The relationship between education and wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from remote communities
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This document summarizes two projects - the Interplay Project and the Remote Education Systems (RES) Project. Both projects aim to improve educational and social outcomes in remote Australian communities by identifying the relationships between formal education, traditional learning, and culturally relevant outcomes. The Interplay Project examines the interrelationships between health, wellbeing, education, employment, engagement, and cultural factors. The RES Project analyzes indicators of educational disadvantage and aims to establish better measures of educational quality and success in remote areas.
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The relationship between education and wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from remote communities
- 1. Aims • Improved measures of educational outcomes. • To identify the interrelationships between formal education, traditional learning and culturally relevant outcomes. 1
- 2. Cooperative Research Centre for Remote Economic Participation (CRC-REP) Goal: To improve social and economic conditions in remote Australia using research and innovation To improve the education and training pathways in remote areas so that people have better opportunities to participate in the range of economies that exist
- 3. Projects within the CRC-REP Interplay Between Health, Wellbeing, Education and Employment (Interplay Project) Associate Professor Sheree Cairney Remote Education Systems (RES) Associate Professor John Guenther 3
- 5. 5 Remote Education Systems (RES) Project Aims • Education for what? • What is the problem in remote education? • What does success look like in remote education?
- 6. 6 RES Project Findings Masters Project: Establish Links Links between Interplay and RES projects
- 7. Achievement of Year 9 students at or above minimum standard, NAPLAN 7 Source: ACARA, National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy Achievement in Reading, Writing, Language Conventions and Numeracy 2010 Background – ‘The Gap’
- 8. Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision 2011. Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2011. Background - Remoteness
- 9. Background - Pathways 9 Proportion of 20-64 year olds with non-school qualifications at Certificate III or higher Remote* 2002 2008 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 14.4% 18.4% Non-Indigenous 38.6% 45.5% Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision 2011. Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2011.
- 10. Remoteness isn’t the main issue The majority of Indigenous students in very remote Australia currently do not meet the national minimum standard in reading, writing and numeracy. (FaHCSIA 2009:, p. 15) Indigenous Non-Indigenous 10 Gunther, J (2012)Are we making education count in remote Australian communities or just counting education? (ACARA 2011)
- 11. Attendance vs NAPLAN Year 3 Reading Score, 2011 all very remote schools (n=119) Gunther, J (2012) Moderate relationship :
- 12. Attendance vs NAPLAN Year 3 Reading Score, 2011 very remote schools >80 per cent Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander students (n=70) Gunther, J (2012) Weak relationship
- 13. Indicators of Disadvantage (The Gap) • Lower school attendance and enrolment rates; • Low levels of Year 9 attainment; • Low levels of Year 10 attainment; and • Difficulties in the transition from school to work. • Poorer teacher quality • A lack of Indigenous Cultural Studies in school curricula 13 Outcomes from the Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage Steering Committee: Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision, 2011a
- 14. There appears to be more to the story…… What indicators would be represent education in this context? 14
- 15. 15 RES Project Findings Masters Project: Establish Links Links between Interplay and RES projects
- 16. Aims • Improved measures of educational outcomes. • To identify the interrelationships between formal education, traditional learning and culturally relevant outcomes. 16
- 17. Educational Outcomes NAPLANSchool Attendance Pathways to higher education Wellbeing Health Employment Aims Relevance Indicators of Disadvantage The Bigger Picture Quality Learning about culture in school Engagement pathways Motivations and barriers
- 18. 18 Interplay Project Framework Quality Relevance Learning about culture Engagement Motivations Barriers Pathways
- 19. Hypotheses • That engagement, and the quality and cultural relevance of education are more important than attendance in relation to achievement in remote education. • That connection to culture, engagement in school, empowerment and opportunity are strong predictors of wellbeing. 19
- 20. Project Design and Method 20 Project proposal Baseline Data Collection Data Analysis Thesis 2013 2014 2015 2016 Support Aboriginal Community Researchers in the collection of data Correlations between Health, Education and wellbeing Improve the quality of education and therefore wellbeing by policy Literature Review Oral presentation Ethics
- 21. 21 Communities 21 Galiwin’ku (NT) Wiluna (WA) Amata (SA) Setting: Communities
- 22. Data collection Primary Data • Individual surveys • Community level survey Secondary Data • Linkage data • Education • Health • Services • Infrastructure • Governance • Economic participation 22
- 23. 23 Community 15-24 25-34 n(N) n(N) Galiwin’ku (NT) 179 (335) 178 (330) Amata (SA) 92 (121) 75 (94) Wiluna (WA) 46 (53) 50 (58) Data collection Based on ILOC by INGP Indigenous Status and AGEP, 2011; Source: ABS unpublished data; N=population count; n=minimum sample sizes for each cohort. N=population count; n=minimum sample sizes for each cohort.
