Aboriginal Education in Victoria: An Evaluation of an Innovatory Emphasis

1976 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.J. Bourke
Keyword(s):  
State Government ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Educational Services ◽  
Aboriginal Education ◽  
Australian Government ◽  
Education Department ◽  
Special Schools ◽  
Traditional Practice ◽  
Full Responsibility ◽  
Aboriginal Children

The Victorian Education Department is philosophically opposed to the unnecessary segregation of children. Consequently, and with the approval of the Victorian Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, the two special schools for Aboriginal children at Lake Tyers and Framlingham were closed some years ago.During the existence of the Victorian Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs it had been traditional practice for that Ministry to undertake special projects, after consultation with the Education Department, to alleviate educational disadvantages of Aboriginal children. Generally this support took the form of funding specific school projects or school equipment. However, in relation to other states the Victorian funding for education was at a low level.The transfer of responsibility for Aboriginal Affairs from the Victorian State Government to the Australian Government on 1st January, 1975, made it imperative for the Victorian Education Department to assume full responsibility for the administration of all funding pertaining to the education of Aboriginal children. This step was necessary because the Commonwealth Department of Aboriginal Affairs does not seek to provide educational services for Aboriginal people. They believe that the provision of such services is the responsibility of existing State Government educational authorities. The Department of Aboriginal Affairs seeks to stimulate, co-ordinate and if necessary, support the extension, and where appropriate the accommodation of existing services to Aboriginals, and to ensure that special measures are taken to overcome any particular handicaps which Aboriginal people may suffer.

“The system of compulsory education is failing”

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth Marsden
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous People ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Compulsory Education ◽  
The State ◽  
Aboriginal Education ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Aboriginal Students ◽  
Aboriginal History ◽  
Aboriginal Children ◽  
State Schools

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which the mobility of indigenous people in Victoria during the 1960s enabled them to resist the policy of assimilation as evident in the structures of schooling. It argues that the ideology of assimilation was pervasive in the Education Department’s approach to Aboriginal education and inherent in the curriculum it produced for use in state schools. This is central to the construction of the state of Victoria as being devoid of Aboriginal people, which contributes to a particularly Victorian perspective of Australia’s national identity in relation to indigenous people and culture. Design/methodology/approach This paper utilises the state school records of the Victorian Department of Education, as well as the curriculum documentation and resources the department produced. It also examines the records of the Aborigines Welfare Board. Findings The Victorian Education Department’s curriculum constructed a narrative of learning and schools which denied the presence of Aboriginal children in classrooms, and in the state of Victoria itself. These representations reflect the Department and the Victorian Government’s determination to deny the presence of Aboriginal children, a view more salient in Victoria than elsewhere in the nation due to the particularities of how Aboriginality was understood. Yet the mobility of Aboriginal students – illustrated in this paper through a case study – challenged both the representations of Aboriginal Victorians, and the school system itself. Originality/value This paper is inspired by the growing scholarship on Indigenous mobility in settler-colonial studies and offers a new perspective on assimilation in Victoria. It interrogates how curriculum intersected with the position of Aboriginal students in Victorian state schools, and how their position – which was often highly mobile – was influenced by the practices of assimilation, and by Aboriginal resistance and responses to assimilationist practices in their lives. This paper contributes to histories of assimilation, Aboriginal history and education in Victoria.

Rationale, Aims and Objectives for Aboriginal Education in South Australia

1983 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 21-37
Keyword(s):  
Aboriginal People ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Aboriginal Education ◽  
The South ◽  
Education Department ◽  
Australian Aboriginal ◽  
Australian Education ◽  
Work Done ◽  
Combined Work ◽  
Consultative Group

This document represents the views of many people and groups who have been involved in Aboriginal education. It represents particularly the combined work of all the Aboriginal people who have been members of the South Australian Aboriginal Education Consultative Committee. For over twelve months we have been developing the content of this document to the extent where we believe that we have accurately reflected the views of our community.We further acknowledge our connections to the the South Australian Education Department and the South Australian Institute of Teachers along with various non-Aboriginal Ministers and educationalists with whom we have spent many hours in earnest debate and discussion. The above has led us to believe that the statements we have made are both urgent and necessary as reflections of an Aboriginal viewpoint.While this document has a particularly South Australian relevance we have had an involvement with statements made by the National Aboriginal Education Committee and our statements reflect the national view also. We also acknowledge the work done by the N.S.W. Aboriginal Education Consultative Group and the N.S.W. Education Department for we have drawn upon these documents in our statements.

