Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Young People and Staff ‘Talk Up’ The Value of Flexible Learning Options

2018 ◽  
pp. 43-62
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Flexible Learning ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Learning Options

scholarly journals A scoping review about social and emotional wellbeing programs and services targeting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in Australia: understanding the principles guiding promising practice

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Himanshu Gupta ◽  
Noemi Tari-Keresztes ◽  
Donna Stephens ◽  
James A. Smith ◽  
Emrhan Sultan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Program Planning ◽  
Promising Practices ◽  
Emotional Wellbeing ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Social And Emotional Wellbeing

Abstract Background Multiple culturally-oriented programs, services, and frameworks have emerged in recent decades to support the social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Aboriginal) people in Australia. Although there are some common elements, principles, and methods, few attempts have been made to integrate them into a set of guidelines for policy and practice settings. This review aims to identify key practices adopted by programs and services that align with the principles of the National Strategic Framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ Mental Health and Social and Emotional Wellbeing 2017–2023. Methods A comprehensive review of electronic databases and organisational websites was conducted to retrieve studies of relevance. Twenty-seven publications were included in the review. Next, we identified promising practices through a collaborative review process. We then used the principles articulated in the above-mentioned framework as the basis to complete a framework analysis. This enabled us to explore the alignment between current scholarship about SEWB programs and services with respect to the principles of the framework. Results We found there was a strong alignment, with selected principles being effectively incorporated into most SEWB program and service delivery contexts. However, only one study incorporated all nine principles, using them as conceptual framework. Additionally, ‘capacity building’, ‘individual skill development’, and ‘development of maladaptive coping mechanisms’ were identified as common factors in SEWB program planning and delivery for Aboriginal people. Conclusion We argue the selective application of nationally agreed principles in SEWB programs and services, alongside a paucity of scholarship relating to promising practices in young people-oriented SEWB programs and services, are two areas that need the urgent attention of commissioners and service providers tasked with funding, planning, and implementing SEWB programs and services for Aboriginal people. Embedding robust participatory action research and evaluation approaches into the design of such services and programs will help to build the necessary evidence-base to achieve improved SEWB health outcomes among Aboriginal people, particularly young people with severe and complex mental health needs.

scholarly journals Emerging diabetes and metabolic conditions among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people

2019 ◽  
Vol 210 (3) ◽  
pp. 111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Titmuss ◽  
Elizabeth A Davis ◽  
Alex Brown ◽  
Louise J Maple‐Brown
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Metabolic Conditions ◽  
Torres Strait

Social inclusion education policy in South Australia: What can we learn?

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Bills ◽  
Nigel Howard
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Young People ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Young Person ◽  
Flexible Learning ◽  
Early School Leaving ◽  
Early School ◽  
School Learning ◽  
Learning Options

In this article, we interrogate the policy assumptions underlying a significant South Australian public education re-engagement initiative called Flexible Learning Options, formulated within South Australia’s social inclusion policy agenda, beginning in 2006. To this end, we applied Baachi’s ‘What’s the Problem Represented to be?’ policy analysis framework to a historical range of departmental Flexible Learning Options policy documents and evaluations to uncover how Flexible Learning Options (1) understands the problem of early school leaving, (2) defines the notion of being an ‘at risk’ young person and (3) interprets and enacts the intervention process for young people identified as ‘at risk’ of early school leaving. Our policy analysis indicates re-engagement in learning – as measured by improved retention – to be the key Flexible Learning Options policy driver, with schools ‘silently’ positioned as a significant part of the retention in learning problem. The Flexible Learning Options engagement in learning intervention directed at ‘high-risk’ students’ works to remove them from schools into places where personalised support and an alternative curriculum are made available. ‘Lower risk’ students are given a combination of in-school and off-school learning options. Our What’s the Problem Represented to be? analysis also reveals that (1) the notion of ‘risk’ is embodied within the young person and is presented as the predominant cause of early school leaving; (2) how the educational marketplace could work to promote Flexible Learning Options enrolment growth has not been considered; (3) schools are sidelined as first choice engagement options for ‘high-risk’ young people, (4) secondary school redesign and family intervention as alternative reengagement strategies have largely been ignored and (5) through withdrawal from conventional schooling, the access of many Flexible Learning Options to students to an expansive curriculum delivered by teachers within well-resourced school learning architectures has been constrained.

scholarly journals Social Exclusion/Inclusion and Australian First Nations LGBTIQ+ Young People’s Wellbeing

