Kirwan State High School

- published, October 2009

Kirwan State High School is a Years 8–12 school located in Townsville, Queensland with 2100 students and a staff of 120. The student population is diverse with a significant number of students receiving government financial assistance. Four hundred and fifty Indigenous Australian students attend the school. Mobility of students is relatively high due, in part, to Townsville-based armed services families. Kirwan's core mission is as follows: ‘We strive for personal excellence, prepare students for the future and develop confident and caring citizens’.

School website: www.kirwanshs.eq.edu.au

School profile

At Kirwan we recognise that Australia is part of Asia. We have accepted the responsibility of ensuring that our students, regardless of background or circumstances, develop knowledge and understandings of Asia and their connections to it. We have engaged staff in processes leading to the development and adoption of curriculum-focused strategic plans and the design and implementation of school programs and sequential student learning activities drawing on contemporary pedagogical practices and resources. Embedding studies of Asia into school programs and practices is a whole-school initiative consistent with our vision of preparing students for local and global citizenship.

Principal, John Livingston

I have been Principal at Kirwan for 22 years. During this time I have been committed to the continuing evolution of the school as a learning and caring community, which understands its place in, and contributions to, a rapidly changing world. Our students come from diverse cultural backgrounds and generally come to Kirwan with limited international knowledge, understandings and experiences.

I believe strongly that it is the responsibility of our school to create opportunities for students to build their social capital so they can take their place confidently and successfully as responsible citizens in an increasingly globalised world.

View video of an interview with John Livingston at the 2009 L21CS Forum

Creating an internationally minded Kirwan

To this end, I have drawn on my knowledge and experience of internationally focused educational programs including a Korean study tour and participation in the Leading 21st Century Schools: Engage with Asia (L21CS) initiative to internationalise further Kirwan’s policies, programs and activities. Firstly, we have commenced the rigorous self-study process for accreditation with the Council of International Schools. Secondly we gained Education Queensland accreditation in 2008 to establish and maintain an international student program. And thirdly, we have established whole-school processes for embedding studies of Asia into the school’s teaching and learning programs.

Taking these actions has created a new mindset and a framework for expanding staff and student international and intercultural knowledge, understandings and skills.

Focused leadership

Participation in the L21CS initiative has strengthened my motivation to ensure staff and student engagement with Asia. Initially I presented a report to staff on my involvement with the initiative using the National Statement for Engaging Young Australians with Asia in Australian Schools (National Statement) and the 2020 Engage with Asia DVD. I indicated how embedding studies of Asia was consistent with Kirwan’s core mission and values and that we needed to take a collective whole-school approach to developing an Asia-focused vision, opportunities for professional learning and sequential teaching and learning programs. I also indicated that the Humanities, Arts and English curriculum areas should be our initial priority areas for action.

Distributed leadership

Distributed leadership in a school of our size is necessary to effect change and is a key to successfully implementing major initiatives. I decided as a first step to assign leadership of studies of Asia to Kate Sheppard, head of the Humanities department. Her brief is to oversee the development of an implementation strategy for studies of Asia in the context of the National Statement and the Asia Education Foundation's (AEF) teaching and learning resources. She has brought a strong academic background in Asian studies to the role, together with high levels of enthusiasm and commitment, and the capacity for strategic planning and the building of collective ownership across the school.

With my support, she has assembled a studies of Asia implementation team comprising staff, including departmental heads, from the Humanities, Arts and English curriculum areas, and other interested teachers. The staff is clear that embedding studies of Asia is a major school priority.

Engaging staff

An important driver for effecting change at Kirwan is the use of an appreciative inquiry approach to planning and development. Using this approach (based on a cycle of discover, dream, design and deliver) enables us to tackle curriculum change from a strengths perspective.

The key starting point for staff engagement was to conduct audits of the curriculum and of staff experience and skills related to Asia. These audits were responded to positively and constructively by staff over a two-week period in 2008.

Analysis of the audit results indicated that the Humanities department was well-placed to take a more formalised, strategic approach to implementation. It was recognised that we had many Humanities staff that had travelled extensively through Asia, some who had undertaking tertiary Asian studies, and some who were already incorporating aspects of Asia into units of work.

Strategic planning

Building on the strengths identified through the audit process, the Humanities department spent approximately six weeks developing a three-year strategic plan for engaging students with Asia. This plan sets out the priorities, vision, values, principles and rationale for embedding studies of Asia into the Humanities curriculum. It clearly articulates the expected outcomes for staff and students and stipulates a timeline for professional learning, curriculum development, systematic unit writing, critical reflection and improvement planning. It has been developed collectively, documented, shared and discussed with the studies of Asia implementation team and made available to all staff.

