Date and time

Tuesday 7 March 2023, 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm

Delivery mode

Online – a Zoom link will be provided 24 hours prior to the event

Audience 

Principal, Senior Leader, Teacher

Description

What tools and resources might support schools and early learning services to contribute to the reconciliation movement?

Reconciliation Australia's Narragunnawali program has tools and resources to support schools and early learning services to contribute to the reconciliation movement.

This session will explore the concept and context of reconciliation in Australia, with a focus on the important relationship between reconciliation in education. Drawing on the Narragunnawali Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) framework, it will equip participants with the knowledge and skills required to understand how reconciliation can be respectfully embedded in the classroom, around school/early learning service environments, and with the community.                           

Key takeaways               

• opportunity to critically reflect on your current attitudes and actions towards reconciliation in education
• recognition of the importance of ongoing personal and professional learning, unlearning and relearning about diverse Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and contributions.

Presenter information

Nina Ross          

Nina Ross is a proud Aboriginal woman with connections to Anaiwan and Dunghutti lands while living and working on Wonnarua Country. She is a mother, wife, artist, and teacher and has 22 years’ experience in secondary schools, including writing educational resources for NESA. She completed Fine Arts training at the Newcastle School of Art and has degrees in Education and Fine Arts from the University of Newcastle. Nina has also completed TAFE studies in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Arts. She has written professional teacher learning programs that embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives to build cultural understanding and has experience presenting these at conferences as well as facilitating art and cultural art workshops. Nina believes reconciliation is everybody’s business and wants to help educators access and use resources in their classrooms. Since joining Reconciliation Australia’s Narragunnawali team, Nina leads the program’s Professional Learning and Curriculum strategy.

Stephanie Woerde         

Stephanie Woerde has a background in community development and is a big believer in the important link between early years educational development and community development more broadly. She enjoys engaging in critical applied research activities and deep community-level consultation and collaboration. In 2016, Stephanie was awarded the Peter Mitchell Churchill Fellowship to inspire best practice in the design/implementation of Language Nest-style programs in Australia. Her research built on key learnings developed during her experience of supporting the establishment of the Miriwoong Language Nest program– a culturally responsive education initiative centred on First Language immersion and now delivered to more than 400 children in the East Kimberley town of Kununurra. As a member of Reconciliation Australia’s Narragunnawali team since 2016, currently acting as the team’s Strategy and Operations Manager, Stephanie continues to be a strong advocate for acknowledging the continuing significance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and contributions, and working towards a brighter future of reconciliation in education, and across Australia.            

Link(s) to relevant VRQA Standards 

• Curriculum and Student Learning – Curriculum framework                                   
• Curriculum and Student Learning – Student learning outcomes                                     
• Curriculum and Student Learning – Monitoring and reporting on students’ performance       
• Care, Safety and Welfare of Students – Safe environment                                              
• Care, Safety and Welfare of Students – Child safety