The party of second and third-year primary Education students recently visited Nauru and Tuvalu, sharing their expertise with neighbouring schools and learning volumes themselves as part of the Australian Government’s New Colombo Plan Scheme.
Professor Pep Baker, who coordinated the placements, said the experience immersed the future UNE educators in the cultures of the Pacific Island nations, bringing rich personal and professional learnings.
“The scheme opens students’ eyes to what education can be about, especially in more remote settings,” Prof. Baker said. “They get fully immersed in the communities, the lives of their supervising teachers and their students. They become a part of the community.
“In this completely different culture, they work collaboratively because it’s a learning opportunity for both the student teacher and their supervising teacher. They are comfortable to try new things because the supervising teachers really want to see what strategies they can bring.”
Miranda Taylor was one of four students flown to Tuvalu to spend three weeks at Nauti Primary School in what was her first professional placement.
“It was amazing to see how educators overseas work, and the skills they have to make the most of limited resources,” she said. “It was very hands-on and the supervising teachers were learning as much from us as we were from them.”
Like her counterpart India Patmore on Nauru, Miranda was invited to take part in family and community events that showcased Pacific culture.
“Every moment we were doing something,” Miranda said. “After school we went to parties, a wedding, a major celebration, and visited a number of churches. Culture underpins all major subjects and classroom teaching helps to maintain culture, especially through lessons in the local language.
“I didn’t realise how fortunate children are here. There is no technology in the Tuvalu classrooms, but I saw that technology is not as vital to a child’s education as you might think. The experience has given me valuable insights into social disadvantage and how it impacts children, and the skills and knowledge I learnt about classroom practice will be vital in my future teaching career.”
India, who is studying Special Inclusive Education at UNE while working in a high school behaviour support unit, has cemented her passion for supporting families from lower socio-economic backgrounds since visiting Nauru.
“I definitely had some moments when I was out of my comfort zone but I grew a lot in a short time and learnt that I can thrive in more demanding, unfamiliar situations,” said India, who joined a Year 2 class at Sacred Heart College. “My experience of working with kids with special needs was very useful to identifying students who were having difficulty and needed some extra help.
“I intend working towards teaching in the Pacific or in a remote area because I can see how big the need is and how appreciative people are. It was an opportunity I will look back on with gratitude for the rest of my life.”
The two-way learning promises enduring benefits, according to Prof. Baker. “The more young people get to know the cultures of our region, the better Australia’s relationships with those developing nations will be and the better prepared our teachers will be to work there,” she said. “I don’t think these students would have previously thought of it as a career possibility. Now they’ve seen that it’s not only within their reach; it’s also very rewarding.”
Learning to be flexible and adaptive was one of many lessons. “Our students also came to understand the importance of student-centred and culturally responsive teaching to a child’s engagement,” Prof. Baker said. “This will be important wherever they go on to teach, at whatever level.”
And as well as returning home with decidedly lighter luggage – having gifted their schools teaching materials and small student rewards – the UNE preservice teachers also left with a new appreciation of environmental threats the island nations face.
“I did some amazing things on Nauru – like snorkelling and fishing – and saw what a big issue the islanders have with rubbish,” India said. “So I focused a few of my lessons on the importance of recycling and reusing, and we did some beach clean-ups as part of discussing air and water pollution.”
For Miranda, the effects of climate change were graphic. “Tuvalu is predicted to be one of the first nations to go extinct due to climate change,” she said. “There were huge sand-bagging operations underway and I went on a daytrip to the outer islands to plant coral, and later mangroves, damaged by storms.”
Lifelong friendships have been another of the takeaways. “My supervising teacher and I still talk and message and I’ve had a video chat to catch up with her and the class,” India said. “She has texted me asking for ideas and input into her lesson planning. I have created connections that could potentially last a lifetime.”
Prof. Baker is not surprised. “Our UNE students have come to understand that teaching is about relationships, not just about what you know, but working with your students and fellow staff.”
