Professor Megan Watkins and Professor Greg Noble present a research-based examination of the complexities involved in working with students of refugee backgrounds in our schools. They discuss why it is both inherently difficult and necessary for NSW public school teachers to strive to meet the needs of these students and their families . . .
In mid-2021, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated the total number of refugees world-wide was 27.1 million (Refugee Council of Australia, 2022). This number has risen dramatically in recent years due to the increasing number and intensity of conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia, forcing many to flee their homelands and seek safety elsewhere. Many of these refugees are under 18 years old, and many are unaccompanied minors. While Australia’s proportion of this number is relatively low, thousands of young refugees (Refugee Council of Australia, 2017) enter Australia each year on humanitarian visas and face the daunting prospect of beginning school in their newfound home with limited or no English, limited or no literacy in their first language, disrupted or no previous schooling, and the scars of trauma resulting from the experiences of war, the death of loved ones, poverty and protracted periods of displacement in refugee camps and/or one or more countries of transit (Yak, 2016). Once settled, many may be under pressure to earn an income or to help other members of their family, which affects their attendance and progress at school (Refugee Council of Australia, 2016). In addition to contending with these difficulties, issues around gender, faith and racism may affect their capacity to ‘fit in’ (Yak, 2016).
The New South Wales (NSW) Department of Education (DoE) now records that there are more than 11,000 students of refugee backgrounds in NSW schools (NSW DoE, 2020). While many of these students are located in metropolitan Sydney, in particular in the western and south-western suburbs, there is an increasing number settling in regional areas, posing considerable challenges for schools and their communities to ensure that these students’ complex needs are met. Schools are often the first point of contact with wider Australian society for young refugees, so how schools position and serve them has enormous consequences (Uptin et al., 2013).
Various community, government and non-government organisations have provided considerable assistance to schools, but a number of studies suggest that not only is far more needed (Sidhu et al., 2011; Block et al., 2014), but that further research is required to gauge refugee students’ experiences of schooling and whether current practice is addressing their needs and those of teachers (Ferfolja and Vickers, 2010).
In 2019, the NSW Teachers Federation commissioned researchers at Western Sydney University to undertake such a study to help fill this gap and to yield data to inform how they may best support teachers working in these complex environments. The report, It’s Complex! Working with Students of Refugee Backgrounds and their Families in New South Wales Schools, (Watkins, M., Noble, G., & Wong, A. ,2019) is the product of this research. Its title, drawn from a comment made by one of the teacher participants, reflects not only the complex needs of refugee students and their families but the inherent complexity of meeting these needs often within schools already grappling with the challenges of socio-economic disadvantage, increasing cultural and linguistic diversity and students with physical and intellectual disabilities. Meeting the needs of students of refugee backgrounds is undertaken alongside those of other students, making the task for teachers a complex one indeed.
It’s Complex aimed to capture this complexity. The research informing the report included interviews and focus groups with executive staff and teachers, students with and without refugee backgrounds and the parents or carers of students of refugee backgrounds in ten public schools. These schools included primary schools, high schools and Intensive English Centres (IECs) in Sydney and regional locations in NSW, with high and low populations of students of refugee backgrounds and varying numbers of students with a Language Background Other Than English (LBOTE) amongst their broader populations. The study also involved observations in classrooms, playgrounds and at school community events. In addition to school-derived data, interviews were also held with relevant personnel in organisations supporting refugee students and their families.
The study examined the challenges faced by school communities as a result of their increasing number of students of refugee backgrounds. It looked at the educational and broader needs of these students; the programs in place to support them within schools; the links between educational experiences and other aspects of the settlement process and the social contexts in which settlement occurs; the consequences for teacher workloads and their professional capacities; and a range of other issues. This article provides a broad overview of the project’s key findings with a link here to the full report for more detailed examination of these from the perspectives of each of the various informant groups that participated in the study.
One of thekey findings of the research was that the needs of students of refugee backgrounds are not simply the pragmatic requirements of educational performance, these students also have complex linguistic, social, cultural, psychological and economic needs. In discussion with principals and other senior executive across the 10 project schools, the area of greatest need identified was that of welfare, not only ensuring students were fed, housed and felt safe but that there was support for those who experienced psychological trauma as, without addressing this, it was considered difficult for students’ educational needs to be met. Yet these respondents also stressed the highly individualised nature of these students’ needs with one teacher remarking: ‘all refugee students struggle but struggle in different ways. We have very capable students, students that have, you know, not as much capacity to learn as others. And some are very bright – a full range of learners’.
While not news to school executive and teachers, the research revealed how schools aremuch more than educational institutions. This may have always been the case, but with increasing and diversifying refugee intakes, they have become complex sites of refugee and community support, with greater expectations and challenges. As one principal commented: ‘I guess we are kind of, we have almost become a community centre, and this is something that I find quite challenging … So, we get a lot of requests that are far removed from our brief as a school’. Schools, therefore, are grappling with a range of issues that result from these greater expectations: teacher workload, professional learning, funding issues, interagency coordination and community liaison.
The research also found that there were uneven levels of expertise and support across schools, both by region and by type, and related to school and community contexts, and individual teacher’s experiences. There are schools, such as IECs, which are set up well to meet these challenges, developing significant banks of expertise and resources, and there are schools which, by dint of their location and demographics, are not well set-up nor well-funded.
Many teachers are providing additional support beyond the classroom in terms of arranging homework clubs, extra work, support services, community liaison, etc, creating increased and intensified workloads which have stressful consequences for work-life balance and some teachers’ mental health. Many teachers are providing this extra support but with varying degrees of experience and expertise. Many do not have English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D) qualifications, for example, exacerbating the stressful circumstances in which they are working. Many are also finding themselves in classrooms with an increasing complexity of student populations, posing challenges for classroom teaching.
This was matched with very uneven levels of understanding in schools – amongst teachers, non-refugee students and the wider community – of the complex experiences and challenges faced by students of refugee backgrounds. Staff in schools often struggled to ‘get the right balance’ between addressing the pastoral, the academic and the socio-cultural needs of students of refugee backgrounds with huge implications for these students’ learning. One executive staff member reflected on the problem of an overemphasis on the pastoral:
“I think that when we are dealing with our students one-on-one and we start to hear and get to know them more and hear the history of where they have come from and their trauma, there can be a bit of a tendency to make excuses for them not improving academically and as strongly as they could and … I am going to use the word ’pity’, like there can be an element not from all teachers but from some teachers.”
An executive member at another school suggested such an approach raised questions about the nature of wellbeing itself: ‘So, it is striking that balance between wellbeing as welfare and wellbeing as self-esteem and achievement’.
As a consequence, students of refugee backgrounds have very varied educational experiences: some are settling well, and some are not ‘fitting in’. While most value the efforts undertaken at their schools, as do their parents and carers, many are also suffering from a lack of support. These students are also faced with the dilemma of in\visibility: they often stand out – for various reasons – but their needs are often ‘invisible’, and they can fall through cracks in the system. Many students recounted the enormous challenges of English language and literacy acquisition and often felt underprepared for their educational experiences. Many students continued to experience enormous problems in the transition from IECs to high school and there appeared little progress in addressing these issues, despite being well documented in previous research (Hammond, 2014).
Many students of refugee backgrounds reported the ongoing incidence of racism, though this is not always acknowledged by staff in schools. This racism varied in scale and type from microaggressions of other students avoiding contact and making veiled derogatory comments, to forms of structural racism often resulting from well-intentioned programs that actually reinforced these students’ lack of belonging. In one example of the former, in a school with a predominantly Anglo-Australian student population attended by a small number of refugee students of African backgrounds, a teacher referred to students making racist taunts in the form of ‘back door kind of comments’. The teacher explained how students would say: ‘So, they are asking for a black pen, like they will disguise the racism and emphasise certain things like, “Can I have a black pen?” or something like that. Whereas I shut that down immediately’.
While schools provided various forms of assistance, many continued to struggle with developing and sustaining productive relations with parents of refugee backgrounds and their wider communities.
The work of Refugee Support Leaders (RSLs), a temporary measure introduced in response to the arrival of large numbers of Syrian refugees in 2016, proved increasingly important in many schools and their broader communities. RSLs took up roles in the wake of the loss of the NSW Department of Education Multicultural Education/EAL/D consultants that occurred in 2012, a loss which has been detrimental for many schools. A pleasing development, following the publication of It’s Complex, and because of the NSW Teachers Federation’s advocacy, has been the appointment of EAL/D Leader roles seemingly filling the void of the previous Multicultural Education/EAL/D consultants. These are much needed positions which, it is hoped, are ongoing, supporting schools in meeting the EAL/D needs of not only refugee students, but the many students who require specialist EAL/D teaching.
Finally, while much work has been done to address issues around the coordination of governmental and non-governmental agencies in the area of refugee settlement, this has not always been embedded well in daily practice in schools. For this work to be consolidated and extended we must enable multiple, critical conversations – between the Department, support organisations and schools; between teachers, students, parents/carers and their wider communities – around students’ educational, pastoral and social needs, and the capacities of schools to address them. Failure to facilitate such dialogue will threaten the stability of life that students of refugee backgrounds and their families so urgently need.
A useful starting point will be looking at the full report, which can be found at:
If you are interested in applying to the It’s Complex: Working with students of refugee backgrounds in NSW public schools professional learning course run by the Centre for Professional Learning, please click here.
Block, K., Cross, S., Riggs, E. and Gibbs, L. (2014). Supporting schools to create an inclusive environment for refugee students. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 18(12), 1337-1355.
Ferfolja, T. and Vickers, M. (2010). Supporting refugee students in school education in Greater Western Sydney. Critical Studies in Education, 51(2), 149-162.
Hammond, J. (2014). The transition of refugee students from Intensive English Centres to mainstream high schools: Current practices and future possibilities. Sydney: NSW Department of Education and Communities.
New South Wales (NSW) Department of Education (DoE)(2020) Supporting Refugee Students https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/multicultural-education/refugee-students-in-schools.
Sidhu, R., Taylor, S. and Christie, P. (2011). Schooling and Refugees: Engaging with the complex trajectories of globalisation. Global Studies of Childhood, 1(2), 92-103.
Uptin, J., Wright, J. and Harwood, V. (2013). ‘It felt like I was black dot on white paper’: examining young former refugees’ experience of entering Australian high schools. Australian Educational Researcher, 40(1), 125-137.
Watkins, M., Noble, G., & Wong, A. (2019). It’s Complex: Working with students of refugee backgrounds and their families in New South Wales public schools (2nd ed.). NSW Teachers Federation.
Megan Watkins is Professor in the School of Education at Western Sydney University. Her research interests lie in the cultural analysis of education exploring the impact of cultural diversity on schooling and the ways in which different cultural practices can engender divergent habits and dispositions to learning. Megan began her career as an English/History teacher working in high schools in Western Sydney. Her most recent book is Doing Diversity Differently in a Culturally Complex World: Critical Perspectives on Multicultural Education (Bloomsbury, 2021) with Greg Noble.
Greg Noble is Professor at the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University. Greg has been involved in research in multiculturalism and education for thirty years. His interests have centred around the relations between youth, ethnicity, gender and schooling, as well as aspects of curriculum and pedagogy in multicultural education. He also has broader research interests in issues of migration, ethnic communities and intercultural relations. He has published eleven books, including: Doing Diversity Differently in a Culturally Complex World (2021) and Disposed to Learn (2013), both with Megan Watkins, and Cultures of Schooling (1990).
Dr Lorri Beveridge, Michael Murray and Hannah Gillard explore the high gravitas and practicalities of raising awareness of intersex, sexuality and gender diverse people in the primary classroom through teaching LGBTIQ literature.1 Teaching students LGBTIQ texts can better address students’ academic and emotional needs…
SETTING THE SCENE
The scene is a Year 6 classroom. The lesson is a novella study of a text dealing with racism,
(Pascoe, 2016). Increasingly, deep and significant class discussions are sprouting and intertwining, making the text come alive, resulting in high student engagement, that oftentimes occurs when teachers draw on quality texts in the teaching of English. Defined by Ewing, Callow and Rushton (2016, p103), quality texts are those that engage students and teachers alike, are rich in language and imagery, multi-layered and evoke a range of different communities and responses. Conversations about quality texts allow children to dive into rabbit-holes, to engage in complex and nuanced conversations they might not be exposed to inside and/or outside school, yet are so crucially important to their young lives. These conversations help children to make sense of their world in an open way, as they explore issues dialogically through the eyes of characters in texts, fostering positive wellbeing, at a safe distance. Mrs Whitlam narrates the struggles of an adolescent girl, tussling against covert racism in her daily life. The teacher in the Year 6 classroom steers the class to strengthen meaning through the complex interplay of context, narrative and character. One eloquent class member contributes at length regarding a particularly relevant aspect of the text. To encourage continuation of the important conversation string, the teacher reflects to the class, “She said, …”.
The student promptly responds, “I am a boy”, in a matter-of-fact way. Surprisingly, there is no reaction from the class. The teacher apologises profusely and moves the lesson right along. The above narrative is a real-life example of a teacher feeling under-confident and underprepared to correctly address transgender and gender diverse students in the classroom. In this paper, we argue that teaching quality LGBTIQ literature can open up an exploratory and open space for students and teachers to learn about intersex identities, and sexuality and gender diversity. Teaching these modes of diversity through literature means intersex identities and gender and sexuality diversity can be explored in a way that involves all students (those within and outside LGBTIQ communities) so that LGBTIQ students don’t feel singled out and confronted in the classroom due to questions or speculations about their difference. Teaching LGBTIQ texts can help make school a safer environment for LGBTIQ students, as well as their friends and family more broadly.
Why primary schools should support LGBTIQ students and address intersex identities, and sexuality and gender diversity
It is a reasonable expectation that LGBTIQ positive content is provided to children so they feel supported, and also so they can envision sexuality and gender diversity, for instance, as positive potentialities for themselves.
A related reason to teach LGBTIQ literature is the confronting, unacceptable and possibly all-too-familiar narrative of a child being misgendered in a classroom, which is a timely reminder to educators to reflect on how we support transgender and gender diverse students and their families. We may not be providing these students with the attention they require, and deserve, to set them up for success at school. The idiomatic expression, “viva la difference”, attributed to the French resistance movement (Vernet, 1992), encourages us to celebrate difference and diversity. Yet academic research ubiquitously points the finger at insensitive education systems, including a lack of LGBTIQ support, failure to recognise transgender identity, bullying and victimisation. These are widely regarded as contributing factors to spiralling youth suicide rates (Gorse, 2020; Lee & Wong, 2020; Turban & Ehrensaft, 2017).
Paediatric gender diversity is a burgeoning area of research (Ehrensaft, 2020; Ristori & Steensma, 2017; Henderson, 2016). Young children who are transgender or gender diverse also suffer from anxiety, depression and suicidality. A recent Canadian parent-report study (MacMullin, 2020) found that 9.1% of 6-12 year olds who expressed gender non-conformity had attempted suicide or self-harm. What is particularly notable in Australia is the marked scarcity of data on suicide and mental health for young people who are Indigenous and LGBTIQ (Henningham, 2021 p14; Rhodes and Byrne, 2021 p34). Scholar Mandy Henningham says this requires further research to recognise the impact of factors like intergenerational trauma and institutionalised racism on health outcomes for LGBTIQ and Indigenous young people (Henningham, 2021 p14). In recognising the poorer health outcomes for many LGBTIQ young people (and the need for more research), we as educators can assist LGBTIQ children and their families by creating inclusive school communities underpinned by values such as respect, acceptance (as opposed to tolerance) and honesty.
In failing to address the learning and wellbeing needs of LGBTIQ students, we are espousing a particular, mostly unintended, point of view, relegating our LGBTIQ students to the null curriculum, often referred to as the hidden curriculum (Kazeemi et al, 2020; Banja, 2020; Eisner, 1994). Schools socialise students in ways that are viewed as educationally significant, including shared values, images and beliefs (Eisner, 1994). The null curriculum is that which is not taught at school, important due to its conspiracy of silence. Pedagogy around intersex people, and those who are gender and sexuality diverse may indeed be regarded as part of the null curriculum. LGBTIQ diversity may be an uncomfortable subject for many educators to address. The null curriculum implies that being heterosexual and ‘cisgender’ (a term meaning not transgender) is normal and being LGBTIQ is abnormal. Promoting awareness of sexuality and gender diversity reduces anti-LGBTIQ stereotypes, bullying and violence against LGBTIQ students.
Mel Smith (2020) argues that public schools are fundamentally, and necessarily, inclusive and have a particular responsibility to recognise and represent the diversity of their communities in the ways they plan and execute schooling. This responsibility does not begin in high school. According to Smith, ‘the need to also incorporate LGBTIQ inclusive topics in the curriculum in primary schools is highlighted by the fact that at least half same sex attracted young people realise their attraction while in primary school (Hiller et al., 2013), and that there are often rainbow families that are not recognised, or acknowledged, in the stories that are read or the content that is covered in class’.
Practical ways primary schools can support LGBTIQ students and address LGBTIQ diversity
It takes a village to raise a child, according to an African proverb. Similarly, it takes a whole community to support LGBTIQ students in schools. We can collectively create inclusive school communities by focusing on a number of key strategies:
Neither endorse nor empower heteronormativity2 or gender stereotyping3. Create spaces for discussion about being intersex, and gender and sexuality diverse. Encourage class conversations about LGBTIQ issues in ways that students can connect with, for example, relations with family. This can be achieved by making conscious decisions about what stories to read to children, setting up classrooms and school routines free of gender constraints, including enabling students to wear the school uniform they want. If teachers fail to discuss intersex identities, and sexuality and gender diversity, many students will go unsupported and find fitting in socially at school challenging. A culture of care and inclusion is necessary for successful school performance.
Explore LGBTIQ matters with young children in a safe, familiar space by reading books that reflect different family compositions, including LGBTIQ families, exploring classroom resources from a human rights perspective. In doing so, students learn that all families are special and to value diversity in our society. Students and their families have a right to see themselves reflected in books and other resources used in classrooms.
