Taking an open heart and mind to NT experience

Pre-service teachers from the Institute of Education, Arts and Community are completing placements in the Central Desert region of the Northern Territory as part of a new partnership between Federation and the Remote Schools Unit (RRSU) in Alice Springs.

The partnership began with an idea from Federation alumni Mark Webster, who is Principal Mentor at the RSSU in the Territory's Department of Education, and was keen to offer pre-service teachers the opportunity to experience the region and to help overcome the challenges of filling teaching positions in more remote areas.

Professional Experience Coordination lecturer in the Institute of Education, Arts and Community (IEAC) Sharon Davis says the partnership extends the opportunity for diversity placements, which are already part of programs within the Institute and helps develop the sense that teaching-learning doesn't only happen in a classroom.

"We want our pre-service teachers to understand that teaching-learning happens everywhere and bring that idea into their teaching philosophy. Our students do a whole range of things for placements and diversity placements like this one have been part of programs for more than a decade," she said.

"Mark completed a diversity placement in the UK when he was a student with us, and in his role now, he looks after a group of schools in the Central Desert region of the Northern Territory. He got in touch about a year ago to see if we could set up a partnership. From those initial meetings, we've had our first group of students visit the Northern Territory."

Also instrumental in getting the partnership up and running was Janine Matheson, Teacher Pipeline Coordinator with the NT Department of Education, who confirmed the placements and ensured the partnership met the NT's requirements and processes.

The students are from the Bachelor of Education (Primary) and Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood Education) programs. The partnership has funded flights and living costs, leaving the students with few out-of-pocket expenses.

Scholarly Teaching Fellow Julia Prout says many students head to the Northern Territory – particularly Darwin and Katherine – for teaching experience of their own accord, and there were many former students now living and working there, particularly in secondary schools.

The pre-service teachers are completing their placements in the Ti-Tree, Papunya, Haasts Bluff and Areyonga communities.

"Every year we get some students who go to Darwin for placement, mostly secondary, but this is something quite different, firstly because the partnership is providing some funding for them to go and secondly because they are getting to stay in the community, it's quite a big deal that they're going to be welcomed in by the individual communities," she said.

"We have had seven pre-service teachers heading into the Central Desert for the placement who first completed cultural awareness training in Alice Springs before moving into their communities.

"Once they're in their communities, they will complete more awareness training with the local school about specifics of their communities. They're going to a range of different schools, some far away as 600kms from Alice Springs and others a little closer.

"It's an exciting opportunity that we are really hopeful we can continue every year."

She said Andy Ross, Assistant Director for Community Engagement and Local Decision Making at the Department of Education, provided the cultural awareness training and gave the group the ideal introduction to their time in the Territory.

"He encouraged the group to go into the communities with 'an open mind and an open heart' to make the most of this wonderful opportunity."

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