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 42-51
Author(s):  
Karen Soldatic ◽  
Linda Briskman ◽  
William Trewlynn ◽  
John Leha ◽  
Kim Spurway
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Population Group ◽  
Emotional Wellbeing ◽  
Structural Racism ◽  
The Social ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
The Impact

There is little known about the social, cultural and emotional wellbeing (SCEWB) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQ+ young people in Australia. What research exists does not disaggregate young people’s experiences from those of their adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQ+ peers. The research that forms the basis for this article is one of the first conducted in Australia on this topic. The article uses information from in-depth interviews to inform concepts of social inclusion and exclusion for this population group. The interviews demonstrate the different ways in which social inclusion/exclusion practices, patterns and process within First Nations communities and non-Indigenous LGBTIQ+ communities impact on the SCEWB of these young people. The research demonstrates the importance of acceptance and support from families in particular the centrality of mothers to young people feeling accepted, safe and able to successfully overcome challenges to SCEWB. Non-Indigenous urban LGBTIQ+ communities are at times seen as a “second family” for young people, however, structural racism within these communities is also seen as a problem for young people’s inclusion. This article contributes significant new evidence on the impact of inclusion/exclusion on the SCEWB of Australian First Nations LGBTIQ+ youth.

Engaging the youth: co-designing health promotion messages

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Finlay
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Young People ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Transition To Adulthood ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Birth Certificate ◽  
Migrant Populations ◽  
Tailored Communication ◽  
Torres Strait

Abstract We were all young once, right? Moreover, many of us still feel young despite our birth certificate suggesting otherwise. Does that mean we understand what health promotion messages are going to resonate with young people today? Does it mean we know which platforms messages for young people should be used? The short answer is no. This is particularly true for marginalised communities whose needs are often very different and therefore require tailored communication. Marginalised communities such as Indigenous people, the LGBTQI community, migrant populations and refugees. Youth is a perfect time to communicate prevention, sexual and reproductive health and other health promotion messages. Young people are our future leaders. As health professionals, we want to make sure they transition to adulthood as healthy in mind and body as we can. Part of that is developing health promotion messages which reach with young people. However, too frequently, messages are not tailored for young people; therefore, not equipping them with the knowledge and skill to make healthy choices. To ensure that as health professionals that we are maximising our impact with young people, we need to co-design health promotion messages with them. Like with many Indigenous people in colonised countries, half of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, Australia's Indigenous people are under the age of 30. Young Australian Indigenous people's health and wellbeing needs are distinctive because of the uniqueness of their culture as well as the historical, political and social context (Azzopardi 2017). To ensure that health promotion effectively reaches its target audience, a co-design methodology is often employed with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This presentation will detail the development of co-designed quit smoking and suicide prevention health promotion campaigns to demonstrate their effectiveness. A method that can be applied with other young people for maximum impact.

scholarly journals Editorial

2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. iii-iii
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Mackinlay ◽  
Martin Nakata
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Indigenous Education ◽  
School Principal ◽  
Educational Success ◽  
Remote Community ◽  
Indigenous Children ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Pedagogy And Curriculum ◽  
Education Business

We are very pleased to bring you Volume 45 of The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education. At this moment in time, we feel that the work of AJIE has perhaps never been more important, particularly as it relates to engaging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and communities in systems of schooling. In May this year we witnessed the evacuation of school teachers from the remote community of Aurukun, Queensland in fear of violence. A group of 15 disengaged young people had threatened the School Principal and as a consequence of the evacuation, 300 engaged children were subsequently disengaged from School for the remaining five weeks of term following the closure. There is no doubt that teacher safety is paramount, similarly, there should be no doubt that community consultation and engagement in a move like this one equally so. The questions which hang in the air relate to why such levels of disengagement exist. Why are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people disengaged from schooling in Aurukun? What makes it okay that a large number of engaged Indigenous children were forcibly made to disengage from school? Why is there such disengagement from government in engaging local people in the ways in which education business is carried out with and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and communities? The papers in this volume of AJIE then, all speak strongly to issues of engagement – the kinds of pedagogy and curriculum that can and should be in place, the kinds of relationships that can and should be in place, and the kinds of outcomes made possible when such educational moves are made. A resounding message from all of the articles in this volume is that the on-going engagement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, parents, and communities is key to defining and achieving what educational success might mean for each individual child, context and classroom. This is by no means a new message, but the recent events in Aurukun remind us that it is one we must keep returning to – the stakes for complacency and forgetting are too high.

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