Incorporating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Curriculum frameworks into practice and implications for employment (original) (raw)

Racism Unmasked: The Experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students in Social Work Field Placements

Attracting more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to the social work profession is an important strategy in responding to Indigenous disadvantage in Australia. The literature suggests that the inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, knowledge, and skills in social work is impeded by racism and white privilege. This article reports on a research project that aimed to explore the field education experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social work students. The findings highlight the need to address racism, increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander academic staff, and value cultural mentors in social work education.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers: the skills recognition and upskilling project

2016

Introduction: Throughout 2014 and 2015 a series of three, two-week residential blocks were conducted by Tropical North Queensland TAFE in collaboration with James Cook University to deliver essential content to help with skills recognition and upskilling of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers in Queensland. The project goal was to assist eligible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers to qualify for a Certificate IV in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Primary Health Care Practice and be able to apply for registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). Purpose: This presentation will share what was achieved throughout this project and some of the challenges faced by the educational institutions in delivering the program. Furthermore, challenges faced by students will also be explored, along with strategies that were implemented to help overcome them. Issues for exploration or ideas for discussion: i.Criteria used for...

Closing the gap: A whole of school approach to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander inclusivity in higher education

Nurse Education in Practice, 2018

A B S T R A C T The recruitment and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives is key to the delivery of culturally appropriate health care and improving the health outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. A working group to address inclusion and engagement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students at a West Australian University has impacted on the curricula, faculty staff and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students within the School of Nursing and Midwifery. The University's Reconciliation Action Plan was the foundation and catalysed the group to promote cultural safety education for staff and provide inclusive activities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. A conceptual framework was developed to demonstrate the action taken within the School of Nursing and Midwifery to address the inequity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students that could be seen to exist. Through collaboration with staff and students, both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Aboriginal people, a shared understanding and goal setting has developed to enable positive action to provide ongoing support for these students at all parts of their journey in higher education. This paper will highlight the process involved to promote the recruitment, retention and academic success of these students.

Cultural Responsiveness in Action: Co-Constructing Social Work Curriculum Resources with Aboriginal Communities

The British Journal of Social Work

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing have recently become core social work curriculum in Australian social work degrees and are regarded as central to decolonising Australian social work education and producing culturally responsive social work practitioners. Effectively teaching these knowledges, values and skills requires multiple strategies including the development of new curriculum resources which demonstrate the integration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing in practice. This article presents the theory and practice of co-constructing two filmed case studies with Aboriginal stakeholders which address a range of student learning needs. These powerful case studies are informed by Aboriginal knowledges and demonstrate the skills and values that the community state they want and need from social workers. Engaging in a communityled process provides social work educators with opportunities to build relationships with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, thus modelling cultural responsiveness in action.

What are the key ingredients for an effective and successful tertiary enabling program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students? An evaluation of the evolution of one program

Tertiary enabling programs have become an increasingly important part of the post-secondary schooling system. In recognition of the need for increased access for certain under-represented groups within the university population, enabling, bridging or foundational programs are offered by a large number of universities in Australia as alternative entry pathways. This paper explores the outcomes of an enabling program being offered to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults who are arguably one of the most under-represented groups within the university system in Australia. It explores, in two parts, the combination of factors that are resulting in these positive outcomes. The first part explores the ‘data story’ of the course and the factors that support retention and completion. The second part explores the ‘stories of transformation’ as told by the students themselves, providing insider accounts of richness and depth about the things that truly enable success in a tertiary learning environment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. While not ignoring the limitations of evaluating a course that is still in its infancy, there is no denying that the students undertaking this course are completing and moving on into Higher Education courses at an impressive rate, empowered by the skills, strategies and confidence they have developed through the course.

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Public Health Curriculum Framework

2017

For universities, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Public Health Curriculum Framework provides the tools to integrate the impacts of history, social determinants and the cultural dimensions of health across and within national and international curriculums, and how they impact on contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practice and research.

Aboriginal Social Work Academics: Failure to Thrive due to Having to Fight to Survive

Australian Social Work, 2022

The Behrendt report (2012) highlighted the significant lack of representation of Aboriginal people in higher education. It called for a collaborative approach by governments, universities, and professional bodies to drive systemic changes. In the last decade, this has resulted in an increase of Aboriginal students, staff, and researchers. This article presents a qualitative research study in which Aboriginal social work academic participants described their experiences of curriculum changes, workload, and research in the academy. Implications for universities, and social work programs, in particular, show where more is needed in the form of antiracist action plans and follow-through with these to address failure to thrive due to having to fight to survive in the academy. IMPLICATIONS . Aboriginal social work academics are continuing to find academia to be socially and politically unsafe and unfairly competitive. . Universities are experienced by Aboriginal social work academics as being often unsupportive and untrustworthy workplaces. . Non-Aboriginal social work academics need to increase their commitment to, and actions regarding, antiracist practice with their Aboriginal colleagues.