Learning from cultural knowledge to enhance student connection 

As a Year 3 Teacher at Trinity’s Preparatory School, Ms Nadene O’Neill is never short on things to be doing. From collaborating with the rest of the Year 3 team to engaging in her role as one of Henderson’s Housemasters and running the Tournament of Minds Co-curricular, she’s always on the go. Even still, she’s always eager for more. 

“I like a challenge, always,” she says. “I like to keep building up my own experience and staying engaged in learning.” 

When Ms O’Neill came to Trinity six years ago, she had already received her Masters of Educational Leadership and Post-Graduate Certificate in Education in STEM and while she isn’t using these specific qualifications at the moment, she says it’s typical of her approach to learning. 

“I’m not a School leader at the moment or in the STEM space, but a lot of the learning I do is just in the name of interest; to learn more about holistic learning within schools.” 

This interest in learning has never stopped and it’s what led her to consider pursuing research. After considering a Masters of Research and a PhD she decided that an Action Research Project would be the best path forward for the moment. Trinity supported her to join the International Boys’ School Coalition (IBSC) program, giving her the opportunity to head to the Auckland Conference in 2023 and this year’s Conference in London. 

“I feel that as teachers, we’re always doing little bits of action research. We teach the kids, we observe, we analyse … formalising that into something that was a bit bigger and that I could share on a global platform was really exciting.” 

Ms O’Neill’s journey started at last year’s event in Auckland where she attended a two-day research training course before working towards forming a question to frame her Action Research Project, related to the overarching theme of ‘Balanced Boys: Building Healthy Masculinity Beyond the Classroom’. 

Her own career was influential as she formed her research question. Ms O’Neill’s first teaching job was in Coonamble where the majority of students she taught were Indigenous.

“Having grown up in the Inner West, this job was a whirlwind culture shock but I loved it. There were a lot of social challenges in the community and there was not nearly as much sharing of culture or language as I expected to see. I’ve always wanted to build that with the students here – that understanding of diverse perspectives and cultures.” 

The setting of the 2023 IBSC Conference – New Zealand – also had a critical impact on her research question. 

“The rich culture there was what prompted some of my thinking in the first place. They sang, presented in the Māori language … they really had that sharing of culture.” 

All of this – and plenty of other factors – brought her to her central research question: How can the Indigenous practice of sharing story promote healthy masculinity in a House group of 8-10-year-old boys? 

“There are plenty of challenges when approaching the concept of masculinity in a boys’ school. For too long, masculinity has been labelled as something negative or ‘toxic’.  I wanted to steer away from that conversation and focus on vulnerability, authenticity and belonging.” 

Ms O’Neill’s students – like many students – are often playing together. But when she asked them about how well they knew each other, many of them said that they didn’t know their peers all that well. It wasn’t that they felt they didn’t belong, but that they didn’t feel a deep connection and this was stopping them from being their authentic selves with each other. 

Throughout her Action Research, Ms O’Neill implemented practices from all over the world to help the boys to form those deeper connections – from the Māori tradition of Pepeha to the Australian Aboriginal traditions of yarning circles and deep listening. 

“My aim was to show the boys that throughout history, across the world, strong men and men of character have become strong men because they connect through story,” she says. “I wanted to normalise the idea of sharing story and being vulnerable.” 

After each activity, reflection and analysis showed that the students felt more connected to each other, growing in their understanding of each other and how known they felt. 

“A lot of Educators are nervous and worried about sharing practice and delving into things like that [surrounding Indigenous knowledge] and I know that’s a hurdle sometimes. I reached out and connected with custodians of knowledge … I really wanted to make sure I was never doing anything without permission and always listening. Overwhelmingly, the people I spoke to said ‘Just do it!’. So often we are scared of getting it wrong, but we’ll make mistakes, it’s natural. If we’re too scared to do it, we won’t make any progress at all.” 

Presenting her research paper – The Confluence of Culture: First Nations Sharing of Story Cultivating Authentic Connection in 8- to 10-Year-Old Boys – at this year’s IBSC Conference in London, Ms O’Neill said that the experience was fulfilling, with her own understanding of Indigenous practices across the world growing too and she was pleased to share what she had found in a global setting. 

Beyond her own presentation, she says that the workshops were valuable and offered up affirmation that Trinity is a leader in the education space. 

“You get to see what people are doing all over the world. We’re actually in such an amazing school [at Trinity] and the workshops are affirming, seeing things that we’re already doing or things that we implemented two years ago and we’re now moving past. We’re up there with the best.” 

Throughout the experience, Ms O’Neill was supported by Trinity to join the program, to travel to the international conference locations and Trinity’s own Dr Kimberley Pressick-Kilborn acted as an additional mentor. 

“Kimberley came to Trinity right at the beginning of my Action Research journey and she was my School-based mentor. She met with me every fortnight, proofread my writing, and supported me. She’s a great person to talk to, so generous of spirit, happy, lovely, so kind and she just boosts you.” 

Now, her research is being applied by Trinity as they review wellbeing programs and consider their strategic plan. Ms O’Neill says it’s exciting to see her work be taken on board and considered in the future of the School. 

As ever, she’s ready for the next challenge, whatever it may be. 

“I still have that PhD in the back of my mind. Whether or not I take the leap is another question but I’m definitely starting to research and find out what that will look like for me,” she says. “I’ll always be heading towards the next thing; I love learning.” 

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