Ensure staff are well-informed and have access to, and opportunities to discuss, research-based articles about bullying, and LGBTIQ students. Professional learning provides teachers with methods to intervene and de-escalate threatening situations. Teachers need to know they will be supported because teaching content on intersex identities, and gender and sexuality diversity, is regarded as controversial by some sectors in society. That said, some students and families do not identify with the nuclear family and deserve to read about families similar to their own. Teachers need to know that they have the support of school leaders when intervening in challenging situations. Together, teachers and school leaders play an important role in challenging phobias against LGBTQ people and bullying in schools, providing support to our LGBTIQ students and their families.
Address issues of phobia against LGBTIQ students as a high priority. There is staff agreement that inappropriate language will not be tolerated, and staff will intervene to protect students from bullying and homophobia. Leadership attitudes are identified as the most influential factor in keeping LGBTIQ students safe at school. School leaders contribute to moral purpose in their schools and the wider community.
Seek feedback from openly LGBTIQ students as to whether they feel safe at school. Interview parents, counsellors, psychologists and students themselves as to how to support LGBTQ students and what assistance they require to succeed at school. (DeJean & Sapp, 2017; Dewitt, 2012).
In addition to the points raised above, we make two other important suggestions about how primary schools can be more LGBTIQ inclusive. Firstly, when developing curriculum for LGBTIQ topics and when teaching this content, teachers and education departments should be aware that there are often specialist groups and resources that should be consulted in relation to different parts of LGBTIQ communities. This is important given the distinctiveness of identities and issues faced in intersex, and gender and sexuality diverse communities. Finding out which groups and resources to consult can be facilitated by online searches, reading LGBTIQ media, attending LGBTIQ events as well as consulting with LGBTIQ groups and community members. The importance of consulting specific communities when teaching and developing curriculum is emphasised by intersex activists in the Darlington Statement- a document published by intersex activists in 2017. Here, they, ‘call on education and awareness providers to develop content with intersex-led organisations and promote delivery by intersex people’ (p8). Notably, Intersex Human Rights Australia (2021) and Intersex Peer Support Australia (n.d.) are both specialist intersex groups in the Australian context that provide things like resources, information and support regarding intersex identities. Teachers and education departments being consultative, and recognising the specificity of experiences in LGBTIQ communities, is a practical way they can make primary schools more LGBTIQ inclusive.
Secondly, to make primary schools more LGBTIQ friendly, primary educators should include content that recognises the way LGBTIQ identities intersect and overlap with multiple forms of minoritised difference – for instance, being a young person who is part of LGBTIQ and Indigenous communities in Australia (Rhodes and Bryne 2021, p30). Research by David Rhodes and Matt Byrne shows a lack of attention is paid to being LGBTIQ and Indigenous in the education of primary teachers and students in Australia. Given the specificity of being part of both LGBTIQ and Indigenous communities, and the importance of educating children about Indigenous histories and cultures, teaching children about the particularities of LGBTIQ and Indigenous experiences is crucial. Understandably, Rhodes and Byrne note this practice should be backed by the inclusion of non-tokenistic content covering the intersection of LGBTIQ and Indigenous experiences in the tertiary courses for primary teaching. In addition to this, they argue for, inter alia, the amendment of school and education department policies to speak to this intersection (Rhodes and Byrne 2021, pp37-38). One cost of not educating students about LGBTIQ and Indigenous identities is the potential siloing of minoritised difference, which can perpetuate the idea that being LGBTIQ and Indigenous, for instance, are mutually exclusive4. Writers who are part of LGBTIQ and Indigenous communities, like Maddee Clark and Mandy Henningham, have identified this stereotype as a serious issue (Clark 2014 quoted in Henningham 2019, pp101-102; Clark 2014 quoted in Henningham 2021, p12). For instance, drawing on the work of Maddee Clark, Henningham highlights the way Clark was questioned about the very existence of people who were both LGBTIQ and Indigenous (Clark 2014 quoted in Henningham 2021, p12). When teaching about LGBTIQ experiences at the primary level, education should be inclusive of the way gender and sexuality diversity, for instance, intersect with cultural and racial difference, to reflect the realities of young people’s lives.
Curriculum links
The NSW PDHPE curriculum (NESA, 2019) addresses LGBTIQ students indirectly. Outcome PDe-1 – 5-1 relates to characteristics that make us similar and different, and how we manage personal challenges as they arise. PDe-1 – 5-2 relates to feeling safe and strategies to support self and others. Following on from here, PDe-6 – 5-6 deals with the importance of context in health and wellbeing. Similarly, PDe-7 – 5-7 describes actions that promote health, safety and wellbeing. In these COVID times, there has been a particular focus on student wellbeing, which coheres with addressing gender diversity at school.
The NSW English curriculum (NESA, 2012, 2019) also provides space for teachers to address issues of gender diversity in the classroom. Objective D, in particular, states that students will develop knowledge, understanding and skills in order to ‘express themselves and their relationships with others and their world’. The outcome for Stage 1 (Years 1-2) that occupies Objective D, EN1-11D, requires that a student ‘responds to and composes a range of texts about familiar aspects of the world and their own experiences’, including of course the LGBTIQ student’s own experience of family. By Stage 2 (Years 3-4), the equivalent outcome, EN2-11D, extends this challenge to composing and responding to texts ‘that express viewpoints of the world similar to and different from their own’, indicating that by this stage students could be exposed, through texts, to experiences of gender that might be different to their own. For Stage 3 (Years 5-6), EN3-8D requires that a student considers how ‘different viewpoints of their world, including aspects of culture, are represented in texts’. Gender diversity, an essential aspect of culture, falls neatly into the gamut of ‘different viewpoints’, but this outcome is a reminder that in English it is not gender diversity itself which is the focus but rather how gender diversity is represented in texts. Concepts endorsed in the English conceptual framework (NSW DoE & ETA, 2017), co-developed by the English Teachers Association NSW and the NSW Department of Education that support a focus on gender diversity, include narrative, character, context, representation, perspective, and point of view. Clearly the study of English in primary school provides rich opportunities for students to learn about gender diversity in relation to themselves, each other, and the world at large.
Even the new skills-oriented K-2 English syllabus (NESA, 2021), recently released but not due for mandatory implementation until 2023, recognises the diversity of learners in the classroom and requires that students ‘identify aspects of their own world represented in texts’ (Early Stage 1) and ‘identify representations of groups and cultures in a range of texts’ (Stage 1). The rationale of the English K-2 syllabus (2021) states ‘students are to engage with Australian diversity by exploring a range of texts … and a range of linguistic, cultural and social perspectives’ (NESA, p9). By engaging with diverse literature, students feel empowered to express their identities, broadening their perspectives and world views.
Significantly, all curriculum documents in NSW schools (e.g. NESA, 2019) contain learning across the curriculum content, including cross-curriculum priorities, and general capabilities, areas that are embedded in all key learning areas, identified as essential learning for all students. Teaching students about LGBTIQ diversity in the primary classroom is supported, identified and incorporated by the following learning across the curriculum content. The icons below are visual symbols that identify the particular content embedded across the various syllabi:
Cross curriculum priority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures
General capabilities of critical and creative thinking, ethical understanding, intercultural understanding and personal and social capability
Additionally, other learning across the curriculum area of difference and diversity
The cross-curriculum priorities and capabilities, identified above, exemplify the high gravitas of learning about LGBTIQ diversity in primary classrooms. They are identified throughout our syllabus documents as important learning for all students.
Texts that address LGBTIQ diversity and ideas for their use in the primary classroom
Books hook us in, and it is our challenge as educators to ensure that “the right book falls into the right hands” (Old Souls Book Club, 2021). Age-appropriate books, that depict LGBTIQ characters and families woven into their storylines, expose students to the diversity of the real world. Similarly, texts that empower students to stand up for themselves and others help children to learn coping skills that assist them in dealing with situations of homophobia and bullying. Quality literature provides a safe space to expose students to LGBTIQ related topics, which some might regard as controversial, in thought-provoking ways. Schools can play an important role in countering anti-LGBTIQ sentiment and lead the way towards a better world for everyone.
Reading a great book and identifying with its characters is an enjoyable and powerful means of opening up conversational spaces with students. Many of the texts traditionally used in classrooms contain heterosexual and cisgender characters and images. LGBTIQ students do not see themselves or their families reflected in these texts. By drawing on texts that include LGBTIQ characters and non-traditional family structures, these students see mirrors of themselves. Characters are more relatable to them. Teachers are promoting self-acceptance in gender diverse students, and increased awareness in all students, curbing anti-LGBTIQ stereotypes and reducing bullying and violence against LGBTIQ students.
Appendix 1 below lists a wide range of texts for primary-aged children that address gender, sexuality and family diversity, including suggested links to the NSW curriculum, particularly English. It also provides an overview for teachers to assist them in selecting texts that address the wellbeing needs of students in their classrooms. These texts could form the basis of English units, focusing on concepts of narrative, character, context, theme and representation, perspective or point of view. Outcomes and content from other subjects, especially PDHPE, could be incorporated into these units. Note that while PDHPE curriculum fails to directly address issues related LGBTIQ experiences, there is enough scope in this syllabus to justify the inclusion of content that might promote learning for all students in relation to LGBTIQ diversity.
The books listed in Appendix 1 are but some of the vibrant LGBTIQ young people’s literature available, and we encourage teachers to be on the lookout for other age appropriate LGBTIQ texts they could teach. We encourage teachers to stay attuned for primary school texts that feature intersex identities, and that speak to the intersection between Indigenous and LGBTIQ experiences in Australia, so that students who occupy these identities can see themselves represented and feel included.
Lonesborough, G. (2021). The boy from the mish. A&U Children’s.
Whilst not a primary school text, we would like to highlight the recently released book The Boy from The Mish by Gary Lonesborough by Gary Lonesborough (2021) for exploring the intersection of Indigenous and LGBTIQ+ communities.
The book is a queer Indigenous novel for readers 14 and up about a 17-year-old exploring his identity in a rural community of Australia. Finding and teaching texts that speak to the diversity of LGBTIQ experiences is crucial so that students and teachers can appreciate the heterogeneity of LGBTIQ communities.
Conclusion
As can be seen through the narrative of the child being misgendered by a teacher at the beginning of this paper, it is crucial there is greater awareness and understanding of LGBTIQ issues within primary classrooms. Teaching students LGBTIQ literature, such as the texts that we have included in our appendix, in an accepting way creates an open, explorative space where children and teachers can be educated about intersex identities, and gender and sexuality diversity. As stated, we recommend teachers stay on the lookout for texts that address the multiplicity of LGBTIQ experiences – for instance, being Indigenous and sexuality and gender diverse. Teaching LGBTIQ texts is particularly important given the way LGBTIQ literature has been described as being part of the ‘null’ or ‘hidden’ curriculum’ in schools. The invisibility of the diversity of LGBTIQ experiences can perpetuate heteronormative biases in teaching, which can result in children being unaware that being a part of the LGBTIQ community is a positive potentiality for them – one life course amongst many that is legitimate and that they can be proud of. Providing students with the opportunity to explore LGBTIQ experiences in an open, explorative way through texts is a positive move in the direction towards promoting better health and wellbeing outcomes for LGBTIQ students and teachers.
While this paper explores the power of literature to educate about LGBTIQ experiences, it is one change amongst many that could occur to make primary schools more LGBTIQ inclusive. For instance, we have discussed the importance of consulting with intersex communities regarding the development of educational curriculum relevant to that community. Additionally, education scholars David Rhodes and Matt Byrne have highlighted an array of opportunities for improving the primary school experience for teachers and students who are part of both Indigenous and LGBTIQ communities (Rhodes and Byrne 2021). This includes embedding teaching about the intersection of these identities in the university education of primary school teachers, and the modification of school and education department policies to recognise the experiences of those who are LGBTIQ and Indigenous (Rhodes and Byrne 2021, p.38-39). Doing so would improve pedagogy and encourage the celebration of ‘diversity in all its forms’ (Rhodes and Byrne, 2021 p.38).
Endnotes
‘LGBTIQ+’ is an acronym that popularly stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and more (signified through the ‘+’). The ‘+’ is intended to be inclusive of gender and sexuality diverse identities not explicitly or fully represented by the letters ‘LGBTIQ’.
Heteronormativity refers to the belief that heterosexuality, along with other dominant identities like being cisgender, are the default, preferred, or normal modes of being
Gender stereotyping is the propensity to evaluate people on the basis of their perceived gender
Numerous writers have explored how sexuality and gender diversity is something that has existed in Indigenous cultures in Australia since before colonisation (for instance, see Moon 2020; Riggs & Toone, 2017 quoted in Henningham 2019, p.103). Texts such as Colouring the Rainbow: Blak Queer and Trans Perspectives. Life Stories and Essays by First Nations People of Australia (2015), edited by Dino Hodge, is an important anthology that explores contemporary Indigenous, queer and trans experiences.
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Texts
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Carr, J. & Rumback, B. (2015). Be Who You Are. Bloomington, Indiana: Authorhouse.
Suitable S1, S2. PDe-1 identify who they are PD1-1 describe characteristics that make us similar / different PD2-1 explore strategies to manage physical, social, and emotiona change English K-2 (2021): ENE, EN1-OCL-01; ENE, EN1-UARL-01
A child is born into the wrong body – one that doesn’t match the gender the child feels inside. Assigned male at birth, the child is described as having a “girl brain”. This book is designed to educate readers about gender diverse and transgender children.
Walton, J. & McPherson, D. (2016). Introducing Teddy: a gentle story about gender and friendship. London, UK: Bloomsbury.
Suitable ES1, S1. Useful text to discuss complex issues. The bear is the main character who is exploring gender identity in the text. Useful to act out and facilitate class discussion. English K-2 (2021):ENE, EN1-OLC-01; ENE, EN1-UARL-01
The main character is a teddy whose outside does not match what’s felt on the inside. A story about being true to self, friendship and acceptance. “Wear whatever makes you happy” is the main message of the text.
Gonzalas, M. (2014). Call Me Tree. Llamame arbol. San Francisco, CAL: Children’s Book Press.
Suitable ES1, S1. Multicultural text. English/Spanish vocabulary. Useful for teaching figurative language including metaphor, simile, personification. Also rhetorical questions. English K-2 (2021): ENE, EN1-CWT-01; ENE, EN1-UARL-01
The text figuratively describes a child growing from a seed, like a tree. “A seed, a tree, free to be me”. The inspiring text encourages readers to reach for their dreams and accept themselves for who they are.
Ewert, M. & Ray, R. (2008). 10,000 Dresses. NY: Seven Stories Press.
Suitable S1, S2; possibly S3. The changing use of personal pronouns when referring to transgender and gender diverse people. English K-2 (2021): ENE, EN1-CWT-01 English K-6 (2012): EN2-9B; EN3-6B.
Bailey is assigned male at birth but wishes to wear dresses-something others have told him boys can’t do. Bailey struggles when her family won’t accept her gender and dress preferences. She finally finds a friend who helps her feel confident in pursuing her dream to wear dresses and express her true identity.
Valentine, J. & Schmidt, L. (2004). The Daddy Machine. Boston, Mass: Alyson Wonderland Publishers.
Suitable S1, S2; possibly S3. A useful text to teach code and convention including punctuation, speech marks, sentence complexity. English K-2 (2021): ENE, EN1-CWT-01 English K-6 (2012): EN2-9B; EN3-6B.
Two siblings with two mums long for a father. They make a daddy machine out of junk materials and make many more daddies than they bargain for. How do they solve their problem? An extremely funny text.
Parr, T. (2010). The Family Book. NY: Hachette Book Group.
ES1, S1. Identifying words describing diverse families e.g. “Some families have two mums and two dads”. English K-2 (2021): ENE, EN1-VOCAB-01; ENE, EN1-OLC-01.
There are different kinds of families. Bright, fluoro colours characterise the illustrations in this simple text. The book has multiple layers of meaning. A lot of information is inferred in few words. It is a useful text to discuss family diversity with young children.
Arnold, E.K. & Davick, L. (2019). What Riley wore. NY: Beach Lane books.
ES1, S1. Vocabulary- building word banks from illustrations. Discussion questions: How is Riley different? How does this make others feel in the text? How does it make you feel? English K-2 (2021): ENE, EN1-VOCAB-01; ENE, EN1-OLC-01.
“Are you a boy or a girl?” the reader ponders throughout the text. Riley replies, “Today I’m a firefighter and a dancer and a monster hunter and a…”. Riley dresses according to how they are feeling, irrespective of gender expectations. The message of the text is, “We are all unique and important. It doesn’t matter whether we are a boy or a girl”. This text is a celebration of difference.
Gale, H. & Song, M. (2019). Ho’Onani Hula Warrior. NY: Tundra Books.
ES1, S1, S2. Multicultural text. Links to History syllabus: share heritage stories (ES1) investigate changes in family life (S1) identify traces of the past in the present (S2). English K-2 (2021): ENE, EN1-OLC-01; ENE, EN1-UARL-01; ENE, EN1-VOCAB-01. English K-6 (2012): EN2-9B; EN2-10C.
The protagonist doesn’t see herself as a boy or a girl, but occupies “a place in the middle”. She queries gender stereotypes and triumphs in a contemporary setting relevant to students today. The story is consistent with “Mahu” people in Hawaiian culture, who embrace both male and female traits. The theme of the text is “show respect for all people”.
Willhoite, M. (1991). Daddy’s Roommate. Boston, Mass: Alyson Wonderland Books.
ES1, S1. Large, colourful illustrations which lend themselves to teaching visual literacy. Discussion questions: What is happening in the pictures? What stands out? Why? -What feelings are portrayed in the illustrations? How do you know? English K-2 (2021): ENE, EN1-OLC-01; ENE, EN1-UARL-01.
A social story which opens a communicative space about divorce and a child’s growing understanding of homosexual love. “Being gay is one more form of love” and “Love is the best kind of happiness” are the main messages of the text.
Parr, T. (2010). The Daddy Book. NY: Hachette Book Group.
ES1, S1. Sentence building describing the diversity (and similarities) of fathers e.g. “My/ your daddy has…”. English K-2 (2021): ENE, EN1-OLC-01; ENE, EN1-UARL-01; ENE, EN1-CWT-01.
This book is about fathers who do different things with their children. Bright, fluoro colours in illustrations. Simple text. Multiple layers of meaning. A lot inferred in few words. The theme of the text is celebrating family diversity.
