Red Dirt Thinking About Remote Education John Guenther Sam Osborne Kendall Clarke Marijke Denton

Red Dirt Thinking

• Thinking grounded in the context of remote Australia • Thinking which reflects the vast openness of possibilities • The utopian of the ‘blue sky’ versus the pragmatic reality of the ‘red dirt’

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The aspiration to succeed

How would a remote educator build aspiration and success?

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Simple problem, simple solution?

“…the problem is the quality of the schools, particularly the curriculum and the teaching methods.” (Anderson, 2012, p. 4)

“…there needs to be focused additional concrete efforts to make sure that kids attend school – and there the parents and communities do have a responsibility…” (Garrett, 2012)

“This is the formula upon which our reform in Cape York is premised: Committed Teacher + Effective Instruction = Quality Teaching”. (Pearson, 2011, p. 53)

“Put simply, quality teachers create quality outcomes.” (Sarra, 2011, p. 161) "All of the good jobs with lots of money go to people who have gone to school," Mr

Abbott said, instructing the children to attend school every day.(Elks, 2011) “Curtisha has completed preschool – she knows how to hold a pencil, listen to the

teacher, and adapt to the formal routines of the day. She’s ready for school. Ready for the future. The mistakes made in one generation are being repaired in the next. The gap is being closed”.(Gillard, 2013)

“School failure is the problem”. (Hughes & Hughes, 2012, p. 1) “Mainstream education at all levels is essential if Yolngu children are to have the same

life chances as other Australians.”(Wearne & Yunupingu, 2011, p. 5)

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Simple model for educational success

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Attend

• parent responsibility

Achieve

• teacher responsibility

Earn

• individual responsibility

Real indicators of educational success?

• Bilingual, bicultural capacity (ability to engage with Western thinking) • Agency in family and community affairs • Confidence to effect change • Strengthened identity • Socialisation (cultural power, implicit norms) • Resilience in the face of trauma

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How would a remote educator teach to this success?

Aspiration for success?

• We know that aspiration is derived from models offered by older family members,

• But is it the role of educators to build aspiration in parents?

• Where does industry fit in with building aspiration?

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Can a remote educator build aspiration?

Red dirt presentations

• Red dirt thinking on educational disadvantage John Guenther

• Red dirt thinking family and community well being in rural and remote

Australian communities: From adversity comes Opportunity: the SpICE model.

Kendall Clarke & Marijke Denton

• Red dirt thinking on power, pedagogy and paradigms: Delimiting the dialogue in remote education.

Sam Osborne

• Red dirt thinking on education systems: Shifting from remote to local. Melodie Bat

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