Sharing all your wisdom to achieve the outcomes we all want

* Text of keynote video presentation

I firstly welcome members of Association of Northern Territory School Education Leaders to this virtual conference and also everyone who is participating in this conference online from across Australia and beyond.

I believe this is the first online conference to be held for school leaders in Australia and it is wonderful for Territory education to be at the forefront of professional development for educational leaders.

I have been Education Minister since late November last year and I must say I am looking forward to reading online your stories that share the wisdom you have gained as educational leaders.

Learning is lifelong - we want our students and our teachers to embrace this and, as leaders, we too must embrace this if we are to strive to excel in what we do.
I know many of you would have had long careers as educational leaders: education has been central to my life’s journey, as well as an ambition I hold for all our kids’ future.
In my time as Minister I have been privileged to visit many schools across the Territory and my goal is to get to every one.

There are approximately 150 schools in the Territory, so it’s manageable, but it will take time. I look forward to meeting all the Territory’s educational leaders, our teachers, students and families.

For those of you online from beyond the Territory, our schools are highly diverse, from the small, very remote homeland learning centres, to our large urban secondary schools - the Territory offers wonderful opportunities for educational leaders.

Recently, I made a statement to the Legislative Assembly that set directions for transforming Indigenous education.

While I am the education minister for all of our kids, it is Indigenous education that presents my greatest and most urgent challenge.

It’s a challenge we must all meet. If I can quote from that statement:

The fundamental question is this:

‘How do we ensure that we comprehensively overcome the enormous backlog of educational disadvantage faced by Indigenous students in the Territory, while at the same time not in any way compromising the high standards that have been achieved for non-Indigenous students?’

Addressing this question is the most important and pressing task facing us in education in the Territory. It mirrors the fundamental threshold issue that this Government must address across a range of programs and social indicators in implementing our Closing the Gap commitments.

The resources that we need to apply to fix the problem will be substantial and long-term - as has been recognised also by the Rudd Government.

We cannot shrink now from the effort and cost of finding solutions. If we do, we will reap a bitter harvest of poverty, disadvantage, and social dysfunction. Education that leads to employment, and which instils critical life skills, must be seen as the foundation for the advancement of Indigenous Territorians, which means the advancement of the Territory as a whole.

I am not just speaking of capital resources. Human resources are an equally vital ingredient in the mix. This means parents and the wider community as well as teachers. Parents and carers must be part of the solution. They must resolve to guard, support, and morally underwrite the future of their children. There is no longer any excuse for anything other than an absolute dedication on their part.

It goes without saying that teachers are the indispensable foot soldiers in this campaign. We must take Territory teachers - as good as any in the country - with us on the road to Closing the Gap.

As educational leaders your role is vital in leading your school communities to improve attendance and literacy and numeracy outcomes for everyone of your students.

As well as the effort we expect from parents and teachers, we need to see an equivalent undertaking from the community generally, from the tiniest outstation to our major suburbs. The problems that many of our kids experience are not quarantined to the bush. They are challenges which are also found in the towns. They are part of a continuum, with kids and parents moving from remote to rural to urban centres, and back again.

We must understand and learn from the myriad impediments many of our kids face in health and housing - how overcrowding, substance abuse and violence in the home can negate the preconditions necessary for a proper start in the educational journey.

Going to school is the bedrock for the future of Aboriginal people in the Territory.
In fact, learning and acquiring knowledge is at the heart of our tradition and Law - simple as that. It has been true for many thousands of years: learning and knowledge is what makes us strong as Aboriginal people.

The men and women who lead our ceremonies, and who teach our children to hold the Law, must also tell of the importance of schooling.

It is vital that that ‘habit’ of attending school is embedded early in a child’s life—but just as critically—such attendance must be embraced by parents and carers.

All of us must focus on transforming Indigenous education in order to make significantly improvements. The seven principles that will guide this transformation are:

• one, that of community ownership and control to increase respect for education
• two, increased parental and family engagement in the learning and development of children to achieve better outcomes.
• three, strategic pooling and direction of resources to increase capacity for improvement.
• four, approaches that work to be underpinned by sound educational theory and informed by an evidence base.
• five, skills development and capacity building of community members and employees are essential components of each project.
• six, growing Indigenous leaders and the Indigenous workforce in the Department of Education is fundamental to sustainable education services in the Territory.
• seven, new models of delivery will operate within accountability frameworks and service level agreements that include quality assurance measures.

This will be an important development and will, I am sure, provide a way forward for further community involvement. It will be an important part of our approach to involve local people on the ground and expertise as needed.

As Prime Minister Rudd told Federal Parliament:

‘None of this will be easy. Most of it will be hard - very hard. But none of it is impossible, and all of it is achievable with clear goals, clear thinking, and by placing an absolute premium on respect, cooperation and mutual responsibility as the guiding principles of this new partnership on closing the gap … The nation is calling on us, the politicians, to move beyond our infantile bickering, our point-scoring and our mindlessly partisan politics and elevate this one core area of national responsibility to a rare position beyond the partisan divide. Surely this is the unfulfilled spirit of the 1967 referendum. Surely, at least from this day forward, we should give it a go.’

We cannot walk away from these significant challenges. Every day my resolve grows stronger, as Education Minister, to make the changes we need.

I welcome you to the Northern Territory Association of School Educational Leaders Online Conference and hope you can share the wisdom you collectively hold to enhance your leadership, and to achieve the outcomes we all want.

Thank you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hon. Marion Scrymgour is Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Employment, Education and Training, in Northern Territory, Australia.