Abstract:
Discourses such as community engagement or partnerships are rolled out by governments with the ‘promise’ of improvements to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander outcomes. As power in these relationships continues to rest with the government, and accountability to the community is often superficial, there is a lack of any real evidence that this approach does, in fact, make a difference, at least from a community standpoint. In the CNS Research Project, Aboriginal community leadership through the employment of Cultural Mentors, a community facilitator and the formation of a Blak Caucus, provides a platform to discuss what school-community engagement should look like and how to achieve this. Arising from community concerns about high staff turnover, local leaders maintain that their multi-generational presence in local schools should afford them more say in local education. Through a series of community and school meetings, data was collected, analysed and synthesised to map a path forward. This process was led by Blak Caucus members who co-designed the research with CNS academics to ensure appropriate protocols were followed and community voices were amplified. Notions like micro-treaty making and service-level agreements were discussed with Aboriginal experts and local communities. Significantly, while this pathway looks different in every community, the common thread is the significance of community leadership in sustaining initiatives in Aboriginal education and the willingness of schools to engage and enter into community-led agreements.