Schools Do Make a Difference, But…!
Abstract
Professor Watts’ (1980) review article of Fifteen Thousand Hours: Secondary Schools and Their Effects on Children was 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 Aborigines
come 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.
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