educator_aut2023_d5cacdf782fbfd by Australian Education Union

Australian

The year ahead

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// Why 2023 must deliver progress

Course correction

// Funding can help address gender inequity

Bright futures

// Meet four talented new educators

AUTUMN 2023 // ISSUE 117 $9.95

Talking trauma

// How complex trauma affects learning

Unions for YES!

Why an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament must be enshrined in the Constitution.

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After After over over 65,000 65,000 years years of of continuous continuous culture, culture, it’s it’s time time Aboriginal Aboriginal and and Torres Torres Strait Strait Islander Islander people people are are recognised recognised in in our our 122-year-old 122-year-old Constitution. Constitution.

Join Join the the Unions Unions For For Yes Yes campaign campaign ausunions.io/unionsforyes ausunions.io/unionsforyes

Be Be part part of of the the campaign campaign to to improve improve rights rights at at work work for for Aboriginal Aboriginal and and Torres Torres Strait Strait Islander Islander People People -- Join Join the the First First Nations Nations Workers Workers Alliance Alliance

fnwa.org.au fnwa.org.au

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Contents ON THE COVER The AEU affirmed its commitment to supporting an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament at its Federal Conference in February. PHOTOGRAPHY Esther Buttery

A summary of the AEU financial statements for the year ending 31 December 2022 are available at aeufederal.org.au

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• Unions unite to demand funding • Call to act on wages and conditions • Improved induction needed • State of our Schools survey

Progress on gender equality in Australia has stalled, but properly funding public education can bring about real change.

Understanding how abuse, neglect and disasters affect children is the first step towards improving their experience of school, according to a new book.

REGULARS

It’s time we recognised Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in our 122-year-old Constitution.

With the arts delivering so many benefits to students, there are calls to urgently revive the arts curriculum in schools and universities.

NEWS IN BRIEF

YES TO VOICE

TEACHING THE ULURU STATEMENT IN CLASSROOMS

COURSE CORRECTION

THE VALUE OF CREATIVITY

SEEDS OF CHANGE Four early-career educators discuss the challenges and rewards of teaching in 2023 and beyond.

UNION STRONG

Why the next 12 months will be pivotal to the future of public education and how public schools are funded.

04 From the president 05 Know your union 38 Recess

Educating students about the significance of the Uluru Statement from the Heart could drive support for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament.

NO TIME FOR DELAY

TRAUMA-AWARE EDUCATION

Sharan Burrow's many professional achievements share a singular focus: improving the lives of working people through collective bargaining and legislated entitlements.

www.aeufederal.org.au

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From the president

Hope for progress It has been a busy start to 2023 and while the progress has been reassuring, there is still plenty to be done for public education.

s Term 1 ends, we have much to celebrate, much to be hopeful for and more campaigning to do for the future of public education. Changes underway are significant. Federal education minister Jason Clare, who holds a deep belief in public schools, their teachers, principals, and education support workers, carries the understanding that their voices, via their union, must be at the education policy table to achieve a strong public education system. It is reassuring to see progress, but we must keep working to get where we need to be. While we campaign for public education, so too do we campaign for the fabric of a just society. A Voice to Parliament is the way forward for this country, to respect decades of intellectual labour and hard work of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples asking us, respectfully, to tell the truth about the history of our country; to develop and implement a treaty-making process and, most importantly, entrench a representative voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to the body which, since the 1967 Referendum, has the power to legislate for, and make decisions over Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This body is the Australian Parliament. The instrument is the Australian Constitution. And the Voice must rightly be located within it. We stand proudly alongside our members and their communities as we join the Unions for Yes campaign. Key to the advancement of public education are the campaigns for decent wages and conditions in all branches and associated bodies of the AEU, with wins achieved through industrial bargaining and member action. In December, the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Act significantly amended the Fair Work Act, which now prevents the misuse of “rolling” fixed-term contracts and stops bosses from blackmailing workers by threatening to terminate agreements during bargaining. This includes the new overarching objective of Australia’s workplace relations laws, which recognises “the need to achieve gender equality in the workplace by ensuring equal remuneration for work of equal or comparable value, eliminating gender-based undervaluation of work and providing

Australian Educator

(ISSN: 0728-8387) is published for the Australian Education Union by Hardie Grant Media. The magazine is circulated to members of the AEU nationally.

Heads & Tales

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workplace conditions that facilitate women’s full economic participation”. This year, we will continue to campaign with the ACTU to demand governments act to address the gendered inequities in caring obligations experienced by the education workforce and to end the pay freeze and pay-cap policies of education employers, which disproportionately impact women and drive teachers out of their profession. Australia has a long way to go with gender and sexual diversity and equity. The fourth Writing Themselves In report from La Trobe University, the largest national study series exploring the health and wellbeing of LGBTIQ young people, found that in the last 12 months: • 60.2% of participants felt unsafe or uncomfortable at secondary school. • 27.3% said LGBTIQA+ people were never mentioned in a supportive or inclusive way in their schooling. • 40.8% experienced verbal harassment based on their sexuality or gender identity. • Almost two-thirds (64.3%) of trans women, more than half (54.4%) of trans men, and 44.6% of non-binary participants reported missing day/s at their educational setting due to feeling unsafe or uncomfortable. • Participants reporting disability or a long-term health condition were more likely to have felt unsafe or uncomfortable at their educational setting due to their sexuality or gender identity than those not reporting disability or a long-term health condition. • 79.1% of participants from a multicultural background reported experiencing suicidal thoughts. The AEU believes that every education setting should be a safe and welcoming space for staff, students and families, irrespective of who they are, or what they believe, and we stood proudly with our members at World Pride in Sydney in March celebrating love, diversity and freedom.

AEU and subscription enquiries Australian Education Union Federal Office, PO Box 1158 South Melbourne Victoria 3205 Tel: (03) 9693 1800 Fax: (03) 9693 1805 Email: aeu@aeufederal.org.au facebook.com/AEUfederal @AEUfederal

Editor Kevin Bates Publisher Fiona Hardie Account manager Christine Dixon Managing editor Jo Davy Commissioning editor Tracey Evans Subeditor Leanne Tolra Art direction & design Dallas Budde

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This mandate for inclusion and equity is rooted in properly funding public education, which is the cornerstone of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 on education. This year, there are students finishing Year 12 who have never attended a fully funded public school. That is a national shame. The Albanese Government made an election commitment to ensure that public schools were funded to a minimum of 100 per cent of the Schools Resourcing Standard (SRS). That is a promise to our students that we will make sure they keep. There is a direct link between full funding and current workforce issues. This funding can alleviate the teacher workforce crisis, strengthen public education for all, strengthen initial teacher education, and ensure robust career pathways with opportunity, fair wages and conditions for teachers and education support workers. Campaigns across schools, early childhood and TAFE will seize on the opportunities that this year offers. The AEU currently has representatives on the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan working group, Jobs and Skills Australia consultative forum, National VET Workforce Strategy and the ACCORD Ministerial Reference Group to ensure members’ voices are heard. So, as we move through 2023, hope looms large for: • A Voice to Parliament and a national pathway to truth and treaty. • Reform in the early years so Australia’s youngest children get the best start in life. • A public school system finally funded properly so that every child can reach their full potential without teachers working on average 15 unpaid additional hours every week. • Investment in TAFE to deliver the vocational education our communities need and the workers of the future. • Respect and value for the teaching profession. We look forward to campaigning alongside our members and their communities for the benefit of public education. Correna Haythorpe AEU federal president

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Copyright rests with the writers, the AEU and Hardie Grant Media. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior permission of the copyright holders. The opinions expressed in the magazine are not necessarily the official policy of the AEU.

Know your union With a federal office and branches or associated bodies in every state and territory, the AEU represents more than 198,000 members industrially and professionally. AEU FEDERAL 120 Clarendon St, Southbank, VIC, 3006 Phone: +61 3 9693 1800 Email: aeu@aeufederal.org.au Web: aeufederal.org.au

Federal president Correna Haythorpe Federal secretary Kevin Bates

AEU ACT BRANCH Branch president Angela Burroughs Branch secretary Patrick Judge 40 Brisbane Avenue Barton 2600 Phone: 02 6272 7900 Email: aeuact@aeuact.org.au Web: aeuact.org.au

AEU NT BRANCH Branch president Michelle Ayres Branch secretary Rachael Metcalfe 3/8 Totem Road Coconut Grove 0811 Phone: 08 8948 5399 Email: admin@aeunt.org.au Web: aeunt.org.au

AEU SA BRANCH Branch president Andrew Gohl Branch secretary Leah York 163 Greenhill Road Parkside 5063 Phone: 08 8172 6300 Email: aeusa@aeusa.asn.au Web: aeusa.asn.au

AEU TAS BRANCH Branch president David Genford Branch state manager Brian Wightman 1/32 Patrick Street Hobart 7000 Phone: 03 6234 9500 Email: support@aeutas.org.au Web: aeutas.org.au

AEU VIC BRANCH Branch president Meredith Peace Branch secretary Erin Aullich 126 Trenerry Crescent Abbotsford 3067 Phone: 03 9417 2822 Email: melbourne@aeuvic.asn.au Web: aeuvic.asn.au

QUEENSLAND TEACHERS’ UNION President Cresta Richardson General secretary Kate Ruttiman 21 Graham Street Milton 4064 Phone: 07 3512 9000 Email: qtu@qtu.asn.au Web: qtu.asn.au

NEW SOUTH WALES TEACHERS FEDERATION President Angelo Gavrielatos General secretary Maxine Sharkey 23-33 Mary Street Surry Hills 2010 Phone: 02 9217 2100 Email: mail@nswtf.org.au Web: nswtf.org.au

STATE SCHOOL TEACHERS UNION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA President Matthew Jarman General secretary Mary Franklyn 1 West Street West Perth 6005 Phone: 08 9210 6000 Email: contact@sstuwa.org.au Web: sstuwa.org.au

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News

News in brief

Teachers unions unite to demand funding Education unions around the world have joined forces to call for governments to fully fund public education. Education International (EI), which represents more than 32 million teachers and education support personnel, is urging governments to invest more in public education and teachers – and to resist privatisation. The campaign, Go Public! Fund Education, will support EI’s 383 member organisations, including the AEU, to demand governments commit to vital education funding. Public education is a fundamental human right and a public good and the key to pandemic recovery, says EI general secretary David Edwards. He says the alarming global teacher shortage is threatening the right to education. UNESCO estimates an extra 69 million teachers are needed, most urgently in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. “Research by Education International points to an overworked, underpaid, and undervalued teaching profession. Resignation rates are skyrocketing, new teachers are leaving the profession, and the number of people who want to join the teaching profession is in dramatic decline,” says Edwards.

