The Swan Nyungar Sports Education Program: a school based approach to social inclusion for Aboriginal Students and their families
Rob Simons
The Smith Family
Contact Email:   rob.simonssmithfamily.com.au

Prior to the commencement of the Swan Nyungar Sports Education Program (SNSEP) in February 2002, a feasibility study was undertaken to develop a risk management strategy for piloting a community based intervention targeted at Indigenous high school students in WA. A five-year demonstration project was proposed to supplement the capacity of schools to meet the special learning needs of Indigenous students. The feasibility study affirmed two non-negotiable principles: an environment that is supportive of a specialist program in sport for Indigenous students; and, a model of project development that is inclusive of all stakeholders. Building on a previous SPRC Workshop Paper outlining the initial design of SNSEP, “Social Enterprise: Partnership for Sustainable Change”, this paper highlights the focus of the program as the development of a working relation among students, teachers and parents, founded on shared knowledge and experience. The evaluation of the first year of the program has shown significant improvements in the retention and achievement rates of the students. However, it has also highlighted a number of challenges in the meeting and mixing of cultures within the context of the high school where the program is taking place. Cultural challenges have surfaced especially in five areas: pedagogy; curriculum design; engagement of families and elders; the relation between the program and non-program staff; and administrative flexibility. The paper presents SNSEP within Balga Senior High in WA as a case study of an exercise in facilitating culturally sensitive social inclusion of Aboriginal students and their families in an educational and social context that has not previously developed a capacity in meeting the learning needs of Indigenous students. The evaluation of the first full year of the program suggests that the continuing viability and success of the program, however, depend on a stronger incorporation of the students’ families, carers, and culture. There is also a need for a corresponding adaptation socially and administratively within the school to ensure a more culturally inclusive context. The paper concludes by identifying the responses to the challenges cited in the evaluation of the first year of the program, which are presently being implemented during the second year of operation.

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