The Garth Boomer Award 1999

The Garth Boomer Award is to honour the memory of Garth Boomer, who promoted the cause of collaborative teaching and learning.

The 1999 ACSA Garth Boomer Award was presented at a special ceremony at the Biennial Conference in Perth to Titjikala School.

An obvious question is 'Where is Titjikala?' The answer is that it is between Alice Springs and Finke, on Maryvale Station; with Titjikala being practically at the true centre of Australia.

Why is Titjikala so special? Here are some edited excerpts from the submission for the award.

The people of Titjikala are predominantly Lurija and Pitjantjatjara but also some Aranda people. All students at Titjikala School speak one or more indigenous languages. Thus these students are learning to speak, read and write the English language, and to understand the Western world view, as a second, third or fourth language and world view respectively.

At the end of 1994, due to a number of circumstances, the school population had dropped to such a level that the regional superintendent seriously considered closing Titjikala School. Fortunately, however, Jacky Costanzo, her partner David and six-month old son Matthew were sent to Titjikala at the beginning of 1995. This was Jacky's first teaching position.

Within one term, and despite an acute case of 'culture shock', Jacky succeeded in almost tripling student attendance to well over thirty, and a second teacher was appointed. Jacky and her family remained in Titjikala for four years, and have witnessed and greatly contributed to the growth of the school from one teacher and about twelve students to four teachers and over seventy regularly attending students.

Jacky was not the sole agent of change. Obviously, in a context where it is impossible to enforce school attendance, such meteoric increases come only from students themselves wishing to come to school, and parents and carers supporting and encouraging those wishes. Jacky threw the school doors wide open, and offered the school as a warm, safe, humorous and exciting learning and caring environment for children and adults.

Jacky has had strong support and assistance from long-serving Aboriginal Teaching Assistants and predominantly like-minded and motivated non-indigenous staff.

Clearly, for us, this has been a journey focused on people, with the highest value and priority placed upon the quality of relationships between all people involved in the school. Other important focuses have been:

• attempting to increasingly involve the total school community of students, parents, carers and other community organisations in school decision making and activities;
• taking a very broad view of curriculum. There have been no arbitrary boundaries placed between what is planned for the classroom and what actually transpires, or what happens informally in the playground, or through discussion at an ASSPA meeting, for example. At Titjikala we simply see 'curriculum' as everything that is taught and learnt, regardless of who is doing the teaching and who is doing the learning, or whether it is planned or spontaneous. We see curriculum as being the dynamic life-long learning journey which is given its essence by the quality of relationships between people;
• believing that our foundational values and the planned aspects of our curriculum should maximise our students' potential to meet challenges and create solutions, fulfilment, excitement and enjoyment in their lives in an ongoing way, without having to rely upon government support and non-indigenous expertise. This also means being less open to obvious and subtle forms of oppression and abuse.

Many innovative approaches to curriculum have been trialled over the past five years. Much of this innovation has been created through deepening relationships with and understanding of students and community.

Other aspects of these innovations have been:joint school-community initiatives, such as the establishment of child care, pre-school and secondary classes; numerous excursions and cultural events;funding and development of recreational facilities, such as a ropes course and a BMX track;curricular innovation, including using holistic models for curriculum development; facilitating development of skills for critique and metacognition; promotion of values-based curriculum; use of project based curriculum; use of reciprocal teaching; introduction of community located curriculum; use of concentrated language encounters; and reflection and expression through the use of multi-media techniques.

As can be seen from these excerpts, Titjikala School may be small in numbers, but it has certainly been big in ideas and implementation. As significant as anything, though, is the impact it has had on others who have come in contact with this school community - as one of the referees noted in her comments, 'The positive responses of the students indicate that they enjoy their learning and have excellent relationships with their teachers. A visit to the school is like spending a day inside a big smile.'

The actual award is a certificate to commemorate the success of the winners, and a cheque of $1000 to assist the continuation of the work being recognised. ACSA warmly congratulates the Titjikala school community on their success, and gratefully acknowledges the support of Curriculum Corporation in sponsoring the Garth Boomer Award.