Doing it Differently. Link and Learn — the work of the Indigenous Education and Training Alliance

Abstract

The Indigenous Education and Training Alliance (IETA) is a staff college of Education Queensland. Its primary focus is to broker and deliver professional development to educators around the policies contained within Partners for Success: strategy for the continuous improvement of education and employment outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in Education Queensland (Education Queensland, 2000b). This paper describes how IETA's work to support one of the policies, Literacy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students, has been theorised and enacted. It also discusses the organisation's successes and challenges in the significant area of language and literacy pedagogy for Indigenous students.

Quality and Efficacy of the Indigenous Tutorial Assistance Scheme (ITAS) for University Students

“…The Indigenous Tutorial Assistance Scheme (ITAS), a nationally funded program through the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR), has been conceptualised and implemented upon a number of premises, including that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students have had a "defi cient" preparation in their schooling to "successfully" undertake tertiary study. This claim is drawn from many reviews and analyses of Indigenous education support initiatives and national Indigenous education policy (Bin-Sallik, 1991;Morgan, 2003;Nakata, 1993Nakata, , 2001Nicholls et al, 1996;Taylor, 2002;Tripcony, 2001). This paper analyses ITAS by interrogating concepts informing perceptions of "deficit" and "success".…”

“…We have a high proportion of ITAS users (12%) who are Torres Strait Islanders and for whom SAE is in fact their third or fourth language (Shnukal, 2002, p. 8). Taylor's (2002) research into national and State educational policy responses through her work with the Indigenous Education Training Alliance (IETA) in Cairns demonstrated that State education departments acknowledged the responsibility of schools to respond to Indigenous students' English as Second Language (ESL) needs with "second language pedagogy" (p. 45). However, universities are not required to do so for Indigenous students.…”

Teaching Grammar in anEnglish as a Foreign Language (Efl) Context

“…I believe that for teachers working in the Torres Strait, having a clear understanding of the differences between SAE andTSC (the regional lingua franca), should give a deeper understanding of students' language needs. Education Queensland is continuing to address such staff understandings through professional development in ESL and other initiatives under the auspices of the Indigenous Education and Training Alliance (IETA) as outlined recently by Taylor (2002).…”

Around inCircles orExpanding Spirals?: aRetrospective Look atEducation inTorres Strait, 1964-2003

“…The Indigenous Education Training Alliance (IETA) was formed in Cairns in 2001 to provide state-wide support for teachers of Indigenous students (Taylor, 2002). IETA runs an orientation program as part of its Remote Area Incentive Scheme for teachers appointed to remote Indigenous schools including those in Torres Strait.…”