March 26, 2024 • 23 mins
This episode is part of a series dedicated to amplifying excellence in WA VET through award winner stories. In this instalment, we have the privilege of speaking with Holly Gudsell, WA and Australian VET Teacher/Trainer of the year. Holly speaks to us about her pivotal role in shaping the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Officer (AIEO) program. This program is founded upon several key principles, including:
- Incorporation of the 8 Aboriginal Ways of Learning, which are central to Aboriginal Pedagogy (8ways.online)
- Adoption of Trauma-Informed Care Principles
- Emphasis on the Three C’s: Communication, Cultural Safety, and Contextualisation
- Integration of Universal Design for Learning principles.
This episode may serve as a valuable resource for RTOs seeking to develop culturally safe environments for First Nations learners.
Published 27/3/24
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Music.
(00:06):
Talks. My name is Mel Hartley from the Training Accreditation Council or TAC
and before we start I wish to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the
land we are recording on, the Whadjuk people.
We wish to acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution
they make to the life of this city and this region.
Today's episode is part of a
(00:26):
series where we amplify excellence in WA Vet through award winner stories.
Today, I'm talking to Holly Goodsall, winner of the WA and Australian Vet Teacher
Trainer of the Year Awards.
Holly is an advocate for Aboriginal education and a champion of student success.
(00:50):
Holly has worked overseas teaching English in Kenya and China,
then returned to Australia to continue her teaching career at Fitzroy Crossing.
After moving into TAFE, Holly was approached to develop and deliver a new program
for the Department of Education to upskill Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Education Officers, or AIEOs,
(01:11):
across Perth Metropolitan Schools.
Congratulations on your incredible win as the WA and Australian Vet Teacher Trainer of the Year.
It's so great to have you here, especially because TAC is a proud sponsor of
the WA Trainer of the Year Award.
Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here.
(01:31):
First, I'd just like to ask you about teaching in Kenya and China and also in Fitzroy Crossing.
Could you tell us a little bit more about those experiences?
Yeah, absolutely. So I got my primary school teaching degree straight out of
high school, as everyone does, straight into university.
And I thought that I wanted to be working in an early childhood environment
(01:53):
in a primary school here in Perth.
I did that for a short amount of time, before I realised that something was missing.
I knew that I had this strong urge to want to help people and it wasn't quite
fulfilling that need, I suppose.
So I decided to go travelling and that totally changed my path.
(02:14):
I decided to come back to Perth and complete my teaching English to speakers
of other languages qualification at university and that quickly took me on a different path.
I was off to Kenya and I taught in Mombasa and I really got the bug for working
with students with diverse learning needs and making learning fun.
(02:39):
That was what I really thrived off of.
And so I came back to Perth. I was home for about less than two weeks.
I thought, I'm just going to keep going.
So I went to China and I again got that bug that I was like,
I have to keep going. So yeah.
It was funny how life happens, you know, because I feel that when it's right,
things happen very easily.
(03:00):
So when I came back to Australia after my stay in China, I put it out there
to a couple of girlfriends saying, I really want to go teach in a remote community.
Within five days, I was in Fitzroy Crossing. So I really couldn't stop for some time.
And then I was there just under two years and that's when I really fell in love
(03:21):
with working with students with diverse learning needs and particularly working
with students with trauma and incorporating those trauma-informed practices into my teaching.
I learnt a lot about the culture, but I fell in love with the culture and working
with Aboriginal people.
And so I was so fortunate when I came back to Perth to be given an opportunity
(03:45):
to develop such a course at North Metropolitan TAFE after teaching an education
report for some time. So it was all meant to be.
That sounds so awesome.
And what a whirlwind of different things that you did. Absolute whirlwind.
I just want to focus on your working in the remote community.
(04:07):
It seems to have had a really profound impact on your approach to Aboriginal
education. Was there a particular experience, student,
cultural event that ignited your passion in this area?
I have to say it's probably not what you would expect, but it's something that
(04:27):
still stays with me to this day.
