“How do you use them?” is a question I have heard often. It is asked by teachers with reference to their classroom assistants in schools on Aboriginal communities. A seemingly simple question yet it points to a whole complex of issues, all relatively minor in themselves but which in sum are apparently a cause for concern for many in these schools.

In this brief article I intend to look only at those issues which directly affect the place of the indigenous classroom assistants in education. I am concerned that although the potential value of such resource personnel in our schools could be limitless, we appear not, in fact, to be scratching even the surface of such potential in many of these schools. Ultimate opportunity and responsibility to ensure that the role of these auxiliaries is a viable and effective one is ours as teachers.