Supporting students into careers and further education

A pilot program that helps young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples get the skills to find employment or progress to further education and training should be expanded and rolled out beyond the Gippsland region, a Federation University researcher says.

The program, called I Am Deadly, was offered by the Baw Baw and Latrobe Local Learning and Employment Network, and researchers from Federation's Collaborative Evaluation and Research Group (CERG) have been working to evaluate its impact.

CERG director Associate Professor Joanne Porter says the program was designed to bring the year 10-12 students together and to deliver a program in a culturally sensitive and appropriate way, supporting the teenagers to learn in a different format outside of the secondary school system.

"Part of the success of this project can be seen by the fact that some of the students were struggling to remain engaged with school, but they were happy to go to Youth Space in Morwell once a week for the I am Deadly program," Associate Professor Porter said.

"The group were engaged with hands-on activities, giving it a go with a variety of different trades and occupations. Perhaps the most significant finding from this project was the development of the students' career aspirations, with many going on to get part-time employment.

"The change in their confidence from week one to the end of the program has been enormous. Being able to make eye contact and to find their voice – these are kids that were lost in the public school system, and this program enabled them to have an opportunity to really learn in an environment that gave them voice.

"They genuinely enjoyed the opportunity to come out of their regular school for that one day a week into a different learning environment and into a very applied learning setting. It's hands-on, very conversational with discussions and debate, and that's a different learning platform.

"Then to go on and have a work experience component gave them an opportunity to go into the workplace and learn what it was like."

Associate Professor Porter says the program helped the students develop their communication and practical skills, like approaching a job interview.

"Much of the training was activity-based which involved working in teams and learning to listen to the other team members. And there were simple tasks like building straw towers as high as possible and blindfold exercises – these are great team-building exercises where you learn to trust one another," she said.

"The program includes all the elements essential to being in the workplace, including the teamwork, leadership and communication skills, and the way technology fits into their futures."

The CERG team's role included speaking with the students and the program's facilitators at different stages during the program.

"Our job is to showcase what everyone's learnt along the way. That means we're interviewing the representatives from TAFE and industries that volunteer to have the students, as well as the students themselves and what it's meant to them," Associate Professor Porter said.

"Of the key findings, it was recognised that a much longer program, beyond the one-year I Am Deadly program, is needed to consolidate the learnings of the program and support them into the future."

"If we're going to really support Indigenous students through to higher learning, whether TAFE or tertiary settings, we need to have a three to five-year mechanism. This program is an important first step, but the students need ongoing support, and we've seen how this can really help with the Aboriginal Education Centre at Federation which supports our Indigenous students.

"How great would it be if this was rolled out to all year 10 Indigenous students right across the nation? It would make a big difference to keep the students engaged with education and provide supported career pathways."