I worked really hard with my students in terms of trauma-informed care and creating
a safe space for my students.
So that became my priority even now with my adult students that I work with.
So every single morning I created this social-emotional time in the morning
where I would check in with each of my students.
(04:49):
We would talk about strategies to deal with students that perhaps weren't coping
in their home environments and how we can support them.
And I started creating this really safe place in my classroom.
And because of that, I saw the effects that.
We were in a district high school and for some time my class had the highest
(05:12):
attendance and I was thinking, like, why is that?
And I think it really does come down to the fact that I put up a lot of time
and effort integrating that safe space for my students to come.
So I learned a lot about, you know, like Maslow's hierarchy of needs and meeting
those physiological needs students in the classroom.
So if students are coming in and they're not, they haven't been fed,
(05:36):
they haven't been you know looked after they
haven't cowered any of those things then that's
my number one priority before they're able to learn
that day right and and to maybe work
with them to solve any of their social emotional
distress that they may be feeling at that time
so i started incorporating a lot of strategies and
(05:58):
i think that that has helped me a huge amount
with the students that i'm working me is now i'm
not just lecturing i feel like sometimes i
am also supporting emotionally and not
counseling that's a little bit too far but you know i'm that safe i try to be
that safe space for my students and lend an ear and a shoulder if i have to
(06:20):
and then everything else happens with that so that's like step number one is
create a safe space for my students that's like like my passion,
and I think that's why I was selected to create this program at North Metro TAFE later on.
That just sounds absolutely amazing. And you've mentioned a couple of times
(06:41):
this course at North Metro TAFE. Is this the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Officer Programme?
Yep, education off of the program, yeah. Awesome. Would you just be able to
explain what that program is and how it shaped your approach to support Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islanders?
Yeah, absolutely. So in 2021, the Department of Education approached North Metropolitan
(07:07):
to create a course specifically for Aboriginal and Islander education officers.
At the time, we were obviously servicing education assistants in schools.
And so what we knew that we could do, because the role of the education assistant
and the role of the Aboriginal Islander education officer, they do in some ways overlap.
(07:30):
But obviously, the AIEO role is more about creating the cultural safety for Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander students and supporting communities.
Supporting families in school.
So there was that added element so i knew
that i couldn't do that alone being a non-indigenous person and
i wanted to make sure that i was providing cultural safety for
(07:51):
my adult students so we
did bring on an aio who lectured
alongside me that year and helped me to
create the course outline and to
create the course so basically what we
did was take the education assistant We took out some of those elective units
and we put in more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education specific
(08:16):
units so that it would closely relate to the job description form of an AIO
versus an education assistant.
So you helped develop that AIEO course, is that right?
Yes. So is it online? Is it face-to-face? How do you deliver it?
(08:39):
Yeah, absolutely. So we knew in the developing phase, which I absolutely loved,
by the way, because I love organizing things.
So when we're in the development phase of like, okay, how is this course going
to not only run but how is it going to be successful and how are we going to
maintain engagement because that's our number one goal.
(08:59):
So we thought, right, we need to look at three different things.
And this was sort of our guiding pedagogy along the way and particularly in
the development phase is we were looking at the eight Aboriginal ways of learning.
So that's a really fantastic culturally responsive program that includes cultural
(09:19):
perspectives and knowledge. and it basically outlines how best Aboriginal people learn.
So, of course, we were going to use that pedagogy when we were planning.
It had already outlined for us that we need to include story sharing,
we need to include community links, how are we going to include non-verbal,
(09:40):
verbal, those sorts of things.
The other part was the UDL principles, the Universal Design for Learning,
So, multiple means of engagement, multiple means of representation.
And multiple means of action and expression.
So, it's basically like, how can we eliminate as many barriers as possible and
(10:01):
give the students as many different ways to complete assignments,
to engage with the learning material, to present their information?
And, of course, those trauma-informed care principals as well.
So we took all three of those and we designed this course.
It was a one-year work-based training course, which meant that we would go to them.
(10:27):
So I would go out to the schools and work with the students in school and the
schools would support us and give additional time to the students to work with us.
