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UTS Lecturer John Buchanan writes about leading a team of Primary Education students on a DET sponsored `Beyond the Line` trip to experience teaching in schools west of the Great Divide....


“There’s one!” Mark spotted it first. Actually, there were three. At least. We should have known not to slam the car doors as we got out for photos, but rather, to be as quiet as they were. They scattered across the frosty grass upon hearing us. I think one had a joey in her pouch. Seeing kangaroos is not the central purpose of the Beyond the Line program - and I think they might have been wallabies, anyway – but it was a wonderful, evocative, early winter‘s morning moment.

Our carload was part of a group of 22 UTS Education students sponsored by the Department of Education and Training to visit schools west of the Great Divide. The day before, we had taken the nine-hour bus trip together from the Kuring-gai campus to Moree. The aim of the program is that these students will see some of the personal and professional benefits that can be derived from teaching in western regions. Groups from all NSW Faculties of Education visit regional centres west of the tablelands. Teams of our students visited surrounding schools, including Pilliga, Collarenebri and Boggabilla.

Not every early morning was spent in pursuit of wildlife. Some mornings we went swimming. Not so brave when the spa water is at 38o C. “Shouldda been ’ere last week” an old local told us, through the steam, “Coldest mornin’ in 30 years”. You can chat with strangers here; this swim proved a refreshing experience in more ways than one. The spa was also a poignant reminder of the Freedom Rides that centred on this pool in the 1960s, as a protest against Aboriginal people being barred from the swimming there. Race relations have progressed markedly since then – and still have some distance to travel.

Perhaps the most memorable aspect of the journey was that it made me proud to be a teacher. From what I could observe, the schoolteachers we met are in the vanguard of Indigenous reconciliation. Without overlooking their other students, these teachers display a genuine and sustained determination to understand the strengths, needs and potential of their Aboriginal students to help them achieve the best possible outcomes. Our own students did likewise during the program.

It was a memorable and valuable experience professionally and personally for our students. Their comments included:

“I will never forget this great experience! Thanks for the opportunity. Hope that you will continue running these trips as it is priceless!”

“This experience was amazing! Thank you so much for the opportunity. It really opened my eyes and I will never forget it.”

“It was a once in a lifetime experience that I recommend to any student studying education.”

“I am so happy and glad that I went on this adventure. I am definitely going to apply to work in the country and it just makes me that much surer about my decision and I cannot wait until I finish so I can start.”

“Extremely enjoyable and interesting trip. I will recommend it to all studying teachers.”

“Thank you for allowing us to take this opportunity and expand our knowledge and attitudes to rural schools. Great memories!!”

“This was a well rewarding experience that I will take with me and apply it in my teaching.”

“I am very impressed with [this school]. I hope I can come here for Professional Experience 2. I have gained great knowledge from very impressive teachers at this school.”

“I have learnt so much from this experience and feel very privileged to have been given the opportunity to experience all I have in the last week. Thank you!”

“This was such a wonderful experience! I learnt so much and would definitely come back!”

“I really appreciate the opportunity to travel to and experience a remote central school. I encouraged other secondary trainee teachers to visit these schools and have since described my experiences to many who did not nominate for the programme.”


The tour is a warts and all experience, and some of the difficulties facing these communities (all communities?) did not go unnoticed. One student, for example, observed the prominence of “supportive and inclusive relationships within the community” and at the same time “troubling evidence of academic underachievement.”

Just as our students were impressed by the experience, they in turn won the hearts of many locals. On the Thursday night, before returning to Sydney on the Friday, the group gathered for dinner in a Moree restaurant. The team of students from each school provided feedback on their experiences on our last night. The organising team commented that they had not seen another group of students perform using such a creative range of genres – rap, prose, poetry…

I join the chorus of students calling their peers to take part in Beyond the Line, and to return to experience teaching west of the ranges. The incentives are real; “Commuting, what’s that?” asked one of the local teachers. Levels of technological support in the schools also impressed our students, as did prospects for promotion.

Returning to our wildlife experience, I was surprised that the three students with us had not seen kangaroos in the wild before. I’ve seen more than I can remember, but I still love the experience, and each time is like the first. Similarly, I was a little surprised how little these globally-wise students had seen of their own state, despite, or perhaps because or, extensive international travel. It’s easy to romanticise the bush.

More information about the Beyond the Line program can be obtained from the Department of Education and Training at www.teachnsw.edu.au or teachnsw@det.nsw.edu.au

John Buchanan
Senior Lecturer, Teacher Education
UTS

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