“Education budgets have fallen in 65 per cent of low- and middle-income countries, and in 33 per cent of upper-middle- and high-income countries. “We are working together across borders to guarantee every student’s right to have a wellsupported qualified teacher and a quality learning environment. Let’s act together in solidarity to go public and fund education,” says Edwards.

#GoPublic #FundEducation

Go to tinyurl.com/yc2m8h7w to learn more about the campaign.

ILLUSTRATIONS ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

Most governments have failed to provide the necessary investment that teachers and education personnel desperately need, he says.

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Higher wages for working people are part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Owen Tudor International Trade Union Confederation

Call to act on wages and conditions The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has demanded governments do more to raise wages, expand social protection and support collective bargaining following a global 2023 forecast by the International Labor Organization (ILO). The ILO’s World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2023 report found that slowing global employment growth and pressure on decent working conditions risk undermining social justice. The economic slowdown is likely to force more workers to accept lowerquality, poorly paid jobs, which lack job security and social protection, the report says.

The ILO forecasts global employment growth of just 1 per cent in 2023, less than half the level in 2022. ITUC deputy general secretary Owen Tudor says it’s clear that governments must take urgent steps to improve living standards, create jobs and prevent the growth of child labour, adding that the ILO’s outlook “makes for grim reading”. “Higher wages for working people are part of the solution, not part of the problem,” says Tudor. The ITUC analysis proves that the productivity of working people has continued to rise, but they have not benefited. “Meanwhile top corporates have been richly rewarded.”

Improved induction needed A new research project is examining how better induction programs can boost the retention of early career teachers. The University of South Australia (UniSA) project will focus on teachers on casual and short-term contracts. Sixty per cent of new teachers are “precariously employed” on contracts of less than one year or as casual teachers and it can take years to secure long-term employment, the university says. Chief investigator, UniSA’s professor Anna Sullivan, says the study will propose alternative policy and induction practices, including improving classroom support for managing student behaviour.

State of our Schools The AEU’s annual State of our Schools survey questions are being emailed to members in late March. The survey has become a vital tool for understanding members’ concerns and experiences at work and a valuable source of data for campaigns. Your help in completing the survey would be greatly appreciated. This year’s survey will ask members about the continuing after-effects of the pandemic, class sizes and staffing numbers, capital works and infrastructure needs, school funding issues, NAPLAN, and resources for students with disability. There will also be important questions about members’ caring responsibilities outside of school.

“Yet most new teachers do not qualify for such induction programs because they’re employed on a casual or short contract.”

60% of new teachers are “precariously employed” on contracts of

less than one year “The Australian Guidelines for Teacher Induction emphasise mentoring embedded in daily practice, regular interactions with school leaders, as well as access to targeted professional learning, and extra time allocation for planning,” Sullivan says.

That leaves new teachers feeling isolated, unsupported and lacking confidence in their abilities, and increases the likelihood they will leave the profession, she says. “Learning how to manage student behaviour is one of the most important teaching skills, yet it’s also one of the top-ranked challenges faced by early career teachers, and something that could be better accommodated through a thorough and ongoing induction process,” says Sullivan. “Finding ways to better support, guide and coach new teachers as they start their careers is imperative for Australia’s education sector.”

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Agenda

YES to Voice After more than 65,000 years of continuous culture, it’s time we recognised Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in our 122-year-old Constitution.

the AEU's campaign in support of the upcoming referendum. Committee chair Russell Honnery told AEU Federal Conference delegates that a Voice enshrined in the Constitution would give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples the opportunity to provide advice directly to the federal parliament on any laws and policies that affect them. “The Uluru Statement from the Heart is a profound call from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for constitutional change and structural reform,” Honnery says. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures can flourish in an environment of truth, justice, fairness and selfdetermination, he says.

The 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart invites Australians to build a better future by establishing a First Nations Voice to Parliament, enshrined in the Constitution, and establishing a Makarrata Commission to supervise treaty making and truth telling. “It is long overdue for Australia to reset its relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Previous governments have shamefully and severely diminished the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. With a diminution of human rights comes a diminution of living standards, life chances, and access to adequate and appropriate services, including education,” says Honnery.

PHOTOGRAPHY ISTOCKPHOTO

he union movement has a chance to make history this year by campaigning in favour of the referendum to provide a Voice to Parliament for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as supported by the ACTU’s Unions for Yes campaign. A Voice to Parliament gives the federal government the opportunity to make policies with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, rather than for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through constitutional recognition. The AEU’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members, represented by the Yalukit Yulendj committee, will lead

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AUNTY PENNY TAYLOR Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander support teacher

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Wiradjiri woman Aunty Penny Taylor, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander support teacher at Jimboomba State School in Queensland and member of the Stolen Generation asks, “Why shouldn't we have a voice?”

For so long, we haven’t been able to have an opinion or a voice – we were flora and fauna until 1967 … But as the first people here, we should have always had a voice.

My mother had no voice to say that she didn't want to have me adopted. We had children taken away up until 1970. Where was their voice? Where were the parents’ voices? I think giving people an opportunity to have a say is important and obvious. But then we have to get people to understand what having that voice means. It's not just: OK, we have a referendum and they say, oh yeah, you can have a say now. But how do we have a say? One of the things that we're talking about is the processes: How do we inform, How do we use that voice? And for me, how am I going to speak? How am I going to make my needs and wants known through using my voice? For so long, we haven’t been able to have an opinion or a voice — we were flora and fauna until 1967. But as the first people here, we should have always had a voice. When cultures collide, there's always going to be a loser, and we were the losers. The voice is important. It's really important.” Aunty Penny Taylor Jimboomba State School, QLD

BELINDA COULAHAN Principal

Bidjara woman Belinda Coulahan, principal at Nerang State School in Queensland says supporting the Voice came down to questioning why every step still needs to be fought for. I had to think really hard about this. On one hand, it makes me realise how judgemental our society is. So I’ve had to take a step forward from that because I want to view it optimistically. I thought of my mother, and I thought of my mob and what it would mean for them. And for me, if I put that lens on, I’m thinking that it gives me a belief that there will finally be an acknowledgement of First Nations worthiness and valuing of our people. Even with the Apology, we’ve never had that. “If it does get up and meet the goal of advising parliament on matters relating to the social, the spiritual and the economic wellbeing of First Nations peoples, then we’ll give our mob pride, acknowledgement and more selfdetermination, instead of feeling like they’ve got to fight every step of the way. That’s a big thing. If it’s successful, it will hold the government of the day and the parliament of the day to account. And, let’s face it, we haven’t had that. If they’re held accountable and doing the right thing, if it’s truly embedded, there will be an obligation and commitment to consult on matters, that’s what we need. It’s logical. It’s not asking them for much, it’s just asking to have a voice. Pure and simple.”

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MAURICE PALMER

EMERSON ZERAFA-PAYNE

DIMITI TRUDGETT

Teacher

Teacher and PhD candidate

Teacher

Bama man Maurice Palmer, a teacher at Banksia Grove Primary School in Western Australia, says the Voice provides hope and a way forward, and would allow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to feel recognised and acknowledged.

Djiribul man Emerson Zerafa-Payne, a teacher at Bremer State School in Queensland, says the Voice is a chance for equity.

Wayilwan woman Dimiti Trudgett, a teacher working as principal education officer coordinator — schooling, in the Aboriginal Outcomes and Partnerships Directorate, NSW Department of Education, says the Voice is about self-determination.

The Voice means a lot. Without a Voice there’s no communication. We know how proud children feel when they’re acknowledged, even if it’s just a merit certificate. The Voice is something that would stick with them, like a merit certificate they can keep forever.”

Many people are pushing for Treaty before Voice but what they may not realise is that governments can enact and then repeal treaties at any time. Having a Voice to Parliament will ensure we always have a seat at the table. Considering our history and the history of government policies that have affected First Nations peoples, it’s finally a chance for us to have our say, to have our voice be valued. But it’s also a stepping stone towards equity with nonIndigenous people. For our students, it’s showing them that this is their future. This is what the future of Australia is going to look like. It helps empower them and show them that their voice matters. As a social sciences teacher, I teach history and a lot of history isn’t good. So it’s sort of a turning point for Australian history, because we’re changing the constitution, we’re changing a piece of history and trying to make it better.”

This is important to me because we, as Aboriginal people, should have a voice in the decisions that are made about us. making process for our people. It’s really about selfdetermination. Past government policies haven’t always worked for Aboriginal peoples. So, let us be part of the decision-making process for our people. Where I work, we work from the onset across departments on issues affecting Aboriginal peoples. We don’t come in later, we come in at the start and that’s a really important thing. So, with governments, we need to be there at the table at the very start and not brought in later. That’s where having a Voice enshrined in the Constitution will make a difference.”