And it was on-site training. and that
was really successful and it still is we're in
our third year fourth year of the course now we're
still going and so that hasn't changed and so
(10:50):
yeah it was a work-based model students could access blackboard or learning
you know materials online and then they would complete their assessments in
multiple different ways depending on their learning styles so we thought Or
we would allow the students, if they wanted to, printing up assessments,
completing them handwritten, they could type up their assessments.
(11:13):
Or we created a part of the assessment called assessment yarning.
And that strongly links to the eight ways of learning pedagogy around story sharing.
So we wanted students to be able to complete their assessments by just having
an informal whole yarn telling us what do they already know,
(11:34):
you know, what we want them to learn and then get trained from there.
So it was like a very empowering, yeah, it's very empowering for the students
that we are recognising that they're coming in with a wealth of knowledge and
we want to recognise that.
And a lot of students opted to do assessment yarning as a form of assessment.
(11:55):
So that has been, yeah, one of the most important parts of our course, which is great, yes.
That is so fantastic. And it's actually really topical because the current standards
for RTOs are being reviewed to include more on this wellbeing support services,
inclusive training environments, and the cultural safety of First Nations staff and learners.
(12:21):
So it sounds like what you're doing is right along that track.
Could you explain a little bit more about the eight ways of learning that you were talking about?
Absolutely. So we took the eight ways of learning.
So there are, if you wouldn't mind, I'll just tell you what the eight ways are
and then tell you how we incorporated them into our course. So there's story sharing.
(12:43):
So that's all about that yarning element. And it's such an important cultural
element in Aboriginal culture.
So we wanted to think, right, how can we incorporate story sharing?
So that can be from, you know, recognising that prior experience,
having that yarn with them, what do they already know, and then scaffolding
from there, absolutely.
(13:04):
Another part of that is assessment yarning as well.
I also meet with students over Teams and can complete their assignments orally that way.
So, there's multiple means as, you know, those UDL principles,
multiple means of representation representation
in terms of their knowledge community links
so we incorporated like networking
(13:27):
hubs networking events so that they could learn
from each other and grow and learn in a
group in a safe space of other aboriginal learners so once the term we try to
get students together for a networking event i also create monthly newsletter
which showcases good work that's happening out out there and professional development
(13:50):
opportunities for students as well.
So that has been really well received and students really love sending me their,
you know, good news stories and what they're doing in school.
Some of them, you know, their student population at their school has increased
since they've done this and then they share that with other students and, oh, I want to do that too.
(14:11):
And so it's been a really great sharing opportunity.
Deconstruct, reconstruct. constructs so pulling things apart and then putting
them back together so it might be something as simple as breaking down a task
into smaller chunks I do we do you do so modeling to the students what you want
them to see making it very visual so that's how I've also incorporated that,
(14:35):
Non-linear, so you know that there's multiple ways of getting to a solution.
It's like, you know, any math problems.
Everyone's going to get to that solution in very different ways.
So allowing the student different ways to reach the, you know, same sort of outcome.
Land links, so a lot of our contextualisation of the course, of course, is Numark.
(15:00):
We're on Numawadjuk land. so if we're
getting any professional development opportunities come through
or contextualizing any of our health
materials or anything for any of our units we make
sure it's relevant to what's happening here in Perth so normal
one-shot plan symbols and images
so making things visual having a
(15:21):
very clear even we say like my
visit schedules and things I make sure they're colorful they're bright
very clear sort of outline timetables everything
is given in like visual hard copy forms and then
the last two are non-verbal so including some
opportunities for students to demonstrate their opportunity through non-verbal
(15:42):
means we're not able to obviously hit all of these eight ways but we're still
working on with the some that we do better than others but of course you know
at least we know what they are and we're trying to always as you incorporate
them, and then learning that.
So, again, there's those visit schedules, things like that.
So off the back of this, we created the three Cs, which is a great framework
(16:06):
for any RTO that they can use when they're supporting Aboriginal education.
