1. Making it real: Working with Aboriginal Communities to achieve outcomes through partnership
Low SES Forum
Tuesday 22 June 2010
Louise Bye, Assistant Director, Aboriginal Education and Training Directorate

2. Why? Policy
What? Strategy
How ? Community

3. CAEPR 2007 Complexity and diversity of Aboriginal communities.
Relationships between school and community is influenced by “settings” in which both operate and that adaptations are required.
School processes may have little relevance or be inconsistent with community processes.
A new form of relationship needs to develop between the school and the community if an enduring educational partnership is to be achieved.

4. Catalysts for positive change
Leaders
Thinkers
Connectors
Doers
Problems solvers
Empowerers
People who want to make a difference

5. Community engagement
Engagement: school to family and community; teacher to parent/caregiver/extended family; AEO to parents and community, ACLO to parents and community
Complexity and diversity
Informal and formal
Social and learning
School business and community business
Deliberate and planned
Conversations Relationships Partnerships

6. Strategies to lead, engage and keep people engaged
Who are the partners?
Parents, teachers, community members, executive, principal, Aboriginal staff, regional staff, wider community, Aboriginal organisations, agencies, regional office, state office.
How to engage?
Focus on end point
Individually and collectively
Clear communication and consistent message
Focus on what works

7. Engaging community
Understanding the past and present Aboriginal community.
Knowing who is in your Aboriginal community
Knowing how people are connected- parents and caregivers, extended family, kinship relationships
Welcome to/Acknowledgement of Country, welcome signs in local Aboriginal Language, Aboriginal flag
Working with school and district Aboriginal staff.
Community assets mapping process
How does the community respond to things?
What is the community’s vision?
What do they want from a partnership?
What forms of communication work best?
Working with community governance and community peak bodies, interagency.
Taking the school to the community.
Staff/community interaction. School/community projects.
Champion for the school

8. Engaging parents
Welcoming all parents, extended family, Elders and community members
Personal communication, relationship, invitation
Working with school and district Aboriginal staff
Front office
Knowing and working with whole family
Acknowledging and celebrating community events within the school
Creating opportunities for parents to share knowledge, skills and understandings in and out of the classroom
Celebrate and communicate student success and achievement to parents
If there is a problem, consult and act
Work with parents to find solutions

9. Engagement through students
Sense of belonging
Who are your Aboriginal students
What are their gifts, talents, dreams, aspirations
Respect, knowledge and understanding of Aboriginality
Personalised Learning Plans (PLPs)
Positive talk about real improvements
Recognition of circumstances and situations
Opportunities for leadership, gifted and talented
Early intervention and support
What is the data telling us?

10. Your turn, your task Two strategies that you already do that work
Two new strategies
One off the wall, low cost strategy
Engaging community
Engaging parents
Engagement through students
You cannot blame one side in a reputable partnership
The benefits of a strong partnership should be evident
Needed partnership with teachers
Partnership is not about one individual, one Aboriginal principal
If community not buying in, there is something wrong with the message
Partnerships with community - teachers getting paid to be in partnership- what does community get out of it?

11. Your turn, your task Two strategies that you already do that work
Two new strategies
One off the wall, low cost strategy
Engaging teachers
Engaging non-Aboriginal community
Engaging agencies, organisations , business and other
partners
Now I want you to come up with six strategies for engaging key stakeholders (teachers) and partners. As Mark Freidman says:
Two strategies that are working and that you would keep
Two new strategies that you want to introduce
Two low cost or off the wall strategies.

12. 12

13. Communication to build trust
Language
Body language
Experiences and attitudes
Power
Stereotypes
Roles and responsibilities
Expectations
Situations

14. Mortar Sand Cement Water Leaders Thinkers Connectors Doers
Problems solvers
Empowerers
People who want to make a difference
How do we create and disband partnerships seamlessly?
How can former adversaries reposition themselves to work as allies?
How do we create the conversations we need to have?
How do we challenge the current way of doing things?
How are we going to engage our school community?
How do we empower people to work in partnerships?
How do we support people through change?

15. You are the guide, not the expert
You are the guide, not the expert. Focus on the end point, the vision for parents, community, teachers and students. Focus on what works. Engage students in the process. It’s about them. There will be resistance, racism and recidivism. This is a new way of working and peoples’ expectations will need to be managed. Communicate to all groups consistently and coherently. It’s about addressing and changing the status quo, digging up the hard ground and having the hard conversations. The process and the outcomes will be flawed if Aboriginal people are not included, respected and valued as equal partners. We will work with evidence but some of this evidence will be peoples’ experiences. We need to work with data. Don’t tell me what you have done, tell me what you have achieved.

16. Lastly…. Communicate and share with others
Take on board advice and criticism
Support each other
Plan for and celebrate success
Challenge the status quo
Believe in the vision and what you are trying to achieve