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Considering our history and the history of government policies that have affected First Nations peoples, it’s finally a chance for us to have our say, to have our voice be valued. Emerson Zerafa-Payne Bremer State School, QLD

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Agenda

Res

Go to to find

STEVE MITCHELL Teacher

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Kamilaroi Wiradjuri man Steve Mitchell, a teacher at Yuendumu School in the Northern Territory, says Voice is the start of a bigger conversation. I’m very conflicted on what the Voice will bring. I’m pessimistic because of the history of government decisions and the continual promises we have been given. But I do agree with the Voice, the treaty and truth telling. The Voice brings me hope, and we have to live in hope. I think of my Elders and how significant the Apology was to those people at the time. I feel that for all the warriors that have walked before me, the Voice will be such a proud moment for them. If the vote is successful, I feel like it’ll be sort of like winning a heat at the Olympics, but you’ve still got to go through the semi-final and the final, and then maybe we’ll get on the podium. I look at the Voice from two perspectives: one from where I grew up on Australia’s east coast, and another from where I’ve been working for the past six years in a remote community in the Northern Territory. I grew up being ridiculed and questioned about my identity. My grandmother would have rocks thrown at her as a child. But I can see that there’s been a momentum for change, particularly along the eastern seaboard and in urban areas for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. But the people I live with now in remote communities have more immediate priorities: How are they

The Voice brings me hope, and we have to live in hope. I think of my Elders and how significant the Apology was to those people at the time. I feel that for all the warriors that have walked before me, the Voice will be such a proud moment for them.

Steve Mitchell Yuendumu School, NT

going to get food on the table today? How are they going to get to a family member’s funeral that’s five hours away? They’re not thinking about the Voice, although it might ultimately benefit them. So maybe the first focus of the Voice to Parliament is on our remote communities. Let’s not look anywhere else. Let’s address those issues and what’s needed here for those people to have a little bit more hope in their lives.”

ANTHONY GALLUZZO Teacher

Wiradjuri man Anthony Galluzzo, senior education officer K–6 Advisor, Aboriginal Outcomes and Partnerships Directorate, NSW Department of Education says the key message for him is: “This will be our direct Voice in the Constitution, a Constitution that governs our lands, our Country, our communities, but has never represented us.” We’re connected to Country, land is who we are. Once we’re enshrined in the Constitution, this gives us a stronger voice to empower our people, and that will connect directly to government. That can then drive policy that links to our community, to our kids and our schools. So, when policies are debated and created, we’re going to have a direct impact because we know what our people need, what our kids need, we know what our community needs. That’s why I see this as critical and a must, because our voice is there right from the start — when decisions are made and created and formulated — our voice is going to be right at the table creating the decisions for our people when the sun rises, not when it sets. The time is now. Our Voice is paramount to our future.”

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Agenda

Thomas Mayo explains why teachers should be aware of the significance of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and why a First Nations Voice to Parliament must be enshrined in the Constitution.

have been a member of the trade union movement since I commenced my working life at the port of Darwin at 17 years of age. It is there on the wharves, through the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), that I learned of the value of using the leverage of unity. I have seen individual workers uniting to make change at the workplace level; I have seen ports and state branches uniting to make change at the state level; and I have seen trade unions themselves, united in very specific campaigns to make major, lasting, national change that benefits all workers. The union movement has won many a battle for workers, from wharfies to teachers, and social justice for all. We have brought our society from one in which workers were mere servants, punished for disobeying the master – we have come from a place where children were forced to labour in harsh conditions and First Nations people were slaves – to a society that now enjoys universal health care, weekends, various loadings, allowances and legislated rights. Each of these wins for the union movement and society were maligned by employers and right-wing politicians who warned of impending doom from our success. But their claims of Armageddon, should these changes happen, have been thoroughly proved as selfish fearmongering. Workers and their communities have progressed so far because unions are

IN SHORT // The Uluru Statement from the Heart is an important document that should be taught and celebrated in schools. // Children and young people who learn about the Uluru Statement can share their knowledge with parents, who are then more likely to support a First Nations Voice to Parliament.

organised at many levels, including at the highest political level, since the establishment of the Australian Labor Party. The working class has progressed because we have built strong and unapologetically representative structures that can influence laws and policies, and hold employers and politicians to account. We are always under attack because of this. I was a 20-year-old wharfie when prime minister John Howard colluded with the National Farmers Federation to silence the voice of maritime workers. In the middle of the night in April 1998, Patrick Stevedores sent balaclava-clad mercenaries onto wharves around the country to physically drag us from

our workplaces, locking us out of our livelihoods. It was part of the Howard government’s grand plan to silence all workers by destroying their unions. Howard failed to destroy the MUA. Because of our long-standing structure, discipline, financial resources and the leverage of unity that the union movement had, after several months of battle on the streets and in the courts, we victoriously marched back onto the wharves to work. Howard did succeed in his efforts to silence the voices of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. He attacked the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), a representative Voice for First Nations people. He used its flaws as a weapon, instead of dealing with its issues and building on its strengths. Since ATSIC was silenced, we have seen the Northern Territory Emergency Response, or Intervention, we have seen hundreds of millions of dollars misdirected away from the communities and services that are needed, and we have seen the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous citizens widen. Divided, we suffer.

A MAJOR ACHIEVEMENT I have briefly described how unions have achieved great progress for workers and society in general because it is one of the ways I understand the significance of establishing a constitutionally enshrined First Nations Voice to Parliament, as called for in the Uluru Statement. It is also how I understand that at Uluru the 250 delegates from throughout the Australian continent, who shaped and endorsed the Uluru Statement, made the right decision, prioritising the Voice

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STATEMENT OF THE HEART ARTWORK © RENE KULITJA / COPYRIGHT AGENCY, 2023 AND © CHRISTINE BRUMBY / COPYRIGHT AGENCY, 2023

Taking the Uluru Statement to classrooms

STATEMENT OF THE HEART ARTWORK © RENE KULITJA / COPYRIGHT AGENCY, 2023 AND © CHRISTINE BRUMBY / COPYRIGHT AGENCY, 2023

in our proposed sequence of change. Before I go on, it is worth briefly recapping how the Uluru Statement came to be, and what has happened since. The Uluru Statement is an unprecedented national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consensus that came from the rare opportunity – an opportunity only achieved through relentless advocacy – to conduct a well-resourced and intensive series of dialogues culminating in a national constitutional convention at Uluru. The statement brings together the collective wisdom of more than 200 years of struggle. At that final convention in the heart of the nation, on 26 May 2017, there were more than 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from throughout this great continent and from many different First Nations. The difficulty, the hard work, the passion of the debate and the achievement on the third and final morning – the achievement of a national consensus – cannot be underestimated

… the achievement of a national consensus – cannot be underestimated for its national significance. The endorsement of the Uluru Statement was a political feat that should be recognised, celebrated and taught in schools.

(Above) Taking the Uluru Statement canvas around the country has bolstered support for the First Nations Voice to Parliament.

for its national significance. The endorsement of the Uluru Statement was a political feat that should be recognised, celebrated and taught in schools.

GET THE MESSAGE OUT The call for a constitutionally enshrined Voice was officially dismissed by prime minister Turnbull in October 2017, misinforming the Australian public that the proposal would create a third chamber in parliament. But this dismissal has been turned around by the weight of numbers – by a majority of Australians who say that if they were to have the opportunity to answer the invitation to walk with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in a referendum for a Voice, they would say YES. A mountain of work has been done by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advocates and our allies to turn the dismissal around. The turnaround is even more remarkable because we have had few resources with which to campaign. There has been no government support

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to educate people about the Uluru Statement and the reasons we gave for its proposals; nothing from which to even build a campaigning organisation. We started from scratch. The Uluru Statement itself, a sacred canvas of 1.6 metres by 1.8 metres imbued with Anangu Tjukurrpa [the Uluru/ Kakadu model] and the names of 250 representatives, proved to be our most powerful campaign tool. The MUA, at the request of Aunty Pat Anderson, who led the dialogue process to Uluru, seconded me to take the canvas around the country to inspire a people’s movement. For 18 months I hit the road and, everywhere the Uluru Statement went, support multiplied. Another key moment was when Wiradjuri and Wailwan lawyer Teela Reid

challenged Malcolm Turnbull on national television, exposing his ignorance. In the prime minister’s electorate of Wentworth, the grandchildren of the great Gurindji leader Vincent Lingiari engaged with voters to explain the bungling of the great opportunity the Uluru Statement provides – the opportunity to right the wrongs of the past in a way that the people who were wronged themselves had chosen. At the Garma festival, the late John Christopherson, an Elder from Kakadu in Arnhem Land, spoke of the hope that the Uluru Statement gave this country. He said there was nothing to lose, and 100,000 years of continuous culture to gain, by enshrining the Voices of First Nations people in the constitution.

Teachers across the nation have also taken action. Without waiting for education resources, many learned about the Uluru Statement and proceeded to teach children, who have taken the message into their homes, causing the adults in their lives to accept the invitation to walk with us. A grassroots movement has increasingly made it loud and clear that we are not going to take no for an answer to the Uluru Statement.

THE MOMENTUM GROWS In 2018, pressured by this growing movement of people who had learned about the Uluru Statement’s call for a Voice, the government established the bi-partisan joint select committee into the Constitutional Recognition of

PHOTOGRAPHY AUSTOCKPHOTO; STATEMENT OF THE HEART ARTWORK © RENE KULITJA / COPYRIGHT AGENCY, 2023 AND © CHRISTINE BRUMBY / COPYRIGHT AGENCY, 2023

The MUA … seconded me to take the canvas around the country to inspire a people’s movement. For 18 months I hit the road and, everywhere the Uluru Statement went, support multiplied.

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Agenda

Resources Go to fromtheheart.com.au to find helpful resources.

PHOTOGRAPHY AUSTOCKPHOTO; STATEMENT OF THE HEART ARTWORK © RENE KULITJA / COPYRIGHT AGENCY, 2023 AND © CHRISTINE BRUMBY / COPYRIGHT AGENCY, 2023

(oppposite) Children can engage with the Uluru Statement in creative ways; Thomas Mayo traveled around Australia with the canvas.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Inevitably, the committee’s final report recommended that the Voice was the most desired reform, and that a co-design process should begin. In 2022, the co-design groups, appointed by the Morrison government, consulted the public. More than 5000 of the submissions, from individuals and organisations from all different backgrounds and from across the political spectrum, called for the Voice question to go to a referendum. The Voice codesign final report recommended that the government should not ignore the strong support for a Voice referendum in Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia. Polling since 2017 has indicated a continuous growth in the numbers of Australians who will vote yes in a Voice referendum. The latest polling by CT Group from August 2021, indicates 59 per cent of voters would support a constitutionally enshrined First Nations Voice to Parliament in a referendum. Polling of First Nations people shows that support has also grown to 80 per cent. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who say they will vote yes, what compels them is that a Voice is a unifying reform.

