Townsville’s Aboriginal and Islander Teacher Education Program

Extract

Historically, universities and colleges have been preoccupied with studying Aborigines, and to a much lesser extent Islanders, doing research on them, and teaching about them. In the mid 1970s, however, the then Mt Lawley, Townsville, and Torrens Colleges of Advanced Education independently launched special entry, indigenous teacher education programs. By providing personal, social and academic support for an enclave of Aborigines and Islanders within white institutions, it was hoped that students would be able to learn to cope with the demands of tertiary education and graduate with the same qualifications as other students in the colleges. With varying degrees of success, this has happened, such that this enclave support model has been adopted in a number of other colleges and in universities, and is now the most important single reason for the increased number of Aboriginal and Islander students in tertiary education.