David Powell

Here are the slides ( 90.79 Kb ) of a workshop that I facilitated at the Moreton Bay Youth Workers Retreat at Clear Mountain Resort (wow, what a view) on Thursday August 4. Thanks to everyone that came along and I hope you all found it useful.

A summary of the discussions at the workshop and links to some interesting articles/resources are posted below...

(Rough) Map of Education Services in Moreton Bay for 'Marginalised' Young People

The graph below is the result of discussion in the workshop and should only be taken as a rough and incomplete map of what educational services are available in Moreton Bay for marginalised young people. Details on some of the services named in the graph may be available from the Community Development team at Moreton Bay Regional Council.

See below the graph for an explanation of the Level / Complexity of Disengagement.

One service not on the graph above was 'Shekina', but it wasn't clear from the discussion (or my notes) where it should fit. Anyone have more details?

 Here's the list of services as a table in MS Word file

Level / Complexity of Disengagement

The services in the graph above are roughly ordered based on the level or complexity of disengagement (amongst their studeents) that they are focused on. Again, this shouldn't be taken as an accurate description of these services, but as a rough guide and possibly a discussion starter for any future work done to map these services more accurately.

The three levels (1, 2 or 3) are taken from a paper written in 2004 by John Flanagan for the Youth Affairs Network of QLD (Let's Invite Everyone). The levels represent the ‘depth’ or complexity of disengagement from learning for a young person and are defined as follows:

• Level 1: This level includes young people who are not attending school, other forms of education or participating in meaningful part time or full time employment and those that are at risk of disengaging from these systems. These young people will still have significant contact with family, culture and other social resources.
• Level 2:This level includes young people who are not attending school, other forms of education or participating in meaningful part time or full time employment and have disengaged from family and/or other immediate support networks but remain connected with some service or support that can assist in re-engaging (eg a youth service).
• Level 3:This level incudes young people who are not attending school, other forms of education or participating in meaningful part time or full time employment and have further disengaged from family and/or other support networks. This level often involves a high level of complex issues such as homelessness, physical and sexual abuse, substance abuse and suicide.

Major Challenges Facing ...

Raising Community Awareness About Education Services for Marginalised Young People

Finally there was a brief discussion in the workshop about strategies that might help to raise community awareness about these services. Greater community awareness of and value for these services might lead to greater resources to overcome some of the other challenges. The 'awareness-raising' strategies discussed were:

• Establishing a network of Moreton Bay 'Alternative' Education Services. The network could provide support to workers, advocate for professional development and work to promote the value of the services that its members deliver. Note: Tania Genito from the Deception Bay Community Youth Programs has committed to doing some work to establish this network.
• Developing a professional development package for teachers - e.g. 'teaching marginalised young people in community settings'.
• Hold an expo of services for the public organised by students.
• Organise (or tag onto existing) community celebrations that will give students a chance to promote their schools/learning centres and their own achievements.

Other Resources/Information

As promised to everyone that was there, some references and links to some interesting reading... These aren't provided in any particular order, but are just a random grab-bag of bookmarks and reports relevant to education for marginalised young people.

1. The research paper, Re-engaging Students in Education, by Martin Mills & Glenda McGregor is here...(pdf)
2. Education Evolution: A video by some young students in Dallas/Fort Worth (USA) asking for a new system of education.
3. Back in 2008 some young people from Moreton Bay attended a forum/expo that myself (when working at yanq) and a bunch of local youth services organised. They talked about their connection to education and made some recommendations - most (if not all) are consistent with Martin & Glenda's report. More info here...
4. Big Picture Schools have arrived in Australia and are a model of education that is focused on young peoples own interests and goals, not on specific subject areas. See http://www.bigpicture.org.au/.
5. Gone bush: Why are some rural government schools doing so well? An interesting article from Inside Story in 2008.
6. Are autonomous schools the answer? This article, also from Inside Story takes a look at the funding policy for schools and asks some good questions.
7. Sir Ken Robinson's TED Talk, arguing that too many schools kill creativity (and therefor progress).
8. This is an RSA Animation of another talk by Sir Ken Robinson on a very similar theme but linking the need to creativity to economic progress.
9. Marginalised Students - Believe In Us site. This was established by Rev. Wally Dethlefs and his colleagues at Brisbane Catholic Education.
10. Unfair funding is turning public schools into 'sinks of disadvantage'. This is a recent article by David Zyngier of Monash.

If you've got some links you'd like to share to some other resources, articles, sound or video then please use the comments (below) to let me know and share them with other readers.