Situation Action Outcome

In 2016, as the classroom teacher of a Year 2 cohort I was confronted by a There were many things being done to support this student in class As mentioned, this focus students behaviour improved and
uniquely challenging situation. I had students who identified as Indigenous including using engagement with school improved dramatically as we began
Australians in the class but one of the students had a range of special Individual Behaviour Plans (which included a motivation plan, chill to focus on Indigenous Australian perspectives in History
circumstances which included: cards and reward systems) and from the weekly contact and discussions he would have
Diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) behaviour tracking with our Noongar dancing classes.
Early childhood trauma explicit teaching of social skills and resilience As noted in the behaviour tracking document not only did
Department of Child Protection and Family Support (DCP) involvement This students engagement in school improved dramatically (and the the amount of behaviour incidents decrease but
The student was placed with Nana by DCP until he was placed in foster care. behaviour incidents decreased) in Semester 2. This coincided with significantly, there was only one incident of talking about
Nana was part of the Jehovah Witness religion. No parental contact commencing our History unit which had a strong focus on the Past in self harm in the second semester.
The student was then placed with a foster family who were part of the the Present particularly focussing on Indigenous Australian It should be noted that the student had a sustained period
Jehovah Witness religion perspectives. We also had weekly visits from Indigenous Australian ex- of no recorded incidents in July, August and September.
The student started in my classroom the same day he moved in with his students who are also close family friends. They came to dance each After some forceful communication on the part of our
foster family Noongar cultural dancing each week with the students. We performed school administration, case conferences were conducted
It quickly became apparent that this student would require additional support these at our end of year assembly. This student particularly enjoyed and support time (with the school Chaplain) was arranged.
and needed to become engaged with school quite quickly. The trauma and these visits but it also presented its own issues. One of the dances Professional counselling began in October and as can be
subsequent PTSD began to manifest in a variety of inappropriate ways which culturally needed to be performed by boys (the Spirit Dance) was expected some of the behaviours returned but they were
including sneaky behaviour, lying and threatening to harm others and inappropriate for a Jehovahs Witness to perform. After consulting with generally much less severe than in Semester 1.
particularly worrying threatening to kill himself. Despite repeated attempts to our Indigenous Australian dance teachers I simply changed him to sit on
organise counselling and support at school for the student it was proving the floor with two other students to act out starting a fire while the
difficult to assemble all the stakeholders together to begin this process. other boys completed the spirit dance. He was then able to fully
participate in all other dances.
Supporting evidence Supporting evidence Supporting evidence
1. Behaviour tracking 2. Snippets from the History unit 2016 4. Behaviour tracking
3. Photographs
Professional Knowledge Professional Practice Professional Engagement
Standard 1 Standard 2 Standard 3 Standard 4 Standard 5 Standard 6 Standard 7
Know students and how they Know content and how to Plan for and implement Create and maintain Assess, provide feedback and Engage in professional Engage professionally with
learn teach it effective teaching and supportive and safe learning report on student learning learning colleagues, parents/carers
Physical, social and Content and teaching learning environments Assess student learning Identify and plan and the community
intellectual development and strategies of the teaching Establish challenging Support student Provide feedback to professional learning Meet professional ethics
characteristics of students area learning goals participation students on their learning needs and responsibilities
Understand how students Content selection and Plan, structure and Manage classroom Make consistent and Engage in professional Comply with legislative,
learn organisation sequence learning activities comparable judgements learning and improve administrative and
Students with linguistic, Curriculum, assessment programs Manage challenging Interpret student data practice organisational
cultural, religious and and reporting Use teaching strategies behaviour Report on student Engage with colleagues requirements
socioeconomic backgrounds Understand and respect Select and use Maintain student safety achievement and improve practice Engage with the
Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait resources Use ICT safely, responsibly Apply professional learning parents/carers
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to promote Use effective and ethically and improve student Engage with professional
Islander students reconciliation between classroom learning teaching networks and
Differentiate teaching to meet Indigenous and non- communication broader communities
the specific learning needs of Indigenous Australians Evaluate and improve
students across the full range Literacy and numeracy teaching programs
of abilities. strategies Engage parents/carers
Strategies to support full Information and in the educative
participation of students with Communication process
disability Technology (ICT)
Nina Guerriero 2017 Evidencing the Proficient Teaching Standards (AITSL) Rich evident set 2