Richardson, J., Parnell, P. & Cole, H. (2005). And Tango Makes Three. NY: Simon & Schuster.
Suitable S1, S2. Discussion: Do the two daddy penguins act the same way as other penguin parents? How are they the same/ different? English K-2 (2021): ENE, EN1-VOCAB-01 ENE, EN1-SPELL-01 prefixes, suffixes compound words ENE, EN1-UARL-01.
This is a true story of two male chinstrap penguins who live at the Central Park Zoo, NY, and raise a penguin chick together. It raises questions about heterosexuality/homosexuality in the animal kingdom and how this might relate to humans. New vocabulary: carousel, cotton top tamarin, ice rink, red panda bear.
Newman, L. & Cornell, L. (2015). Heather Has Two Mummies. London: Walker Books.
Suitable ES1. Starting School English K-2 (2021): ENE, EN1-OLC-01; ENE, EN1-UARL-01; ENE, EN1-CWT-01. CAe3MVA makes artworks… to communicate ideas; CAe-4IVA explores how artworks and the artwork of others communicate ideas.
A useful discussion starter about starting school and learning about other peoples’ families. The setting of the text is a family consisting of two mums and a 5-year-old child who is starting school. At kindergarten, the children paint their families as an introduction to a lesson about family diversity. The main focus of the text is that each family is special, and the common link is that families love each other.
Savage, S. & Fisher, F. (2017). Are You a Boy or a Girl? London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Suitable S1, S2. English K-2 (2021): EN1-OLC-01; EN1-UARL-01; EN1-CWT-01. Use background knowledge of a topic to make inferences about the ideas in a text. Identify text connectives, cohesive links in text. English K-6 (2012): EN2-11D. Responds to/ composes texts expressing views similar to/ different from own.
A child called Tiny likes to dress up and does not conform to gender norms. Children at their new school keep asking them whether they are a boy or a girl. Tiny avoids the question, as they do not identify as either a boy or a girl. A useful text to introduce the topic of gender diversity with young children. Discussion: Why does it matter if Tiny is a boy or a girl? Why do you think Buster tries to bully Tiny? How do you know this?
Donaldson, J. & Scheffler, A. (2004). The Gruffalo’s Child. London: Macmillan.
Suitable ES1, S1. English K-2 (2021): EN1-OLC-01; EN1-UARL-01; EN1-CWT-01.ENE, EN1-PHOKW-01;ENE, EN-REFLU-01. ENE, EN1-RECOM-01. Identifying rhyme, rhythm in text. Word families, vowel digraphs. Punctuation including question marks, exclamation marks, quotation marks, direct speech. Opportunities to make meaning through drama. Creating story map to sequence activities in text. Building noun groups, verb groups. Narrative structure is also something to discuss.
Donaldson’s widely popular, ubiquitous texts contain witty, rhythmic verses, instantly familiar to children and parents alike. The setting of The Gruffalo’s Child, a sequel to the award-winning text, The Gruffalo (1999, 2019) is a single parent Gruffalo family in the deep, dark wood. It is unclear whether the child is male or female, and the author embellishes on this in Miller (2020). Key discussion questions: Who looks after the Gruffalo’s child? Did you wonder about the gender of the Gruffalo’s child? If so, why? If not, why not? Do you think the child’s gender matters?
Hegarty, P. & Wheatcroft, R. (2017). We are Family. London: Caterpillar Books.
Suitable S1, S2 English K-2 (2021): EN1-OLC-01; EN1-UARL-01; EN1-CWT-01; EN1-PRINT-01. Visual literacy – following story maps in text. Recording student responses and captioning illustrations in text. Identifying contractions, rhyme, figurative language, nouns, verb groups.
A simple text that elaborates on the diversity of families. The book celebrates family similarities and differences. The story in this text is descriptive, presented in rhyming couplets, with no clear storyline. However, the illustrations are multifarious and lend themselves well to modelled, guided and independent writing activities (EN1-7B, EN2-7B).
Green, B. & Zobel, A. (2020). Who’s Your Real Mum? Brunswick, Vic: Scribble.
Suitable ES1, S1. English K-2 (2021): ENE,1-OLC-01; ENE,1-UARL-01; ENE,1-CWT-01; ENE,1-PRINT-01. Modelled, guided and independent writing activity. Students write a text in Q&A format.
An imaginative text. Elvie has two mums. Both mums are equally important to Elvie. She compares her mums to superheroes. Her friend asks, “Who is your real mum?” The text is in a Q&A format. She tries to make her friend understand that both mums are equally important to her. Beautiful illustrations make effective use of colour – yellows/browns for reality, blues for imagination.
Bell, D. & Colpoys, A. (2017). Under the Love Umbrella. London: Scribble.
Suitable ES1, S1. English K-2 (2021): ENE,1-OLC-01; ENE,1-UARL-01; ENE,1-RECOM-01. Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning. Discussion: What does “Under the Love Umbrella” mean? Who do you love? Why?
A text of rhyming couplets which describes a parent’s over-arching love for their child. Familiar situations of sorrow, fear and danger are outlined, including being scared of the dark, bad dreams, frightening dogs, broken toys, arguments with friends, feeling shy, and having no friends. The text is a segue into class discussions about significant people in children’s families and how they help them… Who do you love? Why?
Beer, S. (2018). LOVE makes a family. Richmond, Victoria: Little Hare Books.
Suitable ES1, S1. English K-2 (2021) ENE,1-UARL-01; ENE,1-CWT-01; ENE,1-PRINT-01. Code and convention focus.: Understands how sentence punctuation is used to enhance meaning and fluency. Focus on figurative language e.g. “lending a hand”.
A colourful text about family diversity. There are few words in this book. The words describe happy family situations to unpack and discuss with the class. The illustrations depict the diversity of families. Discuss, “What is happening in the pictures?”
Keegan, L.J. & Stapleton, M. (2019). Things in the Sea are touching me! Gosford, NSW: Scholastic.
Suitable ES1, S1. English K-2 (2021) ENE,1-OLC-01; ENE,1-UARL-01; ENE,1-RECOM-01; ENE,1-CWT-01 Understands how text structure contributes to the meaning of texts, text organisation, narrative structure. Make a story map to visually represent the story. Sentence complexity. Phonics.ENE,1-PHOKW-01 e.g. see, me.
A child with two mums participates in a family outing to the beach. The child is scared of the water and her two mums comfort her and explain each of the sources of her fear. A story told with humour and warmth through a child’s eyes.
Shirvington, J. & Robertson, C. (2020). Just the Way We Are. Sydney, NSW: ABC Books. HarperCollins.
Targets ES1, S1. English K-2 (2021): ENE,1-OLC-01; ENE,1-UARL-01; EN1-REFLU-01. Draw on an increasing range of skills to read, view and comprehend a range of texts on increasingly challenging topics.
The text deals with family diversity, racial diversity and inclusion. The main characters are children from different racial backgrounds who describe their families from their particular points of view. This text is useful for students to see children like themselves in quality children’s literature, in an engaging narrative format. It describes the inclusive, collaborative lived experience of children growing up in diverse families, through children’s eyes.
Wild, M. & Rossell, J. (2020). Pink. Sydney, NSW: HarperCollins.
Targets ES1. Publisher recommendation is for 2-5 years. English K-2 (2021): ENE,1-OLC-01; ENE,1-UARL-01; ENE,1-RECOM-01.ENE,1-CWT-01 Recognises linking words in texts, responds to shared reading for enjoyment and pleasure. Compose texts using pictures and graphics to support their choice of words. Make connections between text and own life, retells story in sequence, identify main idea. Explore how words and pictures work together to make meaning.
The main message of this text is one of self-acceptance. The main character, Pink, is born into a family of green dinosaurs. She struggles to fit in, but her difference finally saves her and her friends. This text is the second collaboration between literary heavyweights Wild and Rossell. The first, Bog Trotter (2015), encourages children to challenge themselves to try new things. The colours in Pink comprise vibrant pinks and greens. The textures and luminosity of the illustrations make the characters come alive. This text lends itself to class discussions about how we are the same, yet different, and how difference should be viewed as a strength.
Stuart, S. (2020). My Shadow is Pink. Dandenong, Victoria: Larrikin House.
ES1, S1. That said, I have discussed the important themes of equality, self- acceptance, diversity and gender identity in this text with adults- so possibly suitable for all ages. English K-2 (2021): ENE,1-OLC-01; ENE,1-UARL-01; ENE,1-RECOM-01. Discuss how that students may have different responses to a text, explore the different contribution of words and images to meaning in stories. Share feelings and thoughts about the events and characters in text.
This text is a rhyming narrative. It is about a boy who likes to dress in female clothing yet feels ashamed when his peers at school laugh at him. The author, Scott Stuart reported on his website that he wrote the story for his young son, who, on beginning school, was bullied for dressing up like Elsa, from the movie, Frozen. Through this text, Stuart aims to raise awareness of gender identity and diversity, in doing so broadening society’s narrow view of masculinity. He aims to affirm to his child, and all children; “You are loved. Exactly as you are”.
Walliams, D. & Blake, Q. (2008, 2018). The Boy in the Dress. London: HarperCollins.
This text suitable S3. EN3-2A: Engage personally with texts, experiment and use aspects of composing that enhance learning and enjoyment, present a point of view about particular literary texts using appropriate metalanguage and reflecting on the viewpoints of others. EN3-3A Understand, interpret and experiment with literary devices; summarise a text and evaluate the intended message or theme.
A children’s book written by David Walliams, a comedian well-known for the television series, Little Britain (his first), and illustrated by Quentin Blake, well known illustrator of the Roald Dahl books. The text uses humour to explore children wearing clothes not normatively associated with their cisgender, their assigned gender at birth. Dennis, a 12 year old boy, enjoys football and fashion. His parents are divorced, and he lives with his father and brother, who do not tolerate or understand Dennis’s need to dress up in girls’ clothing. He is an ordinary boy, who lives in an ordinary town, with an unusual hobby. A humorous narrative which elicits interesting class discussions about the serious topic of gender stereotyping with pre and adolescent students.
Texts that address gender and family diversity in the classroom.
DeJean, W., & Sapp, J. (2017). Dear gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender teachers: Letters of advice to help you find your way. Information Age Publishing.
DeWitt, P. (2012). Dignity for all: Safeguarding LGBT students. Corwin Author and Consultant.
Ehrensaft, D. (2020). Treatment Paradigms for Prepubertal Children. In: Forcier, M., Van Schalkwyk, G., Turban, J. (eds) Paediatric Gender Identity. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38909-3_13
Eisner, E. W. (1994). The educational imagination: On the design and evaluation of school programs (3rd ed.). Macmillan.
Ewing, R., Callow, J., & Rushton, K. (2016). Language and Literacy Development in Early Childhood. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316442791
Gorse, M. (2020). Risk and protective factors to LGBTQ+ youth suicide: A review of the literature. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal: C & A, 39(1), 17–28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-020-00710-3
Henderson, B. (2016). Building fires: Taking a critical stance on how we view gender in early childhood education through teacher research. In Voices of Practitioners; Washington volume (Vol. 11, Issue 1, pp. 25–29).https://issuu.com/naeyc/docs/vop_for_web_fall_2016/32
Henningham, M. (2019). Still here, still queer, still invisible. In T. Jones (Ed.), Bent Street 3: Australian LGBTIQA+ Arts, Writing and Ideas 2019 (pp. 98–105). Clouds of Magellan.
Henningham, Mandy. (2021). Blak, bi+ and borderlands: An autoethnography on multiplicities of Indigenous queer identities using borderland theory. Social Inclusion, 9(2), 7–17. https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v9i2.3821
Kazemi, S., Ashraf, H., Motallebzadeh, K., & Zeraatpishe, M. (2020). Development and validation of a null curriculum questionnaire focusing on 21st century skills using the Rasch model. Cogent Education, 7(1), 1736849. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186x.2020.1736849
Lee, C. S., & Wong, Y. J. (2020). Racial/ethnic and gender differences in the antecedents of youth suicide. Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology, 26(4), 532–543. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000326
Lonesborough, G. (2021). The boy from the mish. A&U Children’s.
MacMullin, L. N., Aitken, M., Nabbijohn, A. N., & VanderLaan, D. P. (2020). Self-harm and suicidality in gender-nonconforming children: A Canadian community-based parent-report study. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 7(1), 76–90. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000353
NSW Department of Education & English Teachers’ Association NSW. (2016). English textual concepts and learning processes. English Textual Concepts. http://www.englishtextualconcepts.nsw.edu.au/
Rhodes, D., & Byrne, M. (2021). Embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQ+ issues in primary Initial Teacher Education programs. Social Inclusion, 9(2), 30–41. https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v9i2.3822
Ristori, J., & Steensma, T. D. (2016). Gender dysphoria in childhood. International Review of Psychiatry (Abingdon, England), 28(1), 13–20. https://doi.org/10.3109/09540261.2015.1115754
Turban, J. L., & Ehrensaft, D. (2017). Research Review: Gender identity in youth: treatment paradigms and controversies. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 59(12), 1228–1243. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12833
Dr Lorraine (Lorri) Beveridge is a sessional academic and independent consultant. She has published articles on aspects of teaching subject English in primary schools. Her doctoral research area is the impact and sustainability of collaborative teacher professional learning.
Michael Murray
Michael Murray is a former English teacher, head teacher and chief education officer, and working as an independent consultant in English and literacy K-12.
Lorri and Michael share a website that provides resources for teachers in subject English: https://primaryenglish.education/. Their shared passion is teaching the big ideas of English through the vehicle of quality texts.
Hannah Gillard
Hannah Gillard is a non-binary academic in the final stages of their PhD at the University of Sydney. Hannah’s doctoral research area is LGBTQ+ diversity in the workplace.
Abby Saleh explains why accreditation at Highly Accomplished or Lead Teacher (HALT) level is something that expert teachers consider and gives some practical advice to those teachers who are seeking such accreditation.
‘I do not need a fancy bit of paper to tell me that I’m a great teacher’, is the rhetoric used by those who are disgruntled by the rigour and complexity of the higher levels accreditation process in NSW. The fact is, in essence, that’s completely true.
Great teachers are very easily identifiable: for their passion and skill exudes. Indeed, there are vast numbers of highly expert practitioners throughout the NSW education system who do not need, nor require, the official recognition of achieving the Highly Accomplished or Lead Teacher (HALT) accreditation status to maximise their impact. Their reputations precede them. Based on my personal experience, however, the recognition of the HALT accreditation status does further empower some to reap greater benefits for their students and colleagues. It has been my experience that the process of achieving HALT accreditation, and the benefits associated with it, far outweigh the perceived burdens of the process, and overwhelmingly helps schools, teachers and students. The process and benefits further empower teachers to continue to lead and build the capacity and efficacy of colleagues within their schools, networks, and the system in general. After all, is it not the moral purpose of teachers to impact positively on the lives of as many students as possible?
HALT accreditation is all about recognising and esteeming exceptional teachers. It is a cross-sectoral, consistent, valid and reliable appraisal of teacher expertise which is strengthened by the use of external assessors and moderation by NESA. HALT accreditation aims to ensure that there are structures in place for teachers who excel, to be identified, without needing to leave the classroom, and be renumerated for their expertise. It creates a career pathway in which teachers can reach the heights of the profession without necessarily seeking promotion. It validates teacher practice, consequently increasing self-efficacy and confidence. It raises the status of teachers. It positions teachers as lead learners – those who demonstrate that learning is never finished and is an ongoing process of discovery, evaluation and reflection and those who produce the right environment for others to grow and learn. This is evidenced by the Gonski report Through Growth to Achievement (2018) which found that “Certification of Highly Accomplished and Lead levels of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers recognises and promotes the development of collaborative learning professionals who strive to continually reflect upon and improve their practice and that of their colleagues. Such acknowledgement can play a key role in keeping excellent teachers working with students and helping to improve colleagues’ pedagogical practices”.
As an accredited HALT, I have observed and experienced first-hand how the process (and subsequent certification) empowers teachers to maximise learning outcomes for students in their immediate classroom. This is because it facilitates engagement in a personalised, self-paced and authentic process to deeply reflect on, and refine, practice. It also expands a teacher’s sphere of influence, so that the beneficiaries of their expertise extend across grades, schools and even into the wider education community. As teachers, there is no greater feeling than knowing that one’s hard work is having a positive impact on students’ learning and wellbeing outcomes beyond their immediate classroom.
The HALT accreditation process is often regarded as a powerful means of professional development (few accredited HALTs would disagree). Engaging in the process plunges one into a deep cycle of authentic self-reflection upon one’s practice against the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) in an effort to evidence and align one’s practice to either the Highly Accomplished or Lead Teacher stage of the APST. In doing so, candidates are also well positioned to identify areas to refine, which is why the APST make an excellent reflection tool. For instance, when collecting evidence for accreditation, a candidate may notice that they are unable to illustrate a particular standard descriptor. Accordingly, the candidate may take deliberate actions to ensure that that missing aspect is evident in their practice.
HALT accreditation is all about practice and impact. Engaging in the process refines teachers’ capacity to measure their impact. John Hattie’s Visible Learning Mindframes (2014) posits that effective teachers regularly evaluate their impact on student learning and view the extent of that impact as reflective of the power of their teaching. They see assessment as informing impact and next steps.
Once a teacher’s practice has been recognised (a recognition which is portable across sectors and states) their confidence and credibility is raised. They become sort after by their colleagues, and the wider education community, because there is little doubt about their professionalism and expertise. They are afforded opportunities to represent the profession on a multitude of platforms (as I have been fortunate to have experienced). Accreditation is not about the accolades; it is about the satisfaction that one feels when one’s work and expertise are validated and acknowledged. Accreditation expands teachers’ spheres of influence.
Thus, in order to maintain a high standard of candidature it stands to reason that the process must be rigorous, multifaceted and complex.
So how does one know if one is HALT material? The answer lies in the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST or the Standards). If ‘language’ is a system of communication used by a particular country or community, then the APST is the language of teachers, for they articulate the behaviours and practice that teachers need to demonstrate across the four distinct teaching career stages (Graduate, Proficient, Highly Accomplished and Lead). They act as a guide to illustrate how teacher expertise is developed. They provide a common vernacular to better understand, and share, what makes an excellent teacher and leader. The Standards are the vehicle which ensures consistent, fair and accountable performance and accreditation processes for all teachers, no matter which stage of their career they are in. But, most importantly, the APST direct and steer the direction of teacher and educational leader professional growth and development.
