Final Report: Strengthening Community Research in ... - Ninti One

3.4.2.2 Implications for skills development and employment from Worksheet TwoThe following observations are drawn from large group discussions based on Learning Evaluation WorksheetTwo.Strongly positivePeople were learning new things, and felt confident about applying this to their workThere was a reasonably strong team dynamic supporting the work and learningPeople were extending their experiences and ways of thinking about workThe team was achieving benchmarks such as completing first action cycle and planning second actioncycleCould benefit from strengtheningMore two-way communication with the wider communityCommunication with community leaders and decision makers about the research findingsCommunication with family and wider community about the potential benefits for people fromemployment, changes occurring in the community in relation to remote service delivery and a sense ofnew potentialAreas of deficitMaintaining a team learning environment when people are leaving and joining the team frequently ischallenging for everyoneDeveloping professional practice and work-ready skills without access to a suitable workplaceenvironment is challengingWorking independent of the Senior Researcher being on-site is not occurring very frequentlyLack of access to transport, driving licences and other means of moving around the community arelimiting independence of researchers and scope of independent or sub-group workLack of suitable office.3.4.2.3 Conclusions from evaluation of learningThere was clear evidence of skills and knowledge sharing, new learning and professional employment practices by theteam. Monitoring and evaluating skills and learning is a process that researchers found helps them focus on what theyhave achieved.3.4.3 Hamilton Downs WorkshopFollowing the success of previous research workshops, we decided to organise an additional workshop to bringtogether researchers from Ntaria, Yuendumu, Amata and Mimili, where Ninti One had been working on similarcommunity-based research initiatives with people from the respective communities. The Hamilton Downsworkshop enabled an exchange of knowledge and experience between participants and further evaluation of thework to date.3.4.3.1 Skills development review at the Hamilton Downs workshop, June 2011The Ntaria team undertook a research review workshop at Hamilton Downs, joining Yuendumu communityresearchers. Professional development through reflective evaluation engaged each researcher in a review oflearning through scenario and role play. The focus was education, specifically school attendance. The workshopwas attended by four Ntaria community researchers and the project cultural mentor.Final Report: Strengthening Community Research in Remote Service Delivery at Ntaria 29