upon how, in the teacher education context, the previously
mentioned outcomes are to be achieved. How can accrediting institutions and tertiary
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education providers certify that graduate teachers can demonstrate their achievement
of State and national goals and outcomes if the opportunity to assess such capacities
at professional sites does not take place pre-service? Additionally, who judges the
success of pre-service teachers or the capacity of graduate teachers to work effectively
in embarking upon partnerships with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
communities and in their maintenance of such partnerships?
As mentioned earlier, Craven, Marsh and Mooney (2003) have identified that there
‘remains much to be done’ (p. 66). Solutions to the embedding of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and education in programs within tertiary
institutions will be varied. At the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in addition
to and arising out of mandatory and past elective Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

1 These bodies are known by various names; for example, Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc. (VAEAI).

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 80 ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER EDUCATION

histories, cultures and/or education subjects within teacher education programs, a

range of complementary experiential learning opportunities emerged over a period of
time that helped to ‘make sense’ of Aboriginal Studies subjects and topics for primary
education students.
In the UTS primary education context, three experiential approaches were
employed to enhance learning in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories,
cultures and education beyond the conventional delivery of the mandatory Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures subject.
First, students for several years were required as part of their mandatory
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures or education subject to
make connections with Aboriginal community members, coinciding with subject
content on the topic of Aboriginal self-determination. Students would, as part of
this assessment activity, generally make a formal approach to a representative of an
Aboriginal organisation or an Aboriginal unit within a mainstream organisation. The
students were invited to consider the function of the organisation and the role of the
representative within it through wider reading before participating in an informal
meeting at the Aboriginal community member’s preferred site. This assessment
component of the subject ensured that all teacher education graduates ‘had a yarn’ with
an Aboriginal community member prior to graduation, in a setting preferred by the
community member, and could demonstrate through coursework the knowledge and
understanding gained from the engagement. Information from meetings within this
undergraduate fieldwork was used solely for assignments within coursework and not
for research. The significance of teacher education students travelling to the Aboriginal
community members’ preferred site as opposed to a formal educational setting would
not be lost on a number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education colleagues.

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTION 4.3

All Australian teachers are required to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
GUIDED perspectives in their teaching. Why is this an issue of importance?
RESPONSE
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Second, at UTS, students in elective Aboriginal Studies subjects undertook project-

based work in primary schools with significant populations of Aboriginal and/or
Torres Strait Islander students. The projects covered an array of topics that had usually
been negotiated with Aboriginal Education Officers or Aboriginal teachers. In an
effort to implement these experiences along principles of reciprocity, recognising that
students are professionally benefiting from their time spent with Aboriginal education
staff, the types of projects teacher education students undertook while at the school
site were usually those already identified as urgently in need of action. Clearly, they
also needed to be achievable and accessible from the subject participants’ perspective.
Projects have included NAIDOC Week school event displays, development of units
of work in Aboriginal languages, initial stages of website design and participation in
kindergarten transition programming.

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 CHAPTER 4 PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND BECOMING PROFESSIONAL 81