It is very important to distinguish between an expert teacher (one whose practice aligns with the higher levels of the APST – HALTs) and an experienced teacher. The most important difference is impact! Expert teachers impact student learning and well-being outcomes, this is not always the case for experienced teachers. Expert teachers present content in more engaging ways applying evidence-based strategies and sharing these with colleagues. They maintain high expectations of themselves and of their students. They view student growth as a reflection of their teaching. Expert teachers are lifelong learners. They recognise that teaching is not a constrained skill. They not only model and lead best practice, but also regularly refine their own practice. They create engaging and inspiring learning environments for their students and colleagues. Overall, it is important to note that teachers may be ‘expert’ without being highly experienced, but experience does not always equate to expertise.
So, what exactly is required to become a certified Highly Accomplished or Lead Teacher? Firstly, it is important to note that HALT accreditation is a voluntary process and that it is not a promotion. It is a recognition of expertise for those who seek it. In NSW, the process requires candidates to submit a series of current documentary evidence which demonstrates their practice and impact in each of the thirty-seven standard descriptors at the chosen career stage of the APST. Candidates must also identify referees to attest to their claims and be observed by colleagues and school leaders, as well as an external assessor assigned by NESA. Those seeking Lead level accreditation must also design and deliver a six month ‘Lead Project’ which is aligned to school priorities. It should also be noted that there is no hierarchy in the Higher levels of Accreditation. Both the Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher levels are considered ‘Higher Levels’. The difference lies in the sphere of influence that a teacher’s practice exhibits.
Clearly, the accreditation process is thorough and multifaceted. Aspiring HALTs will encounter enablers and barriers in pursuing higher levels accreditation. The first, and most important, enabler is commitment to the process. Once a candidate starts to truly understand the benefits of accreditation and decides to pursue it, they need to commit whole heartedly to it. Setting time bound goals and milestones and celebrating small steps and achievements is an effective strategy.
Another enabler is the principal/director and/or leadership team. It would be ideal to have the support of school leaders, at least their emotional support. They can play a pivotal role in ‘clearing the path’ and reducing the impact of potential barriers. Having an accreditation mentor, or critical friend, would greatly boost chances of success. Buddying up with another person pursuing accreditation would be of immense benefit. It would be highly beneficial for candidates to attach themselves to an accreditation network (there are many around now) and to reach out to personnel (such as Department of Education [DoE] Teacher Quality Advisors or NESA teacher accreditation officers) to answer questions (and there will be many) or provide feedback/ feedforward.
One must maintain a positive mindset and remember that the submission is a persuasive piece which leaves no doubt about one’s practice at one’s chosen career stage. Candidates must regularly seek opportunities to demonstrate their skills, not just because they are pursuing accreditation, but because that is what leaders do.
Naturally, just as there are enablers to pursuing and achieving HALT accreditation, there are also potential barriers or challenges.
The most pertinent is time! Teaching is already a time-consuming career which absorbs unnatural percentages of the day. HALT accreditation requires candidates to gather, collate and annotate evidence of practice as part of a submission. This is obviously added work that teachers must complete and, in a time-poor profession such as teaching, this is indeed a barrier. In saying that, teachers working at the HALT level should find it relatively easy to gather evidence, as the standards and their descriptors should be reflected in their day-to-day practice. It then becomes just a matter of organising and annotating the evidence and complying with other aspects of the accreditation process (such as observations and referees).
Just as principals/ school leaders can be enablers, they may also be blockers, potentially unsupportive of a candidate’s aspirations due to their limited knowledge of the process or professional conflict.
Another barrier is poor knowledge of the process and what constitutes expertise. Aspiring HALTs may find it difficult to gather evidence which is linked to specific subject areas (such as the various literacy/numeracy standard descriptors). And the barrier which can be the most crippling – self-doubt!
MY TOP 10 ENABLING TIPS INCLUDE
Be immersed in the Standards. Candidates need to be very intimately familiar with each of the standard descriptors. Unpack the verbs and enact them. Use their language.
Become familiar with the accreditation policies and procedures (NESA and DoE).
Seek a buddy or support person. They will act as a critical friend, giving advice and feedback (especially if they have been accredited at the higher levels themselves). They may also support in reading and editing annotations.
Talk to colleagues about the accreditation journey, it need not, and should not, be a secret, as they will be attesting to your expertise.
Set time limits, goals and milestones.
Don’t be shy to ask questions.
Back up work. Use a cloud-based storage to ensure work is not lost and kept safe.
Use tracking and monitoring tools and documents to ensure all standard descriptors are covered and the various requirements have been met.
Regularly refer to the Evidence Guides and other support materials. And finally…
Reflect, reflect, and reflect even more!
Clearly, HALT accreditation has great benefits for teachers and the whole school community. Only time will reveal the reasons (if any) why passionate, inspired, expert teachers should not seek higher levels accreditation.
Open All
Department of Education and Training. (2018). Through growth to achievement: Report of the review to achieve educational excellence in Australian schools. Commonwealth of Australia 2018.
Hattie, J. (2011). Visible learning for teachers: Maximizing impact on learning. Routledge.
Hattie, J., & Zierer, K. (2018). 10 mindframes for visible learning: Teaching for success. Routledge.
Abby Saleh is a NESA Accredited Highly Accomplished Teacher currently working as Deputy Principal Instructional Leader at Fairfield Public School. As a former refugee and proud product of public education, Abby has over 20 years’ experience working with low socio-economic communities and is passionate about building teacher capacity to support CALD students and their families. Her mantra is “Never Stop Learning”. To learn more about the process of accreditation at the higher levels, see Abby Saleh’s article in this edition of the Journal of Professional Learning.
Lila Mularczyk, Melinda Haskett, Emma Mansfield, Maurie Mulheron, Belinda Giudice, Abby Saleh and Karen Graham share their insights into how schools can draw on the expertise of their HALTs, along with creating connections to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, to build the capacity of their teachers and to create a standard -based teaching and learning culture. . .
Teaching is an ever-evolving profession. The skill of teaching will never be a constrained skill. This is why it is pertinent for school leaders to continuously build teacher capacity when driving improvement.
“To be a world-leading education system, Australia needs to better encourage, support, and recognise teaching expertise. Growing the pool of expert teachers in Australia is critical to creating an education system that strives to support every student’s individual learning growth through tailored teaching practices.”
(Hattie 2009. Gonski 2.0 Through Growth to Achievement, March 2018)
“High performing countries deliberately organise the sharing of expertise within and across schools so that the system becomes even more effective”. Empowered Educators, How High Performing Systems Shape Teaching Quality Around the World
(Linda Darling Hammond et al March 2017).
Leaders and teachers need to understand the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST or Standards) (NESA, 2018) in action, acknowledge the industrial frame and support and embed practice that enables the demonstration of impacting teaching practice collaboratively, within and across classrooms, school, and system.
“In recent years, Australian teachers have become increasingly concerned that the status of the profession is under constant challenge. Of course, these concerns are shared with teachers elsewhere. While teachers themselves have strong and resilient beliefs in the complexity and importance of the work they do, there are others, generally external to the profession and in positions of influence, with a deficit view.
In the absence of objective benchmarks that reflect authentic professional practice, solutions have been offered in many jurisdictions that are antagonistic towards teachers as well as being unsuccessful. These include performance pay schemes, the employment of people without teaching qualifications, the spread of the Teach for America franchise, and punitive accountability regimes that are, more often than not, based on testing data…
…But the first question that needed to be answered was: what makes teaching a profession? The answer to that question needed to reflect the authentic practice of teachers and those understandings shared across the profession. In short, a common language needed to be created that could articulate the complexities of the daily practices of a qualified, competent teacher, from those beginning their career through to those that hold educational leadership positions in schools.”
(Alegounarias, & Mulheron 2018)
THE AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS: BENEFITS OF ACCREDITATION AT THE TEACHER, SCHOOL, AND SYSTEM LEVEL
The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) clearly describe the practices of teachers at the varying levels of expertise, from Graduate to Proficient and onto the higher levels of Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher levels. Expert teachers in the Australian context, are those teachers demonstrating practices as described in the higher levels of the APSTs.
The standards define what effective teaching looks like, how it displays in the classroom, and how it improves student learning. The standards give the teaching profession a shared language about teaching practice – what we know as teachers, what we do, what we believe in and what we value about teaching.
They are also a framework and common language to communicate with others – school leaders, teacher educators, professional associations, parents/ carers, and the public – they are a public statement attesting to the professionalism of teachers.
Considering that ‘language’ is a system of communication it is appropriate to view the standards as being the language of teachers. The standards:
Provide a common understanding and language about best- practice teaching
Describe expertise level and provide a continuum of capabilities
Articulate the skills needed by teachers to teach and lead effectively
Guide the direction of your professional growth.
The Standards are excellent tool for teacher reflection (one of the most critical traits of an effective teacher). The lexical patterns within the Standards clearly demonstrate the gradual development of teacher expertise. Verbs such as ‘support’ and ‘lead’ colleagues appear regularly at the higher levels. Whereas verbs such as ‘demonstrate’ are almost exclusive to the graduate level. This focus on the main verbs of each of the standard descriptors assists teachers in engaging in deep reflection upon their practice and also supports school leaders in identifying and supporting aspiring leaders and potential HALTs.
At the individual level, the Standards enable us, as teachers, to plan, practise, reflect on, and refine our teaching practice.
We use them to monitor our ongoing growth and development as professionals, and the associated classroom practice, capabilities, and expertise.
When teachers become accredited, or certified, the benefits extend beyond the achievement of that certification.
The greatest impact on school communities happens when school leaders work effectively with Highly Accomplished and Lead Teachers (HALTs) and support them to share their expertise.
Accreditation lifts the professional status of teachers. The higher level of accreditation offers a pathway for excellent teachers to grow in their self-efficacy and in their careers.
Findings from the HALT Census and further research demonstrate that higher teacher accreditation can enrich the quality of teaching by recognising expert teachers and increasing their confidence AND allowing teachers to understand the impact of their instructional practices on learners and colleagues
By offering flexible pathways for professional development that encourage HALTs to lead from within the classroom AND creating a high-quality professional learning experience that is rigorous, self-reflective, sustained and job-embedded, accreditation acknowledges expert teachers within the wider community AND provides opportunities for teachers to network and collaborate with other expert practitioners.
In addition to benefiting the teachers themselves, having a certified HALT in a school contributes to an increased culture of learning amongst staff and enables quality teaching to impact across the school and all learners.
When a teacher reflects against the Standards and completes certification, they are validating their skills and capabilities as a teacher who positively impacts their students’ learning and their colleagues’ practice.
When HALTs collaborate with others, mentor, and coach colleagues they are lifting teaching quality across the school, network, and system.
The outcome is that all teachers are engaged in cycles of high-quality professional learning and growth for the benefit of students and their school.
HALT certification can play a key role in raising the professional status of teaching, particularly in the eyes of the community.
“National Teacher certification provides an opportunity for school leaders to develop staff and improve student outcomes through a process that is largely externally managed, and teacher led. Certified teachers are esteemed to become the next instructional leaders. By mentoring and empowering colleagues, they are well placed to improve outcomes for all.”
(AISTIL 2018)
EXPERT (HALT) TEACHERS
Are leaders, contributors and advocates for high quality teaching and learning
Contribute to an increasing professional status of the teaching profession
Have an opportunity to impact learning for students, of HALTs and their colleagues
Build opportunities for networking, sharing expertise and leading others
Facilitate leadership related to classroom practice
Facilitate leadership career pathways for colleagues
Refocus and identify teaching and learning as an acknowledged and valued priority
Contribute to the critical mass of teaching and learning leaders and to quality on-going professional learning (AITSL 2021)
Improve student outcomes.
Remember it is not a position, it is a portable recognition of expertise.
DEVELOPING TEACHING CAPACITY THROUGH THE AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS
Teachers demonstrate their professional practice at varying levels. These demonstrable behaviours are articulated within the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (NESA, 2018) as well Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leaders Classroom Practice Continuum (AITSL 2018).
Standard Descriptor 6.1.4 of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers states that teachers working at the lead levels of accreditation ‘use comprehensive knowledge of the Australian professional Standards for Teachers to plan and lead the development of professional learning policies and programs that address the professional learning needs of colleagues and pre-service teachers’ (NESA,2018)
Standard Descriptor 6.1.1 (APST, 2018) states that teachers working at the graduate level of accreditation ‘demonstrate an understanding of the role of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers in identifying professional learning needs.’
This same descriptor lies in the focus area of “Identify and plan professional learning” which identifies the continuum in which teachers operate and the need to differentiate the learning opportunities for our teachers.
The APSTs provide a map of a teacher’s career paths from initial teacher training, induction, and early experience through to the heights of the profession. It is important to note that the number of years of teaching does not necessarily equate to expertise in teaching. AITSL’s classroom continuum (AITSL, 2018) identifies what an expert teacher looks like in the classroom. Expert teachers in the Australian Context are those teachers demonstrating practice as described in the higher levels of accreditation within the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST, 2018). Utilising both the APST and AITSL Classroom Continuum, teachers and school leaders are able to identify their current level of expertise in the classroom as well as plan for further professional learning opportunities in continuing to develop their teaching expertise.
LEADING CHANGE THROUGH EMBEDDING APSTS AND CREATING A STANDARDS-BASED CULTURE
One of the most frequent questions that is asked about accreditation at the higher levels is how the process can be embedded within the everyday practices of a school and is not seen to be extra work for our teachers (Cole, 2022). We know that there are many teachers across the state who are consistently demonstrating the Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher standards of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APSTs) (AITSL, 2011) as part of their everyday practices. While teachers and leaders are interested in undertaking, or supporting the process, they are mindful of engaging in a process which will increase their workload (Audit Office of NSW ,2019).
To counter this, and to support teachers to gain accreditation at higher levels as part of their existing roles, school leaders can work collaboratively to develop a culture where staff are able to gather evidence and demonstrate their practice, related to the Standards, through existing initiatives, milestones and programs running throughout the school (NESA, 2018). Key practical ideas to do this can include:
Aligning the school’s Strategic Improvement Plan with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (AITSL, 2011).
Embedding relevant professional learning into everyday practices
Providing differentiated professional learning opportunities for all teachers regardless of their career stages
Creating an evidence-based school culture
This not only provides individuals with the opportunity to gather evidence as part of their existing workload but also ensures that there are greater opportunities for collaboration and sharing of expertise.
Many schools have put in structures that both support teachers aiming for accreditation at higher levels and build capacity for all teachers. As one example, Macarthur Girls High School has embedded the structure (outlined above) and, in doing so, has supported teachers to achieve, as part of their everyday role, Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher Accreditation.
UNDERSTANDING THE SCHOOL LEADERS’ ROLE IN CERTIFICATION PROCESS
Pre-assessment: recognise expert teachers in schools and encourage them to consider certification.
Stage 1: applicant to complete their portfolio of evidence and provide a referee representative.
Stage 2: be involved in a professional discussion with the external assessor during the site visit.
LEVERAGE THE EXPERTISE OF HALTS IN SCHOOL
School leaders can:
Create roles through formal and informal modes – HALTs can support beginning and pre-service teachers to use the Standards and reflect on their practice
Allocate time and resources – this can enable nationally certified teachers to lead projects, (for example on developing instructional leadership capacity in others) and present back to staff
Initiate inter-school collaboration: by establishing links with other schools, nationally certified teachers can grow networks and clusters to drive improved student outcomes. This could have a focus on a particular subject or effective pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning.
CASE STUDY
This case study is applicable to primary and high school contexts and aims to develop a mind-set shift in school improvement.
Prairiewood High School highlights collaborative processes that align faculty and whole school portfolios, structures, and organisation with the APST in order to achieve capacity growth and to enrich programs, leadership and school leadership capacity and succession planning.
CONTEXT/SITUATION
This case study highlights the significant changes at Prairiewood High School from 2018 after a complete change over in substantive senior executive staff. A new Principal was appointed mid-2018, and from October 2018 to present, four substantive Deputy Principals’ have been appointed (one Above Centrally Identified Position – ACIP). There has been a negotiated restructure in terms of school operations and portfolios at the senior executive level. The school now has two HT Teaching and Learning, and the school has appointed new Head Teacher positions (Administration, Mathematics, PDHPE and TAS).
This case study highlights the approach the school is currently undergoing in terms of empowering School Leaders and Teachers to drive practice and capacity.
THE PROCESS
Step 1 Gathering information
Collect information on the existing systems and processes that drive school improvement at your school? What currently occurring is aligned to the Standards? (Suggestion that it informs Situational Analysis planning for the SIP)
Step 2 Gaining feedback on the information gathered & communicate your vision
We established we needed:
Clarity around roles and responsibilities
Clearer vision of purpose – a movement from compliance to school improvement
A deliberate focus on embedding the Standards (Principal, APTS) and integrating the School Excellence Framework into practice
Capacity building and succession planning focus
A planned and coordinated approach to leadership and school operations
As a result, we gained feedback through asking the following questions:
What role statements need to be developed?
Name at least two school processes or structures that are working well. What makes them effective processes?
Name two, or more, aspects of school operations needing clarification, fine-tuning or enhancement.
What whole school teams should we have?
Are there any short -term project teams we could run?
What would you like to go and see in action in other schools?
School leadership teams will need to create an approach based on the information gathered and the problem(s) identified.
Step 3 Agreed upon catalyst of change
In leading this process, the senior executive’s aim was to collaborate with the executive to re-align roles and responsibilities to the Australian Professional Standard for Teachers. The NSW Department of Education (DoE) School Excellence Framework (SEF) (2017) has also underpinned this process. This has set the framework to empower school leaders and teachers to drive practice and capacity.
Step 4 Setting the scene
The Executive mapped the leadership portfolios that relate to the APST, and role descriptors have been developed that reflect the cohesion of portfolios between curriculum and non-curriculum Head Teachers. This showed how we all work effectively in a school
Step 5 Effective organisational practices supporting TAL (joining the dots)
Once we collaborated on this process, we found some disconnect between the roles of the Senior Executive and Executive and other school operations and structures. We then identified the specific structures, systems and processes that were going to drive continuous improvement in our context.
