All Responsibility Will Be with Parents: Outstation Education in the Northern Territory
Abstract
Q. Why do you want a school?
A. It is very important for our children to learn.
Q. What sort of teacher do you want?
A. First of all, Aboriginal teachers to start.
Q. How many teachers do you want?
A. One for a start.
Q. What do you want them to teach?
A. Counting, mathematics, reading, writing in English, Aboriginal culture.
Q. Do you want a school building?
A. We are thinking about an open-air one, a hut with bark and bush materials. Later on we may build a better school.
Another question concerned the degree of assistance required from Europeans.
A. Everything concerning schools will be run only by the local people, but we will appreciate the ideas and help of Europeans when we ask them. All responsibility will be with parents.
This conversation is extracted from a report by Maria Brandl, written in 1974. She was talking to a group of people who had started an Outstation in the Yirrkala area.
References
Brandl M. : Visits to Outstations in Yirrkala Area 4–22 June, 1974. Department of Education, Darwin.
viner H. : Submission on Aboriginal Health, November 1978, to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs.
Deslandes B.S. : Homeland Centres education in the Maningrida (N.T.) District. The Aboriginal Child at School. Vol.7, No.2, April 1979.
Gray W.J. : Conmunity Development and Decentralisation in Amhem Land. Department of Adult Education, University of Manchester, May 1975.
McGill G. : Draft Policy for Homeland Education. Circular No. 78/133 of 26/10/78. Department of Education, Darwin.
Spring G.J. : A Proposal for the Development of Basic Skills Units for Schools in Homeland Centres and Other Isolated Areas. January 1979, Department of Education, Darwin.
Haslett R. and Whiteford R. : An approach to outstation education as developed by staff at Maningrida school . Pivot. Department of Education , South Australia, May 1978.
Hall L. : Teaching skills in an Aboriginal school. New Education, Vol.1, No.l, 1978.
