Changing Places: A New Model For Professional Development

The 'Changing Places' project encompassed many of the factors identified as supporting productive partnerships between schools and their communities, including learning at home or home tutoring assistance, decision making involving all parties, and coordinating agencies to identify and develop community service. Added to this was the explicit inclusion of a cultural perspective that aided in the growth of understanding among non-Indigenous teachers and students about the cultural backgrounds of many of the people in their classes. This is recognised as crucial for Aboriginal students' success, together with the development of requisite skills and sufficient participation in the educational process. How these factors were included, and their effects, is the subject of this article.