FIRST ON COUNTRY TEACHING GRADUATES SET TO MAKE AN IMPACT
L to R: Professor Harlene Hayne, Professor Rhonda Oliver, Associate Professor Graeme Gower, Ronita Bradshaw, Tara-Anne Rangi, Brianna Taylor-Ellison, Samantha Little, Leanne Eades, Jacqueline Hunter, Sophie Benson, Emeritus Professor Simon Forrest. Picture: GFP Events
BY ASAD KHAN
Six Curtin University graduates are set to have a significant impact in their local communities after being the first group to complete the university’s On Country Education Teaching Initiative.
Funded by the Western Australian Department of Education and beginning in 2020, the program was established to support Indigenous staff working in classroom support roles in regional and remote areas to complete the necessary degree to become qualified primary school teachers.
This innovative program was delivered primarily online, allowing students to study part-time while continuing to work and remain in their communities.
The partnership between the Department of Education and Curtin University also included the establishment of a working group, in addition to ongoing support from school staff committed to the success of the initiative.
Project Lead Associate Professor Graeme Gower said the program addressed a major gap in the workforce.
“Only 2 per cent of teachers in Australia are Indigenous—which drops to just 1.2 per cent in WA—so we have a real scope and need for more Indigenous voices to lead our classrooms,”
“The On Country Teacher Education program is unique in so many ways and has been acknowledged nationally and internationally as an exemplary culturally appropriate model to support Indigenous persons wanting to become teachers.”
“I would encourage every Aboriginal person to consider studying at university because it will make a difference not only to your life and your family’s life but to the lives you will touch when you actually use your degree—be it in teaching, engineering, architecture, or other fields.”
“It’s life-changing, and many of the students who graduated from this program have told me that this experience, even though challenging, has been life-changing for them.”
Listen to Ngaarda Media’s Asad Khan speak with Project Lead Associate Professor Graeme Gower: