A joint research project by Batchelor Institute, Curtin University and the University of Notre Dame. Funded by the Australian Government Department of Education.
Attendance rates in very remote schools with more than 80% Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student enrolments declined sharply in the post-COVID years (2021-2022), and while attendance is at best a poor proxy for educational outcomes (Guenther, 2013; Waller et al., 2018), when nearly half of the potential student population of schools is not present, concerns are raised about the social, health and economic impacts of this level of disengagement. Few studies have explored why young people in remote communities are so disengaged from schooling, though what is clear is that the factors are complex and entrenched (Niddrie et al., 2018).
Attendance rates in very remote schools have always been lower than in schools in less remote areas. Between 2011 and 2019, attendance rates for very remote schools with more than 80% First Nations students progressively reduced (from 73% to 63%). The COVID-19 era has accelerated the downward trend, with school attendance falling a further 10% in just three years. There has been a corresponding decline in attendance rates for schools with up to 80% First Nations students, but the decline has not been as great. The number of remote students attaining Year 12 certificates is also on the way down.
This project is funded by the Australian Government’s Emerging Priorities Program to explore how to improve school engagement and retention in remote schools. The specific aims of the research project are to provide:
The research will deliver findings that will translate directly into strategic policy and recommended practice to meet the aims listed above.
Two research questions guide the project:
The research methodology for the project is built on a mixed methods (Tashakkori et al., 2021) participatory methodology (Fetterman et al., 2017), drawing on principles of cultural safety (Gollan & Stacey, 2021), incorporating Indigenous methodologies and both-ways approaches (Kovach, 2015; Ober, 2017; Walker et al., 2014). The researchers bring together Indigenous and non-Indigenous positionalities which allow for critical decolonial analysis of data (Guenther et al., 2018), and ensures that research instruments are fit for purpose in remote settings where the work will be carried out.
‘Participation’ in this project means that community-based researchers are an important part of the research. They can be both informants and researchers, following collaborative processes of reflection, analysis and reporting (Stringer & Aragon, 2021). They bring specialised cultural and language expertise to the research process and they are insiders, meaning that they have an intimate understanding of the research context, which is important in the application of Indigenous Methodologies in intercultural research (Kovach, 2009).
As part of the project, remote and very remote schools in NT and WA are invited to participate with the researchers and community-based researchers to discuss the challenges and opportunities associated with engagement. The first stage of the project involves online surveys and interviews with teachers, principals, parents, community members and students aged 15+. We will also be conducting case studies at selected schools. Based on the outcomes of the first stage of the project, action research will be used to support targeted schools to undertake interventions to improve engagement, potentially leading to improved educational outcomes for school students.
Towards the end of the project (around October 2023), a simplified report summarising the main findings of the research for students, parents, and schools will be prepared. Direct feedback to participating schools will be provided after the conclusion of the project, including the report summary and also an online presentation. A peer-reviewed paper and/or conference paper will also be prepared at the end of 2023.
An evaluation of the project led by Dr Marnie O’Bryan from Australian National University will be conducted as the research progresses.
If you would like to view additional information relevant to the project, we have summarised the policies, strategies and programs relevant to remote and very remote Aboriginal student attendance, engagement, and retention. A summary of these policies, strategies, and programs can be viewed here.
We have also reviewed the existing research literature to explore what is already known, including:
For more information, you can view the document here.
Fetterman, D. M., Rodríguez-Campos, L., & Zukoski, A. P. (2017). Collaborative, participatory, and empowerment evaluation: Stakeholder involvement approaches (Kindle Edition ed.). Guilford Publications.
Gollan, S., & Stacey, K. (2021). First Nations cultural safety framework. https://www.aes.asn.au/images/AES_FirstNations_Cultural_Framework_finalWEB_final.pdf?type=file
Guenther, J. (2013). Are we making education count in remote Australian communities or just counting education? The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 42(2), 157-170.
Guenther , J., McRae-Williams, E., Osborne, S., & Williams, E. (2018). Decolonising colonial education researchers in 'near remote' parts of Australia. In G. Vass, J. Maxwell, S. Rudolph, & K. N. Gulson (Eds.), The Relationality of race in education research (pp. 108-119). Taylor & Francis. https://books.google.com.au/books?id=olI8DwAAQBAJ
Kovach, M. (2009). Indigenous Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations, and Contexts (Kindle Edition ed.). University of Toronto Press.
Kovach, M. (2015). Emerging from the margins: Indigenous methodologies. In L. Brown & S. Strega (Eds.), Research as resistance, revisiting critical, Indigenous, and anti-opppressive approaches (Second Edition ed., pp. 43-64). Canadian Scholars' Press, Incorporated. https://books.google.com.au/books?id=4UNVCgAAQBAJ
Niddrie, N., Barnes, S., & Brosnan, K. (2018). Understanding family perspectives of school attendance in remote communities: Evaluation of the Remote School Attendance Strategy. https://www.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/rsas-evaluation-report.pdf
Ober, R. (2017). Kapati Time: Storytelling as a data collection method in Indigenous research. Learning Communities: International Journal of Learning in Social Contexts, 22 (Special issue: Decolonising research practices), 8-15. http://www.cdu.edu.au/sites/default/files/the-northern-institute/cdu_ni_learners_journal_number_22_hr_print_v2.pdf#page=12
Stringer, E., & Aragon, A. (2021). Action Research (Fifth Edition (Kindle) ed.). Sage Publications.
Tashakkori, A., Johnson, R. B., & Teddlie, C. (2021). Foundations of Mixed Methods Research: Integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches in the social and behavioural sciences (Second Edition (Kindle) ed.). Sage Publications.
Walker, M., Fredericks, B., Mills, K., & Anderson, D. (2015). “Yarning” as a method for community-based health research with Indigenous women: The Indigenous women's wellness research program. Health Care for Women International, 35(10), 1216-1226. https://doi.org/10.1080/07399332.2013.815754
Waller, L., McCallum, K., & Gorringe, S. (2018). Resisting the truancy trap: Indigenous media and school attendance in ‘remote’ Australia. Postcolonial Directions in Education, 7(2), 122-147.