And that is cultural safety, contextualisation, and communication.
So if they can think about those three things when they're developing an Aboriginal
program, I think that that will really help them in that planning phase and
(16:26):
then also with maintaining engagement and motivation throughout the course.
So I can talk to those three Cs if you want. Oh, yes, that would be fantastic.
Keep going? Yeah, keep going.
Okay, so communication before even in the first early weeks of the course,
we sent out a Microsoft form to all of our students.
(16:49):
And on that form we ask things like obviously
contact details but what would be the best form of communication for you so
would you like us to text call email what's your third form of communication
a lot of students opted for texting over calling or emails a much more informal
(17:09):
way of getting in touch with my students.
On there, we also asked if there was any cultural responsibilities,
familial responsibilities that we needed to know about that may impact on their learning.
And also if they were comfortable, if our AIO support staff was not available,
(17:29):
would they be comfortable meeting with me alone?
And if they weren't comfortable, then we would make sure that we had an Aboriginal
staff member with us when we went out into school. So, that just provided that
additional cultural safety.
We made, yeah, very flexible contact. So, we would go out to school three to four times a term.
(17:50):
And that face-to-face interaction made students accountable.
We had really good relationships with the line managers at the school.
So, that also was another form of accountability, keeping up with their studies.
In terms of communication as well
we had networking hubs and networking events
at coolark which is our center for aboriginal students and they would often
(18:15):
go there to do additional study or receive any of that cultural support and
sometimes i'm not able to give and of course those newsletters which i've talked
about before so those are some of the ways that we We,
you know, make sure that we are hitting that communication.
Cultural safety, we had an Aboriginal mentor.
(18:36):
We use Coolark. Obviously, with this as well, with trauma-informed care,
it's providing that social-emotional support first and relationship building.
So a lot of the time I go out to schools, for the first half an hour,
sometimes we're just catching up, you know, and talking about their families.
We're talking about things that are happening in their lives.
(18:57):
And I'm just a listening ear. I'm not expecting to go there and get straight into study.
You know, relationship building is number one. And then the learning comes after that.
And I think that's really helped in maintaining student engagement as well throughout.
And then the very last thing we did was contextualizing all of our learning materials.
(19:18):
So we got appropriate pictures, visuals.
Modules we use our original web websites all
about you know making sure that we're using culturally appropriate
resources so we had to do a lot of like an overhaul of all of our learning materials
to make sure that it was meeting the needs of our students and that it was appropriate
(19:39):
you guys have done so much and i really like the three c's concept that is such
a great concept that you've got there.
To really finish off today, is there anything that you would like to tell RTOs
about incorporating cultural safety or is there anything that will help them
on this journey with student diversity and how to do this better?
(20:03):
Yeah, absolutely. So, if I could direct them, you know, as a starting point
to even going onto the eight ways of learning,
looking into those UDL principles and those trauma-informed practices and thinking,
right, how can we meet each of these, you know, markers, I suppose,
when you are wanting to develop an Aboriginal program?
(20:25):
I think number one, relationship building and And creating a safe space for your student.
Those things are paramount. If your student doesn't feel safe with you,
that they can have an informal yarn,
they can learn about you, you can learn about them, and then they can be a safe
place, you can be a safe place for them, then the learning won't happen.
(20:47):
So that can be, you know, there's one takeaway I hope from this is that we're
providing those trauma-informed care principles with our students.
And then of course from there the three c's
just follow that three c i suppose it's
a really great framework so contextualize provide
cultural safety and provide multiple means of communication
(21:09):
then the rest will hopefully all unfold so where can we find the eight ways
of learning is it a website or yeah yeah so eight ways online and yeah it was
developed in consultation with james School of University and with the Department of Education.
And so we have a lot of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander input into this
(21:34):
pedagogy, and this is what they've come up with saying, this is the best way
to teach Aboriginal students.
So that's the big starting point.
Then, of course, incorporate those UDL and incorporate those trauma-informed,
and then that's a great starting point.
No problem. We'll stick the link into the notes so everyone can find them.
