WHY?
Diz has always valued the importance of training and development. In keeping with Diz guiding principles and its commitment to community capacity building, the company provides opportunities for Aboriginal youth to participate in the Diz Traineeship Program. The program supports participants to successfully complete a certificate 2 in construction, with an annual intake of 6 Trainees. The Diz Traineeship Program has become an integral part of the company's recruitment and career pathway process.
Through the traineeship program, Diz has identified that the majority of its participants have very limited numeracy and literacy skills and knowledge. The participant’s lack of numeracy and literacy skill’s, has made it more difficult for them to participate and complete the theory and practical components of their traineeship.
On further investigation, Diz has found that this is just the tip of the iceberg. That National indicators relating to health, education, representation in foster care, contact with the criminal justice system, employment and expected lifespan show less favourable outcomes for Australian Indigenous children than for other Australian children.
This is further reinforced by numerous national and state-wide Indigenous educational research reports. The reports note that while there have been some improvements in educational outcomes for Australian Indigenous students in recent years, substantial gaps remain in educational access, participation and achievement of Indigenous students compared to non-Indigenous students.
While there has traditionally been a focus on educational outcomes for students towards the end of schooling, there is a need to recognise the importance and equal status of each stage of schooling. (Supporting English Literacy and Numeracy Learning for Indigenous Students in the Early Years)
With this in mind, and in keeping with DIZ guiding principles and its commitment to community capacity building, Diz has now embarked on a new program “Diz Footprints Program”
The Method
DIZ, has recently procured a successful educational franchise “Fruition Tuition”. The Fruition method is primarily a computer-based program delivered by fully trained educational facilitators, in our case Indigenous educational facilitators.
There is no pressure on the student in anyway, the facilitator and the computer program monitors the students level and progresses them onto the next level when it identifies progress to the next level. The computer makes sure they learn properly, before allowing the students to proceed to the next level,
Before recommending what level of learning course’s to undertake, we first have to determine exactly where the learner is up to, evaluate how they learn best, identify any growth areas or difficulties, establish the most effective strategies to use and work out how long it will take to reach the goals required to bring the learner in line with appropriate NSW classroom standards. In short, we profile learning behaviour, discuss our findings with the parent and child/ student, recommend a course of action and work out what can be done to meet the learning goals that would suit the child/ student’s family circumstances.
No two learning programs are the same at Fruition because no two learners learn in the same way, there is no group learning, no conveyor-belt approach, no standard set of worksheets or set learning exercises that everyone does!
Fruition delivers learning courses that cover all areas of Mathematics and Basic English from prep to adult, including ESL. They offer individual one-to-one learning where the student has the same tutor each lesson, written feedback is provided at the end of each lesson. All high school subjects are covered - Maths A, B & C, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, languages assignment writing for all subjects, etc
We provide individually responsive computer based courses to cover the basics in Mathematics from Prep to Year 9 - Computation Units including - Addition, Decimals, Division, Equations, Fractions, Multiplication, Subtraction, Speed Games and Application Units including Applications, Geometry, Measurement, Number Concepts, Probability, Problem Solving, Scientific Applications and Worded Problems. Algebra Topics are also offered to cover all algebra units needed for Year 8 to Year 10 students.
Fruition provides individually responsive computer based courses to cover English Language acquisition from Prep to Year 12 - phonics, word building, reading, comprehension, vocabulary development and spelling. Fruition provides hand writing courses and fine motor and perceptual motor skill development.
Fruition provides courses to develop written communication skills incorporating planning, structure, interpreting the topic, research and summarisation skills, sentence and paragraph construction, and the mechanics of writing including grammar and punctuation.
Scholarship preparation and extension learning experiences are also provided.
The Program
The role that education plays in setting the scene for individual life chances is becoming Increasingly important in the 'information age'; its significance for Indigenous Australians is even greater. A study by Hunter (1997) found education to be the largest single factor associated with improving employment outcomes for Indigenous Australians and reducing rates of arrest.
Education in the 21st century is not just about gaining basic literacy and numeracy skills but about developing a range of skills and attitudes which are desirable for life in the ‘information age’, to cope with demands of ever-changing workplaces and to be able to fully enjoy life and participate as a citizens in a global world. . (Supporting English Literacy and Numeracy Learning for Indigenous Students in the Early Years, 17)
The Diz Foot Prints Program incorporates lifelong learning principles providing educational opportunities for Indigenous children from the critical early years of Pre School through to tutoring in their primary and secondary years and onto apprenticeships and tertiary qualifications through to employment. The footprints provide not only an educational pathway, but also a career pathway into Diz, the construction industry and the wider economy. (See Foot Prints Model). The program is an investment by Diz into building the capacity and the ability of Aboriginal children to be able to reach their full potential and participate in the national economy. By following the footprints students are guided from school through to employment!
The Pilot
Diz will initially be conducting a 6 month pilot in the St Marys- Mt Druitt and the surrounding area. Local educational data suggests that local students in these areas have 30% to 40% lower educational ban levels than the average educational ban level of non-Indigenous students.
To support the pilot, Diz will establish a fully resourced educational centre with ample computers to enable accessibility for all students. Diz will employ and train local Indigenous educational facilitators in the Fruition method. Facilitators with a teaching or academic background with particular emphasis on Mathematics, English and Science will be targeted.
It is envisaged that an initial intake of approximately 15-20 children will be realised. Integral to the student recruitment phase is the ongoing involvement and collaboration with the local school community and the Indigenous community. Engagement at the school and the community level will identify potential participants.
Critical performance measures will be developed to ensure robust analysis of outcomes achieved. The Goal is to establish a quality culturally safe learning environment that facilitates improved learning outcomes for Indigenous students.
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