Finally, an Aboriginal Education Practicum Placement (AEPP) evolved over several

years, in which primary ITE students engaged in a professional experience placement
in a school with a high population of Aboriginal students. The location could be
metropolitan, suburban, rural or remote; at times these were interstate placements.
The AEPP became popular with Aboriginal students in the teacher-education program
and with a percentage of non-Aboriginal students. This type of placement had a range
of specific features, including, wherever possible, a visit by students on the first day
to Aboriginal organisations within the community as a customised feature of their
professional experience orientation. Students eligible for these placements were usually
drawn from the second and third year of the teacher-education program, having
successfully completed a sequence of initial placements.
The following student reflections upon their AEPP provide valuable insights into
the impact such placements can have in permitting students to employ theoretical
understandings in professionally significant sites.
I would like to say that my practicum experience has without doubt changed
my view on teaching and opened my eyes to a world I never knew existed.
Textbooks and classes are one thing but a real-life experience is a valuable
tool that every up and coming teacher should access. I highly recommend
the prac. to other students (Student 1: 2004).
I thoroughly enjoyed my practicum experience at school ‘W’. The staff and
community were warm and welcoming and I learnt so much both about
teaching in a rural school and teaching Aboriginal students. I believe that
this prac. has shaped my views on teaching and has increased my confidence
as a teacher, as well as my ability to be culturally inclusive in my teaching
strategies. As a result of my practicum experience, I have applied to teach in
a rural school through the Department of Education and Training. Because
of my experiences, I am confident that I will have the skills necessary to
accomplish this (Student 2: 2004).
In conclusion I look back at University and am grateful that I chose to study
the Aboriginal [Education] electives, but all the study and research could
not give me what I got from actually going to ‘W’. I am confident in saying
that the experience has made me not only a better person but also a better
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teacher, not only in preparing me to teach Aboriginal students but also for
all students in multicultural Australia. Why will I remember ‘W’? – definitely
because of the local elders and community members I was fortunate to meet
and also the children: not because of what I taught them in the classroom but
because of what they taught me in and out of the classroom (Student 3: 2004).

Each of the experiential approaches to providing learning across the curriculum in

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and education within teacher
education (fieldwork, project-based course work and the AEPP) have been significant
in helping students make sense of their theoretical and/or historical studies in the field
while simultaneously aligning their professional capacities with policy expectation.
Field experience, practicum or professional experiences are opportunities in which
education students are invariably motivated by the school and/or community site as it
provides approximations of their future professional lives.

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 82 ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER EDUCATION

Through the examination of literature arising out of the evolution and nature
of professional experience programs in teacher education, it becomes evident that
an alignment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators’ aspirations and
recurrent, community-centred research themes provide a practical union. First, it is
useful to appreciate the evolution of professional experience itself.

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTION 4.4

Why is it beneficial to include Indigenous content in classes when there may be no
GUIDED Indigenous students in some classrooms?
RESPONSE

According to Turney and colleagues (1982), ‘ideally conceived the practicum is

a purposeful series of supervised professional experiences in which student teachers
apply, refine and reconstruct theoretical learnings, and through which they develop their
teaching competencies’ (p. 1). In the local context, in 1975 Turney identified three main
phases that historically the practicum in teacher education has progressed through.
These phases included the pupil-teacher system from 1850 to 1900; the training college
system from 1900 to 1960; and the phase that commenced with a reconstruction of
teacher education from 1960 to the present day (Turney et al., 1982, p. xi).
Practicum, also known as professional experience, practice teaching and field
experience, has, in past decades, formed an integral component of teacher education.
Presently, it is a core stream throughout teacher-education programs. Glancing across
a time-line of literature arising out of the practicum program within teacher education,
it can be identified that support exists, theoretically, to accommodate professionally
relevant interactions between students in practicum placements and the broader
school community. Logically, local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community
constituencies should be represented within that accommodation. It follows then
that opportunity exists for professional experience programs to expand and improve
their design to incorporate engagements with local Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait
Islander communities and/or learners to ensure that Focus Areas 1.4 and 2.4 are being
addressed before teachers’ entry into the profession.
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Significantly, Turney and colleagues (1985) noted the tendency of schools and teachers
to be isolated from the parents of students ‘and, more generally, from the community
they serve’ (p. 102). Clearly, State, Territory and federal policies expect this to change. At
the physical site level, documents such as ‘Welcome to Country & Acknowledgement of
Country’, produced collaboratively by three New South Wales bodies (NSW Department
of Education and Communities & Aboriginal Education Consultative Group, n.d.,
p. 1) require school staff members to be knowledgeable about and able to demonstrate
awareness of localised issues of land custodianship and contemporary protocol. Similar
documents are widely available that relate to, or could be adapted to, your particular
location. The Narragunnawali2 website offers a wealth of information in relation to
acknowledging Country, which can be carried out by anyone within the school.
2 Narragunnawali supports schools and early learning services in Australia to develop environments that foster a higher level of
knowledge and pride in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and contributions.