Questions that support this process included:
What are the key staffing positions that support Teaching and Learning (TAL) at your school?
What teams need to exist to support school organisation to impact on TAL?
What is the purpose/vision of the various teams? How effectively do you use the SEF and APST to embed a culture of continuous improvement?
Is there alignment of school policies and procedures?
This has enabled a strategic, deep, and purposeful alignment of systems and practices that ensure teaching and learning remain our core (and valued) priority.
Getting the best from your teachers: A principals’ guide to national teacher certification
Certification documentary evidence supplement: Lead Teachers
Teacher Self-Assessment Tool (useful as an indicator of readiness for HALT)
My Induction app (to use with beginning teachers)
NESA Website
Centre for Professional Learning course: Enabling School Leaders is currently a one-day program, with additional 5 morning sessions delving deeply into aspects of the process and work. There is opportunity for participants to nominate content. Each session builds on previous deliveries, and each operate as a stand-alone participatory presentation. Expert educators inform all sessions, underpinned by policy and practicality. Topics are tailored for School Leaders, aspiring HALT’s, for colleagues considering HALT and for aspirant leaders. Evaluations have been exceptional. The program(s) will be scheduled again in 2022. Please look on the NSW Teachers’ Federation Centre of Professional Learning (CPL) website for dates and other programs.
Cole, J. (2022, January 25). Why the push for tremendous teachers ground to a HALT. Australian Association for Research in Education. https://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?p=11794
Darling-Hammond, L., Burns, D., Campbell, C., Lin Goodwin, A., Hammerness, K., Low, E. L., McIntyre, A., Sato, M., & Zeichner, K. (2017). Empowered educators: How high-performing systems shape teaching quality around the world. Jossey-Bass.
Department of Education and Training. (2018). Through growth to achievement: Report of the review to achieve educational excellence in Australian schools. Commonwealth of Australia 2018.
Lila Mularczyk’s commitment to education was recognised by being honoured with the Order of Australia Medal (OAM). Lila has been contributing to public education for 40 years. She currently is undertaking a portfolio of work including leading or participating on multiple National and State Education Boards and Reference Groups and projects (including, PEF, ACE, UTS, UNSW, NSWTF and CPL.) tertiary professional experience officer, coach and mentor, UNSW Gonski Institute, State and Vice Chair ACE, supporting HALT’s, tertiary lecturer, work in and for schools, research, contract work, critical friend, innovation projects etc.
Prior, Lila was the Director, Secondary Education, at the Department of Education. Immediately prior to this, Lila was President of the NSW Secondary Principals’ Council (SPC) from 2012 to 2016. As President and as a school Principal, Lila represented Public Education around Australia, and frequently globally, at conferences over many years. Lila was Principal at Merrylands High School for 15 years until 2016.
Maurie Mulheron
Maurie Mulheron was President of the NSW Teachers Federation (NSWTF) from 2012 after 34 years as a public-school teacher and principal. He held that position until January 2020 leading the union’s many campaigns. Maurie represented the NSWTF on the Federal Executive of the Australian Education Union (AEU) for twenty years. From 2015-2020, he was Deputy Federal President of the AEU. Maurie was active in Education International’s Global Response Network which coordinated international opposition to the growing commercialisation and privatisation of education. Maurie is currently the Director of the Centre for Public Education Research (CPER).
Melinda Haskett
Melinda Haskett is a national certified Highly Accomplished teacher and has taught in Southwest Sydney high schools for almost 15 years. For the past 5 years she has been working at the system level for the NSW Department of Education providing strategic advice and executive support on a range of reforms and initiatives. Melinda is currently working with the Department’s COVID Taskforce.
Melinda is a strong advocate for national certification, is a founding member of the AITSL HALT Steering Committee and in 2018 led the first ever HALT Forum for certified Department teachers in NSW. She is a member of the NESA, Moderation and Consistency Committee and contributes to a range of reports, panels and professional learning events around the role of certification in building the status of the teaching profession.
Emma Mansfield
Emma Mansfield is Deputy Principal at Macarthur Girls High School and relieved as Principal for a substantial amount of time. She is currently working as Leader, School Excellence in the NSW Department of Education. Throughout her career, Emma has worked in a range of different teaching and leadership roles both within schools and across the national and state education systems. Since gaining Lead accreditation in 2017, Emma has been a passionate advocate for the certification process. She has extensive experience in supporting teachers to undertake the process of accreditation and in promoting how school leaders can use this process to improve teacher quality and enhance school improvement. She has been heavily involved in a range of system wide initiatives as well as formal and informal mentoring programs at a school, network and system level. Emma regularly contributes to the wider dialogue surrounding accreditation at numerous events including the International Forum for Teacher Regulatory Authorities, and ACEL National Conference.
Belinda Giudice
Belinda Giudice displays a deep commitment to public education. She began her career at Merrylands High School and was Co-Principal there from 2012-2015. She has been the Principal of Canterbury Boys High School and is the current Principal of Prairiewood High School. Belinda has presented at state and national levels in the areas of: Quality Teaching, Leadership, and Student Wellbeing. Belinda displays a passion not to accept the status quo and to make structural improvements that lead to real and required change. She has received numerous education awards including: an NSW Australian College of Educational Leadership Award, an NSW Quality Teaching Award, a Public Education Foundation Secretary’s Award for Excellent Service, a New South Wales Secondary Deputy Principals Association (NSWSDPA) Fellowship and is a NSWSDPA Life Member. Belinda is a visionary leader who is passionate about contributing to the education community.
Karen Graham
Karen Graham has been teaching and leading in south west Sydney for the past 19 years. For the past 3 years, she has been a relieving Deputy Principal and Instructional Leader at Blairmount Public School. Karen was accredited as a Highly Accomplished Teacher in 2017 and believes that accreditation at Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher is a great way to recognise and promote the expertise of our teaching profession.
Abby Saleh
Abby Saleh is a NESA Accredited Highly Accomplished Teacher currently working as Deputy Principal Instructional Leader at Fairfield Public School. As a former refugee and proud product of public education, Abby has over 20 years’ experience working with low socio-economic communities and is passionate about building teacher capacity to support CALD students and their families. Her mantra is “Never Stop Learning”. To learn more about the process of accreditation at the higher levels, see Abby Saleh’s article in this edition of the Journal of Professional Learning.
Margaret Vos introduces the new Stage 6 History syllabuses which are implemented for Year 11 in 2018… The new NSW Stage 6 History Syllabuses were endorsed in 2016. 2017 is a planning year with implementation for Year 11 in 2018 and Year 12 in 2019. These syllabuses aim to provide students with opportunities to further develop high order, core historical skills, knowledge and understanding which will assist them in the next stage of their lives.Whilst the syllabuses include some content, including skills and concepts, aligned with the Australian Curriculum they retain a uniquely NSW structure and useful parallels with the previous Stage 6 History syllabuses in terms of structure and content.Due to the online nature of the syllabus documents, teachers are encouraged to download and review each section, including the aim and rationale before moving to the course content.Initial information regarding assessment has been published by the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA). The most significant change is the approach to the formal school-based assessment program for Year 11 and Year 12. Examination specifications are expected to be available in Term 3, 2017.Similarities between the Ancient History Stage 6 and the Modern History Stage 6 SyllabusesIntegrated historical skills and conceptsThis new approach enables teachers to plan for deeper analysis of the topics.The outcomesTeachers should carefully consider the outcomes in both Ancient History and Modern History. They are now organised into two categories: Knowledge and Understanding, and Skills. There are specific objectives attached to each category.Duplication and overlapThe important limitation to a teacher’s choice is the restriction that existed in the previous syllabus regarding topic choice in Year 11; Case studies must not overlap with or duplicate significantly any topic attempted in the Year 12 Ancient History, Modern History or History Extension courses. Structural organisationThere is some structural similarity between the Year 11 Courses in both Ancient History and Modern History which may be helpful.This also makes it easier for students to recognise that the two courses are similar in structure and in the amount of work involved. Teachers who transition from the teaching of Modern History to Ancient History (or vice versa) will find some commonality in the Year 11 Courses.Indicative hours in Year 11The breakdown of the 120 indicative hours into hours for each topic is also now identical in the two courses. Previously only the Modern History Year 11 Course had specified indicative hours for the Preliminary Course.Flexibility for teachers in the Year 11 coursesThe content of each case study and option is further developed within both syllabuses. This includes a list of possible examples that could be used to illustrate aspects of the content. The list of examples and content is not proscriptive. Teachers may develop their own examples and make choices about the sequence and emphasis of their teaching of the content. The Historical InvestigationThis important part of the previous syllabus has been retained in the Year 11 Course in both Ancient History and Modern History. This topic is also a crucial background and skill development for students who wish to go on to History Extension. The investigation provides all students with choice and opportunity to carry out the work as historians in areas of their own interest (either as an individual researcher or as part of a group investigation). It allows teachers to give their students a real choice about the topics they wish to study.Ancient HistoryThe Year 11 courseThe major changes in the new Ancient History Stage 6 Syllabus occur in Year 11. The breakdown of the specified indicative hours for each topic is below:Ancient HistoryYear 11 Course120 Indicative HoursIndicativeHoursInvestigating Ancient HistoryThe Nature of Ancient HistoryCase StudiesEach case study should be a minimum of 10 indicative hours.60Features of Ancient Societies40Historical Investigation20Investigating Ancient HistoryThis is the major section of the Year 11 Course (50% of the indicative hours).The Nature of Ancient HistoryWhat has changed?There are now six distinct areas and students must investigate at least ONE of the following options:The Investigation of Ancient Sites and SourcesHistorical Authentication and ReliabilityThe Representation of the Ancient PastPreservation, Conservation and/or Reconstruction of Ancient SitesCultural Heritage and The Role of MuseumsThe Treatment and Display of Human RemainsHow can this section be taught?A teacher can approach this section in various ways:Teach one of the options;Teach more than one option;Create an integrated study incorporating elements of two or more of the six areas.Case StudiesWhat has changed?TWO Case studies must now be completed – ONE from List A (Egypt, Greece, Rome, Celtic Europe) and ONE from List B (the Near East, Asia, the Americas, Australia).The two case studies do not need to be of equal length. The only requirement is that “Each case study should be a minimum of 10 indicative hours.” Old Kingdom Egypt is now a Case Study option as it is no longer in the Year 12 Course. Similarly, Mycenae is one of the possible topics as it too no longer exists in the Year 12 Course. Ancient China in the Qin and Han Dynasties may no longer be taught in the Year 11 Course as this topic is now in the Year 12 Course. Some exciting new topics are included below:Ancient AustraliaThe Shang DynastyTeotihuacanPalmyra and the Silk RoadFeatures of Ancient SocietiesWhat is the structure?This section is a new way of approaching the study of Ancient Societies. A list of both Ancient Societies and Key Features is provided. Students study at least TWO ancient societies through an investigation of EITHER a different key feature for each society OR one key feature across the societies selected. How can this section be taught?The emphasis is on the interpretation of historical sources. The structure of this section allows for flexibility in a teacher’s choice of topics which could allow for a study of the interaction of TWO distinct societies. Another approach could involve ONE study of two or more societies.Students investigate a key feature of the society or societies chosen. A list of possible studies is provided but is not proscriptive. The addition of India and China may encourage a more thorough focus on Asian history.School-based assessment requirementsTeachers should refer to the NESA Assessment and Reporting in Ancient History Stage 6 document http://syllabus.bostes.nsw.edu.au/assets/global/files/assessment-and-reporting-in-ancient-history-stage-6.pdf . Teachers are encouraged to refer to the relevant NESA documents for updates. Some features for the new syllabus include:The Year 11 formal school-based assessment program is to reflect the following requirements:three assessment tasksthe minimum weighting for an individual task is 20%the maximum weighting for an individual task is 40%one task may be a formal written examinationone task must be an Historical Investigation with a weighting of 20–30%.The Year 12 courseThe structure – What is the same? What is different?The structure of each of the four topics is slightly different. Each topic has two sections – Survey (a maximum of 3 hours) and Focus of Study (a minimum of 27 hours). It is important to note that there is still a requirement that students study from at least TWO geographical areas. The list has been expanded to include China. The indicative hours are listed below:Ancient HitoryYear 12 course120 Indicative HoursIndicativeHoursCore Study – Cities of Vesuvius – Pompeii and Herculaneum30Ancient Societies30Personalities in their Times30Historical Periods30The Core Study – Cities of Vesuvius – Pompeii and HerculaneumContent – what is the same and what is different?The Core’s Content Focus (which replaces the Principal Focus of the previous syllabus) has been expanded to include a statement that: “Students will develop and apply their knowledge and skills to understand and use different types of sources and relevant issues”.This is significant as this further clarifies the historiographical aspect of the core.There are three new terms specified to clarify the focus of the content relating to local political life (decuriones, magistrates, Comitium).Ancient SocietiesAlthough rearranged, the content for each Ancient Society will be familiar to teachers who have taught the previous syllabus and teachers will be able to use their resources to teach this topic. One new topic has been included: Society in China during the Han Dynasty 206 BC – AD 220.Personalities in their TimesWithin this section a new sub-topic exists – a close analysis of a source or type of source. This includes a study of the value of the source as well as an evaluation of the source in the context of other available sources (including the problems of evidence). This explicit addition is important. For, although teachers would have used sources when previously doing this topic, it is a reminder that there is an important historiographical aspect of this topic. One new topic has been included: China – Qin Shihuangdi.Historical PeriodThe new Survey looks at the chronological and geographical context as well as the key powers in the region and the nature of contact with other societies. This is to be completed in a maximum of 3 hours. One new option is included: Imperial China – the Qin and Han 247 – 87 BC. This was previously in Ancient Societies in the old Preliminary Course. School-based assessment requirementsTeachers should refer to the NESA Assessment and Reporting in Ancient History Stage 6 document for updates. The Year 12 formal school-based assessment program includes:a maximum of four assessment tasksthe minimum weighting for an individual task is 10%the maximum weighting for an individual task is 40%one task may be a formal written examination with a maximum weighting of 30%one task must be an Historical Analysis with a weighting of 20–30%.Information about the Historical Analysis in Ancient HistoryThe Historical Analysis provides students with the opportunity to focus on an historical question, issue or controversy of interest, and to develop a reasoned argument, supported by evidence. It may occur in or across any of the topics selected for study.The Historical Analysis may be presented in written, oral or multimodal form, and must:be completed individuallybe a maximum of 1200 words, 6 minutes duration or equivalent in multimodal formaddress relevant syllabus outcomesrelate to a topic or topics studied in the Ancient History Stage 6 Syllabus.Modern HistoryThe Year 11 courseThere are substantial changes to this course. The indicative hours are listed below:Modern HistoryYear 11 Course120 Indicative HoursIndicativeHoursInvestigating Modern HistoryThe Nature of Modern HistoryCase StudiesEach case study should be a minimum of 10 indicative hours.60Historical Investigation20The Shaping of the Modern World40Investigating Modern HistoryHow is this new section structured?Investigating Modern History is the major part of the Year 11 Course (50% of the indicative hours). This has been designed as an introduction to Modern History and its skills, historical concepts, relevant methods and issues. The topic has two distinct sections.The Nature of Modern HistoryWhat is its content?There are five distinct areas listed and students must investigate at least ONE of the following:1. The investigation of historic sites and sources2. The contestability of the past3. The construction of modern histories4. History and memory5. The representation and commemoration of the pastHow can this section be taught?A teacher can approach this section in various ways:Teach one of the options;Teach more than one option;Create an integrated study incorporating elements of two or more of the five areas.Case StudiesWhat has changed?Teachers can create their own case studies; old favourite topics can still be taught (except for those topics that now are part of the Year 12 Course). Some of the previous case studies are now part of the Year 12 Course. If these topics are not attempted in the Year 12 course teachers have the flexibility to develop their own case studies, including:The Civil Rights Movement in the USA in the 1950s and 1960s;Aung San Suu Kyi and the pro-democracy movement in Burma;The Chinese Government and Tiananmen Square.New Case StudiesThe new case studies are listed in the table below. There is a requirement that “each case study should be a minimum of 10 indicative hours.” They do not need to be of equal length. Teachers will continue to teach a case study from List A and List B. Some new and modified case studies include:The American Civil WarThis topic will be familiar to those teachers who have been teaching Modern History for a long time.Making Change: Day of Mourning to MaboWomen’s MovementsA much more comprehensive and interesting topic than the previous Emmeline Pankhurst and the Suffragette Movement.The Rise of the Environment MovementThe Changing Nature of Anglo – Irish RelationsThis topic was moved from the old Year 12 course.The British In India and BurmaIncludes aspects of The Indian Mutiny 1857 (from previous syllabus).The Making of Modern South Africa 1890 – 1910This topic will serve as background to Apartheid in South Africa 1960 -1994 (an option in the new Year 12 topic – Change in The Modern World).How can this section be programmed?TWO case studies.ONE case study and ONE of the teacher’s own.TWO case studies of the teacher’s own.Where teachers develop their own case studies they need to use the framework provided in the syllabus.The Shaping of the Modern WorldThe purpose of this section is for students to examine a key historical development through the study of different types of sources. Students can develop an understanding of modernity.This topic provides for the study of topics from the late 17th Century and the 18th Century.What is the structure of this topic?Students study at least ONE of the following key historical periods:World War I (which retains some elements of the former Year 12 Core from the previous syllabus as well as new elements)The EnlightenmentThe French RevolutionThe Age of ImperialismThe Industrial AgeThe End of EmpireHow can this section be taught?For this section, there are 40 indicative hours. A substantial part of the Year 11 Course should be spent on this topic. Teachers can, therefore, develop detailed and innovative studies. Only ONE topic is required to be taught. However, it is possible to create an option that integrates aspects of more than one of the topics listed. For example, an option could be developed that looked at the forces that existed in the late 17th Century and the 18th Century (such as industrialisation, imperialism, revolution and the Enlightenment) and trace the legacy of, and impact of, these forces on the modern world.School-based assessment requirementsTeachers should refer to the NESA Assessment and Reporting in Modern History Stage 6 document and other relevant NESA documents for updates http://syllabus.bostes.nsw.edu.au/assets/global/files/assessment-and-reporting-in-modern-history-stage-6.pdf . Some features for the new syllabus include:The Year 11 formal school-based assessment program is to reflect the following requirements:three assessment tasksthe minimum weighting for an individual task is 20%the maximum weighting for an individual task is 40%one task may be a formal written examinationone task must be an Historical Investigation with a weighting of 20–30%.The Year 12 courseThere is a new requirement that at least ONE non-European / Western topic is studied in the Year 12 Modern History Course. These non-European / Western topics are clearly listed in the syllabus. As seen from the Course Structure and Requirements below, there are substantial changes to the Year 12 Course.Modern HistoryYear 12 Course120 Indicative HoursIndicative HoursCore Study – Power and Authority in the ModernWorld 1919-194630National Studies30Peace and Conflict30Change in the Modern World30 Core Study – Power and Authority in the Modern World 1919–1946The new Core provides a broader international focus within which Germany is situated and this may provide contextual background for subsequent topics such as Conflict in the Pacific and The Changing World Order.What are the challenges?This Core study will be new for some who have not previously taught Germany. The fact that Germany was always such a popular choice, however, means that there is a huge range of existing resources.What is the content?The Core Focus states that “students will develop and apply their knowledge and skills to understand and use different types of sources and relevant historiographical issues.” Thus, the historiographical nature of this core is emphasised.SurveyThis gives an overview of the peace treaties which ended World War One and is a maximum of 3 hours, 10% of the indicative hours for the Core.Focus of study includes three sections:The rise of dictatorships after World War IThe concept of and the nature of power and authority in the period of 1919–1946 is examined, including a study of the rise of fascist, totalitarian and militarist movements after World War I. This investigation into the growth in dictatorships in Europe (with the central focus on the events in Germany) in the period between the World Wars considers why such regimes became popular.The Nazi regime to 1939The nature of Nazi ideology and the role of individuals in the Nazi state are studied. The consequences of the emergence of totalitarianism and militarism within Germany as well as opposition to the regime are also investigated.The search for peace and security in the worldThe Core concludes with a look at the international consequences. An overview of the ambitions of Germany and Japan are studied as is the role of the League of Nations and the United Nations.National StudiesWhat is changed?It is essential that teachers check to see if the dates for their chosen National Study have changed. China, Japan, Russia and the Soviet Union and the USA are completely unchanged. One new topic exists: Iran 1945–1989. This includes a Survey (maximum of 3 indicative hours) of Iran from 1945 to 1953 and a Focus of Study (including The Rule of the Shah; The Revolution and Iran under Khomeini).Three of the countries to be studied are the same but require a study of a different chronological period. These include India 1942–1984, Indonesia 1945–2005 and Australia 1918–1949.Peace and ConflictConflict in the Gulf 1980–2011 is an exciting new study.Change in the Modern WorldThis is a new topic in the Year 12 Modern History course. Students are to investigate key features in the history of ONE of six topics. Some new case studies draw upon some content from previous Preliminary course studies, including:New OptionsThe Nuclear Age 1945–2011The Changing World Order 1945–2011From Previous SyllabusApartheid in South Africa 1960–1994 (previous National Study)Civil Rights in the USA 1945–1968 (previous Preliminary course)Pro-democracy movement in Burma 1945–2010 (previous Preliminary course)The Cultural Revolution to Tiananmen Square 1966–1989 (previous Preliminary course)School-based assessment requirementsTeachers should refer to the NESA Assessment and Reporting in Modern History Stage 6 document for updates. The Year 12 formal school-based assessment program includes:a maximum of four assessment tasksthe minimum weighting for an individual task is 10%the maximum weighting for an individual task is 40%one task may be a formal written examination with a maximum weighting of 30%one task must be an Historical Analysis with a weighting of 20–30%.Information about the Historical Analysis in Modern HistoryThe Historical Analysis provides students with the opportunity to focus on an historical question, issue or controversy of interest, and to develop a reasoned argument, supported by evidence. It may occur in or across any of the topics selected for study.The Historical Analysis may be presented in written, oral or multimodal form, and must:be completed individuallybe a maximum of 1200 words, 6 minutes duration or equivalent in multimodal formaddress relevant syllabus outcomesrelate to a topic or topics studied in the Modern History Stage 6 Syllabus.History ExtensionThe course outlineThere has been a reduction in indicative hours for the History Project (from 24 to 20) and a subsequent increase in the hours (a minimum of 40) for the topic Constructing History. History ExtensionYear 12 Course60 HoursIndicativeHoursConstructing HistoryKey QuestionsCase Studies40(minimum)History Project20(maximum)Constructing HistoryThis is the largest topic with two distinct parts: the Key Questions and the Case Studies.Key QuestionsThere are now four Key Questions:Who are historians? This question still allows for a study of those historians who have created history over time. The deletion of ‘the’ from the previous question (Who are the historians?) considerably widens the possibility for debate about who should be considered as an historianWhat are the purposes of history? ‘The aims’ has been removed from this question.How has history been constructed, recorded and presented over time? An additional word ‘presented’ has been added to this question.Why have approaches to history changed over time?What is different?The other previous question “What are the historical debates in the case study?” is to “be integrated within each case study”.“The Readings” – reference to ‘The Readings’ has been removed from the new syllabus. However, where appropriate, extracts from this document can still be used as a resource. If used judiciously, and not studied in its entirety, selected readings may be of value.Case StudiesWhat has changed about the content?There is a reduction in the content to better reflect the requirements of 1 unit subjects. The areas of historiographical debate in every case study have been reduced from five to three. A summary of key topic changes is listed below:AncientNewAthenian DemocracyCollapse of the Western Roman EmpireModifiedThe Origins of Christianity retains substantial elements of the previous case study – The Historicity of Jesus Christ.Cleopatra VII (Formerly a topic in the Ancient History course)Medieval and Early ModernNew1. Witch Hunt and Witch TrialsModernModifiedNapoleonWestern Imperialism in the 19th CenturyAppeasementJohn Fitzgerald KennedyA British Prime Minister: Winston Churchill OR Margaret ThatcherAsiaNewGenghis KhanThe Opium WarsPartition of India; although new to History Extension, it was one key feature of the previous Modern History National Study – India: 1919-1947. It will also complement the new National Study – India: 1942–1984 in the Year 12 Modern History course.AustraliaNewRepresentations of ANZACAn Australian Prime Minister: Robert Menzies OR Gough WhitlamModifiedThe Frontier in Australia is a previous Case StudyThe Arrival of the British in Australia. Although the content is very much the same there has been a change in terminology. The use of the term ‘frontier’ instead of ‘the arrival of the British’ allows for a broader study of the Aboriginal response to British intrusion in Australia.History ProjectThe essay length is the same and must not exceed 2500 words. The bibliography is still required and an evaluation of three sources. This must not exceed 600 words in total. The Project is still to be marked internally and it is recommended to arrange for some collaborative/team marking of this Project (either amongst History teachers in one school or across schools).What has changed?There have been some slight but significant changes to Part II Documenting the ProjectProposalAn extra dot point has been added to the instructions. It explicitly mentions that a proposal should include a focus question.SynopsisNo longer required.Process LogThe content of this section has been expanded to include:Explanation of the topic choice – this reflects the intention of the former synopsis;Draft responses – this will ensure that the work follows the principle of good scholarship (including the lack of plagiarism);Teacher Feedback – so teachers can continue to monitor the Project and give genuine feedback at various stages in the process. This can be achieved by viewing and commenting on the drafts as well as checking the use of sources.CertificationThere is not further information available at present. The syllabus refers to the HSC All My Own Work Program.School-based assessment requirementsTeachers should refer to the NESA Assessment and Reporting in History Extension Stage 6 document for updates http://syllabus.bostes.nsw.edu.au/assets/global/files/assessment-and-reporting-in-history-extension-stage-6.pdf .The Year 12 formal school-based assessment program includes:three assessment tasksone task may be a formal written examination with a weighting of 30%one task must be the History Project – Historical Process (proposal, process log, annotated sources) with a weighting of 30%one task must be the History Project – Essay with a weighting of 40%.There are now two Life Skills coursesThere is now an authentic, stand-alone course for both Ancient History and Modern History Life Skills students. In the old HSIE Life Skills Syllabus, the study of Ancient History and Modern History were together with other subjects. For each subject, students will study the same topics as their peers.In implementing each of the new syllabuses for Stage 6 History, the importance of collaboration of History teachers between schools and within faculties will be essential. Professional learning opportunities such as those conducted by the Centre for Professional Learning will also be useful in supporting these processes. For more information visit: http://cpl.asn.au/Margaret Vos has 36 years’ experience as a high school History teacher in NSW Public Schools. In that time, she has regularly taught Ancient History, Modern History and History Extension. Margaret co – wrote Ancient Quest (a junior History textbook) and has been involved in the professional development of teachers (including helping teachers introduce History Extension as a subject in their schools). Margaret has also contributed to curriculum development processes throughout her career.
Dr Kate Winchester is a facilitator and lecturer who is passionate about student engagement, inspiring social justice, creativity and authentic learning. Kate began working in schools as an Arts facilitator in disadvantaged schools in the United Kingdom. This experience motivated her to pursue a career as a teacher and she returned to Australia to undertake a Master of Teaching degree at Western Sydney University. Having been particularly inspired by the work of the Fair Go Program in her studies, Kate worked as a teacher in a variety of Primary schools that serve lower socio-economic communities in both Western Sydney and in the UK, and she continued to explore the key ideas from the Fair Go Program and how arts pedagogy could deeply engage students in these social contexts. Her PhD research, completed at Western Sydney University, examined how the synchronous interplay of the themes of creativity, arts practice, student engagement and big ideas in learning could enhance the social and academic outcomes of all learners, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. This article talks about important ideas from that research.
The quote in the title of this article is from a student participating in the ‘Gallery’ pedagogical model. The words carry the important message that the Gallery had become a classroom space where the students saw themselves as valued members of an engaged learning team. The statement highlights a changing mindset in the students’ own perception of themselves as learners and a growing understanding that they themselves had powerful and valuable learning to communicate to their school and to their local community.
The ‘Gallery’ was designed to facilitate rich opportunities for students in low SES communities to experience arts-based creative teaching and learning experiences, and to dive deeply into learning about ‘big ideas’ in the curriculum. The Fair Go Program’s Student Engagement Framework (the MeE Framework) was a strong and crucial aspect of the Gallery design and subsequent research that took place in low SES primary school contexts in Western Sydney. This article provides an overview of the Gallery model in operation, and offers ‘food for thought’ about how the Gallery might open up classroom spaces for sustained and meaningful learning.
What is the Gallery?
The Gallery model is conceptualised as a ‘gallery’, evincing the language and physical domain of the arts world as a way of encouraging the students to think differently about their learning, and so to act differently within the more dynamic spaces that were opened up to them. Thought about in this way, both the gallery as a public space and the classroom as a learning space value the exhibition and expression of art in all its forms. Both are spaces that invite the interaction of the participants. Both have the potential to generate emotion and empathic understanding, and both value the idea that art has the power to reflect important local and global issues.
The Gallery learning experiences were designed to work towards the creation of an ‘Exhibition’. The classroom exhibition was likened to that of a public showing in an art gallery, and this was seen as an opportunity for students to share with their local community the deep and purposeful learning that had been occurring throughout the Gallery experiences. The Exhibition was thus not perceived to be a disconnected, one-off artistic showcase, but rather a purposeful exhibition of student learning. An important feature of the Exhibition was that it was to be designed and built by the students themselves, and so promoted a rich expression of artistic learning, rather than a fanciful artistic ‘show’. It was intended to accentuate the participants’ feeling of ownership as part of the student engagement concept of the ‘insider classroom’ (Fair Go Team, 2006). For this reason, it was seen less as a ‘product’ of learning and more as an invitation to the audience into the ‘process’ of the Gallery learning
The Gallery Themes
The Gallery is informed by the four research themes: student engagement, arts pedagogy, creativity and ‘big ideas’. The interaction and intersection of these key themes shape the theoretical and pedagogical framing of the Gallery model.
Student engagement
The Fair Go Program’s (FGP) student engagement model (Munns et al., 2013) was deployed as a way of understanding the interactive and reciprocal dynamics of classrooms. The FGP model emphasises engaging and meaningful learning experiences, rather than focusing on the control of student behaviour. The FGP concept of ‘in- task’ behaviour (substantive engagement: strong psychological investment) was firmly at the heart of the arts practices developed for this research, and so two important aspects of the FGP frame were implemented. The first was the design of pedagogical experiences that were high cognitive (intellectually challenging – ‘thinking hard’), high affective (enjoyable – ‘feeling good’) and high operative (‘assisting students to become better learners’). The second was the promotion of processes aimed at the FGP idea of the ‘insider classroom’ – a student community of reflection and self-assessment, and teaching as conversation with feedback focused on self-directed learning.
Arts pedagogy
At an intellectual level, the model was informed by Eisner’s (2002) view that human understanding can be represented beyond literal language and quantification (p. 204), and that an aesthetic response might help with enhanced learning insights. Since the students in the research were reluctant (indeed, often opposed) to becoming involved with intellectually challenging work, the research wanted also to contest the common perception that the arts in educational settings are ‘affective rather than cognitive, easy not tough, soft not hard, simple not complex’ (Eisner, 2002, p. 35). So, artistic expression was favoured in this study as a viable format for the expression of intelligence (Dewey, 2005, p. 46). There was also a consideration of how emotion interplayed with intellectual understanding. Research was utilised showing that artistic expression is an important resource to negotiate and display intellectual understanding (Gallagher et al., 2013, p. 9). Emotional responses, therefore, were appreciated as particular forms of cognitive expression, and were central to the types of planned intellectual activities.
Creativity
The research considered the interrelationship between creative and intellectual work, and the importance of creativity as a shared social practice. There was a response to Craft’s (2008) call for ‘creativity with wisdom’, which is where creative practice is empowered by its connection to human concerns and ideas. Here, the relationship between creativity and wisdom informed the interplay of the four themes of this research. The Gallery embraced the importance of creative pedagogy aiming to improve learning through imaginative thinking (Egan, 2007), play and possibility thinking (Craft, 2000), collaboration (John-Steiner, 2000; Sawyer, 2014) and inquisitiveness (Lucas et al., 2013). The gallery model also challenged what Craft (2005) identifies as ‘blind spots’ in the discourses surrounding the educational importance of creativity, such as those that most highly value individuality. Here, Csikszentmihalyi’s (1991, 1996, 1997) concept of ‘flow’ and Sawyer’s (2004, 2006) notion of ‘group flow’ were both considered. For Csikszentmihalyi, ‘flow’ is a state of consciousness of optimal experience in which the participant undergoes complete focus and fulfilment. In Sawyer’s (2004, 2007) notion of ‘group flow’, creative collaboration and a ‘collective state of mind’ can explain high levels of engagement (2007).
‘Big Ideas’
To this point there emerges a picture of the way the pedagogical spaces of the gallery were crafted. That is, the gallery model was clearly shaped by a focus on learning intellectually and emotionally through the arts, a commitment to creativity as a shared social practice, and conscious teacher planning of high level and enjoyable experiences that would develop a community of learners. The final theme of big ideas provided specific directions within this shaping. The first was that the pedagogy should favour processes such as play, collaborative work and corporeal expression (Egan, 2013; Eisner, 2002; Gallagher, 2010; Winston, 2015). The reasoning was that these processes were important to balance the types of performative curriculum practices that can dominate the pedagogy of classrooms in all too many disadvantaged contexts. Second, content was designed to connect, both with students’ life experiences (Brophy & Alleman, 2007, p. 15, drawing on Dewey, 1938), and then, as a social justice issue, with fundamental understandings about the human condition through authentic learning about ‘big ideas’ (Brophy et al., 2010). Big ideas were employed to foster creative thinking, curiosity, deeper understandings and empathic experience, and to encourage a deep emotional connection between learner and content (Brophy & Alleman, 2007, p. 17). Their implementation into the gallery was a key engagement strategy, and complemented FGP engagement ideas around content that is authentic, interesting, relevant and worth learning. It was an approach that focused on schooling as an intensely social and moral process, and not a technical endeavour (Winston, 1998: p. 90). These four theoretical themes are summarised and depicted in the Figure below.
What could the Gallery look like in practice?
The following Figure shows the key planning ideas in the development of the Gallery.
What does this look like?
Let us now look at a brief illustration of a Gallery in action in a school in Sydney’s South West. This description of the Gallery in action paints a brief picture of how the model might take place over a series of lessons, perhaps once a week for a term.
Decide on the ‘Big Ideas’ in the topic
Students in a Stage 3 class undertook learning in the NSW Syllabus: Geography content topic ‘A Diverse and Connected World’. The ‘big ideas’ and key inquiry questions of the learning experiences that were to take place became:
What are Australia’s global connections between people and places?
Who were the people who came to Australia? Why did they come?
Select resources that facilitate drawing out and working through the Big Ideas
The Gallery opened up spaces for the students to explore individual narratives of the migration experience of refugees. Picture books documenting the experience of being a refugee or asylum seeker were employed as the basis of the artistic learning experiences. The books selected were: Ziba Came on a Boat (Lofthouse & Ingpen, 2007) and Home and Away, (Marsden et al., 2008). The descriptive poem, The Magic Box, (Wright & Bailey, 2009) was also used as a foundation for ideation and to help the students to structure their own poetry in response to the ‘big ideas’ as listed above.
Plan a sustained series of arts-based practices that can be employed as a vehicle for students to explore the resource and big ideas
Students responded to the picture books through a variety of arts-based strategies. The theatrical device of tableaux, in which participants freeze in poses that create a picture of a key moment from a story, was an important strategy that was employed to support them to empathise with, and embody, characters, as well as to express their comprehension of the narrative. The students were also involved in exploring dance elements such as dynamics, relationships, action and space to create movement sequences to communicate a story or message (NESA, 2006). Working collaboratively, they used mime and movement to explore how emotions and feelings can be expressed to an audience. Drama activities were the main artistic modality that was invoked in order to support the students in expressing their understanding of the topic.
