Aboriginal Home Visitor Program in Swan Hill

Abstract

Some Aboriginal children come to school with skills that are different from those obtained by most middle-class children. This means that they are disadvantaged for several years in the present education system. Many of these children have little experience of reading, writing, standard English, both written and spoken, and the use of books. Since the school is based on this form of learning, their ability to achieve is severely handicapped.

Many Aboriginal families use different linguistic styles and approaches and this means the children must learn a new area of language before they can begin school learning. The Aboriginal Consultative Group to the Schools Commission, 1975, has said:

The child should nevertheless be educated in such a way that he is able to function successfully in both his own culture and the wider Australian Society if he so desires.

To this end, there needs to be some work done in the area of school preparation even if it is mainly communication with the parents and an opportunity for the parents to gain a wider knowledge of the school system. Hopefully, this may lead to greater confidence in the parents’ own ability to cope with the system and an attempt by the parents to prepare their own children without destroying their Aboriginality.