Culturally Responsive Schooling: Murray Bridge High School – Comprehensive Study Notes

CRS described as a new, umbrella term initially unfamiliar to many staff.
Core purpose: intentionally design learning so all students can participate, feel involved, and experience a sense of belonging.
School context: long-standing diversity among both students and staff, yet uneven understanding of CRS principles.
Early diagnostic insight: staff associated CRS with isolated practices instead of a holistic learning design approach.
Foundational research literature used as the “sounding board” and guidance for local implementation.
Key motivational hook for teachers: connecting curriculum to students’ life-worlds.

Goal: embrace CRS at a whole-school scale, influencing professional learning, meeting structures, and daily pedagogy.
Success framed as a cultural shift rather than a discrete project.
Ethos: "Be the change you want to see"—cultivating an activist orientation across every role (leadership, teachers, ground staff, SSOs).
Desired legacy questions for staff & students: “What impact will you leave? How will you be viewed moment-to-moment?”

Recognised first barrier: finding consistent time for deep professional learning (PL).
Non-negotiable solution: block PL into the calendar and strictly honour it.
Structural changes implemented:
- Wednesday PL sessions previously curriculum-heavy; re-designed for CRS focus.
- Traditional staff meetings converted to 20-min online “punchy” sessions—admin only.
- Two additional “flexi mornings” created for bespoke or emergent issues.
- Net gain: 1.5\text{ hours} of protected PL time weekly.

Selection criteria:
- Already strong story-tellers and connectors with Ngunnanjirri students.
- Willingness to experiment and accept possible failure.
First cohort (“Fab Five”) piloted the process for 1 year:
- Surfaced likely barriers other teachers would face.
- Supplied iterative feedback to leadership.
- Ensured new expectations were realistic within teachers’ busy schedules.

Two complementary collaborative groupings:
1. Learning-area (faculty) groups – disciplinary deep-dives.
2. Cross-curriculum learning teams – inter-disciplinary conversation space; purposefully no “do-the-admin” distractions.
Focus of every session:
- Probe a shared text/question.
- Delve deeply (“What does this mean for us?”).
- Identify actionable take-aways for classroom change.
Emphasis on reflective practice—teachers candidly analysing their own pedagogy.

Teachers guided to craft individual, classroom-based research questions.
Observed evolution:
- Initial questions “from the heart” but vague.
- Collegial critique refined questions to be outcome-driven and measurable.
Impact:
- Spike in classroom dialogue among students.
- Teachers pursued root-cause analysis of learning barriers rather than attributing problems solely to students.

Tangible upsides noted by staff:
- Opportunity to learn from colleagues in different faculties (e.g.
  hospitality + health teacher mentoring a maths colleague).
- Fresh perspectives validated unseen progress and identified new growth edges.
- Enhanced staff morale: collaboration is “more motivating, more encouraging, and more fun.”
Inter-disciplinary curriculum planning finally realised after years of aspiration.

Power redistribution: teachers consciously “give away” control, encouraging peer-to-peer learning support.
Example practice: Yarning circles as dialogue tools—students request them to solve narrative impasses.
Multimodal evidence strategies:
- Recognised linguistic limitations hinder some students’ written expression of learning.
- Adoption of varied modalities (oral, visual, practical) to capture richer evidence of understanding.
Curriculum pacing: leadership explicitly sanctioned slowing down to prioritise depth and student voice.

Students notice and emulate adult professional conversations about success.
Enhanced intra-classroom networks: students relate personal or family stories, building peer connections.
Emergence of young Ngunnanjirri leaders:
- Yr 9 student confidently delivered Welcome to Country for \approx500 audience members.
Observable outcome: students increasingly articulate what they learned, how, and why it matters.

Activist orientation: cultural change must flow top-down, bottom-up, and laterally—every community member engaged.
Equity stance: strategies initially designed for Ngunnanjirri learners deemed beneficial for all culturally diverse students.
Anti-tokenism: move from surface acknowledgments to embedded, intentional design.
Professional respect: recognise teachers as highly skilled professionals; empower them to leverage expertise.

Surge in authentic staff dialogue across campus.
Teacher delight stories (e.g.
sprinting to leadership to share yarning-circle breakthrough).
Cross-faculty peer coaching visible and ongoing.
Students requesting culturally grounded learning structures unprompted.

Early discomfort: relinquishing teacher authority felt risky but ultimately liberating.
Initial research questions clumsy—necessitated structured peer refinement.
Need for explicit permission to “slow down” curriculum critical to success.
Ongoing endeavour: sustaining momentum and deepening CRS ethos—leaders recognise “a long way to go but a terrific start.”