About the Project

Same Kids, Same Goals: Principals and IEWs Working Together

A joint project between Dare to Lead and the Dusseldorp Skills Forum.

IEWs, when properly skilled and effectively supported are a crucial feature of the successful education of Indigenous Australian students in mainstream school settings. Same Kids Same Goals is a project conducted in partnership with Dare To Lead and is aimed at addressing the importance of an effective working relationship between school Principals and IEWs. We believe that engaging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff in your school is crucial to developing effective school policies and practices that benefit your students.

The Same Kids Same Goals Toolkit is the end result of a series of eleven workshops that were held around mainland Australia in 2006. The workshops were attended by Principal and IEW partnerships from a variety of school contexts and systems. The purpose was to find out what kinds of strategies produce positive results both for the development of the IEW and the Principal, and their students.

The final development of the Toolkit was then undertaken by a steering group made up of Principals, IEWs and staff from both Dare to Lead and Dusseldorp Skills Forum.

Credits

We would like to thank Lesley Walker (Aboriginal Education Assistant) and Allan Arkins (Principal) from Gorokan High School and Sharron Lindh (Indigenous Education Worker) and Robert Lee (Principal) from Ipswich Central State School and all the students and parents of those schools for their fantastic contribution to the development of this website and for their invaluable advice.

We would also like to acknowledge and thank the Same Kids Same Goals steering committee who provided valuable advice and encouragement. Special thanks is extended to Steve Stuart, Sharron Lindh and Lyndall Hill.