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 CHAPTER 4 PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND BECOMING PROFESSIONAL 83

APPLIED LEARNING ACTIVITY 4.2

As a teacher, you acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the
owners and custodians of cultural knowledge. Thinking about your professional
experience and that protocols vary between communities, a) discuss the common
principles that you would observe and b) what would observing accepted protocols
encourage. GUIDED
RESPONSE

Turney and colleagues (1985) have stated that:

Teacher education programs must not just talk about the value of improved,
closer teacher–parent relationships and of fuller and more genuine
community participation in schools. Student teachers must come to
understand the many possibilities and the great potential value of such
relationships and participation through experience in the practicum; they
must learn of the teacher’s roles in initiating and pursuing such aims; and
have opportunities to develop some competence in the tasks needed for the
performance of such roles (p. 105).

Stevens (1988) explored the role of placements in in-service education, specifically

in relation to a Diploma of Education (secondary school) in the United Kingdom.
Significantly, these placements include non-school settings. For project-based electives
in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies subject suites and in community site-
based assessment tasks, this supports an experiential modality within which trainee
teachers can operate and potentially be assessed by both Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander academics and site-based community members, as required.
Tom (1997), in Re-Designing Teacher Education, maintains ‘multiculturalism
throughout the program’ as a key principle ‘to include previously excluded voices’
(p. 121) and warns that educational programs risk becoming ‘too neat, too clean, too elite’.

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTION 4.5

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Where can teachers find information about their local community? GUIDED
RESPONSE

It follows from literature snapshots such as these that the customising of professional
experience programs as a means of recognising and representing Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first communities and a founding stream within
contemporary Australian society is, in various capacities, desirable, necessary and
logical. The more complex task remains the conception and implementation of such
an initiative.
There are numerous practical factors to customising a central program in teacher
education, such as professional experience, to appropriately represent Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and education. Logistically, it may be
challenging to expect to provide annually and reliably for the vast numbers of State

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 84 ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER EDUCATION

and Territory-based pre-service teachers an opportunity to teach in a school with a

high percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, despite the fact that
this represents a foundational opportunity to accelerate teacher education students’
capacities to work successfully with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners
and communities. Teacher education institutions’ access to schools, based upon
geographic parameters, makes this an even more challenging proposition. On another
level, existing demands upon Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
and organisations can make the widespread application of this approach prohibitive.
Finally, resources (financial and human) to manage such initiatives need to be
available and secure to ensure sustainability. Taking these constraints into account, a
compromise that can be applied to conventional professional experience programs is
proposed in the section that follows.
In response to the continuing gap in achievements of educational outcomes
between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous students K–12,
State, Territory and federal policies in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education
require that solutions be found to better prepare teachers for working with Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander learners, and to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Studies and perspectives within teaching.

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTION 4.6

How can I make sure my Indigenous students feel comfortable when Aboriginal and
GUIDED Torres Strait Islander content is being taught in my classroom?
RESPONSE

TEACHER PERSPECTIVE
While on professional experience, you discuss with your supervising teacher
that you would like to implement one of your assignment pieces with the Year 5
class in which you have been placed. You plan to study Shaun Tan’s work, and
in particular The Rabbits (Marsden, 2010). Together, you outline to the students
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that they will be looking at picture books as part of the unit of work. The next day,
several parents complain to the principal that their children are too old for picture
GUIDED
books. Describe how you would work with the parents to alleviate their concerns.
RESPONSE

