Education for Alienation – or for Self-determination

Extract

I suppose I have to admit that I could have used Paulo Freire’s terms and said “Education for Domination – or Education for Liberation” since most people acquainted with cross-cultural education and education in developing societies would know them. And I certainly do have to admit that there is not much that I have to say that is particularly novel in education. But what I am sure is new in Australia is the deliberate, conscious and consistent effort to apply these ideas in practice in the area of cross-cultural education, in all facets of the curriculum for an educational institution. And so I can give one guarantee about what I say: it may be verbose, and it may even sound abstract, but in the Aboriginal Community College we are trying to do it – and with some success.

But I do not intend merely to give yet another description of the Aboriginal Community College. Frankly, I’m tired of talking about it, constantly repeating myself until I begin to sound like a rather long nursery rhyme. But I am “wrapped” in what we are doing and find this program more stimulating professionally and personally and hence more challenging than anything else I have worked in. I want to deal more generally than merely about this College, because I believe that what we have learnt applies to education in a cross-cultural situation anywhere in Australia and with any minority groups. If I draw my examples from this College, I hope you will tolerate it, and draw your examples from other situations if they are more meaningful to you.