Some Aspects of Aboriginal Education in Western Australia

1973 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-35
Author(s):  
Malcolm McGowan
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Aboriginal Education ◽  
Dance Music ◽  
Education Department ◽  
White Children ◽  
General Terms ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Social Achievement ◽  
Aboriginal Children ◽  
Western Australian

The author of this article wishes to point out that his comments are taken from his own direct experiences involved in the Aboriginal situation in West Australian Schools. They are not necessarily, therefore, the views of the West Australian Education Department.It appears that there are several groups when one talks about Aboriginal children in general in Australia. Any person who has any Aboriginal blood is termed an Aboriginal. These groups have different hereditary and environmental backgrounds and thus give differing responses to stimuli.In Western Australia, Aboriginals are of either country or town origin. There are vast differences between a third generation town Aboriginal and one who has only just walked in from the desert. Again one must differentiate between town and mission Aboriginals and also between the full blood and the part Aboriginal. The situation is s vast that one can speak about Aboriginals and their education in Western Australian Schools, only in general terms.School can have a tremendous influence on the Aboriginal child. It can be a sanctuary or a place which he tries to avoid. The task of the educator is to make school interesting, yet a useful means of conveyance into 1973. Personal experiences indicate that success lies in motivation – kindness and interest. There is a broad spectrum for Aboriginal children in academic and social achievement. Many are school leaders, have high reading ages and excel in dance, music, sport, art, crafts and written work. Under ideal situations it appears that many Aboriginal children have greater potential than some white children. There must then be other factors which cause Aboriginals to fail to make full use of their talents and abilities.

Tasmanian Aboriginal Education Consultative Committee

1980 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 15-18
Keyword(s):  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Educational Needs ◽  
Aboriginal Education ◽  
Consultative Committee ◽  
Education Department ◽  
Aboriginal Community ◽  
Education Committee ◽  
Northern Regions

The Tasmanian Aboriginal Education Consultative Committee (T.A.E.C.C.) was established in March 1979 as a result of prior consultation between the Tasmanian Education Department, the Tasmanian representative to the National Aboriginal Education Committee (N.A.E.C), Mrs Patsy Cameron and Aboriginal organisations throughout Tasmania and the islands.The Committee was elected by the Aboriginal community and consists of twelve Aboriginal people – three each from the northwest, southern and northern regions and one each from Flinders and Cape Barren Islands, and the Tasmanian representative to the N.A.E.C.It was formed in response to a need for increased Aboriginal involvement in the area of Aboriginal education in Tasmania.The committee’s function is to advise the Minister for Education and his department on the educational needs of Aboriginal people in Tasmania and to suggest appropriate ways of meeting these needs.It meets every three months.

The Development of Aboriginal Education

1989 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.K. Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous People ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Aboriginal Education ◽  
State Governments ◽  
The Public ◽  
Curriculum And Pedagogy ◽  
Educational Issue ◽  
Rights Issue ◽  
Aboriginal Children ◽  
The Voice

Over the past 15 years the voice of protest in Australia has come to be linked synonymously with the black Australian. The nation’s indigenous people have progressively united and, in the strength of unity and growth of support for their claims, have met increasingly resistant Federal and State governments. Unfortunately, the “land rights” issue has dominated the public Aboriginal doctrine, preventing white Australians from being exposed to and appreciating the other important needs and opinions Aboriginal people have.One of these needs is an education system sympathetic to: past, failed attempts at educating indigenous people; the importance of Aboriginal culture as a socio-cultural identifier and educational issue; and the needs Aboriginal children have in terms of curriculum and pedagogy. These fundamental elements are the counterpoints from which any study of the development of Aboriginal education, within Australia, must proceed.

Schools Do Make a Difference, But…!