- 25. Closing the gap • To halve the gap in reading, writing and numeracy achievements for children within a decade • To halve the gap in Indigenous Year 12 achievement by 2020 • To halve the gap in employment outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a decade. 25 Closing the Gap (2008) the Council of Australian Governments (COAG)
- 26. Outcomes Knowledge to inform policy on effective education that improves people’s lives in remote communities 26
- 27. 27
Editor's Notes
- Two broad aims of this maters project are: To develop improved measures of educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from remote communities To identify the interrelationships between formal education, traditional learning and culturally relevant community-identified indicators and employment, health and wellbeing outcomes
- CRC-REP are a partnership organisation of more than 50 partners, including: the Australian Government four state and territory governments numerous non-government organisations universities and other research providers private businesses industries including mining, pastoralism and tourism Overall funded by the Australian Government CRC program
- There are 12 projects in the CRC – This project links two projects – the Interplay Project (SC) and the RES project (JG) SC primary Supervisor, and JG supervisor.
- The structure of the interplay project is such that it is linking Health, employment and education to wellbeing. Initial research by the interplay project has also resulted in the need to include Culture, community, and empowerment in relation to remote aboriginal communities. All these factors contribute to the wellbeing model -
- The RES project headed up by John Gunther is looking at remote education systems. What is the end goal for education? Where do people who achieve a year 12 certificate end up? What jobs are available in remote communities and who is taking them? Education is often seen as the “Key to success”, and the RES project is looking at what doors the key opens. The RES project also looks at the issues in remote education – in terms of distance, teacher retention, student retention, resources And lastly what success looks like in remote education - does it match up with the western model of Australian University Entrance Rank (ATAR), NAPLAN results
- This project can be seen as a link between the Interplay and the RES project SO the aim is to use the knowledge gained from the RES project to inform the interplay project In the literature review I have looked at the remote education and how that relates to Health Wellbeing and Employment. Then use this information to help design the interplay framework and survey tools.
- SUMMARISE NAPLAN (National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy) The gaps between the proportions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and non-Indigenous students achieving at or above the national minimum standard in Reading ranged from 19.3 percentage points for the Year 7 cohort to 28.0 percentage points for the Year 9 cohort. Gap in formal education indicators Formal education is linked to health and wellbeing (and vice versa) measurement of different indicators informed by Aboriginal community based researchers. community based indicators will be used to identify the nature of interrelationships between formal education, culturally relevant indicators and employment, health and wellbeing outcomes.
- The graphs show indigenous students who achieved the national minimum standard for writing for 2010 for years 3,5, 7 and 9. It showing that there is a clear gap between metropolitan, provincial, remote and very remote students. The gap between indigenous and non indigenous achievement, Gap widens all year levels widens as we get more remote. It also appears that for very remote students, as they progress though school the gap for the minimum standards seems to widen.
- The gap widens further after leaving school in that non-indigenous school leavers are more likely to get Vocational Education Training (VET) qualifications than ATSI. This data also shows that the gap between these groups is continuing to widen over time.
- This slides add to the picture in that it shows aboriginal and Torres strait islander students are failing compared to non-indigenous students. And that they are failing more in remote areas and the logical questions is “Why” These failings have been linked to poor attendance and enrolment rates, underperforming schools, poor teachers, low teacher retention, Other studies point to the failings of the NAPLAN test and how it is not culturally appropiate. (year 3 persuasive writing)
- Source: Gunther, J (2012) Are we making education count in remote Australian communities or just counting education? In mainstream literature, there is correlation between attendance and achievement (education outcomes) There is an assumption this is also the case in remote communities and government policies therefore focus on getting kids to school (without focusing on the quality of the schooling). When we look at the first assumption that attendance is linked to NAPLAN results in very remote schools there is a moderate relationship. This graph show the attendance for all students in remote schools v achievement.
