How 27-year-old Loren Wareing is changing support for First Nations students.

"They say the [desert's] red dirt either gets into your eyes or it gets into your heart," said Loren Wareing, the Deputy Principal of Indulkana Aṉangu School in South Australia. 

"For me, it absolutely got into my heart."

Loren is now in her fourth year of teaching — and currently in her second year at the South Australian government school located on Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands. She believes that this deep connection to the community and the land on which she works has been significant both personally and professionally.

So significant, that it's shaped her remarkable work with curriculum innovation and community engagement — driving her commitment and support for educational equity in remote education.

Image: Supplied.

Loren was recently recognised for this work in the 2024 Commonwealth Bank Teaching Awards, presented by Schools Plus — being named as one of the 10 winners in the Early Career Teaching Award category, for teachers who have shown remarkable leadership and innovation within their first five years in the profession.

The prestigious national Awards program aims to recognise and reward 22 teachers making a transformative impact on children, young people and school communities around Australia.

"The recognition from this award is validating," Loren told Mamamia. "It's so nice to hear you are on the right track, that you're doing a good job."

For Loren, it takes on a personal significance — as working in education is more than a job; it's her childhood dream.

"I had this idea of my identity, I guess," she said. "My favourite game was playing teachers. I would make up worksheets and newsletters, giving them to the younger kids at my primary school. I even went shopping with my grandfather and made him buy me a teacher outfit at Best & Less."

As a child, when Loren visited family in Darwin, she would always volunteer at local schools. 

"I'd read to the kids," she said. "I have just always loved learning myself and supporting children to reach their full potential. There is nothing more rewarding and fulfilling."

While teaching was always Loren's plan, taking her first teaching job straight from university in remote South Australia was not.

"I was meant to head to Europe for the remainder of the year, but the Deputy Principal from Amata Aṉangu School contacted me and asked if I would consider working remote."

Within 10 minutes of receiving the offer, initially a one-term contract, Loren had already accepted the job and begun planning her relocation that was not only 15 hours away from her Adelaide home, but somewhere she'd never actually been before.

"Two weeks later I was in Amata, and I ended up staying for three years," she said. 

For many people, moving 1500km by themselves would be daunting and challenging, but for Loren, while it hasn’t always been easy, her passion for learning has allowed her to flourish.

"I built the most wonderful connections with the community and with other teachers as well. It was a really good start to my teaching journey," she shared.

This is something Loren said has been key to her development and success as an educator.

"I put a lot of time in [to learning] myself. One of my best memories was sitting down with Aṉangu Educators [First Nations Educators in the APY Lands] and community members; asking questions and learning."

By immersing herself within the community, culture and language of the lands where she lives and works, Loren has used her experience to help develop multilingual classrooms.

"For some children who come to our school, English could be their second, third, even fifth language," she said.

"The key to a multilingual classroom is our Aṉangu educators, who are an absolute asset. Aṉangu people have been teaching their children for over 65,000 years and they know what works for their children.

"Their support and expertise within the classroom is much more effective than having just me," Loren said.

Working with the local First Nations community and learning from them has not only influenced Loren's teaching, but inspired her to initiate new programs within the school to ensure the learning was relevant and engaging for her students. 

This includes the 8 Ways Aboriginal framework, which incorporates interconnected practices for teaching involving narrative-driven learning, visualised learning processes and the Red Dirt Curriculum — culturally responsive teaching for the APY Lands.

"The Red Dirt Curriculum talks about the importance of building kids' confidence. In the words of the article, it was to 'build strong spirits'. We want kids to come to school and be confident, so a lot of my work in the classroom is differentiating work, making it accessible for the child."

It is this community approach that Loren believes has had the most impact on her career and the success of both the programs and initiatives within Indulkana Aṉangu School.

"Ngapartji Ngapartji – I help, you help or I give, you give – sharing and helping each other; Kulila – listen and Tjungu— together, have all been important elements to my work, and the work we do together, and support we provide each other."

As a part of Loren's win in the 2024 Commonwealth Bank Teaching Awards presented by Schools Plus, she will receive a $10,000 Early Career Teaching Scholarship, alongside another 12 teachers who will receive a $40,000 Teaching Fellowship, including $25,000 for their school and participation in a unique 12-month professional learning program. 

Underpinning the Awards is the belief that every child has the right to the same opportunities so they can thrive in school and beyond. Schools Plus delivers tailored programs to help children facing disadvantage to thrive, focusing on reducing learning gaps and improving wellbeing, particularly for children from rural, regional, and remote areas, First Nations communities, and those affected by crises.

Loren aims to use her scholarship to further contribute to the educational environment of remote communities and encourage more educators to embrace teaching opportunities in these areas — an opportunity she described as "the best thing I've ever done."

Read about the 12 Teaching Fellows and 10 Early Career Teachers of the 2024 Commonwealth Bank Teaching Awards, presented by Schools Plus.

Feature Image: Supplied.