Published 18 Jul 2024
Victorian teacher recognised among NAIDOC Award finalists
The VIT wishes to congratulate Shelley Ware, who was recognised among the 2024 finalists for the National NAIDOC Education Awards.
Shelley was recognised among Elders, educators, innovators and creators for exemplifying the spirit of NAIDOC, a celebration of Blak excellence.
Shelley's outstanding dedication to creating learning environments where all First Nations children can feel culturally safe has had a monumental impact on First Nations learners and teaching communities.
Each year, the awards are held during NAIDOC Week, and this year finalists were selected from a pool of more than 200 nominees. This year's theme "Keep the fire burning! Blak, loud and proud" honours the enduring strength and vitality of First Nations culture. Fire symbolises connection to the Country, to each other and to the rich tapestry of traditions that define Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Find out more about Shelley's work on the NAIDOC website.
Shelley Ware
National NAIDOC Education Award finalist
Mrs Shelley Ware is a proud Yankuntjatjarra, Wirangu and Kookatha woman who grew up in Ceduna and Tarndanya (Adelaide) but now lives in Naarm (Melbourne). She is a teacher, author and media presenter with over two decades of classroom experience and has spent her career advocating for truth telling, self-determination and reconciliation through her work.
In addition to her work in the classroom Shelley has spent the last ten years as an educational consultant helping countless teachers, leadership teams, students, schools and university faculties with individually designed workshops. A major focus of Shelley’s work is guiding schools to help them embed First Nations perspectives and cultures into their everyday practices, in a respectful and culturally safe way.
Shelley has also contributed to classrooms nationwide by creating over 50 national curriculum aligned teaching resources. Shelley has created the resources provided by SBS Learn for National NAIDOC Week for the past six years. She has written teacher resources for many Indigenous television programs like The Australian Wars series and The First Inventors and many First Nations authored children’s books including the Uncle Archie Roach and the Adam Goodes children book series. These are all used by parents and teachers to help support their teachings of First Nations cultures and histories around Australia every day.
Shelley has written a text book called Sunshine Classics Teacher Notes designed to help teachers teach reading in the classroom. Her work has be an addition to many education publications and text books across all levels of study.
Recently Shelley was the education consultant of a new wellbeing program, Matterworks, which is available in all schools around Australia. This specially designed program highlights the needs of First Nations children’s in schools and the importance of culturally safe school environments. By supporting teachers to understand the needs of First Nations students, this program helps First Nations students to feel seen and heard, increasing their likelihood of remaining in school.
Shelley has been an Indigenous Literacy Ambassador for the past 10 years, advocating for better literacy outcomes for First Nations people. She continues to mentor students so they too can become published authors. To date she has supported the writing of seven books through the ILF ‘Create Initiative’ program. The books include the Japarikka series, Tiwi Seasons with Marius and Tiwi Girl Hunters.
She is a published author herself with a funny short story in the Total Quack Up Again book. Shelley recently published her first children’s story book We are Matildas. This touching story revolves around the young Aboriginal main character, Jazzy, who wishes to one day play with the Matilda’s. Jazzy and her likeminded friends create a team together to play the sport they love. This book helps to normalise Aboriginal people as main characters in mainstream picture story books.
Shelley has been involved in media for over two decades appearing on live televisions shows on Channel 7, NITV and AFL.com. Shelley is well known for her time on Marngrook Football show. Through this television work she has been able to educate the wider Australian audience about the effects of racism and the importance of education, truthtelling, and the many Indigenous affairs close to her heart. Shelley’s work has helped to break down barriers for other First Nation voices in the media and to dispel the harmful stereotypes commonly held about her people.
Her media career has enabled her to appear regularly on many podcasts, radio stations and in print media where she advocates and educates Australian on the truths, that are often hard for many to hear, but she knows are necessary to say, for real change to happen.
She writes a fortnightly opinion and AFL column for the Koori Mail which shines a light on what is happening and what is possible. Shelley’s column aims to uplift and challenge her community by bringing attention to stories that are overlooked by the mainstream media and that spark conversation.
Throughout her illustrious career, Shelley has remained focused on improving the representation of First Nations cultures and histories in Australian classrooms and in the media. Shelley’s contributions have had a significant impact on the way First Nations cultures and histories are taught in schools today and how they will be taught in the future.