CALLING ON TEACHERS Which brings me to my callout to teachers to join the movement simply by teaching the Uluru Statement to children and their families. The campaign for a constitutionally enshrined Voice is the most important campaign in our lifetimes. Whether we are advocating for the revitalising and preserving of First Nations languages, or truth-telling about this nation’s history; trying to strengthen our land

rights; reform the justice system; gain greater resources to teach Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and languages; or simply have more homes built in our remote communities – all that we do depends on our ability to build leverage and use it in a way that moves the nation’s ultimate decision makers in Canberra, and then to hold them to account if they fail or ignore us. A constitutionally protected Voice precedes truth-telling in our priorities, firstly because truth-telling is happening. Great work is being done on truth-telling, including in schools. But truth-telling needs a representative Voice. What is the truth of the past without the political power to use it for our future? A constitutionally protected Voice precedes treaty, not exclusively – treaty talks are already happening in the states and territories. A Voice must be established with urgency to support treaty making where First Nations peoples have chosen to do so because, in a federal system, it is the Commonwealth we must reckon with more importantly than the states. Finally, I reiterate these words: A constitutionally protected Voice. We must constitutionally protect a Voice because governments like Howard’s will always come along. As a union member, I know that when a collective of grassroots people make those in power uncomfortable, they will move to silence them. The ATSIC was one of many Voices we built to defy a government’s mistreatment and cruelty, to bring our voices together in a chorus that was hard to ignore. It was silenced; as were the First Nations representative bodies that came before it.

It is time to unite and build a structure of unity for First Nations peoples, which can never be silenced again. I believe we can win a referendum to protect and empower our Voice. And the movement toward success will be built in the classrooms and schools across Australia. The words of the Uluru Statement – how it covers pre-colonisation; our connection to Country; what sovereignty means to us; what the problems are and how they are unacceptable; how we can rectify them with recognition, a Voice, truth-telling and a settlement – can be used in many creative ways that will engage children and young people. If teachers can imagine ways that will provide children and young people with the means to take home the invitation in the Uluru Statement to the adults in their lives, our research shows that the adults in their lives are likely to decide to vote YES. The movement starts with you. This is an edited extract of an article first published in the Journal of Professional Learning, Semester 1 2022 edition. Reprinted with permission.

Thomas Mayo is a Kaurareg Aboriginal and Kalkalgal, Erubamle Torres Strait Islander man. He is an MUA union official and an author.

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Resources delayed are resources denied The next 12 months will be pivotal to the future of public education as the federal government considers how schools are funded.

IN SHORT // Education minister Jason Clare has delayed NSRA negotiations by 12 months. // Clare reaffirmed the ALP’s promise to deliver fair funding for public schools at the AEU Federal Conference. // The AEU is calling for the government to act faster.

We know what the issue is: a promise was made to the children of Australia, which has never been delivered because the Coalition government systematically destroyed the funding architecture to deliver that promise.

Correna Haythorpe AEU federal president

In 2017, the Coalition arbitrarily capped the Commonwealth contribution to public school funding by 20 per cent and made special deals with the independent and Catholic sectors. Economist Adam Rorris says the SRS is not an aspirational benchmark. “It is the minimum funding required to achieve learning outcomes.” Exacerbating the disadvantage for public schools is the loss of a further 4 per cent in funding the states and territories can claim for capital depreciation, which means these funds are not delivered to public schools. It’s a move Rorris describes as an “out-and-out card trick”. “That’s money that was actually taken out by state and territory governments from their contributions to public schools. This trick was never applied to the private schools. Never. This was only done for the public schools,” he says.

LISTEN TO TEACHERS Haythorpe acknowledges there are wins already on the board for public education since the election of the new federal government. “The Online Formative Assessment Initiative is gone; the National Teacher Workforce Action plan was developed after consultation, for the first time, with teachers, principals and education support staff via their union, and we now have a government that understands the requirement for equity in education funding and the benefits that will come from it,” Haythorpe says. “But the Albanese government needs to get on with the business of delivering on their election promise and fixing

ILLUSTRATION FIONA KATOUSKAS

he 2023 school year should have begun with a celebration. This is the year the Albanese government was expected to deliver on its election commitment for public schools to have the pathway to a minimum of 100 per cent of the funding they need under the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS). Instead, education minister Jason Clare announced a review, delaying the new four-year funding round of the National School Reform Agreement (NSRA) by a year. The decision will stall the negotiations between the commonwealth and state and territory governments about their funding commitments and the timeline to achieve the full 100 per cent of the SRS for public schools. Clare promised “a big year” for education and, at the recent AEU Federal Conference, reaffirmed the ALP’s election promise to deliver fair funding for public schools, and made a commitment to consider equity at every benchmark. This will require significant changes to funding arrangements, which have entrenched and increased funding inequality for a decade. AEU federal president Correna Haythorpe says it’s time for action, as resources delayed are resources denied. “We know what the issue is: a promise was made to the children of Australia, which has never been delivered because the Coalition government systematically destroyed the funding architecture to deliver that promise. In the last four years, public schools have been underfunded by more than $6.6 billion while private schools were overfunded by more than $800 million.

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Agenda

… the Albanese government needs to get on with the business of delivering their election promise and fixing the funding mess left by Scott Morrison.

Correna Haythorpe AEU federal president

Morrison sent money to the wrong schools Public schools educate the majority of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

41% of students in public schools are in the bottom quarter of that socio-economic index compared with

3% of students in Catholic schools the funding mess left by Scott Morrison. As (author and commentator) Professor Pasi Sahlberg says: ‘Schools cannot fix inequities in education alone. No society can be called a democracy while some social groups are discriminated against in the provision of education or, indeed, in the provision of other public services such as health and social protection’.” The problem is that the recently announced review and the resulting delay in the four-year funding agreement means public schools are missing out on another 12 months of fair funding, says Haythorpe. “This year, there are students finishing Year 12 who have never attended a fully funded public school. That is a national shame,” she says.

The Productivity Commission’s Report on Government Services, released in February, shows “the sheer scale of the government’s neglect over the past decade”, says Haythorpe. The Coalition government’s legacy for public education was inequitable funding, increased workloads and a consequent workforce shortage crisis, she says. The report confirms that government funding to private schools per student increased at 1.7 times the rate of the public school increase per student. “The Commonwealth now invests $16 billion a year in Australia’s private schools. Calling them private when they are funded by the taxpayer to that level is, frankly, a joke,” says Haythorpe.

and

1% in private schools

1.7x Despite this, government funding to private schools per student has increased at 1.7 x the rate of public school increase per student.

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(left from top) Delegates at the AEU Federal Conference in February; education minister Jason Clare reaffirmed the ALP’s election promise to deliver fair funding for public schools.

MONEY MATTERS The problem, says Rorris, is that “we’ve spent 10 years sending money to the wrong schools”. Public schools educate the majority of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, students recognised by the original Gonski review as needing extra funding to ensure that they reach their full potential. The latest figures (2018) based on the PISA index of economic, social and cultural status show that 41 per cent of students in public schools are in the bottom quarter of that socio-economic index compared with 3 per cent of students in Catholic schools and one per cent in private schools. Meanwhile 63 per cent of

Correna Haythorpe AEU federal president

PHOTOGRAPHY ESTHER BUTTERY

The Commonwealth now invests $16 billion a year in Australia’s private schools. Calling them private when they are funded by the taxpayer to that level is, frankly, a joke.

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Percentage of 2018 schools classified as bottom or top quarter of the PISA index of economic, social, cultural status (within the country) 70% 60% 50%

10% 40%

students in private schools are in the top quarter, compared to 10 per cent of public school students. Money matters to public schools but they have been denied funding equity. It delivers extra teachers to keep class sizes smaller, it provides specialist resources for teaching and learning, and it provides extra help for students who need it. It also provides much-needed support to teachers and education support personnel, ensuring their workloads can be managed

63%

30% 20%

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10%

0% GOVERNMENT

Disadvantaged Schools (%)

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Advantaged Schools (%)

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Growing resource gap between sectors $2,000,000,000 $1,000,000,000 $0

$791,573,805

$602,479,656 -$82,349,522

-$332,390,091

-$1,000,000,000 -$2,000,000,000

Yr 2021

Yr 2022

Yr 2023

-$4,000,000,000

Yr 2020

-$3,000,000,000

-$6,724,111,142

-$6,819,718,122

-$6,741,045,079

-$6,627,351,941

-$5,000,000,000 -$6,000,000,000 -$7,000,000,000 -$8,000,000,000

National Public Schools

National Private Schools

and their wellbeing is considered. This is essential to prepare teachers for their profession, at a time when the teacher shortage crisis is causing thousands of vacancies in schools across Australia. Rorris says an objective of a new funding system needs to be guaranteed access for all families and students to a fully funded – to 100 per cent of SRS – primary or secondary school.

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Agenda

Public schools are underfunded on average by $1800 per student, every year and it is our members who make up this shortfall through unsustainable workloads, unpaid additional hours, stress and burnout.

Correna Haythorpe AEU federal president

Australia has never delivered on the Gonski review’s promise of a needsbased, sector-blind (treating public and private schools the same way) school funding model, says Haythorpe. “Public schools are underfunded on average by $1800 per student, every year and it is

our members who make up this shortfall through unsustainable workloads, unpaid additional hours, stress and burnout,” she says. “And it is our schools that now must wait a further 12 months while the federal government conducts a review. “But we won’t wait. We will hit the campaign trail now so that the federal government understands the urgency of meeting their promise. We know our communities understand the importance

of fully funding public schools and it’s time that politicians understood that as well,” says Haythorpe. Jason Clare agrees that the current the system is far from fair. “The last decade has been a lost decade [for school funding],” he says. “It’s what comes next that matters,” he told the AEU Federal Conference.

