More than 120 First Nations educators, Elders, academics, community leaders and young people from across Australia will gather on Eastern Arrernte Country next week to advance plans for a nationally recognised, First Nations-led education system.
The eighth Utyerre Apanpe National First Nations Educators Forum will be held at Inteye Arrkwe (Ross River), bringing together representatives from communities across the country to share teaching practices, strengthen educational leadership, and progress reforms centred on First Nations self-determination.
The four-day forum will focus on strengthening knowledge-sharing across Nations, progressing the recommendations of the M.K. Turner Report, and developing national governance to support an independent First Nations education system that protects community authority and self-determination.
Stephanie Armstrong OAM, a Gamilaraay and Bigambul woman and Children's Ground's Systems Change and Education Reform lead, said the gathering had become a unique opportunity for First Nations educators to learn from one another.
"There is something really special about bringing educators from so many Nations together in one place," she said.
"There's always something new to learn. Everyone comes with knowledge from their Country, community and with experiences shaped by their journey. We come together to share, listen and learn. As educators, we take responsibility to support the growth of our work for the generations that follow."
The forum builds on work undertaken since last year's gathering, including the M.K. Turner Alliance's Roadmap to Reform submission to the federal government.
The submission outlines a pathway to implementing the M.K. Turner Report through legislative reform, sustainable funding, governance arrangements and greater community authority.
The M.K. Turner Alliance includes the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation, First Languages Australia, the Stronger Smarter Institute, the Jumbunna Institute, Batchelor Institute and RMIT University.
Earlier this year, members of the Utyerre Apanpe network also participated in consultations between the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation and the Australian Government to help shape a new National First Nations Education Policy.
Closing the Gap targets remains off track
The forum comes as Australia continues to fall short of key commitments under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, with targets relating to children thriving and educational outcomes remaining off track despite decades of reform.
For First Nations educators, those outcomes reinforce the need for education systems designed by and for First Nations communities, with culture, language and local knowledge at their centre.
Ms Armstrong said this year's forum would continue work developed through successive Utyerre Apanpe gatherings and the M.K. Turner Report.
"This year we are progressing work that has been shaped over many years through Utyerre Apanpe, the M.K. Turner Report and the leadership of First Nations educators," she said.
"We are continuing to explore governance, curriculum, language and the foundations needed to drive educational reform for our children and communities."
She argued reform was urgently needed because too many First Nations children continued to be underserved by mainstream education systems.
"That's why this work remains so important," Ms Armstrong said.
"Our children deserve an education that reflects who they are and supports them to succeed on their own terms. We cannot continue asking generation after generation of First Nations children to succeed in systems that fail to recognise the full strength of who they are."