Provide time and various opportunities for students to collaborate and ‘play’ with their ideas through artistic or imaginative expresssion
Improvisational drama games were a key element in providing scaffolding for the students to work cohesively in teams, collaborate on a task and to encourage them to share and respond to each other’s ideas. Time and space were allowed for students to discuss their responses to the resources through planned and scaffolded group brainstorming activities, creative writing challenges and reflection. Writing challenges were given at key points in the program, only after the students had built up imaginative expression through drama games and activities first. Emphasis for such challenges was on play and experimentation.
Ensure a focus on learning, not behaviour and include high cognitive, high effective, high operative experiences. Establish an ongoing community of reflection
The creative and artistic learning space is intentionally planned against the high cognitive (‘thinking hard’), high affective (‘feeling good)’ and high operative (‘becoming a better learner’) structure. The tasks in each Gallery ensure intellectual inquiry focused on the big ideas, affective enjoyment and purposeful learning as well as reflective activities to help students work with the high operative level of their learning. The focus for each experience is on the process of learning, taking up artistic challenges and intellectual expression through creative practice, rather than on behaviour management and compliance. Learning is the main game.
Build learning experiences toward an ‘exhibition’ of deep student learning
An exhibition should be a celebration of the learning that has taken place in the Gallery as opposed to a one-off, disconnected, fanciful ‘performance’. This particular Gallery incorporated the students’ growing interest in shadow play (from playful shadow activities linked to measurement and Earth and Space Sciences), and this interest culminated in an Exhibition in which students decided to produce and share a shadowography performance in their own self-made shadow theatre. The story of the shadow theatre was designed by the students themselves and played out an account of a refugee who fled a war-torn country to travel by boat to Australia. Students were focused on communicating the Big Ideas and feelings about the topic to the wider school community.
In summary, the key aspects of a Gallery in practice include:
Sustained aesthetic practices that value empathic and artistic expression as intellectual expression.
Experiences of the essential human qualities of play, collaboration, improvisation and imagination.
Focus on learning, high expectations, student active participation (shared control, student voice in reflection and discussion), high engaging experiences, increased student collaboration with links to wider school community.
Sharing empathic understanding through big ideas around local and global impact and effect.
Data collected from the Gallery at this primary school illustrated that students, when provided with these kinds of learning experiences, were able to take ownership, shift their perceptions around achievement and begin to challenge their own, and the wider school community’s, perception of what a classroom might look, sound and feel like.
The Gallery and the ‘bigger pictures’ of student engagement
The Gallery is presented in this article as a model for deep and purposeful learning, particularly for students in low SES areas. The Fair Go Program’s Student Engagement Framework (the MeE Framework) was a critical component of the inspiration, design and implementation of the Gallery. The pedagogical practices in the Gallery respond to a belief and commitment that all students, including those from marginalised backgrounds, need to be provided with intellectually demanding and meaningful work, not only as an engagement strategy but as a matter of social justice (Hayes et al., 2006). The metaphor of the Gallery, suggested here as an engaging classroom space, is a worthwhile response to the teaching challenge that many educators face. That students who were involved in this model were able to see themselves as ‘not just some kids’, but as people with powerful learning to share, and this points to the real possibility that the Gallery model can be a platform for advancing social and academic outcomes for students in low SES communities.
References
Brophy, J., & Alleman, J. (2007). Powerful social studies for elementary students (2nd ed.). Thomson Wadsworth.
Brophy, J., Alleman, J., & Knighton, B. (2010). A learning community in the primary classroom. Routledge.
Craft, A. (2000). Creativity across the primary curriculum: framing and developing practice. Routledge.
Craft, A. (2005). Creativity in schools: Tensions and dilemmas. Routledge Falmer.
Craft, A. (2008). Tensions in creativity and education: Enter wisdom and trusteeship? In A. Craft, H. Gardner, & G. Claxton (Eds.), Creativity, wisdom, & trusteeship: Exploring the role of education (pp. 16-34). Corwin Press.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1991). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Harper Collins.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. Harper Collins.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Finding Flow: The psychology of engagement with everyday life. Basic Books.
Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. Macmillan.
Dewey, J. (2005). Art as experience. Perigee Books. (Original work published 1934).
Eisner, E. W. (2002). The Arts and the Creation of Mind. Yale University Press.
Egan, K. (2007). Imagination, past and present. In K. Egan, M. Stout, & K. Takaya (Eds.), Teaching and learning outside the box: Inspiring imagination across the curriculum (pp. 3-20). Teachers College Press.
Egan, K. (2013). Wonder, awe and teaching techniques. In Egan, K., Cant, A. I., & Judson, G. (Eds.), Wonder-full education: The centrality of wonder in teaching and learning across the curriculum. Taylor & Francis.
Fair Go Team (2006). School is for me: Pathways to student engagement. NSW Department of Education and Training.
Gallagher, K. (2010). Improvisation and education: Learning through? Canadian Theatre Review, 143, 42-46.
Gallagher, K., Ntelioglou, B.Y. & Wessels, A. (2013). “Listening to the affective life of injustice: Drama pedagogy, race, identity, and learning”. Youth Theatre Journal, 27(1), 7-19.
Hayes, D., Mills, M., Christie, P. & Lingard, B. (2006). Teachers and schooling making a difference: Productive pedagogies, assessment and performance. Allen & Unwin.
John-Steiner, V. (2000). Creative collaboration. Oxford University Press.
Lofthouse, L., & Ingpen, R. (2007). Ziba came on a boat. Penguin/Viking.
Lucas, B., Claxton, G., & Spencer, E. (2013). Progression in student creativity in school: First steps towards new forms of formative assessments (OECD Education Working Papers, No. 86). OECD.
Marsden, J., Ottley, M., & Children’s Book Council of Australia. (2008). Home and away. Lothian.
Munns, G., Sawyer, W., Cole, B. (Eds.) & the Fair Go Team (2013). Exemplary teachers of students in poverty. Routledge.
Ashleigh Smith celebrates performance through an exciting school recital series…
Why a recital program?
Music plays an important role in our social, cultural, aesthetic and spiritual lives. At an individual level, music is a medium of personal expression. Through my experience developing a recital program in a comprehensive public high school, I have found that it has provided a platform for students to showcase their abilities in performance and to grow as a musician, with benefits to HSC results, confidence and personal development of the students involved.
At my school, Keira High School, music has always been an important focus, and the Recital Program has provided the school community with the opportunity to celebrate the success of a range of individual and group performances. Inspired by the renowned composer Antonio Vivaldi and his signature suite, The Four Seasons, the programs builds into the school calendar a series of recitals to be held annually. These four celebrations of musical talent take the name of each season, reflecting Vivaldi’s work and connecting the school community to the individual performers and to the world of classical music beyond the classroom.
Such events allow students to hone a vast array of collaborative and organisational skills through direct engagement in decision-making around aspects such as staging, programming, rehearsal schedules, technical support and performance delivery. A scope and sequence of learning activities supports students to negotiate the decision-making required of them to work towards delivery of these events. Associated student self-evaluations and teacher observation assessment documents also provide feedback on the development of problem-solving abilities and the impact of this on the quality of each event. Combined with audience responses to these programs, it is clear that our program has been successful in building these key capabilities within our music students.
Curriculum beyond the classroom
A school’s curriculum can be enhanced by the inclusion of quality learning experiences provided to students beyond the classroom and syllabuses. Whilst there can be many competing priorities, delivery of music programs, which are inclusive, well-resourced and sustained, should be a significant focus at all schools to ensure a sufficiently broad and culturally rich curriculum. This is especially true for schools serving disadvantaged communities.
At Keira, our band program connected to the recitals boasts high levels of participation of students, with some 35 students from Years 7 to 12 performing in a variety of contexts, both within and outside of the school community. We think this popularity comes from providing a supportive learning environment that allows students to explore music in a culture that values the importance of making mistakes, seeking feedback, and planning for future success. Most importantly, our music program has allowed a wide range of students to enjoy exceptional success as part of a quality band, as the statement below from Year 11 student, Lola Sossai, who joined the Recital program in 2018 and featured at the Summer Recital in 2019 as the leading musician, attests:
Recitals build character, resilience, friendships and can benefit one’s happiness immensely. I never liked to sing in front of people, I loved to play the drums and guitar and hoped it would bring a smile to someone’s day. The on-going support from music teachers and students helped me learn to love singing in front of people. You create memories, you create moments, and you can maybe leave a recital stage, having inspired someone with the same potential they didn’t know existed.
Overcoming challenges for performers
It is important to acknowledge that the COVID-19 pandemic we are living through has affected our program, and we were unable to run live events in 2020. During the last week of Term 2, this year our Winter Recital was modified and performed to selected class groups; a change that was decided upon very last minute. The Recital ran in school hours and was filmed and sent to parents, carers and performers via a YouTube link. It was important for me that the students had this opportunity to showcase the hard work they had put in over the term, and it also taught students the importance of innovation in the performing arts.
More than external factors, since the beginning of our program, it has been clear that the biggest obstacle for students is performance anxiety. Most students in the 2018 Recital Program had never performed for their classmates, let alone their parents, teachers and friends. As a performer myself, I understood the necessary tricks needed before a performance, which included being prepared and limiting self-doubt. A student will typically feel more confident in their performance if there has been substantial preparation before the recital. So, leading up to what we call ‘show week’ there are numerous rehearsals at lunch times and after school. As a teacher, this might appear to be a lot more work. However, what initially appears to be a substantial increase in workload actually provides the platform for student growth in creativity and self-expression and makes future teaching more efficient and effective. A rehearsal does not only provide students time to practise a piece, but also has social benefits which build rapport between students and across year groups, which makes the classroom environment more positive too.
Last notes
Performing is a major element of the arts, and the Recital program provides students with the platform to aim higher. Creating this opportunity for students to perform on stage, with a program and audience brings many benefits. Our Recital Program has built the confidence of many students and increased their skills, contributing to the development of each child. Creating a program that has built student confidence has positively impacted my classroom. Not only has it given students the chance to strive toward excellence in the performing arts, it also regularly brings our community together to celebrate the successes of our students through music.
Ashleigh Smith teaches Music at Keira High School where she initiated the development of a framework to successfully re-establish the importance of a school band and to provide the learning and organisational structures to support it. Ashleigh has been teaching for five years and co-ordinates the intermediate and beginner Concert Band, advanced Stage Band, Choir and upcoming string and woodwind ensembles as well as the professional experience program between the school and universities.
Cath Jeffery explains why your school should offer Aboriginal Studies and shares student experiences of the subject’s personal, social and career benefits…
A great deal!
Perhaps no other subject offers such varied opportunities for schools to establish and maintain authentic relationships with their local community as Stage 6 Aboriginal Studies. At Inverell High School the Aboriginal Studies course has fostered the development and consolidation of a positive authentic partnership whereby the community has a degree of ownership of both the subject material and also student outcomes. These relationships have also provided opportunities for older students to become mentors to their younger peers and facilitated greater communication and collaboration between all key stakeholders in the education of all students.
HSC success for students
Stage 6 Aboriginal Studies is an exciting and engaging course for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. The subject offers an opportunity for individuals to enhance their analytical skills, think creatively and critically and develop a comprehensive understanding of both the historical and contemporary experiences of Indigenous people around the world. Students who undertake Stage 6 Aboriginal Studies will develop an understanding and appreciation of the concepts of shared histories and social justice.
The Preliminary Course investigates traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies as well as other Indigenous societies around the world. It examines the process of colonisation and the legacy of this and the subsequent dispossession on these people up until the 1960s. There are two core studies, Aboriginality and the Land and Heritage and Identity.
Section 3 of the course provides students with an opportunity to investigate a specific International Indigenous community. Students examine the location, environment, culture and lifestyle of their chosen people. This allows students to compare and contrast the experiences of the two groups.
The Local Community Case Study encourages students to develop their research and inquiry skills by conducting an investigation of the experiences of their local Aboriginal community. The focus of this component of the course is to consolidate students’ skills in relation to:
Appropriate community consultation procedures
Various research methodologies
Acquiring, processing and communicating information
The HSC course focuses on the period from the 1960s where the world experienced monumental social change, to the present day. The core study of Social Justice and Human Rights – A Global Perspective offers students the opportunity to examine the various treaties, covenants, and agreements which are being worked towards for all people across the globe, as well as the various strategies and initiatives to address racism. Students study two options from health, education, criminal justice, economic independence and employment when they conduct an in-depth investigation examining the ongoing impact of colonisation, the current issues facing Indigenous Australians and other Indigenous Peoples, along with the various government and independent initiatives and programs which are focused on bridging the socioeconomic divide.
Students are then given the option to study either:
Aboriginality and the Land, which investigates the Land Rights movement and the recognition of Native Title. Students also analyse the effectiveness of government policies and legislation and non-Aboriginal responses in relation to the ongoing land rights campaign.
OR
Heritage and Identity, which analyses contemporary aspects of Aboriginal Heritage and Identity as well as government policies and legislation and non-Aboriginal responses in relation to the celebration and preservation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural expression.
The Major Project presents an opportunity for students to utilise their strengths and ignite their passion to conduct a personal investigation into an area which they are interested in. It is envisaged that through this research journey students will consolidate their researching skills and knowledge of ethical practices.
Patterns of study
There are also significant cross-curriculum advantages for students who study Stage 6 Aboriginal Studies. Similar syllabus content and key concepts overlap in a number of various HSC subjects. Some examples are outlined below.
Syllabus content
Link with the Aboriginal Studies course
Research Fundamentals
Students learn about sources of data from individuals and groups as well as print and digital sources. They discuss the advantages and limitations of each source of data
Students investigate ethical behaviour in research practices, including conducting investigations respectfully and with integrity. They assess the importance of practising ethical behaviour when conducting research by considering:
Sensitive research topics
Confidentiality
Research bias and data validity
In both the Preliminary and HSC courses, students in Aboriginal Studies have to conduct a major research project. A significant component of research and Inquiry methods is for students to develop a comprehensive understanding of ethical research practices as well as observation of cultural protocols which are to be observed when conducting investigations.
In both projects, students must acknowledge how they have observed these in their projects.
Research Methods
Students become familiar with the following research methods;
Questionnaires
Interviews
Case studies
Observations
Literature reviews
As outlined above, students utilise all of the research methods highlighted in CAFS, both in the Preliminary and HSC courses. Students who study both CAFS and Aboriginal Studies develop not only skills in using such methodologies but also which ones are more appropriate in particular instances.
Supporting teachers with accreditation
Stage 6 Aboriginal Studies provides teachers authentic opportunities to connect with a number of the Australian Professional Standards.
The standard
How teachers can work towards the standard
1:4:2
Design and implement effective teaching strategies that are responsive to the local community and cultural setting, linguistic background and histories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
Aboriginal Studies provides an opportunity for teachers to regularly consult with their local Aboriginal community. The curriculum content provides a foundation by which schools can build authentic relationships with Aboriginal parents and caregivers and other key stakeholders.
2:4:2
Provide opportunities for students to develop understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
The course investigates traditional Aboriginal society and culture, it explores the effect that colonisation had on Australia’s Indigenous peoples and the legacy that that has in contemporary Australian society.
7:3:2
Establish and maintain respectful, collaborative relationships with parents/carers regarding their children’s learning and wellbeing
Aboriginal Studies enables parents to have an strong voice in not only the curriculum but also the teaching strategies that will be used to deliver the content. This provides Aboriginal parents with the opportunity to have regular contact with the classroom teacher and the wider school community.
Community wins too!
Aboriginal Studies includes local community case studies as well as many opportunities for community members to contribute, not only to the curriculum content but also to assist in the delivery of subject material in the classroom. At Inverell, it has also encouraged a sense of reconciliation in the wider community where residents display a sense of pride in the fact that the school celebrates the town’s local history.
The Stage 6 course also provides schools with the opportunity to develop real relationships with pre-schools, infants and primary schools.
Arguably, the most appropriate way the value of an HSC subject can be assessed is its potential to assist students as they move into the workforce or undertake tertiary studies. The following testimonies from the alumni of various Inverell High School HSC classes attest to the widespread value of Aboriginal Studies to students post-high school.
Chelsea’s story
From this subject I built a solid foundation of knowledge on the history, culture, and health of Aboriginal Australians.
This has been very beneficial to my career as a job consultant in a community with a significant Aboriginal population. It has allowed me to look at my clients with a different perspective and take a holistic approach in assisting them to move forward. Using my knowledge of socio-economic indicators that I gained within Aboriginal Studies has allowed me to identify the areas that may be affecting my client without them being aware.
The knowledge of Aboriginal Australians’ culture has also allowed me to be more flexible with requirements and considerate around times of funerals within the community. The history of Aboriginal Australians and the subsequent fear of authority has also had an impact on their participation with our services and this needs to be considered when utilising compliance.
The knowledge base that I gained from Aboriginal Studies has greatly improved my ability to interact and work effectively with Aboriginal Australians in both formal and informal situations.
Chelsea Thom (Job Coach, BEST Employment Ltd – Inverell)
Alex’s story
During my schooling I chose to do Aboriginal Studies as an elective from when it was offered in Year 9 right to having it as one of my HSC subjects in Year 12, and the content I have learnt from the subject has been highly useful in my various career choices. After graduating in 2018 I attended NAISDA Dance College as a developing artist gaining my Certificate III in Dance Practise for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Having prior experience in Aboriginal Studies was of significant benefit during my training. One of core components was Cultural Learning where we investigated Indigenous history, protocols and other issues and inequalities. From previously studying this I found I was able to have more depth conversions with guest tutors such as Carol Johnson, founder of NAISDA, and attendee of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. As well already having experience in community consultation during my schooling through Aboriginal Studies, when we had cultural residence in the Torres Strait Islands, I was able to effectively connect with the community and develop strong relationships.
After finishing my certificate I enrolled at the University of Newcastle to begin my new chapter of becoming a secondary teacher. Many of my subjects again involved Indigenous people such as Introduction into Aboriginal studies (core subject) and Working with Aboriginal Communities (elective). Both subjects were very similar to the Preliminary syllabus of Aboriginal Studies with additional focus points, therefore once again the subject proved to be of significant advantage to me. During this subject I met another student who also previously did Aboriginal Studies in high school and we both felt noticeably more confident and well prepared in a number of our university units.
Being someone who has begun a variety of careers in the past two years since leaving school every career I have pursued has had an element of Aboriginal culture or education. I cannot recommend enough for school students to participate in Aboriginal studies because it has been one of, if not the only, subject I have had continued to use post schooling.