Thank you so much for speaking to me today, Holly.
(21:58):
Your dedication and innovative approach to supporting Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander learners is really, truly inspiring.
And I really do appreciate you sharing your insights and passions with us today.
And that brings us to the end of this very special episode.
And you've been listening to TAC Talks with your host, Mel Hartley,
(22:19):
and award winner, Holly Goodsell.
Music.
Music.
(00:06):
Talks. My name is Mel Hartley from the Training Accreditation Council or TAC
and before we start I wish to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the
land we are recording on, the Whadjuk people.
We wish to acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution
they make to the life of this city and this region.
Today's episode is part of a
(00:26):
series where we amplify excellence in WA Vet through award winner stories.
Today, I'm talking to Holly Goodsall, winner of the WA and Australian Vet Teacher
Trainer of the Year Awards.
Holly is an advocate for Aboriginal education and a champion of student success.
(00:50):
Holly has worked overseas teaching English in Kenya and China,
then returned to Australia to continue her teaching career at Fitzroy Crossing.
After moving into TAFE, Holly was approached to develop and deliver a new program
for the Department of Education to upskill Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Education Officers, or AIEOs,
(01:11):
across Perth Metropolitan Schools.
Congratulations on your incredible win as the WA and Australian Vet Teacher Trainer of the Year.
It's so great to have you here, especially because TAC is a proud sponsor of
the WA Trainer of the Year Award.
Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here.
(01:31):
First, I'd just like to ask you about teaching in Kenya and China and also in Fitzroy Crossing.
Could you tell us a little bit more about those experiences?
Yeah, absolutely. So I got my primary school teaching degree straight out of
high school, as everyone does, straight into university.
And I thought that I wanted to be working in an early childhood environment
(01:53):
in a primary school here in Perth.
I did that for a short amount of time, before I realised that something was missing.
I knew that I had this strong urge to want to help people and it wasn't quite
fulfilling that need, I suppose.
So I decided to go travelling and that totally changed my path.
(02:14):
I decided to come back to Perth and complete my teaching English to speakers
of other languages qualification at university and that quickly took me on a different path.
I was off to Kenya and I taught in Mombasa and I really got the bug for working
with students with diverse learning needs and making learning fun.
(02:39):
That was what I really thrived off of.
And so I came back to Perth. I was home for about less than two weeks.
I thought, I'm just going to keep going.
So I went to China and I again got that bug that I was like,
I have to keep going. So yeah.
It was funny how life happens, you know, because I feel that when it's right,
things happen very easily.
(03:00):
So when I came back to Australia after my stay in China, I put it out there
to a couple of girlfriends saying, I really want to go teach in a remote community.
Within five days, I was in Fitzroy Crossing. So I really couldn't stop for some time.
And then I was there just under two years and that's when I really fell in love
(03:21):
with working with students with diverse learning needs and particularly working
with students with trauma and incorporating those trauma-informed practices into my teaching.
I learnt a lot about the culture, but I fell in love with the culture and working
with Aboriginal people.
And so I was so fortunate when I came back to Perth to be given an opportunity
(03:45):
to develop such a course at North Metropolitan TAFE after teaching an education
report for some time. So it was all meant to be.
That sounds so awesome.
And what a whirlwind of different things that you did. Absolute whirlwind.
I just want to focus on your working in the remote community.
(04:07):
It seems to have had a really profound impact on your approach to Aboriginal
education. Was there a particular experience, student,
cultural event that ignited your passion in this area?
I have to say it's probably not what you would expect, but it's something that
(04:27):
still stays with me to this day.
I worked really hard with my students in terms of trauma-informed care and creating
a safe space for my students.
So that became my priority even now with my adult students that I work with.
So every single morning I created this social-emotional time in the morning
where I would check in with each of my students.
(04:49):
We would talk about strategies to deal with students that perhaps weren't coping
in their home environments and how we can support them.
And I started creating this really safe place in my classroom.
And because of that, I saw the effects that.
