Ourmobteach 2015 Was the Premier Event for the More Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

#OurMobTeach 2015 was the premier event for the More Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Teachers Initiative (MATSITI). The conference was designed to bring together the findings of four years of education workforce project reforms and celebrate the diversity AND successes of our mob and our teachers.

Conference delegates were addressed by a representative of the Minister for Education, Hon. Simon Birmingham MP.

The following is a draft resolution from conference delegates to be forwarded to Education Ministers following feedback from participants. Tarndanya Declaration

A national forum of leading Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators from all sectors of education met at Tarndanya [Adelaide] on 30 September - 1 October 2015.

#OurMobTeach conference delegates from all States and Territories endorse the following resolutions:

Delegates welcome the 2015-18 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Strategy1 and its first priority on leadership; quality teaching and workforce development; and underpinning principles of cultural recognition, partnerships and accountability. 1 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Strategy 2015 www.scseec.edu.au/site/DefaultSite/filesystem/documents/ATSI %20documents/DECD__NATSI_EducationStrategy.pdf Delegates seek recommitment of the Australian Education Council to a more equitable ratio of teachers to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students they teach, as agreed by all Australian Education Ministers in 20102.

Delegates call for an alliance of school employers, universities, AITSL3 and school leadership agencies in partnership with First Nations’ education leaders to design, implement and monitor the four-year strategy.

The Strategy on school workforce should focus on the following priorities:

1. Attracting more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to consider teaching as a career of choice.

2. Significantly increasing graduation rates of skilled Indigenous teacher graduates.

3. Positive employment and recruitment, by the three sectors of schooling, to halve the gap in employment between Indigenous and non- Indigenous teachers, in accordance with Closing the Gap4 targets for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education and employment.

4. Ensuring there is a robust data and accountability framework to implement and review the first priority of the Strategy: Leadership, Quality Teaching and Workforce Development.

How to respond to this draft declaration Email [email protected] with your comments and suggestions in text or markup on this document.

Join Twitter conversation at @IndigenousX, @MATSITI and use the #OurMobTeach hashtag

www.matsiti.edu.au | www.twitter.com/matsiti | www.twitter.com/IndigenousX

2 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Action Plan 2010-2014 www.scseec.edu.au/archive/Aboriginal-and-Torres-Strait-Islander-Education-Action-Plan.aspx 3 Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership 4 Council of Australian Governments: Closing the Gap in Indigenous Disadvantage https://www.coag.gov.au/closing_the_gap_in_indigenous_disadvantage

Draft Tarndanya Declaration 2 Professor Peter Buckskin Hon. D.Ed., PSM, Dr Kaye Price Phd.,MEd, BEd., Dip FACE Teach., FACE Project Director, MATSITI Research Associate More Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander More Aboriginal and Torres Strait Teachers Initiative Islander Teachers Initiative Dean: Indigenous Scholarship, Education @taraba41 and Research, University of South Australia @Buckskin.Peter

Draft Tarndanya Declaration 3