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Course correction Progress on gender equity in Australia has stalled, but appropriate funding of public education can bring about real change.

he union-led campaign for equity for Australian working women has pushed for fast action from the federal government. The Albanese government promised women would be central to its first federal budget and within six months, the government passed three major bills to strengthen gender equity and boost women’s workforce participation and economic power – evidence of the union movement’s

IN SHORT // The Albanese government has passed three crucial bills to strengthen gender equity and support women in the workforce. // With Australia lagging behind many countries in terms of women's workforce participation, job security and pay equity, there is still major work to be done.

collective capacity to influence national debates on women’s rights. The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill makes gender equality an object of the Fair Work Act, strengthens equal pay, overturns pay secrecy, permits multiemployer bargaining, and requires the Fair Work Commission to consider gender when making pay decisions. Passage of the bill puts millions of working Australians on a more

ILLUSTRATION ISTOCKPHOTO

BY C Y N D I T E BBE L

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Gender equity

… this bill empowers women, making it simpler, easier and cheaper to ﬁght for and win pay rises, and address systemic underpayment across the economy.

Michele O’Neil ACTU president

even footing with their employers, says Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) president Michele O’Neil. “The undervaluation and underpayment of work done by women is an anchor on both women’s equality and also on economic growth, but this bill empowers women, making it simpler, easier and cheaper to fight for and win pay rises, and address systemic low pay across the economy,” O’Neil says. Another landmark, The Respect@Work Bill reverses the onus of workplace sexual harassment, shifting from reactive to pro-active. It means employers must now take meaningful action “and continuously assess and evaluate whether they are meeting the requirements of the duty”. Prime minister Albanese took further action when he announced at the International Trade Union Confederation Congress in 2022 that Australia would ratify International Labor Organisation convention 190, adopting a zero-tolerance approach to violence and harassment in the workplace, becoming one of only a few countries to do so. And after a decade of campaigning by unions and activists, the Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave Bill became a reality [see breakout pg. 24], enshrining 10 days of paid leave in the National Employment Standards.

NUMBERS DON’T ADD UP This progress has been a long time coming. The combined forces of the pandemic and almost a decade of Coalition government has reversed gains in women’s workforce participation rates, job security and pay equity. resulting in critical workforce shortages. The latest Workplace Gender Equality Agency scorecard confirms a gender pay

gap stuck at 22.8 per cent (an average of $26,596) for the 2021-22 financial year. It’s the first time the national gap hasn’t decreased year on year for more than a decade. More steep declines are evident in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap rankings of 153 countries, in which Australian women slid from 15 to 50, and further still – from 12 to 70 – in the women’s “economic participation and opportunity” category. Australian women are also poorer and less healthy than a decade ago, according to the first annual scorecard of women’s income and health from the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation, which suggests women will wait 70 years (more than two generations) to achieve equity in full-time employment, and more than 200 years for income equality.

FLIGHT OR FIGHT Public education’s highly feminised workforce is a clear priority for action on gender equity. Systemic underfunding of public schools has led to increased workloads and puts at risk teachers’ mental and physical wellbeing, causing an exodus of highly qualified professionals and resulting in critical workforce shortages. The pandemic only exacerbated a sector at risk, increasing stress for teachers concerned about their own personal safety and that of their students and family members. Change, with an equity lens, is urgently needed. AEU federal president Correna Haythorpe is encouraged by recent political commitments regarding the essential role of women in working Australia and hopes continued pressure from unions will create lasting positive change for women. “Women are more likely to be caught

between family responsibilities in terms of raising children and caring for older relatives. Trying to manage that at a time when surveys show members are working 56-plus hours a week, means most of that work is unpaid.” Haythorpe wants to see a significant gender equity strategy in place that includes setting targets, collecting data and creating better reporting mechanisms to hold governments accountable. She also called for a national shift in the narrative to guarantee all women – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, culturally- genderand age-diverse, low-paid and insecurely employed women – the right to equality, safety and respect at work. Proper and fair funding of public education, too, would go a long way in closing the gender gap. During the pandemic years, 2019-20, Australia’s public education funding went backward – it was cut by nearly 2 per cent according to the latest OECD Education at a Glance report.

Women are more likely to be caught between family responsibilities in terms of raising children and caring for older relatives. Trying to manage that … means most of that work is unpaid.

Correna Haythorpe AEU federal president

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Gender equity

… when the system is better funded, schools can put mechanisms in place that give women access to good leadership structures and mentoring, ensuring career progression.

Correna Haythorpe AEU federal president

Something to celebrate The Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave Bill is finally a reality. Tireless organising, bargaining and campaigning by unions and other activists has significantly shifted public attitudes towards the idea of paid Family and Domestic Violence (FDV) leave, and the election of a Labor government has seen a bill guaranteeing FDV is enshrined in the National Employment Standards. The bill provides 10 days of non-accruable paid leave to eligible full-time, part-time and casual employees each year. It’s payable at the rate the employee would have earned had they worked instead of taking leave, and is determined for casuals based on the hours they were rostered to work. It provides the financial safety net people need to arrange relocation, as well as time to attend court hearings, counselling, police services and appointments with medical, financial or legal professionals. ACTU president Michele O’Neil acknowledges that Australia has a critical problem with women’s safety and gender equity. “With one in four women experiencing some form of violence since the age of 15 by an intimate partner, and economic security a key factor determining if someone can escape a dangerous relationship or

not, the importance of this bill cannot be understated. Lives will be saved.” The AEU played a major role in establishing paid FDV leave in EBAs for its members, which created the context for broader social and political momentum. AEU president Correna Haythorpe wants to see more action from the government to support the public education sector, which is approximately 77 per cent female.

A NATIONAL PLAN Haythorpe says a National Gender Equity strategy is urgently needed if governments are to address the underlying drivers and sources of violence against women in our workplaces and communities. “It must include specific reference to the significance of the role public education plays in the primary prevention of violence through regular contact and relationships with children and families in our community,” says Haythorpe. Educators are uniquely placed to be part of addressing the pervasive nature of gendered violence, harassment and abuse. But Haythorpe believes that’s only possible when public schools are adequately resourced by all levels of government. “Public schools need the certainty of recurrent and relevant resourcing as part of a systemic change. We can no longer leave this issue to individual education settings,” she says.

“Investing in public education means schools can have more flexibility or the capacity to ensure staffing is in place to reduce class sizes,” says Haythorpe. “And when the system is better funded, schools can put mechanisms in place that give women access to good leadership structures and mentoring, ensuring career progression.”

RAISING AWARENESS If recent political trends are any indication, unions like the AEU will play a critical role in raising awareness of the gender gaps in education, which affect teachers and students, and what it means for society in general. Professor Michele Ford, director of the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre at the University of Sydney, researches education union movements in the Asia-Pacific. Ford says the use of technology during the pandemic encouraged greater participation, and more women now take part in local association meetings held in hybrid (online and in-person) mode. And the AEU and its state branches have put various measures in place to ensure that women members have an opportunity to participate and have their voices heard, including women-oriented leadership programs, women’s conferences, caucuses and formal and informal networks. There is no doubt that recent political attention, which has helped to raise the issue of gender equity, can be credited to the work done by unions to influence the national debate on women’s rights.

Cyndi Tebbel is a freelance writer.

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AEU264

We proudly support an important change to make Australia fairer and better.

The Uluru Statement from the Heart is a profound call from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples for constitutional change and structural reform in their relationship with Australia.

will give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People a direct line to Parliament to provide advice on any laws and policies that directly affect them.

The AEU urges all Australians to hear the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People who call for support for the Voice to Parliament.

The AEU is proud to support the Yes campaign for a Voice to Parliament and we stand with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in this struggle.

A Voice enshrined in the Australian Constitution

AEU Federal Conference Statement 2023.

Join the Unions For Yes campaign ausunions.io/unionsforyes © AEU 2023 Authorised by Kevin Bates, Federal Secretary, Australian Education Union 120 Clarendon Street, Southbank, Victoria, Australia 3006.

AEU264 UnionsForYes EducatorToday 275x205 v3.indd 1 22-25_GenderEq_subbed.indd 25

8/3/2023 9:35 am 9/3/23 3:10 pm

The value of creative culture BY AL ANA S C HE TZE R

As neoliberalism strips education of critical and creative thinking, there are calls to urgently revive arts education in schools and universities.

rama, dance, music and the visual arts have been influential in the enlightenment of humankind for millennia. Multiple local and international studies point to the positive influences that learning about, and participating in, the arts can have on a student’s success in academic subjects and other essential lifelong skills. Until recently, at least one – if not a suite of arts subjects – was considered part of a comprehensive school curriculum.

IN SHORT // An arts-rich education is linked to many benefits, including improved creativity, innovation and cognitive development. // Lack of funding in recent years has reduced students' access to the arts. // The AEU is campaigning to bolster the arts curriculum.

The National Advocates for Art Education (NAAE), a network of national professional arts and arts education associations representing arts educators across Australia, says there is a strong relationship between the cognitive capacities developed through learning and communicating in dance, drama, music, media arts and visual arts, and students’ academic and social skills. The NAAE says the many positive effects for young people involved in arts-rich education programs include reading, language and mathematics development, increased higher-order thinking skills and capacities, increased motivation to learn, and improvements in social behaviours. The AEU has been actively campaigning in the arts curriculum area for some time and feedback from members accords with NAAE’s advocacy. In learning through the arts, students gain understanding of social cohesiveness, diversity, cultures, identities, values and ethics that enable them to better participate in democratic society, the NAAE says.

