Aboriginal education, long considered the poor relation in education, is currently in a stage of development akin to a Renaissance. The success of the one-best-method of education is seriously being questioned, as are the twin constraints of the hidden curriculum - tradition and conformity.

The first major breakthrough in Aboriginal education came with the development of the concept of Aboriginal learning styles (Kearins, 1983; Harris, 1980). Teachers became aware that different strategies and materials had to be employed to cater more successfully for Aboriginal students. It is most likely the case also that school principals need to adopt an administrative style which is significantly different from that employed in urban, middle-class schools. Thomas Greenfield, a Canadian, has revolutionized thought in educational administration, and his thoughts may have relevance to administering Aboriginal schools.

Part of my role as a member of a teaching team in the bilingual program at Barunga School (formerly Bamyili) has been to teach English in the early childhood section. These children come from homes where Kriol is the main language. In some cases a traditional Aboriginal language is used at times, mainly by older people.

Children have a fair exposure to English via television and videos, and also from contact with people in Katherine. At this age, however, the children have limited competency in English.

Education in Torres Strait is at a crossroad. On the one hand changes are about to occur to its organisation. On the other hand crucial inroads are being made into community life by that process of education.

I have lived in Torres Strait. I know some of the fears, hopes and disillusionment of many Torres Strait Islanders. I want to share some of my insights into your situation. When I left Thursday Island in 1972, it was with sadness and with a determination to find out how to better teach the young people of the Torres Strait. I would like to share one set of my findings with you. In particular, I would like to share the experiences of a small American Indian community with you. In many ways their story is like yours. Some of their lessons may help you in these days of rapid changes.

Within the North-west Aboriginal reserve of South Australia a traditional system of tribal Aboriginal culture is currently maintained and reproduced. The observable culture of the Aboriginal people of this region retains distinct traditional elements and a life-style very different from that of the dominant white Australian society. Within this socio-cultural setting, schools which have been operational in some form since the establishment of the settlements face a unique challenge. Unfortunately, the challenge has, in most cases, not been successfully met, since the lack of success of Aboriginal students in the school situation is a damning indictment of the introduced Western system of schooling. Success is measured by the achievement of the set goals of the school, but frequently these reflect a white Australian value system.

‘Aboriginal teacher training’, ‘Aboriginalisation of staffing in Aboriginal schools’, ‘Aboriginal self-determination in schooling’, ‘bicultural education’, ‘Aboriginal control of schools’, ‘Aboriginal excellence in the 3Rs’ are all phrases used by people with some commitment to seeing Aboriginal interests achieved through schooling. These statements in relation to traditionally oriented Aboriginal schools are often used as if they all contained mutually supporting ideals. The reality is not, however, without dilemmas and it is the purpose of this paper to point out some of those dilemmas and to demonstrate that quite often the choice is not a simple one but between the lesser and the greater good, or between individual Aboriginal teacher preferences and recognition of the better good of the language group as a whole.

My first teaching appointment to Cunnamulla Secondary Department in 1975 was indeed a humbling experience. I am constantly reminded of my frustrations experienced as a beginning teacher as I see inexperienced teachers grapple with similar problems now, at Murgon High School.

Against this background, I would like to offer some suggestions for establishing and maintaining classroom discipline. Although these suggestions are specifically directed at beginning teachers in schools with significant proportions of Aboriginal students, they may also be helpful to teachers in other settings, since they are well supported in the literature (see references).

Teachers of Aboriginal children in Australia often have the problem of adapting or modifying curriculum materials which have been developed to meet the needs of the average white Australian/European child. For science and mathematics teachers especially, we believe that appropriate adaptation is essential to ensure that Aboriginal children are better able to comprehend the concepts involved. Many of these concepts at the primary school level involve some aspect of conserving quantities. For example, take a simple experiment where a child is asked to find out whether or not aluminium foil sinks in water. Its flotation, of course, is dependent on shape. The child may roll the aluminium foil into a ball, or flatten it out, and place it in the water. What happens can be observed and discussed and reported. But what if the child thinks this aluminium foil has some unexplainable properties? Maybe it not only changes shape but also its weight! Certainly, on the surface this may appear to be a typical case of nonconservation of weight, but perhaps this is a direct consequence of working with unusual materials and is not a true indicator of mental development!

A Human Resource Development Program is badly needed for Aboriginal schools - a program that is going to -

• • cater for all groups of people connected with the school;

• • allow for real and consistent participant decision making about priorities and programs;

• • be developmental in its structure.

I propose the following model as a program that can achieve more fully Human Resource Development than is currently happening.

Those involved in educational programs with Aboriginal children have noted that the parents have little contact with the schools, and feel that they are unable to help their children with their school work, even where they express interest in their children’s school progress.

In her comprehensive study of the Aboriginal Secondary Grants Scheme, Watts (1976) reported that fewer than 40% of parents said that they helped their children with their schoolwork, and the main reason they gave for not helping was that they did not feel able to. Furthermore, the majority of Aboriginal parents had little contact with the school: 70% stated that they had not met their children’s teachers. These figures refer to parents of high school children, but it seems unlikely that the pattern would be greatly different if home-school contacts at the primary level were investigated. Watts (1975:48) commented that schools have done little to involve parents in a meaningful way in the education of their children, and so parents remain unaware of the practical ways in which they could help their children and support them in their schooling. A great gulf is fixed between the home and the school, to the disadvantage of many children in Australian society.

The teacher sits on her low stool with the children around her. They are seated comfortably on a piece of carpet. Eyes and faces show intense interest in the story being read. Then -- “Teacher Pam, show me that word ‘wallaby’.”

The teacher is delighted at this interruption from little ------ as it is the first indicator after many weeks that she is making the connection between marks on the page and MEANING - a very necessary step for any child who is going to learn to read successfully and effectively.

Koonibba is a non-traditional Aboriginal settlement 40 kilometres west of Ceduna. It began as a Lutheran mission in 1901, when Aboriginal people from several areas were gathered together at the foot of Koonibba Hill to live as a community. The mission operated until 1964, when the Lutheran Church officially ceased administrative control and various government departments took over. An Education Department school began then. Now approximately 100 adults and 35 children live at Koonibba. None of them are traditionally from this area, but all identify as being part of the Koonibba Community.

Kangaroo, sleepy lizard and other local native animals form a significant part of the Koonibba people’s diet but they have retained few other traditional skills.

In the recent years, major economic developments have occurred in rural Alaska that have permanently changed the social, political and institutional landscape. The 150 Eskimo, Indian and Aleut communities have borne the brunt of these changes. Few have had available to them the indigenous human resources, the technical skills and educational preparation necessary to assume full control over these forces. In 1980 the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, in cooperation with several native organisations, successfully approached the Bernard van Leer Foundation with a proposal to assist Alaska Native communities in developing their own capacity to shape their future. This is the story of how the ‘Van Leer Project’ has attempted to respond to those developments.