Similar work has also been undertaken by the English and Arts departments with every effort being made to integrate teaching and learning activities across the learning areas.

Professional learning

All staff have been made aware of our priority for embedding studies of Asia into school programs and practices. However the most significant step forward for us was a two-day professional learning and development workshop for teachers in the Humanities, Arts and English learning areas. Teachers from The Willows neighbouring primary school also participated.

Dr Deborah Henderson from Queensland University of Technology (QUT), possessing expertise in studies of Asia, was engaged as a critical friend to assist staff to unpack the National Statement and its implications for school practices. Importantly, the workshop enabled staff to develop deeper knowledge and cultural understanding of people and societies in the Asian region. Led by the Head of Humanities and facilitated by Dr Henderson a framework for curriculum development and the writing of units of work was developed. The workshop also emphasised the knowledge and skills which could be incorporated into classroom teaching and learning practices. Dr Henderson is continuing her role as critical friend in 2009.

Trialling an Asia-focused unit of work

The Humanities department in Term 3 2008, undertook a trial of its first ‘in-depth’ study of Asia. The unit of work, From Ming to Mao to Mercedes, incorporating History, Geography and cultural perspectives was trialled in a targeted class of Year 9 students requiring significant learning support. Every effort was made to ensure that learning activities were engaging for students. It was significant that throughout this unit student absenteeism was significantly reduced and that, for the first time, 100% of the students submitted their assessment tasks comprising projects over which they had complete ownership. During the unit students linked with students in China via email.

Staff involved in this trial were buoyant about the unit and its outcomes and shared their learnings with staff. It clearly emphasised the importance of careful planning and the use of contemporary pedagogical practices and resources.

Planning curriculum units of work

In Term 3 2008, the Humanities, Arts and English departments, following the development of their strategic plans, successfully completed the task of rewriting the Years 8–10 curriculum to ensure that studies of Asia was systematically incorporated.

It was decided during this process that for each of the three subjects there must be one term’s ‘in-depth’ study of Asia and that, where possible, there should be alignment across the subjects. In the process it was discovered that there were areas of the Years 11–12 curriculum that could be more inclusive of aspects of Asia. Teachers were given time release by the Head of Humanities to support them in their curriculum planning.

A key outcome of this curriculum planning has been the development and publication of unit planners, which outline essential learnings for students, content, learning activities, resources and lesson plans. Unit planners have drawn on the AEF’s Asia Scope and Sequence Resources and the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Framework. In Term 1 2009, a Year 8 unit, Growing Global Citizens, was fully implemented. It was gratifying to receive positive responses from teachers, students and parents who were invited to participate in a cultural celebration of students’ work following completion of the unit.

Connecting with Asia

Part of our school vision is to create opportunities for staff and students to connect with Asia. We have commenced work on building formal relationships with schools in China, Thailand, Japan and Korea. Our aim is to create an online networking environment for students across cultures. Motivation to do this was heightened by email links established between Year 9 students and students from a Shanghai school, and the participation by two teachers and me in a Shanghai study tour late in 2008.

In addition, we have now established strong links with the Australia–Japanese Society in Townsville and the local Chinese group. Members of these groups will be involved in intercultural investigation workshops later in 2009 and in 2010.

Japanese language teaching

We recognise the importance of linking the learning of an Asian language with the development of cultural awareness and understanding. This year we have introduced the teaching of Japanese into the Year 8 curriculum program. Opportunities for aligning the work of the Japanese teachers with that of the Humanities, Arts and English teachers are being explored in the context of our whole-school plan for engaging students with Asia.

Resourcing the program

It has been very important to ensure that teachers are well-equipped to teach studies of Asia confidently and successfully. We have invested significantly in providing professional learning opportunities for staff. In addition, through an audit of teaching and learning resources undertaken by one of our teacher aides, we discovered gaps in our provision. Drawing on AEF resources and the knowledge of Dr Henderson from QUT, access to ICT and a variety of online resources, we have expanded our Asia-focused resources.

Our next steps

We are strongly committed to sustaining our Asia-focused programs and to continue to building on our strengths. We will continue to:

• develop and publish curriculum unit planners in the context of our three-year strategic plans
• engage staff in focused reflection on our achievements later in 2009 with the support of Dr Henderson
• explore and plan for the establishment of formal connections with schools across Asia and ways in which we can engage members of the local community in our work.