Indigenous reflections

FEBRUARY 2009
By Carmel Carrick

Times have changed since Penny Tripcony was a student at East Brisbane State School in the 1940s.

'The biggest change in Indigenous education from then to now is now it is compulsory for Aboriginal children to go to school,' Dr Tripcony said.

Dr Penny Tripcony

'After my mother died I was cared for by my Aunt Priscilla whose belief that "education is the key to success" meant she kept me supplied with books to read.'

Dr Tripcony is continuing to work as a consultant after a career as one of Australia's leading Indigenous educators, including serving as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education principal policy officer for the Department of Education, Training and the Arts from 1989 to 1994.

She is of the Ngugi people of Mugumpin (Moreton Island). Her mother, one of 10 children of an Aboriginal mother and a white father, was raised at an Aboriginal mission on North Stradbroke Island.

Dr Tripcony said she learnt at an early age the importance of standing up for what she believed in.

She said her work in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education started out as a coincidence - meeting another girl called Penny in a shop in Melbourne who told her about Aboriginal study grants - that developed into a passion.

'It is with both pleasure and pride that I see more of our young people completing school, graduating from universities, colleges and institutes and taking up positions where they can progress towards a positive future for themselves and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people generally,' she said.

Dr Tripcony said the best teacher is a 'warm demander'.

'Teachers should be warm and caring but at the same time the children should know their teacher expects certain things of them,' she said.

Dr Tripcony's work with Dunwich State School principal and staff on developing a program of community-parent involvement and encouraging teachers to continue their work as warm demanders won a Dare to Lead award for excellence from the Australian Principals Association in 2005.

Home-grown

When Stephen Foster was a student on Thursday Island in the 1970s, there was no senior level of school in the Torres Strait, so he went to Townsville to complete Years 11 and 12.

'My parents encouraged me to pursue further education - they were my biggest inspiration,' Mr Foster said.

Now an associate principal at Tagai State College, Mr Foster became the first Torres Strait Islander to earn a Masters Degree in Education when he gained his qualification in 2004 at James Cook University.

In the 25 years since he began teaching, Mr Foster has seen significant improvements in education in the Torres Strait.

'The biggest change was the formation of the Torres Strait Islander Regional Education Council (TSIREC) in 1983, made up of community leaders who wanted to change the way education was delivered,' he said.

'As soon as TSIREC was formed and policies put together, things started to happen - they put education on the agenda and as a result huge improvements started to occur.

'At TSIREC's request, outer islands education was taken over by Education Queensland in 1985.

'That changed the way education was delivered and the quality of facilities.'

Steve Foster

Mr Foster served as chair of the organisation in the late 1980s.

He has taught across the islands, and after completing Education Queensland's executive development program was appointed principal at Badu Island in 1993.

He has been based there since, while also serving in other leadership roles.

'Another major advance was the development of the Remote Area Teacher Education Program (RATEP) in the 1980s that gave a large number of Indigenous people the opportunity to remain in their community while gaining their teaching qualification,' Mr Foster said.

The formation of Tagai State College in 2007 saw the amalgamation of 17 schools across the Torres Strait into one large college offering education from pre-Prep to Year 12.

'A key strategy in how things are done in the college is incorporating a Yumi approach.

'The Yumi approach means we are using best practice within the cultural context, while at the same time acknowledging and respecting the community.

'The Yumi approach also reduces the risk of failure.

'In just two years as Tagai State College, we have come a long way in developing and implementing systems that will no doubt bring about accountability and enhance educational outcomes for all our students at Tagai.'