Much of the literature on Aboriginal education tends, and rightfully so, to emphasise the disadvantages Aboriginal children face when they enter into Western schooling. Cultural discontinuity theory proposes that cultural mismatch between the home and school cultures is an important factor in the alienation and school failure for minority (e.g. Aboriginal) children. Research certainly supports the view that Aboriginal students differ from their Western counterparts in terms of world view, learning styles and sociolinguistic etiquette. Current cultural ecology theory proposes that some minority group students (i.e. from ‘involuntary’ or ‘colonized’ minorities) rectify these differences in opposition and in resistance to the majority culture and thus play an active role in perpetuating school failure (Ogbu, 1987). In some urban schools, it appears that the inability of teachers to understand and cater for the cultural differences of their Aboriginal students is compounded by an active resistance to the school culture by those students. This paper investigates the teaching styles and practices of two teachers in urban schools who not only recognise and cater for the unique differences and abilities of their Aboriginal students but who have actively created learning environments in which student resistance is either directed towards group enhancing goats or rendered inappropriate. Pseudonyms are used throughout this paper.

Batchelor College is a tertiary education institution servicing the needs of Aboriginal communities mainly in the Northern Territory and “top end” of Australia. Within the School of Education there is the Teacher Education programme which has been operating in various forms since 1976, and has successfully piloted and implemented a community based operation known as Remote Area Teacher Education (RATE) (see Kemmis 1988). The program at mid- year 1990 underwent re-accreditation, and in his paper Reconstituting the Curriculum Framework for the Batchelor College Teacher Education Program, Ian Stewart (Head of School) argued for the development of four integrated strands over four sequential stages (Stewart 1989). These strands are: Community Studies; Curriculum Studies; Language Studies; and Professional Studies.

Factors influencing development of curicula for Aboriginal children must not overlook the importance of a strong verbal language component.

It is evident from research projects, and observation that persons of average or above average verbal abilities are found in most Upper Secondary Classes, Colleges and Universities. As a large proportion of graduates have proficient verbal abilities, this must be an area in our schools on which we must place importance. It is also a fact that just about any desirable avenue in life depends on some type of admission or selection procedure; whether it be tests written or telephone applications or interviews. The weighting of most selection criteria tends to give greater weight to verbal abilities than to any other personal individual characteristic.

The commercially available Pictionary provides the basis for the game described in this paper and the outcomes of its introduction to a class of grade three aboriginal students on Palm Island in North Queensland are explore. Suggestions are made for the preparation and extension of the game into classes and topic areas specific to a broad variety of learning situations at both primary and secondary level.