But funding for arts education – in schools and universities across Australia – has been decimated by neoliberal governments since the mid-1990s. The past decade has seen cuts to courses and subjects, jobs lost and student access to the arts – especially those from low socioeconomic backgrounds – drastically reduced. However, following the election of the first federal Labor government since 2013, there are calls to resuscitate funding to the sector. University of Sydney professor Emerita Robyn Ewing, whose research focuses on arts education, says it is “central to our development as compassionate and responsive individuals because the arts help us make meaning of ourselves, others and our worlds”. In addition to boosting creativity and imagination, an arts education benefits cognitive development, increases motivation to learn, has a positive effect on students’ emotional wellbeing and ability to build social skills, and heightens “higher-order thinking skills and capacities” says Ewing. “And if we can get our social and emotional wellbeing right, then of

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Arts

Skills learned through arts include creativity, innovation, agility, intellectual curiosity, resourcefulness, exploratory thinking, communication, collaboration and teamwork, problem solving, professional ethics, entrepreneurship and even learning the courage to take risks. (below) Arts like drama, dance, music, visual arts and media arts should be compulsory throughout primary school, according to a proposal by Peter Garrett in 2011.

IMAGES AUSTOCKPHOTO; ISTOCKPHOTO; ALAMY

course they’re going to achieve across the curriculum.”

FUTURE PROOF National Association for the Visual Arts executive director Penelope Benton says despite assertions that STEM subjects are the key to preparing “jobready” students, an arts education makes students more employable. “Skills learned through arts include creativity, innovation, agility, intellectual curiosity, resourcefulness, exploratory thinking, communication, collaboration and teamwork, problem solving, professional ethics, entrepreneurship and even learning the courage to take risks,” says Benton. “All of these things are really important and essential in the working environment now. So not recognising the arts component of education makes us a lot poorer as a society, almost to the point that it feels a bit irreparable.” There is a high correlation between a quality arts education and active inclusivity, according to Dr Patricia Thompson, a professor of education at the University of Nottingham in the UK.

Penelope Benton National Association for the Visual Arts

Good arts teaching is a “fine example” of educational inclusion, Thompson said in a keynote address to the 2022 Australian Association for Research in Education conference. “When taught by arts teachers who understand all children to be capable, rather than starting from the position that some children have talent and some don’t, then all children can and do produce work that could be described as ‘high quality’ or ‘excellent’,” she says. There are also unexpected benefits, says Thompson, which are especially noticeable in students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. These students become more engaged in the arts outside of school, more civically engaged in society and even vote in stronger numbers than their fellow students who did not experience a “rich arts education”.

TIME FOR RENEWAL During his stint as minister for school education in the Gillard Labor government, Peter Garrett acknowledged the value of the arts in education, enshrining it in the Australian Curriculum in 2011. He proposed that drama, dance, music, visual arts and media arts should be compulsory throughout primary school, and that students could choose to specialise in secondary school. “It is really important that every kid in Australia, no matter where they live or what school they attend, has the opportunity to engage with the arts, to broaden their understanding of the world through experiencing various art forms, and to have the confidence to show their creativity,” Garrett said at the time. Unfortunately, resources to implement the curriculum were never provided. In fact, funding continued to drop over the years.

Despite this neglect, the Australian public’s appetite and appreciation for the arts has never been higher, boosted by the pandemic lockdowns when people turned to books, music, podcasts, films and television to keep them occupied, as well as building online communities for creative discourse. Ewing says people were desperate, not just for entertainment and escapism, but to connect with people with similar interests. To support the arts however, first we must allow all children to participate. Towards Equity, a 2021 research report by Australia Council for the Arts, shows that “Australia’s arts and culture do not yet reflect the diversity of our people” and highlights “strong new evidence of the impacts of arts and creativity on our wellbeing, particularly our mental health; on childhood development; and on education and employment prospects… benefits [that] should be enjoyed by our whole community”. The lack of representative voices in creating content stems from the lack of accessibility to the arts for those from low socioeconomic backgrounds, those living with disability and those from culturally diverse backgrounds from a young age, including in public schools. “Funding is necessary from the earliest years of a child’s education – and beyond – in order to produce the future arts educators and artists who will create this very entertainment and content,” says Ewing. After all, as the Towards Equity report states, “cultural participation is a human right”. Alana Schetzer is a freelance writer.

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Seeds of change The first in a series on New Educators, we follow four teachers around the country throughout the year as they take on new roles and responsibilities and share their challenges, hopes and joys of teaching in our mighty public schools.

Alex Leon Teacher Mount Stromlo High School, ACT

A PASSION TO TEACH Alex Leon didn’t know she wanted to be a teacher until she began working in a high school drama department. She had graduated with a Bachelor of Acting, Screen and Stage, determined to be an actor. But, after giving acting a go, she realised she wasn’t passionate about continuing. After helping out at a school, enjoying the job and working with teenagers,

she realised she wanted to be a drama teacher, so she returned to university to complete a master’s degree in teaching in 2021. She is a proud Worimi (Forster-Tuncurry) and Lardil (Mornington Island) woman, and says an “Indigenous Perspectives” unit was her favourite subject during her degree. “I’ve grown up predominantly in white society, so the unit taught me a lot about myself and my culture. It’s liberated me,” she says. Leon is now teaching out-of-field at Mount Stromlo High School in the Australian Capital Territory, teaching Years 7 and 8 humanities and social sciences, plus wellbeing and health awareness classes.

“I have 160 students across my classes, so keeping an eye on each student’s understanding is really hard, with some still operating at Years 3 or 4. Sometimes, I don’t realise they’re falling behind until I do a formative assessment,” Leon says. Addressing that gap is a priority in her learning plan. As a quick indicator of student engagement, Leon uses the “thumbometer”, where students raise their thumbs if they follow the lesson. Those who don’t, receive extra attention. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students make up about 4 per cent of Mount Stromlo’s enrolment of 850. About 20 per cent of students are from a non-English speaking background. Leon has found creative ways to share her

PHOTOGRAPHY ROHAN THOMSON

BY M ARG ARE T PATON

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New starts

In each issue of Australian Educator, we follow the challenges and achievements of four new educators throughout the year.

experience with all students and builds on a platform of empathy. She uses a blank sheet of paper to deliver a powerful analogy about the historical, and at times current, treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. “I hold up a fresh sheet and tell my students I’m going to damage it. Then, I try to smooth it out. I ask my students, ‘Is it the same?’. They’ll say, ‘No, Miss, it has creases’. And I’ll explain that’s how Australian Indigenous people feel.” Leon says the activity helps build empathy among her students. She follows it with an Acknowledgement of Country.

CULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS Leon has grown into a leadership role at Mount Stromlo. After asking to join the cultural integrity team, she was invited to lead it. The team has since surveyed teachers twice about their understanding and challenges with cultural issues. “The data showed that teachers were afraid of saying and doing the wrong thing, which is why they don’t step into the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural perspective area.” So, Leon has curated a folder of resources on a shared drive for teachers to work through at their own pace. She has also presented at staff meetings and makes herself available to peers who are keen to chat about the topic. She admits being the only Aboriginal-identified woman on staff can be “taxing”. Taking care of her own health and wellbeing has also become a priority. “Last year was a rollercoaster and was overwhelming at the start. I’d been trying to reinvent the wheel and figure out where I fit in, but I learned to step

As teachers, we must find the time for a good self-care routine, and I’m big on having my own mob to support me.

back and not spend so many after-school hours on work.” Soon, she’ll tackle a half-marathon and is looking to buy a house with her partner. “As teachers, we must find the time for a good self-care routine, and I’m big on having my own mob to support me.” Leon is a member of the AEU’s Yalukit Yulendj Committee, which makes recommendations on various reports and campaigns and will make the referendum to enshrine a First Nations Voice in the Constitution a major focus this year. “But I won’t push my own agenda in my classes,” she says. “I’m here to help my students develop and vocalise their own thoughts and feelings in a safe space,” Leon says.

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New starts

... it was more important for me to focus on classroom teaching and building rapport with colleagues, and I’ve been taking advice from strong women in leadership.

Kelsey Hawthorn Teacher Marsden State High School, QLD

STEPS TO SUCCESS Kelsey Hawthorn’s sliding doors moment to a teaching career came after a casual comment from her father. He walked past her as she was using a whiteboard in the living room to study, told her she was doing a good job and suggested she become a teacher. Hawthorn took it as a sign and started a teaching degree at Queensland University of Technology. But it was when she was on a practicum and volunteering as a tutor for the Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander literacy and numeracy support program at Marsden State High School in Brisbane that she realised she was “actually good at this”. At the time, Marsden was recruiting, so Hawthorn put her hand up and was offered a position. She graduated in 2017 and has mostly been a senior home economics and junior history teacher at Marsden. The school has 220 teachers and more than 3600 students enrolled in Year 7 to 12 this year and is the largest public high school in the state.

LEADERSHIP ROLE “HUMBLING” A stint in a leadership role at Marsden as a subject coordinator was “humbling”, says Hawthorn, although she later chose to step down. “Due to the heavy workload, COVID-19 and personal health issues, it

EXPECTATION SETTING For each new class, Hawthorn works with students to develop and agree on a classroom contract covering expectations. Four-in-10 Marsden students are from a non-English speaking background and for Hawthorn that has meant a focus on building relationships that respect and acknowledge their backgrounds. Since 2020, she’s also been a Queensland Teachers Union (QTU) representative, which has given her “more confidence, understanding, communication and leadership skills”. This term, Hawthorn is looking forward to teaching baking to her Year 10 food technology students. “We’ll look at a different type of baked good each week. I’m embedding sustainability and food solutions, and I think they’re really going to engage with it as they design, make, and complete a sensory evaluation to explain their choices.” Hawthorn says she’s a little sad not to be teaching history this year. “Ancient history is my absolute favourite. I love being able to draw parallels between ancient civilisations, their cultures and what we know now, and to see how those religion and country borders influence who we are today.”

PHOTOGRAPHY KIMBERLY CHADBURN

was more important for me to focus on classroom teaching and building rapport with colleagues, and I’ve been taking advice from strong women in leadership,” she says. “I had to recognise my right to disconnect and not stretch myself too thin.”

