Place-based and culturally responsive VET for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners

The Australian Government’s Closing the Gap initiative and the various programs that have resulted from it have aimed to address the gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous achievement in education, health and employment outcomes. Vocational education and training (VET) is an important education and employment pathway for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia and therefore plays a significant role in addressing those gaps. However, research and the reporting of participation and outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in VET reveal persistent gaps in achievement.

This raises the question of what VET registered training organisations (RTOs) can do to promote successful outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, whereby successful outcomes include training completions and transition to employment, as well as other outcomes viewed as desirable by learners and their community.

One way in which RTOs can achieve this is by creating training environments that are more attuned and responsive to the cultural needs and contexts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Various approaches and resources for applying culturally responsive practices have been developed over the years, but evidence suggests that teaching staff have not always been provided with the support or resources necessary to effectively teach Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. The difficulties that RTOs experience in recruiting trainers with appropriate cultural awareness is also a challenge.

Place-based approaches in VET have previously been identified as useful in addressing local socioeconomic issues, including for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Place-based approaches can be effective in reducing the inequity experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; can be more attuned to the ways in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples connect and identify with place and Country; and can lead to more successful and sustainable solutions for local socioeconomic needs. However, the tailored, collaborative and targeted design of place-based approaches requires considerable additional resourcing and work: there is ‘no one size fits all’ approach.

Given the policy interest in place-based and culturally responsive approaches to VET, this project sought to investigate how these two complementary approaches can be integrated into VET more effectively and lead to more meaningful outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners.

Based on case studies of three Aboriginal-led RTOs (Tauondi, Nunkuwarrin Yunti and the Tiwi Islands Training and Employment Board), this research draws on the knowledge, experience and expertise of trainers, students and employers to better understand the practical implementation of place-based and culturally responsive approaches in VET.

While efforts have been made by researchers, policymakers and others to define culturally responsive and place-based approaches to VET, this research reveals that these concepts are built into the very fabric of the Aboriginal-owned and/or led training providers that are enacting such practices. Indeed, discussion of these concepts with the case study organisations highlights some disconnect between how those outside the organisations think about and describe these concepts compared to those who are implementing them.

When asked to consider and interpret these two terms, the training providers participating in this project provided definitions that were sometimes different from those being used in the published research. By highlighting these differences in interpretation, the results from this project help to bridge policymakers’ understandings of these concepts, as well as those delivering culturally responsive and place-based training to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

What does ‘place-based’ mean in the context of culturally responsive teaching and learning?

Culturally responsive training acknowledges culture, kinship, language and protocols. It is relational and respectful and creates spaces where there is no shame or judgment, where there is trust between trainers and learners, and where lived experiences of trauma, racism and grief are open for discussion. It recognises that colonial systems have had an impact on learners and actively works to decolonise these.

While place-based training often refers to learning that is locally and geographically contextualised, in the context of culturally responsive teaching and learning for Aboriginal learners, it is more concerned with feelings of belonging, of cultural safety and about being on Country.

When applied to learning and training, the meanings ascribed by the research participants to the terms ‘culturally responsive’ and ‘place-based’ often overlapped, although with some distinctions; for example, being culturally responsive did not necessarily require being place-based.

The local context of the training provider matters when considering concepts such as place-based training. While the role of Country was explicitly described by the urban training providers, this was not so for the Tiwi Islands Training and Employment Board, where there is likely no need to differentiate between off- and on-Country learning.

What does good practice for ‘culturally responsive’ and ‘place-based’ approaches in VET look like?

Employing and training Aboriginal staff, tailoring training to meet individual needs and creating localised employment pathways through strategic partnerships with communities and Aboriginal employers were all important contributors to good practice in culturally responsive training. Good practice also involved an Aboriginal-led learning environment, where learners recognise that that those supporting them, while acting as role models who foster pride and aspiration, genuinely understand their histories and the complexities of identity and healing. However, and importantly for broader applicability, all educators — both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander — should aspire to working towards being culturally responsive and sharing this ethical responsibility.

Good practice in place-based training generates successful employment, qualification and personal development outcomes by empowering learners, building confidence and providing access to local industries, employers and further training and skill-building opportunities. The establishment of partnerships between community organisations, employers and industry groups is critical for successful and sustainable outcomes in both remote and urban contexts.

What are the challenges to delivering culturally responsive and place-based training?

The primary challenges facing providers in offering culturally responsive training are related to costs and access to funding to ensure sustainability. As relatively small training providers, the three case study providers experienced fluctuations in funding, which had significant impacts on their viability and continuity. Funding challenges are not easy to overcome, with these providers demonstrating a need to be persistent, flexible and tenacious in their pursuit of resources. Aboriginal staff recruitment and retention is another major challenge, while remoteness adds a further layer of challenge, exacerbating cost and increasing recruitment and retention challenges. The challenges experienced by learners, such as low levels of English literacy and managing work and family commitments, are also significant, as is the challenge of navigating pathways into employment.