Professional Learning

Staff use optical illusions to consider how 'truths' or 'illusions' are portrayed through the media.

Staff and Working Group members use an ABC Splash resource, 'Noongar people speak about a sense of place,' to develop an appreciation of Noongar peoples’ conceptualisations of ‘place,’ as well as place-people interrelationships.

ABC's Right Wrongs platform utilises archival footage, interviews and recordings of genuine lived experiences and impacts of the 1967 referendum

This activity involves better ensuring that all staff have a strong, shared understanding and appreciation of their school or early learning service’s physical Acknowledgement of Country.

This activity assists staff to evaluate how well your school or early learning service is working towards achieving a racism-free environment and then plan and develop strategies to counter racism.

Teachers and educators attend or host a meeting with organisations or groups that already have strong Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation on their committees to learn about the importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation on committees.

Attending events that celebrate or commemorate days of national significance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is a valuable professional learning opportunity.

Teachers and educators compare the three ‘big ideas’ (Belonging, Being and Becoming) of the Early Years Learning Framework to the three key concepts (People, Culture and Country/Place) of the Australian Curriculum Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures cross-curriculum priority.

Teachers and educators often report being nervous or fearful to teach about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories and cultures. These activities aim to address some of these concerns.

Staff and/or RAP Working Group members discuss this scenario to explore the importance of acknowledging the effort required to implement meaningful and sustainable reconciliation initiatives.

This activity requires all staff to reflect on the current level of engagement with reconciliation initiatives within your school or early learning service, and consider where opportunities exist to celebrate current action or strive for increased commitment.

Consider family and community engagement in your school or early learning service using the following reflection questions.

Staff or Working Group members consult with their local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community to put together a professional development activity which involves learning about the historical and cultural significance of the Country on which their school or early learning service is situated.

Conduct an audit of how early learning teachers and educators in your service engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives and content through the lens of the Early Years Learning Framework, National Quality Standard, and the services’ Quality Improvement Plan.

In this activity, staff examine the cultural competence continuum and identify situations in their own lives or Australia’s history that reflect the various levels of competence. In doing so, they reflect on where they believe they are personally situated on a cultural competence continuum.

This activity encourages staff to consider scenarios, evaluate policies and principles and consider how cultural safety could further be promoted within the wider school or early learning service community.

Conduct an audit of existing curriculum documents help identify where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives and content are currently included in the curriculum, where there are gaps, and what opportunities there might be for inclusion.

Educators examine the 'Early Years Learning Framework in Action' case studies in the Educators Guide to the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and consider best practice avenues for simultaneously embedding the EYLF and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and contributions into their teaching.

Teachers and educators work with local Elders to develop a customised and relevant staff workshop, with the goal of providing mutually beneficial opportunities for Elders to share their knowledge, histories and cultures with staff of their school or early learning service.

While development and implementation of your Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) is led by the RAP working group, input and effort from all staff is essential. This resource outlines a number of ideas for involving all staff in the development of your school or early learning service’s RAP.