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTION 4.7

Early in the chapter, I raise the question: ‘If pre-service teacher education programs
do not deliberately build in opportunities for participants to work with Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander students and their communities, how can those teachers
authentically meet the outcomes of national, State and Territory Aboriginal and
GUIDED Torres Strait Islander education policies?’ What is your answer to this?
RESPONSE

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 CHAPTER 4 PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND BECOMING PROFESSIONAL 85

BECOMING COMPETENT
How do you become competent in working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
students and communities?
The annexation of theoretical Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
subjects with teacher-education professional experience programs might be explored
as one possibility of meeting some of the State and federal policy expectations and
professional goals in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education. As mentioned,
opportunities for pre–service teachers to initiate, at least at an elementary level,
partnership opportunities with Aboriginal communities have been implemented in
mandatory Aboriginal Studies subjects at UTS over several years.
From this platform one can turn to other means of customising professional
experience within teacher education programs to respectfully embed knowledge,
understandings and skills for working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
students and communities. Fleming reminds teacher education students that ‘teachers
operate in real classrooms with real pupils and the schools in which they work
are located in real communities’ (2013, p. 1). Conceptually and practically, in the
Australian context, effective teacher education programs will responsibly, consistently
and sensitively ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are
represented in their definitions of ‘real communities’ – in discourse and in practice.
The following is an adaptation of an extract from an iteration of an assessment task
in a mandatory Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education subject in primary
education at UTS. The task is annexed to a professional experience placement that
students would usually be undertaking concurrently with the mandatory subject.
Significantly, because students invariably target professional experience placements
in regions where they reside, the outcomes from the task below extend to providing
enhanced learning about a local Aboriginal presence in the area where they live.
Requirements of the task include:
• Identifying the traditional custodians of the land on which the school commu-
nity is located.
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• Developing a draft ‘Acknowledgement of Country’ statement that could be used

in the school setting.
• Identifying and recording, through school management, the number of
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students and staff (academic and sup-
port) who attend the school.
• Identifying potential Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander education consul-
tants for that school and their roles.
• Identifying the State or Territory representative for the local Aboriginal and/or
Torres Strait Islander Education Consultative Group and their role.
• Identifying which local Aboriginal Land Council (or similar) serves the region
the school is situated in and creating a contact list of staff who can support
school programs.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education : An Introduction for the Teaching Profession, edited by Kaye Price, and Jessa Rogers, Cambridge University Press,
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 86 ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER EDUCATION

• Identifying other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations (for exam-
ple, medical services), or organisations that support Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander education (for example, reconciliation groups).
• Identifying particular community events that celebrate Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander histories and cultures.
• Exploring the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education pages of State and
federal government websites.
• Enquiring with your cooperating teacher about Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander content within programs and/or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Studies units of work, and document response/s.
The outcomes of this assessment task, like those of the other experiential learning
opportunities identified in this chapter, respond directly to outcomes contained in
current State and Territory policies and workplace documents in the field of Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander education. The process provides a valuable professional
template that pre–service primary and secondary teachers can apply in any school
setting. Undertaking this assessment task ensures that teacher education students will
have a means of professionally connecting with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
WEB ACTIVITY community representatives and networks before they enter the teaching profession.

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTION 4.8

GUIDED What is the definition of reconciliation?
RESPONSE

VIGNETTE
You are in your final year of ITE and your placement is at a suburban school in a
capital city. While not an overly large school, it is located in a low socio-economic
area with students from a variety of language and cultural backgrounds. During
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your teacher education program, you have had many opportunities to discuss
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education and to undertake research into
culturally appropriate and culturally responsive schooling. Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander guest lecturers have extended your knowledge and understanding,
and you are looking forward to putting some ideas into practice. On your third day
at the school, you need to visit the local shopping centre at lunch time and, while
there, notice a student from your school also at the centre. You are aware that
school rules are in place that preclude students from leaving the school grounds
during the school day, and on your return, you mention to your supervising teacher
that ‘Tim’ was at the shopping centre. The teacher’s response is ‘Oh, don’t worry
about him; he’s Indigenous’.
GUIDED What are your thoughts about this statement?
RESPONSE

