Aboriginal Teachers deliver professional educational development for SEDA

Culture is Life’s Aboriginal educators delivered vocational and higher education providers with teacher training prior to a national roll out of The Australian Dream curriculum. An initiative in SEDA Groups commitment to strengthening Indigenous perspectives and knowledges for all staff and the young people they reach.

The Australian Dream Educational Resources were written by Aboriginal educators and informed by a collective of First Nations people to extend the critical messaging and lived experiences of Adam Goodes and other First Nations Australian’s in The Australian Dream film.

‘The team of dedicated educators at Culture Is Life have provided SEDA with skills and insight to increase our understanding of First Nations people, history and culture. Through a range of activities, we’ve engaged with over 1,000 SEDA staff and students across Victoria, NSW, SA, WA and NT to capture learnings and develop actions to move forward in SEDA’s reconciliation journey. We highly recommend engaging with the online resources and training provided by Culture Is Life.” Jethro Calma-Halt, National Indigenous Manager SEDA.

Culture is Life’s Aboriginal educators, Belinda Duarte, Thara Brown, Shelley Ware and Brady Cooper developed the sessions with the aim to:

• Inspire life-long connections to the founding ancestral stories of this country and encourage teachers to reflect on their own ancestral stories
• Encourage honest conversations on teachers understanding of Indigenous culture and their own experiences and education with their students
• Build confidence and competence in teachers to facilitate learning of the key themes; cultural identity, history and truths, racism, resilience and reconciliation
• Advocate for place- based initiatives to connect and positively impact their community’s relationship with First
  Nations people, culture and history.
• Teacher’s pre-survey reflections indicated that 70% of teachers rated themselves as having ‘a little knowledge’ of First Nations Culture in Australia, which we hope to shift dramatically by providing further training and access to resources for educators nationally.

‘The Australian Dream discusses the historical and social impact of colonialism and effects of long term institutionalised racism in Australia. It holds a mirror up to its Australian audience and asks us to address the casual and relaxed attitudes towards racist views within sporting cultures and beyond.’ A SEDA teacher’s reflection after watching the film.

The Australian Dream Educational Resources are available for free at ABC Education.
Connect with us to discuss professional development opportunities for your school, community or workplace.