Increasing the number of Aboriginal teachers in the Northern Territory: Planning for the future

Executive summary

The Northern Territory (NT) faces a critical shortage of Aboriginal school teachers, despite having the highest proportion of Aboriginal students in Australia. Many of these students consistently perform below national educational benchmarks. Research indicates that increasing the number of Aboriginal teachers can positively affect student outcomes. This report presents findings from an Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success (ACSES) Fellowship study, Increasing the Number of Aboriginal Teachers in the NT: Planning for the Future, which explored how teaching is perceived as a career by Aboriginal senior secondary students and current Aboriginal teachers. The study also examined strategies to promote teaching as a viable and appealing profession, including the use of participants’ own words and perspectives to inform culturally relevant promotional materials.

Key questions

Through our research, we aimed to answer the following research questions (RQs):

• RQ1: Do Aboriginal senior secondary students aspire to be teachers?
• RQ2: How can we encourage more Aboriginal senior secondary students to want to become teachers?
• RQ3: What do existing Aboriginal teachers and students think are positive reasons to become a teacher?
• RQ4: How do Aboriginal teachers think teaching should be promoted to other Aboriginal people?

Research design

This study employed a mixed methods approach, integrating both quantitative and qualitative data to establish baseline insights and capture the nuanced perspectives of individual participants. This complementary research design enabled a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of Aboriginal people within the broader research context. All participants identified as Aboriginal, ensuring the research was grounded in Aboriginal perspectives. Importantly, the study did not treat Aboriginal Australians as a homogenous group; instead, the analysis and findings highlighted the diversity of Aboriginal voices across the NT’s five regions, four levels of remoteness, and three education sectors—public, Catholic, and independent—thereby amplifying perspectives often overlooked in mainstream discourse.

Aboriginal senior secondary students were invited to complete a brief online survey, which was designed to be accessible and minimally time-consuming, via Qualtrics. This fit within the ethical requirements of the NT Department of Education and Training for gaining approval to conduct research. The success of the project relied on gaining several approvals to conduct research: from the Charles Darwin University (CDU) Human Research Ethics Committee, the NT Department of Education and Training, the Catholic Education Office NT, and the independent Indigenous schools choosing to participate. It also relied on the decision of each principal to disseminate information to teachers and students, or not.

A total of 23 students participated. Fully qualified Aboriginal teachers were also invited to participate, with the option of completing an online survey or participating in an interview. Thirteen teachers contributed to the study—10 via the survey and three through interviews. Quantitative data and short answer responses were analysed using Qualtrics, and NVivo was employed for thematic analysis of open-ended responses, enabling a rich interpretation of participant narratives.

Findings

A central finding of this study is the lack of accessible and culturally relevant information about teaching as a career for Aboriginal people in the NT. Both senior secondary students and qualified Aboriginal teachers emphasised the need for more proactive communication. Students expressed concern that they were rarely engaged in conversations about their career aspirations, particularly regarding teaching. They requested face-to-face interactions to explore the possibility of becoming a teacher and noted a desire for encouragement, even when they had doubts about their own capabilities—particularly in relation to English proficiency. Despite these concerns, many students indicated they would consider teaching if they were explicitly told that it was a viable option. One-third of student respondents reported an interest in becoming a teacher.

Aboriginal teachers described teaching as a deeply rewarding profession and highlighted the importance of sharing personal experiences—preferably in person—to inspire others. They also noted that an individual’s experience of schooling significantly influences their interest in teaching. Whereas some teachers were motivated by positive school experiences, others were driven by a desire to improve the system, challenge racism, and provide better educational experiences than they had received.

To promote teaching effectively among Aboriginal communities, it is essential to ensure that students have positive schooling experiences. This foundational step must be followed by the provision of clear, culturally appropriate information about teaching pathways. Communication should include practical details about teacher education, such as behaviour management training, support for passing the Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education, and options for studying without leaving one’s community.

Participants also identified the need for an Aboriginal teacher role model platform or association. Such a platform could support mentorship, provide professional development opportunities, and offer formal recognition for leadership contributions—potentially through teacher registration boards.

These findings are relevant to the NT Department of Education and Training for local recruitment strategies, and potentially to interstate education departments seeking to understand cultural nuances necessary in promoting teaching as a career. They also inform recruitment efforts at CDU, and potentially other teacher training institutions. NT schools, career advisors, and vocational education and training in schools (VETiS) educators should use these insights to better support and guide Aboriginal students towards teaching careers, ensuring that positive, empowering messages are consistently communicated. Importantly, to honour the diversity of Aboriginal communities, similar research should be conducted in other states and regions to generate locally relevant knowledge and strategies.

Recommendations

The findings of this report inform recommendations for the NT Department of Education and Training, schools, teachers, CDU, and the Teacher Registration Board (TRB) NT. They may also be relevant to interstate education departments and teacher education providers, particularly in relation to how teaching is promoted to Aboriginal people. However, because of the diversity of Aboriginal communities, applying specific perspectives or language as seen in this research to other regions—interstate or internationally—would require locally conducted studies.

For the NT Department of Education and Training, TRB, schools, and other interstate departments of education, I recommend that:

1. Teaching should be promoted more proactively as a career to Aboriginal senior secondary students, who should be given more information about how to become a teacher, including what you learn while studying teaching (such as behaviour management) and the benefits of becoming a teacher (including cultural benefits).
2. Students should be encouraged to reflect on the positive ways that they have been engaged at school and how becoming a teacher could ensure that the next generation of Aboriginal students also have a positive schooling experience.
3. Students should be told that teaching is a career option and that they can become teachers.
4. More Aboriginal teachers should act as role models and share their stories of how they succeeded in becoming teachers. This is invaluable and should be recognised as leadership.
5. The available pathways to teacher training, including the Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) and VETiS, should be presented to students.
6. Requirements, such as completing Year 12 and achieving language and numeracy proficiency, should be discussed.
7. Students should be involved in career education conversations to help them make informed decisions about how they can become teachers.

For CDU and other teacher training institutions, I recommend that:

1. Teaching as a career should be promoted more proactively to Aboriginal people and should include positive, real stories from Aboriginal teachers (as role models) about what it is like to study teaching and then be a teacher, face-to-face where possible.
2. The significance of positive impacts for Aboriginal (and non-Aboriginal) students should be highlighted, along with the amazing rewards of being a teacher.
3. It should be communicated to potential teachers that cultural knowledge combined with professional knowledge of teaching enables Aboriginal teachers to connect and engage students in a unique way that enhances learning.
4. Pathways and possibilities should be discussed and explained.
5. A targeted approach should be applied to encourage more young people to consider teaching as a career.
6. A system of mentors should be created to support people once they have begun their teacher training.
7. It should be communicated that although the work is hard, teaching can still pay for a comfortable lifestyle.

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