The Australia-Indonesia BRIDGE School Partnerships Program is a success story. Over the past 16 years, it has created 210 school partnerships and engaged over 840 teachers across 18 Indonesian provinces and each Australian state and territory.
As a result of this work, thousands of young Australian and Indonesian students know more about each other and the Australia-Indonesia relationship, building understanding and capacity in a bi-lateral way with our most populous neighbour.
An exemplar in laying the foundation of global citizenry, BRIDGE fosters diversity in young children’s educational programs and guides their curiosity in exploring the world; it’s where diplomacy and people to people relationships between our countries is seeded.
BRIDGE is a nationally awarded and internationally recognised program from the Asia Education Foundation (AEF). Established in 1992, AEF is an initiative of Asialink at The University of Melbourne; a long-term partner of the Australian Government, state and territory education jurisdictions, education professional associations, business and philanthropic supporters.
The AEF BRIDGE Program (Building Relationships through Intercultural Dialogue and Growing Engagement), established in 2008, reaches out to a further 8 countries and regions in Asia (including ASEAN and into the Pacific).
The Indonesian BRIDGE program, an initiative of AEF and the Australia Indonesia Institute, delivers an immersive and blended professional learning model to enable Australian schools to foster international partnerships with Indonesian sister schools.
What is the BRIDGE program?
The Building Relationships through Intercultural Dialogue and Growing Engagement (BRIDGE) Program is a flagship teacher professional development program. With an Asia-Pacific focus it creates unique opportunities for schools to equip students to be ready for the world.
The international program establishes school partnerships between students, teachers and school communities, enabling them to collaborate on projects, practice language skills and develop lifelong friendships.
Through a blended model of teacher professional learning, face-to-face, online learning and an international homestay program with partner schools, BRIDGE enables teachers to open their classrooms to the world and develops students to explore global citizenship through:
- deeper intercultural understanding
- real-life digital capability
- new knowledge of Asia and Australia
- strengthened language skill
There is still time for Schools to join the 2024 Indonesian program. More information can be found here.
Core components of the Indonesian program for Australian Schools include:
- Building meaningful connections: Collaboration with a school and educator in Indonesia to create a lasting partnership and build intercultural understanding.
- Professional development (virtual): Professional development in areas such as cultural competence, design thinking, digital pedagogies and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
- Workplace project: Development of a workplace project with your Indonesian partner school to connect with education in Indonesia.
- Immersive experience: Deepening partnership and intercultural understanding by hosting an Indonesian partner for homestay and school visits in Australia.
Indonesia
With the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) enabling connectivity, our Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040 is clearly in play and the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit discussions still fresh, the Indonesian bilateral relationship is clearly on the political agenda.
The impact of these initiatives and delivery of strategy will fall to many young Australians, including those currently in our primary and secondary schools. So, it’s critical we support an environment for children to begin exploring and developing a world view; stimulating their interest in and curiosity of the world around them. The Bridge program is one of these platforms.
Then numerous post-secondary school programs, including the New Colombo Plan, ACICIS Study Indonesia and a variety of youth led programs, such as the ASEAN Australia Strategic Youth Partnership and the Australia Indonesia Youth Association, provide docking points for older and tertiary students to explore our relationship with Indonesia.
The Indonesia BRIDGE program enables students to collaborate on projects and develop lifelong friendships by connecting schools and providing opportunities for educators to build knowledge, capabilities, and skills.
Regional curriculum resources
The Southeast Asia Economic Strategy noted, “while we have strong people-to-people links, an enduring challenge in both Australia and Southeast Asia is limited familiarity with each other’s economies, societies, business environments and market opportunities” (pg. 27)
… so early education is the key platform to raise this familiarity and awareness. With this in mind AEF deliver curriculum support – a critical tool for schools. AEF work in partnership with Schools to develop Asia capable students, providing a comprehensive suite of resources across all year levels. You can access subject and learning pages with information about curriculum, resources and professional learning here.
AITSL standards and curriculum connections
The BRIDGE Professional Learning Program addresses AITSL Standards:
1.3 Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds
2.6 Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
3.4 Select and use resources
6.3 Engage with colleagues and improve practice
7.4 Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities
The BRIDGE program is open to teachers of any subject and from any level, and designed to support the following aspects of the Australian Curriculum:
- Cross Curricular Priority: Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia
- General Capability: Intercultural Understanding
A future focussed investment
With the Australian Indonesian BRIDGE Program application deadline extended, Australian educators can now also join a study tour to Indonesia courtesy of grant funding from the Australia Indonesia Institute.
Reflecting on Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy, the first recommendation to create key cross-cutting enablers and drive greater commercial activity between Australia and the region was… “National Cabinet should consider developing a whole-of-nation plan to strengthen Southeast Asia literacy in Australian business, government, the education and training system, and the community” (pg. 27.).
… however, if this is to be achieved, the investment does not start with universities and industry. It begins with young children, families and schools; through opportunities to be curious and explore the world.
… so the Economic Strategy was our wakeup call – investing in education is a long-term play. Regional growth and development respond to the model of compounding interest, a slow burn that doesn’t happen overnight. Continuing to shy away from a commitment to step change our inter-generational capability and the enhancement of people to people understanding across the region is simply not an option.
BRIDGE delivers the opportunity in spades…
Applications for the Indonesia program close 15 April 2024, so apply here.
Note: The 2024 Australia-Indonesia BRIDGE School Partnership Program is funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Australia Indonesia Institute and implemented by the Asia Education Foundation at Asialink.