We were in a district high school and for some time my class had the highest
(05:12):
attendance and I was thinking, like, why is that?
And I think it really does come down to the fact that I put up a lot of time
and effort integrating that safe space for my students to come.
So I learned a lot about, you know, like Maslow's hierarchy of needs and meeting
those physiological needs students in the classroom.
So if students are coming in and they're not, they haven't been fed,
(05:36):
they haven't been you know looked after they
haven't cowered any of those things then that's
my number one priority before they're able to learn
that day right and and to maybe work
with them to solve any of their social emotional
distress that they may be feeling at that time
so i started incorporating a lot of strategies and
(05:58):
i think that that has helped me a huge amount
with the students that i'm working me is now i'm
not just lecturing i feel like sometimes i
am also supporting emotionally and not
counseling that's a little bit too far but you know i'm that safe i try to be
that safe space for my students and lend an ear and a shoulder if i have to
(06:20):
and then everything else happens with that so that's like step number one is
create a safe space for my students that's like like my passion,
and I think that's why I was selected to create this program at North Metro TAFE later on.
That just sounds absolutely amazing. And you've mentioned a couple of times
(06:41):
this course at North Metro TAFE. Is this the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Officer Programme?
Yep, education off of the program, yeah. Awesome. Would you just be able to
explain what that program is and how it shaped your approach to support Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islanders?
Yeah, absolutely. So in 2021, the Department of Education approached North Metropolitan
(07:07):
to create a course specifically for Aboriginal and Islander education officers.
At the time, we were obviously servicing education assistants in schools.
And so what we knew that we could do, because the role of the education assistant
and the role of the Aboriginal Islander education officer, they do in some ways overlap.
(07:30):
But obviously, the AIEO role is more about creating the cultural safety for Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander students and supporting communities.
Supporting families in school.
So there was that added element so i knew
that i couldn't do that alone being a non-indigenous person and
i wanted to make sure that i was providing cultural safety for
(07:51):
my adult students so we
did bring on an aio who lectured
alongside me that year and helped me to
create the course outline and to
create the course so basically what we
did was take the education assistant We took out some of those elective units
and we put in more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education specific
(08:16):
units so that it would closely relate to the job description form of an AIO
versus an education assistant.
So you helped develop that AIEO course, is that right?
Yes. So is it online? Is it face-to-face? How do you deliver it?
(08:39):
Yeah, absolutely. So we knew in the developing phase, which I absolutely loved,
by the way, because I love organizing things.
So when we're in the development phase of like, okay, how is this course going
to not only run but how is it going to be successful and how are we going to
maintain engagement because that's our number one goal.
(08:59):
So we thought, right, we need to look at three different things.
And this was sort of our guiding pedagogy along the way and particularly in
the development phase is we were looking at the eight Aboriginal ways of learning.
So that's a really fantastic culturally responsive program that includes cultural
(09:19):
perspectives and knowledge. and it basically outlines how best Aboriginal people learn.
So, of course, we were going to use that pedagogy when we were planning.
It had already outlined for us that we need to include story sharing,
we need to include community links, how are we going to include non-verbal,
(09:40):
verbal, those sorts of things.
The other part was the UDL principles, the Universal Design for Learning,
So, multiple means of engagement, multiple means of representation.
And multiple means of action and expression.
So, it's basically like, how can we eliminate as many barriers as possible and
(10:01):
give the students as many different ways to complete assignments,
to engage with the learning material, to present their information?
And, of course, those trauma-informed care principals as well.
So we took all three of those and we designed this course.
It was a one-year work-based training course, which meant that we would go to them.
(10:27):
So I would go out to the schools and work with the students in school and the
schools would support us and give additional time to the students to work with us.
And it was on-site training. and that
was really successful and it still is we're in
our third year fourth year of the course now we're
still going and so that hasn't changed and so
(10:50):
yeah it was a work-based model students could access blackboard or learning
you know materials online and then they would complete their assessments in
multiple different ways depending on their learning styles so we thought Or
we would allow the students, if they wanted to, printing up assessments,
completing them handwritten, they could type up their assessments.