1980 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 51-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Lingard
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Aboriginal Education ◽  
The People ◽  
Effects On Children ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas ◽  
Aboriginal Children ◽  
Positive Effect

Professor Watts’ (1980) review article ofFifteen Thousand Hours: Secondary Schools and Their Effects on Childrenwas a welcome, optimistic view of the positive effect schools can have on pupils. It was particularly welcome for the optimistic view that teachers and schools can achieve something in the area of Aboriginal education. Watts reviewed this book against the background reality that many teachers of Aboriginescome to feel that there is little the schools can do to help Aboriginal children learn; that the problems are so great that until there is a considerable improvement in the socio-cultural and socio-economic conditions of Aboriginal people, particularly in the urban and rural areas where the people do not follow a tradition-oriented life, there is little the schools can do.(Watts, 1980:3)While accepting Watts’ view, I will argue that an overly optimistic view of the possibilities of schooling for Aboriginal children can be just as debilitating as the pessimistic view that broader structural inequalities such as poverty, poor housing, poor health have to be redressed before teachers and schools can achieve anything. To this extent it will be argued that teachers need to be positive about what they and schools can achieve. Teachers need to be aware of the specific ways in which schools can make a difference.15,000 Hours…outlines some of these.

Addressing Issues of Equity and Access in the Delivery of Arts Education to Aboriginal Students

1995 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 22-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.G. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
Aboriginal Education ◽  
Social Situations ◽  
Aboriginal Communities ◽  
Aboriginal Students ◽  
Equity And Access ◽  
Aboriginal Children

The over-riding objective of an Aboriginal Education Policy should be to achieve equity between Aboriginal people and other Australians in participation at all stages of education by the turn of the century. Education opportunities must be available to Aboriginal people regardless of where they live and in a manner that is appropriate to the diverse cultural and social situations in which they live. It is therefore essential to ensure access for Aboriginal children and adults to school and tertiary education, to ensure that Aboriginal communities are able to influence the way in which education is provided, and to ensure that it reflects their social and cultural values (Hughes Report, 1987: 17).

Improving the Educational Opportunities of Aboriginal Children: The Koonibba Experience

1985 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 16-24
Author(s):  
J. Schluter
Keyword(s):  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Educational Opportunities ◽  
Significant Part ◽  
Education Department ◽  
Lutheran Church ◽  
Administrative Control ◽  
Aboriginal Children

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.

Why Are So Many Aboriginal Children Not Achieving At School ?

1991 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 42-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Guider
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Drop Out ◽  
Aboriginal Education ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Drop Out Rate ◽  
Employment Education ◽  
Aboriginal Children ◽  
And Training

In 1988 the Aboriginal Education Policy Task Force called for broad equity between Aboriginal people and other Australians in access, participation, and outcomes at all stages of education. Aboriginals are not achieving a comparative level of success at school compared to non-Aboriginals. Symptomatic of problems in our schools are, the over representation of Aboriginals in lower classes, the high drop-out rate of Aboriginal children and their low participation rates in the senior years of high school. Some 17% of Aboriginal youth continue their schooling to year 12 compared to 49% of all students (Department of Employment, Education and Training, 1988, p.7). The failure of Aboriginal children to achieve at school has been widely interpreted as an individual failure on the part of Aboriginal children. Poor attainment has been attributed to lower I.Q. and ability, inadequate home environments, and poor parenting and not to the inadequacies of the education provided, to prejudices Aboriginal children face or to the active resistance by Aboriginal people to the cultural destruction implicit in many educational programs (McConnochie, 1982, p.20). An examination of the determinants of school success shows that Aboriginal children’s cultural values, beliefs and practices and Australian schools are often in conflict. To improve the outcomes for Aboriginal children schools are required to assess whether or not they are catering for the inherent needs and talents of individual Aboriginal children.

What Trainee Teachers and Teachers Should Know About Aboriginal Children.

1979 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 29-32
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Aboriginal Education ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Teachers ◽  
Trainee Teachers ◽  
Aboriginal Students ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Aboriginal Children ◽  
Consultative Group

The New South Wales Aboriginal Education Consultative Group feels that more emphasis needs to be placed on the training of teachers in regards to Aboriginal education.Many first year teachers are sent to country areas with a relatively high percentage of Aboriginal students. In the main, these teachers have had little or no contact with Aboriginal children or parents.

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