Culturally respectful foundations of Noongar school educators’ ways of working

Abstract The Moombaki study team’s key objective is improving the well-being and educational success of Aboriginal children by fostering a deeper connection to their culture, land, and family. The current WA Department of Education Cultural Standards Framework (2015) is outdated and has not resulted in sustainable and audited meaningful changes to ways of working with Aboriginal children and their families. Our findings show that AIEOs provide valuable insights into the practices and values that may be more effective in meeting the needs of Aboriginal children. This article discusses the importance for national and state policy and frameworks to reflect Aboriginal ways of working in schools. Our findings from yarning circles with Aboriginal Indigenous Education Officers (AIEOs) interrogate the values informing and driving Noongar ways of working. Noongar cultural protocols exemplify Noongar ways of working. These protocols are guided by values that shape rules and practices rooted in a rich history passed down through generations of culture and customs. The analysis of the Moombaki yarning circles with AIEOs whose voices are central, revealed they upheld Aboriginal ways of working by emphasising four concentric circles of Aboriginal worldview: connections to kin, country, customs, and culture. Central to these ways of working is the value of trust, which meanders through and strengthens the practices of connection, sharing, and the central focus on children and family.