Engagement with African-Australian families in South Australian Catholic schools research Project
Resources developed by Dr Melanie Baak and Dr Emily Miller as part of a research consultancy for Catholic Education South Australia (CESA). The project was initiated by CESA with the African Catholic Council and Archdiocese of Adelaide in response to concerns that some African-Australian families were experiencing barriers in accessing Catholic education for their children, and some families whose children were in Catholic schools were experiencing challenges in communicating with schools. The Cabrini Collective, a funded program to increase engagement with African-Australian families and to improve outcomes for students, was introduced in four Catholic schools in 2018. These schools all have a significant number of students from diverse backgrounds and make use of a range of approaches to support these students. Through the Cabrini Collective, the schools implemented a range of additional strategies and provided additional support to students and families with the aim of improving the engagement of families and outcomes for students. These included: structured language support from classroom teachers, the employment of a community liaison officer, changes to communication approaches with families, and discussion forums with the African-Australian community to improve staff understanding of the community and their needs. Through the use of online surveys and focus groups with staff, students and families at the Cabrini Collective schools, this project identified a range of school approaches that can foster improved communication with families and engagement of families and students.Written report for the ‘Engagement with African-Australian families in South Australian Catholic schools project’ is available here:Baak, M, and Miller, E (2019) Engagement with African-Australian families in South Australian Catholic schools: A research report from the Cabrini Collective, Adelaide, Catholic Education South Australia