(11:13):
Or we created a part of the assessment called assessment yarning.
And that strongly links to the eight ways of learning pedagogy around story sharing.
So we wanted students to be able to complete their assessments by just having
an informal whole yarn telling us what do they already know,
(11:34):
you know, what we want them to learn and then get trained from there.
So it was like a very empowering, yeah, it's very empowering for the students
that we are recognising that they're coming in with a wealth of knowledge and
we want to recognise that.
And a lot of students opted to do assessment yarning as a form of assessment.
(11:55):
So that has been, yeah, one of the most important parts of our course, which is great, yes.
That is so fantastic. And it's actually really topical because the current standards
for RTOs are being reviewed to include more on this wellbeing support services,
inclusive training environments, and the cultural safety of First Nations staff and learners.
(12:21):
So it sounds like what you're doing is right along that track.
Could you explain a little bit more about the eight ways of learning that you were talking about?
Absolutely. So we took the eight ways of learning.
So there are, if you wouldn't mind, I'll just tell you what the eight ways are
and then tell you how we incorporated them into our course. So there's story sharing.
(12:43):
So that's all about that yarning element. And it's such an important cultural
element in Aboriginal culture.
So we wanted to think, right, how can we incorporate story sharing?
So that can be from, you know, recognising that prior experience,
having that yarn with them, what do they already know, and then scaffolding
from there, absolutely.
(13:04):
Another part of that is assessment yarning as well.
I also meet with students over Teams and can complete their assignments orally that way.
So, there's multiple means as, you know, those UDL principles,
multiple means of representation representation
in terms of their knowledge community links
so we incorporated like networking
(13:27):
hubs networking events so that they could learn
from each other and grow and learn in a
group in a safe space of other aboriginal learners so once the term we try to
get students together for a networking event i also create monthly newsletter
which showcases good work that's happening out out there and professional development
(13:50):
opportunities for students as well.
So that has been really well received and students really love sending me their,
you know, good news stories and what they're doing in school.
Some of them, you know, their student population at their school has increased
since they've done this and then they share that with other students and, oh, I want to do that too.
(14:11):
And so it's been a really great sharing opportunity.
Deconstruct, reconstruct. constructs so pulling things apart and then putting
them back together so it might be something as simple as breaking down a task
into smaller chunks I do we do you do so modeling to the students what you want
them to see making it very visual so that's how I've also incorporated that,
(14:35):
Non-linear, so you know that there's multiple ways of getting to a solution.
It's like, you know, any math problems.
Everyone's going to get to that solution in very different ways.
So allowing the student different ways to reach the, you know, same sort of outcome.
Land links, so a lot of our contextualisation of the course, of course, is Numark.
(15:00):
We're on Numawadjuk land. so if we're
getting any professional development opportunities come through
or contextualizing any of our health
materials or anything for any of our units we make
sure it's relevant to what's happening here in Perth so normal
one-shot plan symbols and images
so making things visual having a
(15:21):
very clear even we say like my
visit schedules and things I make sure they're colorful they're bright
very clear sort of outline timetables everything
is given in like visual hard copy forms and then
the last two are non-verbal so including some
opportunities for students to demonstrate their opportunity through non-verbal
(15:42):
means we're not able to obviously hit all of these eight ways but we're still
working on with the some that we do better than others but of course you know
at least we know what they are and we're trying to always as you incorporate
them, and then learning that.
So, again, there's those visit schedules, things like that.
So off the back of this, we created the three Cs, which is a great framework
(16:06):
for any RTO that they can use when they're supporting Aboriginal education.
And that is cultural safety, contextualisation, and communication.
So if they can think about those three things when they're developing an Aboriginal
program, I think that that will really help them in that planning phase and
(16:26):
then also with maintaining engagement and motivation throughout the course.
So I can talk to those three Cs if you want. Oh, yes, that would be fantastic.
Keep going? Yeah, keep going.
Okay, so communication before even in the first early weeks of the course,
we sent out a Microsoft form to all of our students.
