Indigenous students walk pathways with the best

Inspirational leaders in creative writing, music and television will work with Indigenous school students at a University of Queensland camp this month.

Musician William Barton, author Anita Heiss, and television presenter Phil Breslin are among the leaders in their fields who will help students reveal their talents and find pathways to university.

UQ program director Associate Professor Deborah Brown said high-achieving students from secondary schools around southern Queensland would attend the three-day Solid Pathways event.

 “We hope that through this event, students will learn new ways of being creatively and proudly Indigenous,” she said.

“It’s a measure of the program’s success that it has attracted the support of some of Australia’s most talented artists and performers.

“William Barton has shown the world how traditional Aboriginal music enhances classical and other musical genres, Anita Heiss is a best-selling, award-winning author and ‘creative disruptor’, and Phil Breslin stars in National Geographic’s Wild Survivor,” she said.

Anita Heiss will run a creative writing workshop at St Lucia for senior students, Phil Breslin will present to students on North Stradbroke Island, and William Barton will welcome younger students, parents and Elders on the final day and conduct a music workshop.

“Solid Pathways gives students the opportunity to develop core academic skills in critical thinking and argumentation – skills that have been shown to benefit performance across the curriculum,” Dr Brown said.

“Students also gain first-hand experience of the career opportunities available through a university education and enjoy the benefits of a community of high-performing, like-minded peers.

Dr Brown, from UQ’s School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, said Solid Pathways used innovative online learning programs and was managed through the Indigenous Schooling Support Unit of the Department of Education and Training, in conjunction with UQ’s Critical Thinking Project.

The Solid Pathways program was piloted in Brisbane in 2013 and this year had extended into other areas of South East Queensland.

Next week’s Solid Pathways camp is one of several that UQ will offer this year.

Media: Associate Professor Deborah Brown +61 7 3365 2804; Lesley Whitteker 0417 496 397.