The Narragunnawali: Reconciliation in Education program has just marked ten years. Its groundbreaking work in schools and early learning services is producing a reconciliation generation.
‘You often hear in organisations, “we need a schools’ program! We should do this in schools”,’ says Alex Shain who was the first General Manager of Reconciliation Australia’s Narragunnawali program.
‘It’s almost become a cliche to teachers hearing that they – once again – are responsible for solving the world problems,’ he told Reconciliation News.
But when it came to developing Reconciliation Australia’s Narragunnawali program, it was different.
There was going to be no quick fix solution – either to achieving reconciliation or to it being effectively embedded in curricula across the tens of different education jurisdictions spread across states and territories, Catholic, independent and state school systems.
‘Our approach was to meet, to listen; to learn, to make sure we weren’t going to reinvent anything; that we weren’t going to pretend that we have we invented this idea,’ he said.
The program’s very name, Narragunnawali, a word from the language of the Ngunnawal people meaning alive, wellbeing, coming together and peace, reflects this intention. Used with permission from the United Ngunnawal Elders Council, it symbolises a commitment to bringing people together in respectful and ongoing learning.
First Nations education champions had worked for decades for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories, cultures, and perspectives to be included in Australia’s education system and this had already contributed to significant changes within the education landscape.
One of those champions is Professor Peter Buckskin, a Narungga man from the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia who has been involved in Narragunnawali since the early consultation days. He formally launched the program in 2015 and is a patron of the Narragunnawali Awards.
‘Peter Buckskin gave us one piece of advice very early in the process and I live by it and pass it on at every opportunity today. It is, “to know your place in the space; it is because of the work already done by Aboriginal people that you’re even able to do this work”,’ Alex Shain said.
Reconciliation in education at work
For a decade, with the support of the BHP Foundation, the Narragunnawali program has provided tools and resources to help educators take meaningful action towards reconciliation.
The key to appreciating the work of the educators who have been part of the Narragunnawali team, and the many resources and initiatives developed over this time is that its intent was never to be a program for First Nations students or a program to be taught by First Nations educators.
Its aim was to expand reconciliation processes and knowledge into everyday education practice and to give educators the tools and skills to do that.
At its core, reconciliation in education is about non-Indigenous educators, leaders, institutions and systems taking responsibility to meaningfully embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content and perspectives into teaching and learning.
The responsibility for this work must not fall solely on First Nations peoples.
It also recognises that the teaching of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures can be daunting for teachers and educators, especially if they are non-Indigenous, as are 98 per cent of teachers in Australia.
A key part of the Narragunnawali program is a powerful online platform which hosts suites of digital resources, including an online Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) process designed specifically for educational environments, with professional learning and curriculum resources aligned to national frameworks and standards.
The online platform was the revolution
From the beginning, the program used technology to provide resources effectively, and at scale, to the hundreds of thousands of teachers across the country.
Basing the program around a web-based platform allowed schools, teachers, students, parents and community to all engage in the one place, to easily access professional learning and curriculum resources.
‘As the digital platform grew it gave us insight into all the work that was going across the country and learn from it.’ Tessa Keenan the current General Manager of Narragunnawali said.
‘Most importantly we can see that schools and early learning services are making progress and deepening their actions year on year.
‘The platform has also helped schools and early learning services not lose knowledge when someone leaves or when the RAP Working Group changes.’
Ten years on there are now 170,000 active platform users at narragunnawali.org.au.
Over 50 per cent of Australian schools and early learning services have registered to develop a Reconciliation Action Plan and the platform houses thousands of resources including reconciliation toolkits for parents/carers, and subject guides spanning all learning areas.
Celebration and awards
In acknowledgment of the vital work done by schools and early learning services the first Narragunnawali Awards in 2017 recognised and celebrated that work.
The fifth awards in 2025 showcased more incredible stories of schools and early learning services putting relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, cultures and communities at the heart of their institutions.
For a decade, with the support of the BHP Foundation, the Narragunnawali program has provided tools and resources to help educators take meaningful action towards reconciliation.
Head to narragunnawali.org.au to learn more about the program and access resources to support reconciliation in education in your school, service or community.
This article is from the 54th edition of Reconciliation News. Read the rest of the issue.