(16:49):
And on that form we ask things like obviously
contact details but what would be the best form of communication for you so
would you like us to text call email what's your third form of communication
a lot of students opted for texting over calling or emails a much more informal
(17:09):
way of getting in touch with my students.
On there, we also asked if there was any cultural responsibilities,
familial responsibilities that we needed to know about that may impact on their learning.
And also if they were comfortable, if our AIO support staff was not available,
(17:29):
would they be comfortable meeting with me alone?
And if they weren't comfortable, then we would make sure that we had an Aboriginal
staff member with us when we went out into school. So, that just provided that
additional cultural safety.
We made, yeah, very flexible contact. So, we would go out to school three to four times a term.
(17:50):
And that face-to-face interaction made students accountable.
We had really good relationships with the line managers at the school.
So, that also was another form of accountability, keeping up with their studies.
In terms of communication as well
we had networking hubs and networking events
at coolark which is our center for aboriginal students and they would often
(18:15):
go there to do additional study or receive any of that cultural support and
sometimes i'm not able to give and of course those newsletters which i've talked
about before so those are some of the ways that we We,
you know, make sure that we are hitting that communication.
Cultural safety, we had an Aboriginal mentor.
(18:36):
We use Coolark. Obviously, with this as well, with trauma-informed care,
it's providing that social-emotional support first and relationship building.
So a lot of the time I go out to schools, for the first half an hour,
sometimes we're just catching up, you know, and talking about their families.
We're talking about things that are happening in their lives.
(18:57):
And I'm just a listening ear. I'm not expecting to go there and get straight into study.
You know, relationship building is number one. And then the learning comes after that.
And I think that's really helped in maintaining student engagement as well throughout.
And then the very last thing we did was contextualizing all of our learning materials.
(19:18):
So we got appropriate pictures, visuals.
Modules we use our original web websites all
about you know making sure that we're using culturally appropriate
resources so we had to do a lot of like an overhaul of all of our learning materials
to make sure that it was meeting the needs of our students and that it was appropriate
(19:39):
you guys have done so much and i really like the three c's concept that is such
a great concept that you've got there.
To really finish off today, is there anything that you would like to tell RTOs
about incorporating cultural safety or is there anything that will help them
on this journey with student diversity and how to do this better?
(20:03):
Yeah, absolutely. So, if I could direct them, you know, as a starting point
to even going onto the eight ways of learning,
looking into those UDL principles and those trauma-informed practices and thinking,
right, how can we meet each of these, you know, markers, I suppose,
when you are wanting to develop an Aboriginal program?
(20:25):
I think number one, relationship building and And creating a safe space for your student.
Those things are paramount. If your student doesn't feel safe with you,
that they can have an informal yarn,
they can learn about you, you can learn about them, and then they can be a safe
place, you can be a safe place for them, then the learning won't happen.
(20:47):
So that can be, you know, there's one takeaway I hope from this is that we're
providing those trauma-informed care principles with our students.
And then of course from there the three c's
just follow that three c i suppose it's
a really great framework so contextualize provide
cultural safety and provide multiple means of communication
(21:09):
then the rest will hopefully all unfold so where can we find the eight ways
of learning is it a website or yeah yeah so eight ways online and yeah it was
developed in consultation with james School of University and with the Department of Education.
And so we have a lot of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander input into this
(21:34):
pedagogy, and this is what they've come up with saying, this is the best way
to teach Aboriginal students.
So that's the big starting point.
Then, of course, incorporate those UDL and incorporate those trauma-informed,
and then that's a great starting point.
No problem. We'll stick the link into the notes so everyone can find them.
Thank you so much for speaking to me today, Holly.
(21:58):
Your dedication and innovative approach to supporting Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander learners is really, truly inspiring.
And I really do appreciate you sharing your insights and passions with us today.
And that brings us to the end of this very special episode.
And you've been listening to TAC Talks with your host, Mel Hartley,
(22:19):
and award winner, Holly Goodsell.
Music.
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