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Jake Freeman-Duffy Assistant principal St Mary’s North Public School, NSW

TALK THE TALK When Jake Freeman-Duffy first walked into his new school and saw a welcome sign in Dharug language, he knew it was the place for him. Now, Freeman-Duffy is starting his fourth term as an assistant principal at St Mary’s North Public School in Western Sydney. He’s a proud Gumbaynggirr man whose mob are based in Macksville on the New South Wales mid-north coast. “Being an Aboriginal teacher myself, I really wanted to work for a school with a low socio-economic status and a high Aboriginal population that really embodies the values of Aboriginal education,” he says. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students represent about one third of the school’s population of 360. Freeman-Duffy began casual teaching while he was completing his degree in late 2014. He gained full proficiency in 2016 while working at Wauchope Primary School on the New South Wales mid-north coast. He had always been keen to lead a team and in 2020 completed an educational leadership and management certificate, which opened his eyes to transformational leadership. While Freeman-Duffy has now settled into his new leadership role at St Mary’s North, he recalls the early days as being a “bit scary because you’re trying to establish yourself and learn how things are done in a new school”.

“Straight off the bat, my team was asking me questions around the curriculum and assessment, and I hadn’t even looked at that stage’s scope and sequence yet. And, in my first week, I had to sort out an attendance matter when I didn’t know who the student was or their attendance record. I had to make a call right then and there and explain my decision,” he says. “Now, my goal is to develop my team members to be better leaders than I am.”

PAY IT FORWARD Freeman-Duffy spent 2021 as a project officer for the NSW Teachers Federation. “My job was to visit schools and chat to members, particularly beginning teachers to let them know about the union’s support and conferences.” He continues to give presentations on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues, wellbeing, welfare, and classroom behaviour management at the federation’s courses and conferences. “Some schools have a negative behaviour policy, so I ask teachers

how would you feel if your name was on a staffroom whiteboard if you did something wrong? You don’t need to embarrass students.” He also taps into new teachers’ reluctance to ask “those hard questions” about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education. “The most surprising question is ‘What’s the appropriate language to use?’. I tell teachers to feel comfortable saying ‘deadly’ [awesome] or ‘gammin’ [to pretend]. Take ownership of the words. Your students will appreciate you’re speaking Aboriginal English.” At St Marys North, he’s been running the BroSpeak program for senior boys, occasionally organising an Elder or other visitor to “have a yarn with the boys”. “We meet weekly for two hours so they can learn about their culture, relationships, self-esteem and what it means to be a young Aboriginal male in today’s culture.” Whether he’s teaching or leading, Freeman-Duffy says the “work doesn’t stop”. But he makes time for a gym session each morning. “It clears my mind for the day and sets me up so I can easily switch between tasks.” That, and jotting down his tasks in the analogue notebook that’s always handy, helps ensure Freeman-Duffy walks through the school gate with confidence each day.

Some schools have a negative behaviour policy, so I ask teachers how would you feel if your name was on a staffroom whiteboard if you did something wrong? You don’t need to embarrass students.

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New starts

Elora Ghea

SUPPORTIVE RELATIONSHIPS Elora Ghea credits “intense support” from colleagues and advisers for helping her to survive, and thrive, in her first three years of teaching. On her first day as a teacher, one of her students was sitting outside the classroom, refusing to move. He had taken a couple of classroom chairs to put his feet up outside. “It took a lot of convincing to get one off him because I had a full class and needed that chair,” she says. Ghea says her first few weeks at Ulverstone Secondary College in northwest Tasmania were “full of powerplays” as students tested her. She’s learned to set firm boundaries otherwise, “letting one behaviour slide one day and then jumping on it the next, makes students uncomfortable”. The behavioural issues were a bit of a shock for Ghea. In her former career she was often a guest presenter at schools. It made teaching look easy, she says. “As a presenter, I could walk in and have students following my every word because I was new. But a lot of the strategies I used as a presenter weren't effective as a teacher.” At Ulverstone, she quickly realised that “whatever impression I made would affect me for the whole year”. THIRD CAREER Ghea did not have teaching in her sights when she finished secondary school. A career as a science journalist was top

of her list but, after completing a science and communication degree, she struggled to find work in the field. “After I graduated, I didn’t find it very interesting reporting on all the other current affairs such as courts and the budget. Science journalism is such a niche.” She worked as an intern at community and ABC radio stations and tried to report science news, but ultimately it wasn’t enough for her. Ghea is enjoying her third career teaching science and media production. She loves that she is also a “counsellor, ringmaster, comedian, mediator, cheerleader, salesperson and detective”. “Some days, I am teaching all seven

periods and rushing to pack up nowcooled Bunsen burners or dissected sheep hearts in my lunch break. On others, I am record-keeping for high jump at the athletics carnival, or taking kids to the beach to look at fossils. I love all of the different hats I wear.” This year will see Ghea take on more responsibility as a mentor to beginning teachers. “I’ll get to be that person who goes into their classroom, watch them teaching and support them through that. With teaching, it’s hard to be proud of yourself as you’ll always reflect on a lesson and think about how to improve it. We make hundreds, maybe thousands of

PHOTOGRAPHY KIMBERLY CHADBURN

Teacher Ulverstone Secondary College, TAS

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Each year, parts of teaching become a bit more second nature ... I’m more efficient, missing fewer deadlines or tasks, and building confidence.

decisions a day. It's hard for teachers to recognise everything that's going right.” She’ll impress upon beginning teachers the need to build relationships with staff and students, especially “those really tricky students”. She’s become more conscious and confident in her ability to make school a “safe and predictable place” for all students, including those who have experienced trauma. “Each year, parts of teaching become a bit more second nature,” she says. “I’m more efficient, missing fewer deadlines or

tasks, and building confidence.” In December, Ghea opted to be one of three AEU Tasmania representatives at her school. “I’m exploring what being a union rep this year will be like. It’s a member-led union, so I should be part of it. Everyone has a right to quality education and our work conditions are student learning conditions,” she says. Margaret Paton is a casual high-school teacher, freelance writer and part-time PhD student researching out-of-field teaching.

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Union strong Sharan Burrow’s many professional achievements share a singular focus: improving the lives of working people through collective bargaining and legislated entitlements. BY C Y N D I T E B BE L

IN SHORT // Teacher turned activist Sharan Burrow has held a number of prominent global roles throughout her career, including 12 years as general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation. // Committed to gender equality, she is optimistic about the power of collective activism, despite the ongoing challenges women face.

PHOTOGRAPHY GETTY IMAGES

n a career spanning more than four decades, Sharan Burrow has applied tenacity and patience to collective strategies and campaigns that broke ground and smashed barriers. Her advocacy has led to policies and practices that protect and support working people around the world. The seeds of social justice were planted and nurtured in the Burrow family home in Warren, New South Wales, where “the labour battle was always a topic of discussion”. Burrows’ great greatgrandfather took part in the original shearer’s union strike in the 1890s, and her father, a builder and tradesman in rural NSW, was also a community activist committed to greater equality. “It was part of the family culture, at least on the male side,” she says. “I don’t think they ever demanded I join the union but it was to be expected.” Burrow did join the NSW Teachers Federation (NSWTF) after starting her public school teaching career, beginning her ascent through the union movement.

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World view

(left) Sharan Burrow speaking abroad as the general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation.

Throughout her remarkable career, Burrow has segued from teaching to advocating for teachers as an organiser and senior vice president of the NSWTF, then as federal president of the AEU and she became the second female president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). She was appointed to significant global roles, notably the first woman president of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, and the first woman president and general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the peak global council for the majority of the world’s unions, representing 181 million workers across 163 countries.

CHANGE AGENTS Burrow says she drew on the expertise of “very strong union women as role models” throughout her life, including Jenny George, the first woman elected to the ACTU, and Dianne Foggo AM, a former AEU president, ACTU vice president and Fair Work commissioner. Despite that support and her own achievements, she remains frustrated by the pace of change for women’s progress. “In most societies there remains a very dominant male culture in political, business, industrial, and community institutions. And on every indicator, progress of women hasn’t just stalled, it’s gone backwards,” says Burrow. Achieving parity in the workforce, including equal pay, is a much tougher ambition than it was even 10 years ago, with women everywhere in the world, including developed countries, struggling to reduce that gap. A task made all the more onerous by COVID-19. “Women lost at least $800 billion during the peak years of the pandemic,

Sixty per cent of the world’s workers have only informal work – no minimum wage, no rule of law, no social protection – and the majority are women.

Sharan Burrow

the combined GDP of around 90-odd countries,” she says. “We also have a broken labour market. Sixty per cent of the world’s workers have only informal work – no minimum wage, no rule of law, no social protection – and the majority are women.” It’s a bleak picture, but one that Burrow argues “beholds all of us to be feminist warriors in order to at least start to get back on track in a world that, if it’s even possible, has become more misogynist, not less”.

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL On returning to Australia after working in Brussels for the ITUC, Burrow acknowledges the progress made after hard-fought union campaigns for paid family and domestic violence leave, equal pay, and Anthony Albanese’s promise to ratify International Labor Organization Convention No. 190, ensuring workplaces are free from violence and harassment. “Those measures point to great hope in this country, and you can absolutely

point to the unions and say: Well done!” says Burrow. Effective and consistent messaging are the bedrock of such advocacy and Burrow fondly recalls the birth of Australian Educator magazine when she was president of the AEU, and Mandawuy Yunupingu, the first person to appear on its cover. “He was a teacher and talked a lot about Garma theory – having to walk in with one foot in two cultures, and the challenge for Indigenous educators or those teaching Indigenous students,” says Burrow. “It’s just an interesting reflection that those issues, which were front and centre for the AEU at the time, remain so today.” Burrow is optimistic about the future of collective action. “Young people are totally committed to justice. They’ve been our strongest activists on the fight against modern slavery, and their fight for climate action has helped enormously around the world,” she says. “But if we don’t win that fight, contemplating the future is almost impossible. The struggle now is to see the Paris Climate Agreement implemented everywhere and for institutions to support those transitions and invest in secure jobs, re-skilling, redeployment and also communities. “We all have a lot of work to do everywhere, and putting people and the planet at the heart of our economic models will be the challenge for every country in the world.”