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education : An Introduction for the Teaching Profession, edited by Kaye Price, and Jessa Rogers, Cambridge University Press,
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 CHAPTER 4 PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND BECOMING PROFESSIONAL 87

CONCLUSION
While the approaches to embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories,
cultures and education studies within teacher-education programs vary, the process of
learning is ongoing. True consultation with members of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander communities can only enhance the theory that is experienced in the academy.
By taking the initiative and building your own database and networks you can become
more confident and competent in working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
students and communities.

SHORT-ANSWER QUESTIONS
1. To optimise learning in mandatory Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander SHORT-
histories, cultures and education studies within teacher-education programs, ANSWER
QUESTIONS
what is it appropriate and necessary to focus upon?
2. What is the core responsibility of teachers toward truly teaching in line with
AITSL Focus Areas 1.4 and 2.4?
3. What does field experience, practicum or professional experience with
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities provide pre-service teachers
with?
4. As teachers, we meet a new class of students each year. What is a suggested
way to make connections with Indigenous students in the classroom?
5. When are classroom resources on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
the most authentic?
6. What is important to remember about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
histories, cultures and education within teacher education?

REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Before I begin my professional experience, how can I increase my knowledge of
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REVIEW
the presence of the local Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities QUESTIONS
associated with the school?
2. During my professional experience, how can I learn more about the school’s
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education policy, initiatives and
connections with local Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities?
3. What opportunities are available to me, as an ITE student, to apply my
understandings of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education, histories and
cultures within and outside my coursework?

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education : An Introduction for the Teaching Profession, edited by Kaye Price, and Jessa Rogers, Cambridge University Press,
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 88 ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER EDUCATION

FURTHER READING
Hudson, S. and K. McCluskey. 2013. ‘Professional experience’. In Learning
to Teach in the Primary School, edited by Peter Hudson, pp. 269–90. Port
Melbourne, Vic.: Cambridge University Press.

National Curriculum Services. 2009. Conversations > Relationships > Partnerships:

A Resource for School Staff. www.whatworks.edu.au/upload/1251420821313_
file_Conversationsschoolstaff.pdf

Reconciliation Australia. Narragunnawali. www.narragunnawali.org.au/

Santoro, N., J. Reid, L. Crawford and L. Simpson. 2011. ‘Teaching Indigenous

children: Listening to and learning from Indigenous teachers’. Australian Journal
of Teacher Education, 36(10): pp. 65–76.

REFERENCES
AITSL (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership). 2011.
National Professional Standards for Teachers. Melbourne: Educational Services
Australia.

Bishop, R., M. Berryman, S. Tiakiwai, and C. Richardson 2003. Te Kotahitanga:

The Experiences of Year 9 and 10 Māori Students in Mainstream Classrooms.
Wellington: Ministry of Education

BTRQ (Board of Teacher Registration, Queensland). 2004. Indigenous Education –

Everybody’s Business: Implications for Teacher Education. Report of the Working
Party on Indigenous Studies in Teacher Education. www.qct.edu.au/pdf/Archive/
BTRIndigenousEducation2005.pdf

—— 1993. Yatha: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies in Teacher

Education Conference Proceedings. Conference on Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Studies in Teacher Education, Caloundra, Qld. Brisbane: Board of
Teacher Registration, Queensland.

Cole, D.R. and D. Masny. 2014. ‘Introduction: Education and the politics of
Copyright © 2019. Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.

becoming’. In Education and the Politics of Becoming, edited by Diana Masny

and David Cole. London: Routledge.

Craven, R.G., H.W. Marsh and J. Mooney. 2003. ‘Teaching preservice teachers
Aboriginal Studies: Do mandatory teacher education courses work?’ Journal
of the Aboriginal Studies Association, 12: pp. 57–68.

