In Vol.2 No 3, Mr. F.H. Barker from Kennedy, Queensland, examined the advantages of black and white photography in the school. Here, Mr. Bucknall reports on the use of black and white photographs as language stimulus material.

The Pre-reading program for Gupapuyngu speaking children was largely based upon the lectures of Sarah Gudschinsky given in Darwin in early 1973.

The first part of the pre-reading program involved helping the children to learn exactly what reading (and writing) is. In a European culture children often come to school with this understanding, but many Aboriginal children take some time to register the basic principles involved. This aim was achieved as much in incidental teaching as in planned lessons. The children were read to in their own language. When they were read to, the teacher often pointed to the words as he read them. The children were shown the relationship between the figures on the page and what was being read. Every day, after morning news, we wrote down what one child had said (and a picture was drawn). Later on the short story or phrase was read back to the children. When the children were sent on messages, the teacher read out what he had written down. The children learnt the communicative value of writing and reading. Children who, when they arrived at school, thought that reading involved showing a picture and making up the story, soon learnt what the words were for, and thus were motivated to learn to read.

Mr. Cook has been following a plan of parental involvement this year with his sixth class primary school students, and he feels that the principle is most applicable for teachers wishing to develop better attitudes towards school with their Aboriginal students.

In October 1973, a small group of about 30 Aboriginal people moved from Wyndham, Western Australia, forty miles across the Cambridge Gulf, to establish the community of Oombulgurri on the site of the now closed Forrest River Mission.

The move was from the ‘futurelessness’ of existence on the Wyndham Reserve to a chance to build their own future as an autonomous community living on tribal land. A Mawaba (Executive) was elected. The Oombulgurri Association employs an auxiliary staff whose role is to advise the community. The Auxiliary has no decision-making power.

Just twelve months later, Oombulgurri has grown to 200 people, of whom 60 are school-age children, with an additional 30 below school age. From the outset those moving back to Oombulgurri – most of whom made little real attempt to ensure their children attended school regularly in Wyndham – insisted that a school must be included in the community plan. The school functions as a community school. Two qualified teachers are employed by the Oombulgurri Association. They work in the school with four Aboriginal teaching assistants selected from the community. Each of these assistants is involved fully in planning and decision making, and is totally responsible for the day to day teaching and disciplining of various groups within the school. It has become yery clear that the students gain a great deal by having some of their own people involved in actual teaching and curriculum building. The school has become much more than an institution imposed on the community. Women from the community are also involved in the pre-school and child care centre. Working with a member of the Auxiliary, the women plan the curriculum and carry out the daily program.

“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.

Mr. Mounsey was formerly the Headmaster of the South Hedland Primary School at Port Hedland in Western Australia.

Mr. Lui is a school teacher at Coconut Island, and has been teaching in the Torres Strait Islands for ten years. Mr. Lui thinks it is important for the parents and the other people in the community to be interested in the school, and in this interview he talks about ways in which he works at Coconut Island to get the school and the community together.

On 25th September, a day long seminar was held at Maitland in South Australia as part of the Action Research Project for Secondary Education of Aboriginal Students. This project is being carried out within the Research & Planning Branch of the Education Department of South Australia.

The participants in the seminar were 27 past and present Aboriginal high school students, and the 10 current students were all senior students. Questionnaires were administered and answered individually by all students. Later in the day a discussion of some of the information collated from the questionnaires took place. After the meeting, the questionnaires were more thoroughly analysed, and the following report was written.

The questionnaires are reproduced in the Appendix following the report.

There were two main reasons for calling the meeting: firstly so that Aboriginals could give their views about school, and secondly so that the school and the Action Research Project could use the information given by the Aboriginals to effect changes. Three questionnaires were administered during the day. Part I was put on the overhead projector, and the students filled in answer sheets. Part II and Part III were on sheets which were filled in by individuals.

Worldwide, education authorities are concerned about the problem of relevance of courses for secondary school students. Many systems are trying to develop job-relevant experiences for youth.

Two recent reports have considered the issues involved in work experience courses. Extracts from the Queensland State Education Department ‘s Research and Curriculum Branch – Education Abstract (No.216, March 1974 & No. 217, April 1974) are reproduced below for your interest.

How relevant are the issues raised to the educational program you are seeking to develop in your school?