Cyndi Tebbel is a freelance writer.

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Unlocking the secrets of trauma Understanding how abuse, neglect and disasters affect children is the first step towards improving their experience of school, according to a new book.

hild protection data shows that increasing numbers of Australian children are experiencing complex trauma linked to abuse and neglect, climate disasters and other sudden events. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s latest child protection figures show that notifications of abuse and neglect increased by around 40 per cent to nearly 531,900 in the four years to 2020-21. The notifications were substantiated in 72,900 cases, an increase of 7.2 per cent. Complex trauma is increasingly recognised, and studies show that repeated harm from experiences including physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, significant neglect and family or other forms of interpersonal violence are often the cause. This trauma is considered different and more damaging than that experienced after a single event, such as a natural disaster or vehicle accident. The National Guidelines for TraumaAware Education, developed by the Australian Childhood Foundation and the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), note that complex trauma can have a detrimental effect on learning and educational pathways. It can also impair the capacity for effective relationships and emotional regulation, leading to behavioural and learning issues. Judith Howard, an associate professor at QUT and the author of Trauma-Aware Education, says understanding the science behind the psychological and physiological effects on children leads to better techniques and strategies for supporting students and improving teachers’ experiences in class.

Trauma-Aware Education is written by Judith Howard and developed by the Australian Childhood Foundation and the Queensland University of Technology.

Troubling figures The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s (AIHW) latest child protection figures show that notifications of abuse and neglect increased by around

�� 40% to

531,900

in the nearly four years to 2020-21

Howard says that without the science, or understanding “what’s going on in the bodies and brains of these kids”, teachers are distracted by behaviour and unable to address what is driving it. “I find that when teachers know a little bit about the science – they don’t need to be neuroscientists – they often say to me, ‘How come this is the first time I’ve heard this? Why wasn’t I taught this at uni?’,” says Howard, a former teacher now considered a leader in trauma-aware education. In her book, Howard says the growing body of research into complex childhood trauma is “driving an international reassessment of classroom, education site, and education system approaches for supporting and managing the needs and behaviours of traumaimpacted learners”. She says that while the increasing focus on trauma-aware practice is “certainly due to concerns for the wellbeing of children and young people who have been harmed”, it is also designed to help ease the “significant impact” that engaging with young trauma victims can have on the wellbeing of the people working with them. “There are also increasing concerns that these impacts can influence whether people choose to leave their career in education, either for a time or permanently. So, an additional and significant consideration within trauma-aware education is to address compassion fatigue and enhance the compassion resilience of educators.”

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Toolkit

The traditional way we do behaviour management in classrooms is informed by behaviourist thinking ... and this works nicely for most kids, but it almost always fails for children experiencing complex trauma.

Judith Howard Queensland University of Technology

WORK DIFFERENTLY Howard is quick to point out that trauma-aware education strategies are not intended to add work for teachers, and she advocates for a whole-school approach. “It’s never one person’s responsibility, it’s definitely a team approach. We suggest that all school staff need to be aware of this information and school policies need to align with it. “It’s just a different way of working and it’s more effective. The traditional way we do behaviour management in classrooms is informed by behaviourist thinking, which is sort of a reward/consequence kind of paradigm, and this works nicely for most kids, but it almost always fails for children experiencing complex trauma. That’s why we’re always having so many dramas in the classroom.” Complex trauma causes three particular issues. “Children find it really hard to feel safe when they come to school or when they walk into a classroom, they find it hard to relate to others in a safe and effective way, and they find it hard to regulate their own emotions,” she says. “If you can’t do those three things very well, you’re probably going to get into a lot of trouble at school.” When a student swears at a teacher or is disruptive in class, the behaviourist approach might be to remind them of the rules and apply negative consequences. But students with complex trauma will “spiral down into a more negative way of viewing their worlds and their experiences, they feel less safe, they’re less able to engage in relationships, and they’re less able to regulate their emotions,” says Howard.

The check-in check-out strategy Trauma-aware education is not a program or recipe, says QUT associate professor Judith Howard, but a collection of strategies that help to address the effects of complex trauma.

A trauma-aware approach would be to appoint a mentor or checkin check-out person, preferably not the classroom teacher, whom the student visits as soon as they arrive at school.

Her book, Trauma-Aware Education, covers a number of these strategies including appointing a ‘check-in and check-out’ mentor for children who may be “dysregulated” when they arrive at school.

“That person knows that their job is not about behaviour management or a checklist of expectations, it’s all about ‘How are you? How are you feeling today? How can I help you get ready for class? Do you have all the gear you need? Have you had breakfast? Do you need to spend some time chatting this morning?’, or whatever it is to help them regulate before they go into that first class of the day,” she says.

“Dysregulation is caused by stress hormones surging through their bloodstream, the different parts of the brain that manage the fight, flight, freeze response are on fire, and when that part of the brain is very active, it shuts down prefrontal cortical activity and the children are not able to learn and remember the things you want them to do. If they’re in that state at the beginning of the day the teacher’s going to have a horrible morning in class because we haven’t helped them to regulate,” says Howard.

A trauma-aware approach works on those three issues specifically by incorporating strategies to help students feel safe, to help them with relationships and with their own emotional regulation. “Normally that sort of development happens in families when children are little. But if children have lived through complex trauma where there’s been abuse and neglect and harmful experiences, they miss out on that development,” says Howard.

The student would also briefly visit the mentor again at the end of the day. “They’d just say something simple like, ‘I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow’, which helps tomorrow become a safe place for that student to return to school.”

She says it is really important to get the message out to schools and pre-service teacher programs that building an understanding of the neuroscience behind the effects of complex trauma and working on developing children's capacities during their school years will help them to become healthy, achieving adults and parents. “So, it has quite a long-term impact.”

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Recess

Mind the gaps This specialist teacher has adopted a holistic learning strategy that recognises her students’ strengths and capabilities, and gets results. BY M ARG ARE T PAT O N

arah Dinan sees some parallels between her previous profession as a London Underground train driver and her role as a senior teacher in the Specialised Autism Learning Program (SALP) at Alkimos College in Perth, Western Australia. “They’re both caring professions, and you’re dealing with all sorts of issues every day. It’s about working collaboratively with colleagues and supporting people: really connecting, being fully present and invested.” Dinan, who has spent more than 20 years teaching in the UK and Australia, says her focus is to “mind the gap” in her students’ learning. Alkimos College opened in 2020. It has 785 secondary students and expects a full complement of Years 7-12 by 2025. It’s one of eight WA secondary schools with an SALP, in which students on the autism spectrum are supported emotionally and academically as they work with non-spectrum students.

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Why do you teach?

Dinan prefers holistic, skills-focused practice over content-driven performance. She believes that students’ skills, strengths, efforts and individual qualities should be valued over strict adherence to the Australian Curriculum. “I value the individual and adapt content to suit my students’ needs and interests. To not place the student at the centre wouldn’t fit with me ethically or professionally – teaching is not all about data and statistics. “Teachers should differentiate effectively and use strategies such as scaffolding and chunking to support students who struggle to access learning,” she says. Dinan worked in shops, a zoo, bars and set up a nanny agency after leaving London, before deciding on university study. After gaining her Bachelor of Arts in English and a postgraduate certificate in education, she completed a Master’s degree in Shakespeare and theatre. Dinan says she was drawn to working with young people who “don’t fit the mould” partly because of her own experience at school as a student, when she felt disengaged and invisible; but the catalyst for her research and training in specialist teaching came when her youngest child was diagnosed with autism. At Alkimos, Dinan works with small groups of students identified at risk, diagnosed or imputed with autism spectrum disorder. She teaches social emotional learning through drama, drumbeat, mindfulness and life skills to students in Years 7-10 and provides SALP support. The SALP students check in before their first class and have access to the SALP classroom if they need a break from mainstream classes. The school’s two specialist SALP teachers teach English and mathematics to Year 7 SALP students.

We want to hear your tips for engaging young minds. Email educator@hardiegrant.com if you have something to share. You can provide a written piece or we’d love to interview you.

“Through observing and interacting with our students, we’ve developed a comprehensive catalogue of their triggers, and strategies to employ. They may pace, cry, or throw something, but it’s never in anger, only frustration. Usually, they feel overwhelmed or unable to communicate their needs verbally,” Dinan says. Dinan’s Year 9 class recently learned how to sew and produced sensory lap blankets for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients at a local residential care home. She continues to refine her teaching toolkit with further education. After winning the State School Teachers’ Union of Western Australia (SSTUWA) Lynette Virgona Scholarship in 2021, Dinan used the award’s professional development funds to train in the trauma-informed Berry Street Education Model. She’s a SSTUWA state council delegate and serves on UnionsWA Council, and the dispute resolution committee. She says she doesn’t see the union as “work insurance” but rather the body that advocates to “ensure the best public education system for our students". “Education should be fully inclusive, not least because it’s the law. We must recognise individual strengths and capabilities and celebrate success collectively.” Margaret Paton is a freelance writer, casual high school teacher and PhD candidate.

9/3/23 3:30 pm

Support the Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA solidarity raffle and stand with workers around the world organising for global justice.

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3RD PRIZE

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$500 gift

$100 worth of

voucher from Gleebooks

union merch from weareunion.org.au

Scan here to buy tickets!

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9/3/23 3:30 pm

Together it’s more super QSuper is now part of Australian Retirement Trust It’s the same QSuper you’ve always known, together with the scale, strength, and stability of a super fund looking after $200 billion in retirement savings for more than two million members.

Find out more at qsuper.qld.gov.au QSuper products are issued by Australian Retirement Trust Pty Ltd (ABN 88 010 720 840, AFSL 228975) as trustee for Australian Retirement Trust (ABN 60 905 115 063). QSuper is now part of Australian Retirement Trust. Read the product disclosure statement (PDS) to consider if this product is right for you and Target Market Determination (TMD) available at qsuper.qld.gov.au/pds or call us on 1300 360 750 to request a copy. Super Savings and QSuper members and FUM as at June 2022. ADV-240. 10/22.

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