- Source: Gunther, J (2012) Are we making education count in remote Australian communities or just counting education? When we look at schools with over 80% aboriginal and Torres strait islanders students then the correlation is even weaker. This suggests that while attendance may be a factor in relation to NAPLAN in mainstream groups, but for indigenous students in very remote communities it does not play such an important roll. This is grounds for challenging the assumption that attendance is linked with outcomes in very remote schools.
- Indicators used by Governments to assess and modify education show a story of disadvantage for remote Indigenous students Outcomes from the Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage Steering Committee outlined here show: First 3 tell a deficit story of education are the focus of government policy Data exists to back them up Last 3 Less or no data exists Little government focus Harder to measure (particularly the last 2)
- Missing part of the story when it comes to describing indigenous education outcomes in remote Australia.
- This project can be seen as a link between the Interplay and the RES project aim is to use the knowledge gained from the RES project to inform the interplay project In the literature review I have looked at the remote education and how that relates to Health Wellbeing and Employment. Then use this information to help design the interplay framework and survey tools. The structure of the interplay project is such that it is linking Health, employment and education to wellbeing. Initial research by the interplay project has also resulted in the need to include Culture, community, and empowerment in relation to remote aboriginal communities. All these factors contribute to the wellbeing model -
- Two broad aims of this maters project are: To develop improved measures of educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from remote communities To identify the interrelationships between formal education, traditional learning and culturally relevant community-identified indicators and employment, health and wellbeing outcomes
- Current indicators for measuring education – School attendance NAPLAN Pathways to high education From the Lit review I have identified some alternative indicators which give a better picture of remote education and it’s links to wellbeing, health and employment. Engagement Motivations and barriers Quality of education, including quality of teachers Relevance of the curriculum Pathways to employments – how does education fit in with post schooling life – education for what? Learning about culture in school.
- Shows the interrelationships between education measured this way and the other domains. The other domains are also being measured using new indicators which will result in a more accurate representation of wellbeing.
- The hypothesis for the project are: engagement, and the quality and cultural relevance of education are more important than attendance in relation to achievement in remote education. connection to culture, engagement in school, empowerment and opportunity are strong predictors of wellbeing.
- The timeline for the project is outlined hear – baring in mind that it’s part time over 4 years. 1. Conducting a formal literature review, interviewing collaborating researchers and synthesizing relevant output from CRC-REP activities 2. gaining ethics clearance (submitted) 3. Support Aboriginal Community Researchers in the collection of field data 4. Data analysis to identify correlations between indicators of education in relation to employment, health and wellbeing 5. Write the research as a Masters thesis
- RSD – remote service delivery NTG – northern territory town Wiluna, (WA) Martu People Population approx 1000 (80% Martu) 966km from Perth on edge of Western Desert Mining and pastoral industries Regional Partnership Agreement (2008) Birriliburru Indigenous Protected Area (2013) Martu Ranger Program/s Galiwin’ku Yolngu people East Arnhem Land Large central island community (population approx 1800) with homelands Federal RSD Town NTG Growth Town Range of industries Amata Pitjantjatjara speakers APY Lands Population approx 300 Federal RSD site Amata Family Wellbeing Centre
- Primary data: Primary data collected by individual surveys (approx 1 hour) Community level survey will take the shape of a focus group in each of the communities with community representatives, = both surveys will have questions from each domain in the interplay framework (Health, community, culture, wellbeing, employment, empowerment as well as education) Primary data will be sublimated with secondary data Individual and community level data will be linked. And this will include Education, health, services, infrastructure, governance and economic participation)
- N= population n= minimum sample size for cohort
- Ethics clearances from 3 different states – NT, SA, and WA. Each have an aboriginal sub committee Then going through the land councils and the data linkage applications.. A fairly complicated process.
- Closing the Gap (2008) report had three recommendations which relate to education: To halve the gap in reading, writing and numeracy achievements for children within a decade To halve the gap in Indigenous Year 12 achievement by 2020 To halve the gap in employment outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a decade.
- Hopefully, this project will contribute to existing knowledge and help inform policy on effective education for people living in remote communities.
- Thanks for listening. These are the list of principal partners and projects partners for the CRC-REP -