DEET (Department of Employment, Education and Training). 1989. National

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy: Joint Policy Statement.
Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.

DEST (Department of Education, Science and Training). 1990. National Goals for
Indigenous Education. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education : An Introduction for the Teaching Profession, edited by Kaye Price, and Jessa Rogers, Cambridge University Press,
2019. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uwsau/detail.action?docID=6026713.
Created from uwsau on 2024-12-27 11:04:47.
 CHAPTER 4 PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND BECOMING PROFESSIONAL 89

Evans, C. 2014. ‘Designing higher education curriculum in partnership with

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders: A study in Visual Arts
education’. PhD thesis, University of Technology Sydney, Faculty of Arts and
Social Sciences. https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/29254/2/02
whole.pdf

—— 2006. ‘Indigenising the practicum program in teacher education’. In

Aboriginal Studies: Making the Connections, pp. 223–32. Sydney: Aboriginal
Studies Association.

Fleming, P. 2013. Becoming a Secondary School Teacher: How to Make a

Success of Your Initial Teacher Training and Induction. New York:
Routledge

McRae, D., G. Ainsworth, J. Cumming, P. Hughes, T. Mackay, K. Price, M.

Rowland, J. Warhurst, D. Woods and V. Zbar. 2002. What Works: The Work
Program. www.whatworks.edu.au/dbAction.do?cmd=homePage

Marble, D. 2014. ‘Becoming-teacher: Encounters with the Other in teacher

education’. In Education and the Politics of Becoming, edited by Diana Masny
and David R. Cole, pp. 21–31. London: Routledge.

Marsden, J. 2010. The Rabbits. Hachette Australia.

NSW Department of Education and Communities and NSW Aboriginal Education

Consultative Group Inc. n.d. Welcome to Country & Acknowledgement of Country
Guidelines and Protocols for NSW Public Schools and TAFE NSW Institutes.
https://www.aecg.nsw.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/welcomecountry_
lowres-1.pdf

NSW Government. 2013. NSW Education Act. www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/

consol_act/ea1990104/s6.html

Smyth, J. and P. McInerney. 2014. Becoming Educated: Young People’s Narratives

of Disadvantage, Class, Place, and Identity. New York: Peter Lang.

Stevens, M. 1988. ‘The role of placements in in-service education’. In The

Enquiring Teacher: Supporting and Sustaining Teacher Research, edited
by J. Nias and S. Groundwater-Smith, pp. 165–78. East Sussex: Falmer
Press.
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Tom, A. 1997. ReDesigning Teacher Education. Albany: State University of New

York Press.

Turney, C. 1975. Sydney Micro-skills: Skills for Teachers Handbook. Sydney:

University of Sydney Press.

Turney, C., L. Cairns, K. Eltis, N. Hatton, D. Thew, J. Towler and R. Wright. 1982.
The Practicum in Teacher Education Research Practice & Supervision. Sydney:
Sydney University Press.

Turney, C., K.J. Eltis, J. Towler and R. Wright. 1985. The New Basis for
Teacher Education: The Practicum Curriculum. Sydney: SYDMAC Academic
Press.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education : An Introduction for the Teaching Profession, edited by Kaye Price, and Jessa Rogers, Cambridge University Press,
2019. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uwsau/detail.action?docID=6026713.
Created from uwsau on 2024-12-27 11:04:47.
 90 ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER EDUCATION

UN (United Nations). 2009. Human Rights Bodies and Mechanisms: Study on

Lessons Learned and Challenges to Achieve the Implementation of the Right of
Indigenous Peoples to Education. New York: United Nations.

—— 2008. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. New York: United

Nations.
Copyright © 2019. Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education : An Introduction for the Teaching Profession, edited by Kaye Price, and Jessa Rogers, Cambridge University Press,
2019. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uwsau/detail.action?docID=6026713.
Created from uwsau on 2024-12-27 11:04:47.