Alex Jeffery (current university student, Newcastle University)
An enriched educational journey for all
diversity of the topics investigated in the subject along with the various mediums by which students can express their understanding of core themes and concepts caters for diverse learning styles and interests. The subject offers schools an opportunity to establish and sustain authentic relationships with their local Aboriginal community with a focus on collaboration and consultation in relation to shared ownership of the curriculum.
Cath Jeffery is the Head Teacher of Teaching and Learning at Inverell High School. She established Aboriginal Studies in Year 9 in 2007, it is now one of the most popular subjects in Years 9 to 12. Cath also works with the NSW Department of Education Curriculum Innovations team and the Australian Human Rights Commission developing teaching resources for Stages 5 and 6 Aboriginal Studies and Stages 3,4,5 and 6 History.
Maria Wilson outlines five achievable areas for schools to begin improvement in digital technologies…
Here is an example of a typical school day for a primary school computer coordinator like me:
Before school, one of the classroom teachers needs help as there is no internet connection for the computer attached to the interactive whiteboard. Twenty minutes later, with some new cables and the reorganisation of desktops in the classroom, the issue is solved. During the morning, a student appears in the coordinator’s classroom, his laptop does not work. The computer coordinator thinks, ‘Do I stop teaching the 28 Year 4 children in front of me to try and fix this, or tell him to leave it with me’. The student really needs it now. Year 4 seems to be focused, the coordinator performs some magic and the computer seems to be working again, unfortunately Year 4 are not. Then, a phone call comes to the classroom. It is the teacher from before school explaining that now there is no interactive whiteboard software on the computer. The coordinator makes a mental note to download the software and relabel the desktop on the Department’s Universal Desktop Management system.
The bell goes for lunch.
I am a full-time teacher and I also manage nearly 400 desktops, laptops, iPads and interactive whiteboards in my school. I am not an IT specialist. I am self-taught and readily admit to huge gaps in my knowledge covered by a lot of Googling, YouTube videos and telephone calls to people who do know. What I have observed over the last four years in this role is that while access to computers in schools has grown exponentially, the digital technology needs of primary classroom teachers and their students are not always being met.
Where to begin
I have carried out some anecdotal research with teacher colleagues from across the state into their IT needs and found the results are remarkably similar, no matter where they are teaching. The needs outlined below are not ranked in an order and instead reflect the range of immediate support that schools might pursue across most primary settings.
Newish computers and other hardware
‘The internet is so slow’ is a common cry in schools, and it is frustrating when computers take forever to do the smallest task. Rest assured it should not be an issue for much longer. In October last year, the Minister for Education, Sarah Mitchell, explained that over the following 18 months all NSW public schools would have high-speed internet (NSW Government, 2020). If that does not leave you resting assured, new Federal laws guaranteeing ‘decent’ internet speeds regardless of where you live and work in the state came into force on 1 July (Lysaght, 2020). If, however, the issue is not internet speeds but the age of the hardware that schools are using, then Houston, we have a problem. Age slows computers, well technically it is not age but newer software which takes up more space, lack of available memory, unused files slowing the processing speed and numerous other technical issues. This is the reason that private businesses replace hardware at least every five years. However, in schools we are more likely to play ‘musical computers’ with equipment that may be ten years old, and try another old device rather than prioritising upgrades. While the current, annual Departmental rollout may replace some of the equipment which is beyond use or broken, most of us will continue waiting for a device to load, while breathing in and out slowly. This is an area where more efficient and timely programs for change are necessary from both the Department and school leadership.
Easy logins for K-2 students
I was recently preparing a digital technology team teaching unit for a Kindy class. I told the class teacher of my plans which involved students acting as robots, giving directions to each other and gradually advancing to programming Bluebots. My colleague looked at me wryly and explained that it sounded like a lot of fun but maybe we could start by teaching the students to log on to a computer.
Our Kindy students have 30-character logins. Some of these little darlings have only just worked out that their fingers can go places other than up their noses, yet obstacles such as these excessive logins create challenging hurdles that would turn off even the most patient of teachers who wish to use ICT with young students. This also applies to the online learning programs that many schools subscribe to. While often providing excellent learning opportunities, they come with sign-in requirements which take the first 15 minutes of computer time and test the patience of a saint, or, perhaps, a Kindy teacher.
Professional learning in commonly used technology
One teacher I spoke to about this article asked for a little less judgement of those teachers who cannot get the hang of the latest app/program/update after a five-minute explanation from a well-intentioned colleague preceded by ‘Oh it’s really easy, don’t worry’. What is really needed is more meaningful professional learning in technology use for all teachers. Professor Pasi Sahlberg pointed out in his submission to the Gallop Inquiry “Technology can only be as good as the people who use it” (as cited in Gallop, Kavanagh & Lee, 2021, p.34). In my experience this is true. For instance, how many of us really use the interactive whiteboard in our learning space as anything more than a glorified whiteboard? Much of the technology that is now available in all classrooms does have incredible potential, yet without training, from experts in the field, and time to experiment, learn and plan using the equipment, teachers are prevented from realising the potential in both the technology and themselves. Professional learning in using technology is also a necessary requirement for meeting the Proficienct Teacher standards under the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (NESA, 2018), so whilst the intention is clear, there is much to do in practical, planning and resourcing to support this important work.
Clear guidelines around the use of apps
On a recent Stage 3 excursion, one of the class teachers posted some photos of the students on her class Seesaw page. She almost immediately got a message from a parent saying that her child was not in any of the photos. The situation left me wondering when and how teachers became so accountable that they now feel obliged to post daily updates in apps such as Seesaw or ClassDojo, which may then be critiqued by parents?
Even before COVID, many teachers were using these apps to communicate directly with parents, sending reminders, newsletters and occasionally photos and work samples. There are no doubt benefits to these apps but for many teachers who feel obliged to use them, they have become a menace, with parents using them to communicate with the class teacher without limit. For instance, a child forgot their school hat, they are sick, unhappy, missing their pet, missing their lunch. These are all issues which would have once gone through the school office and been noticed and coordinated at a senior level, or might not have been sent at all. They are now sent directly to teachers, sometimes involving long emails in the dead of night.
Teachers are committed to good relations with parents and thus feel obliged to respond and follow up every message. This is time consuming and takes up lesson planning time before and after school hours, as well as precious release from face-to-face time (RFF). Many teachers are desperate for strict guidelines, for parents and themselves, around communication and the use of such apps and this is something that could be addressed without additional expense or equipment.
Expert technical support
Potentially the biggest digital technology issue in schools is the provision of technical support. It is hard to think of any other similarly sized organisation that requires their employees to manage their own technology. A recent report on this topic, based on survey results from 259 schools from across the state, found that in the majority of schools, technical support was provided from among the teaching staff (Fogerty, 2021, p.11). That is teachers, like me, who put their hand up to take on the role and who are usually self-taught. Some get extra release time, but many are also using their RFF or time before or after school hours to fulfill the role. Of course, this impacts on the quality of the coordinator’s teaching, yet if schools do not support technical needs, then teaching across the school is negatively impacted. This is a situation that need not continue.
Next steps
Reading this article, you may have noticed some factual errors around the working of computers, revealing that I am not a ‘tech wizard’. In writing this piece, I want to make the point that whilst teachers can do a lot to support each other in effective use of information technology, every school in NSW should have the benefit of specialist, dedicated technical support along with the necessary, updated hardware and software to deliver and model truly modern and best practice for students. Coupled with this specialist technical support, classroom teachers should receive training from experts in the software and systems they want to use, ensuring the ‘digital revolution’ benefits our students. There is also a need for clearer guidelines, direction and support from the Department around new and evolving technology that connects us to our parent communities and the world beyond.
Maria Wilson began teaching thirty years ago in inner London, she briefly ran a small school in the West Indies before settling in the inner west of Sydney. She has a Masters degree in Human Rights and had planned to become the Secretary General of the United Nations. In the event of this not happening she has settled for the other best job in the world. She currently teaches and coordinates computers at Kegworth Public School.
Raewyn Connell captures the scope and place of the work of teachers in modern Australia…
This essay reflects on the nature of teachers’ work and its value to society. It builds on recent debates about teachers and education, on my experience as a researcher concerned with schools, and on what I have learned as a teacher in universities. It is based on a submission I wrote for the 2020 Inquiry Valuing the Teaching Profession, sponsored by the NSW Teachers Federation.
Significant cultural players
In graduation ceremonies for Education degrees, the invited speaker often includes a fanfare for the teaching profession. Looking out at the rows of graduands, nervous in their academic robes, the speaker tells them they are bearers of cultural traditions, mentors of the rising generation, and gatekeepers to the future. Perhaps these are clichés, but there is an important truth in them. Teachers do have a central role in contemporary culture.
Ever since mass school systems became a reality, teachers have been responsible for the growth of literacy and numeracy, the ‘basics’ as politicians see them. That’s not a small thing. But teachers have also been responsible for much more: forming skilled and professional workforces, spreading the knowledge of sciences, arts and humanities, and contributing a large part of young people’s social learning.
When we look at it this way, teachers’ work underpins our society’s achievements in public health, economic and technological development, literature, music and art. It also underpins our social life, in ways less spectacular than Facebook or TikTok, but essential none the less. It’s through schools that children and youth learn many of their capacities for making social connection, for dealing with difference, and of course for dealing with organisational life. The role is so broad that when social troubles emerge, politicians and journalists often blame teachers for causing the problems, or expect teachers to fix them.
Sociologists sometimes view teaching as the archetype of a ‘new profession’. School teachers are trained knowledge workers, now usually with university degrees. They are mostly unionised, they earn wages rather than charge fees, they are employees rather than self-employed, and most of them work in the public sector. Compared with other professions, teaching has a high proportion of women, and of entrants from working-class backgrounds. Teachers not only perform important tasks for society but have themselves been significant players in economic and social change.
In one sense, teaching is the best-known profession of all. When almost every child has gone to school, almost every adult has had a close-up view of teachers doing their daily work (or at least, part of it). Many adults hold great affection for particular teachers who were important in their lives. But other memories may be negative, even angry. Many people also imagine, from a limited knowledge, that teaching is an easy job with short hours and long holidays, something that anyone could do with only some quick-and-dirty training. We know that is wrong; but we have to acknowledge that public images of teachers include myths and misrepresentations as well as real knowledge. We do not see a similar diversity of views of engineers or architects.
All in a day’s work
If you enter ‘teachers’ and ‘work’ together into the widely used database Google Scholar you will find over 4,000,000 references in the English language alone. Using the phrase ‘teachers’ work’ as an exact search term, you will find 280,000 references. Teachers and their work are certainly widely discussed. We can see in these searches how often questions about teachers connect with other educational issues, from curriculum to public policy, assessment, and pedagogy.
However, the research literature that is closely focussed on teachers’ work is much smaller than that. I would judge that at most 1,000 items, perhaps less, form the core. What this research shows, and what teachers know from direct experience, may be rather different from what’s assumed by mass media and politicians.
Teaching involves connections: it consists of human encounters. These may be intense or formal, short or sustained, one-to-one or one-to-many, even some-to-many (in team-teaching). Sometimes, for instance in remote teaching during the COVID pandemic, the connection is made through machinery; but the element of encounter is always there. Encounter means interaction. Close-focus observation of classrooms shows this dramatically: the classroom is a busy place with lots going on at any given time. Pure top-down instruction is part, but only a minimal part, of actual teaching.
To play an effective role in someone else’s learning, any teacher must learn what that pupil’s current capacities and motivations are, and what the pupil needs to take the next step in learning, the step after that, and so on. The teacher’s capacity to learn about the pupils is a crucial element in teaching, perhaps the most important element in effective teaching. The more diverse the cohort, the greater is the professional demand upon the teacher to sustain the pupils’ learning.
Classroom work includes complex intellectual labour: understanding the pupils, and transforming the curriculum into classroom practice. This is an easily recognised part of the job. But the job also requires (as more recent studies emphasise) what has come to be called emotional labour. This means creating connection with class members through encouragement, humour and sometimes anger; keeping focus in the classroom by managing pupils’ boredom, excitement or distraction; dealing with conflict in the class and the effects of tension and trauma in the pupils’ lives.
As well as intellectual and emotional labour, teaching also involves administrative labour: keeping records, managing equipment, providing materials, administering tests, and more. There is evidence that this part of the job has increased in the last few decades, with growing official requirements for testing, record-keeping and compliance.
Then there are the tasks outside the classroom needed to keep a school humming along. They include preparation of classes, supervision in break times, organising sports, arts and hobby groups, arranging and supervising events, speaking with parents, keeping up with official circulars, participating in staff meetings, attending in-service programmes, and so on. A growing part of this is done via computers, smartphones and other devices.
A team of workers
Though media images of teachers emphasise colourful individuals, good or bad (the movie Dead Poets Society has both), no teacher really works alone. As with many other forms of labour, most effects in teaching are produced by a whole workforce. Any teacher in her classroom is building on the work of all the teachers who have worked with those pupils before.
What happens in any classroom is further shaped by what happens in the next-door classroom, by the routines of the whole school, by the planning in formal staff meetings and informal consultations. It is shaped by the work of school principals and senior teachers, the work of office and maintenance staff, the constant exchange of information in staffrooms and around the school office.
Researchers recognise this when they speak of schools as organisations and try to characterise school cultures, climates or atmospheres. That collective dimension of teaching is why attempts to measure ‘teacher effectiveness’ on an individual basis have so little grip. It is a strong argument against the attempts of market ideologists to make teachers’ salaries depend on individual measures of ‘performance’.
Across a large school system, teachers deal with very varied groups of pupils. One school is located in a quiet, mostly White suburb with a high proportion of professionals and managers. Another is in a crowded, multi-ethnic city area with a high proportion of recent migrants. Another is in a depressed rural area with high youth unemployment and very few resident professionals. Some of the students will be academically engaged, others will be bored or distracted, others in outright conflict with the school. In any age group there will be students with disabilities, behaviour problems and complex wellbeing needs.
It is important to recognise that social differences and inequalities are educational issues. Poverty and wealth, rural remoteness, urban tensions, ethnic and religious difference, Indigenous or settler background, racism, sexual harassment, physical difference and disability all confront teachers with specific social conditions and educational tasks in different schools. There are no one-size-fits-all answers to educational questions.
New pressures
Teachers and their work have always been subject to controls: religious, political, managerial and professional. Not far back in history, teachers were expected to show rigid conservatism in dress, manners and attitudes, in private life as well as during working hours. Some of this has changed, as teachers asserted their citizen rights. But teachers can still be targeted in moral panics. Concerns about sexual abuse of children, for instance, have required teachers to observe much more restrictive rules about physical contact with pupils in everyday school life.
In the last few decades, new means of regulating teachers’ work have developed. They generally involve control at a distance, euphemistically called ‘accountability’. Schools and teachers are supposed to have easily-measured goals to achieve, as if they were Dickensian firms counting up their cash. School league tables are now familiar, such as those constructed from the appalling MySchool website (‘supports national transparency and accountability’ according to its front page, giving the game away). Teachers are confronted with a tension between government demands for competitive standardised testing, and their students’ need for assessments relevant to their actual learning situations and patterns of growth.
Education systems have been subjected to requirements imported from other industries, with little attention to their educational effects. There is formidable pressure to standardise teaching practices, to discourage the messiness of experiment and local engagement, and to re-define teaching as a measurable technical performance rather than a complex human encounter. A few decades ago, we laughed at the insulting idea of a ‘teacher-proof curriculum’. We should laugh no more, since current information technologies, combined with corporate strategies for centralising knowledge and control in the hands of managers, make it more feasible to reduce the skills of teachers, while still maintaining a facade of performance.
Careers and lives
There is an ideal image of the teaching career, from initial training, through the baptism of fire in the First Year Out, through professional learning and promotion, to senior roles and finally retirement. Of course, in practice it is much more complex.
One reason for complexity is teachers’ lives outside school. Work/life balance can be very problematic for beginning teachers, given the pressures of the early years in the job. Forming a family often comes at the same time as starting professional life. In Australian society, work/life balance is constructed mainly as a dilemma for women, given the long-standing gender inequality in the load of housework, child-care and care for elders (this was little changed even in the COVID19 lockdowns). We should be alert to the way apparently ‘family-friendly’ policies may actually reinforce this division.
Fifty years ago, teachers in Australia came overwhelmingly from White English-speaking backgrounds. But it was also true then that teaching provided upward mobility for a significant group of working-class entrants. Now, more students from both Aboriginal and non-English-speaking migrant backgrounds have come through teacher education and into the profession. The public sector has probably changed faster than the private sector.
But with the end of teaching scholarships, the rise of university fees and the growing weight of student debt, recruitment may become more restricted again, at least in social class terms. If we value the sharing of experience through education, then having a socially representative teaching workforce seems an important goal.
Final thoughts
Teachers, as a group, have a formative role in social and economic processes. The central purpose of their labour is to help the rising generation develop their capacities: intellectual, social, practical and creative. This task is simultaneously vital, elusive and fantastically complex. Teachers have to deploy a wide range of their own capacities to do the job, which involves intellectual work, emotion work, practical skills, and organisational and social know-how. Though pupils encounter teachers as individuals, the work is in fact strongly collective and powerfully shaped by the institutional system. It is no wonder that teachers’ public image is contradictory and that governments often reach for showy short-term solutions to tough long-term educational problems.
Teachers today have to deal with changing technologies as well as declining government support for human services and rising management demands. Yet it is at the human level that teachers most immediately deal with social change. Pupils have needs shaped by colonisation, poverty, racism, domestic violence, disabilities, social conflicts and changing job markets, as well as the universal problems of growing up. It is the job of teachers to work from the actual conditions of young people’s lives towards educational outcomes. It is an impressive sign of teacher professionalism that so much good and thoughtful teaching is found in our public schools.
Raewyn Connell is one of Australia’s leading social scientists. Her writing on education includes the books Making the Difference, Teachers’ Work, Schools & Social Justice, and The Good University. Her work is widely cited and has been translated into twenty languages. She recently retired from an academic career to focus on subversion. Raewyn has been active in the labour movement and in work for gender equality and peace. Her website is www.raewynconnell.net and Twitter @raewynconnell.
