It is quite likely that at the start of a teaching career at an Aboriginal school, a teacher would know how to teach reading. He would have received the theoretical background at college or university, and applied this knowledge with varying degrees of success at practice-teaching sessions and possibly with increasing success at an urban school. Therefore, when an obviously talented teacher finds that previously used strategies simply do not work, and even his knowledge of how to cope with disadvantaged and remedial children seems to be of no use, it is time to look a little deeper into what motivates his pupils.

This paper describes a teaching technique well suited to encouraging older children with poor reading ability to attack reading with interest and purpose. The strength of this method lies in the fact that it is based upon sound theory and can be implemented without too much trouble. Children enjoy it, and reading can come alive to a child for the first time in his school career.

Since the early 1970s there have been many positive developments in the education of Aboriginal Australian children as well as education about Aboriginal society, past and present, for all children. We only have to look at such developments as Aboriginal Secondary Grants, Study Grants, home-school liaison, language programs, (e.g. Van Leer or the bilingual programs), family support/counselling (e.g. the Inala Family Project), Aboriginal Education Consultative groups at local, regional, state and national levels. The list of positive developments appears to be endless. Certainly teachers, schools and State Departments of Education have consulted with Aboriginal groups to develop policy statements about Aboriginal Education/Aboriginal Studies in schools. Money has been spent on employing (and sometimes training) Aboriginal teaching assistants; Aboriginal schools have received some support and in areas such as the Northern Territory and Northern Queensland, efforts are underway to decentralise education.

In a very real sense giant steps appear to have been made in Aboriginal education over the past ten years or so. If we are really honest, however, the results of these giant steps remain comparatively disappointing. Thus, although we know that Aboriginal children stay at schools for longer now than they did during the 1960s, the proportion who actually complete senior high school at a satisfactory level is small. For example, in the North West Region of New South Wales, only 11 Aboriginal students were enrolled in Year 12 at the beginning of 1981. See Table 1 for further information.

In that same year, 224 Aboriginal students entered high school throughout the region. If the 1981 patterns of enrolment for Year 12 persist, then only 5% of the 224 children who started high school will actually complete the program. These figures are not encouraging, particularly as non-Aboriginal students’ enrolment patterns indicate that 29% of those who begin high school actually make it to Year 12.

During 1973 the outstation movement at Yirrkala was going in full force. Aboriginal people were moving from Yirrkala to start up their own communities consisting of numbers of their own clan. During that time Aboriginal people asked many questions about school. So in 1975 the outstation schools were established and were serviced by two visiting teachers from the central school.

The names of the communities and the clans that established their outstations in terms of houses and school are these:

Much has been said and written by the reading specialists about the way children learn to read and how teachers should be facilitators in this natural process. Frank Smith says that phonics need not be taught in the classroom; in fact he says it makes the learning to read process more difficult for children (Smith 1973, p.185).

Phonics or grapho-phonics tells a reader and writer how spelling patterns relate to sound sequences (Reed 1977, p.393). Whether phonics is taught incidentally on a one-to-one basis or whether it is taught more formally, I believe phonics does have a place in the classroom today, particularly in the bilingual Aboriginal classroom. Teachers of Aboriginal children should feel free to teach phonics, despite what the specialists say.

Much that has been written relates to native English-speaking children, brought up in a literate society where newspapers and bedtime stories are the norm. In this paper I am concerned with non-English speaking tribal Aboriginal children, in a pre-literate society. They attend bilingual schools where they learn to read and write first in the vernacular and then in English. I will point out that what the reading specialists advocate in learning to read naturally, is not always sound advice for tribal Aboriginal children learning to read and write in the vernacular.

A child picks up all words by listening to somebody at home (relatives) or a teacher in school. Children first learn from their parents. Mother teaches children by saying words bit by bit until the children really can understand their own tongue and the meanings of these words. In the same way teachers write words on the blackboard, say them and then explain to the children while the children listen.

This listening/hearing is the most important thing for the children. When teachers give a lesson they must first explain which part of the habitat they will talk about. Let the children listen to you carefully and give them a good explanation about these habitats around them. Prepare all the materials that you are going to use such as charts, pictures, slides, library books, if you are staying in the classroom. Prepare for an excursion if that is your lesson plan. Show these things, explain what you are talking about to give the children a better understanding, so they will remember this information.

The other important thing for the children to do, apart from listening, is for them to talk. There is only one way for the teacher to know if the children understand the lesson. The teacher must ask questions to see if the children know the answers. The teacher must ask the children to talk about the topic to see if they can memorize the information and use the science skills (see Skills section).

Education systems are devised by the members of a society to perpetuate the values, customs and beliefs of that culture. Therefore, in a multicultural society, any child from a minority cultural group who is educated in the educational system of the majority cultural group as, for example, most Aboriginal students, must be at a disadvantage.

Despite the fact that unless they work in traditional or semi-traditional areas, large numbers of teachers will not perceive any cultural differences, Aboriginal students do feel different. They do perceive differing value patterns between their own and the wider ‘white’ society and at times they feel alienated and alone, swamped by a sea of white faces and white ideals.

Traditionally, teachers have felt that it was important to treat all students exactly the same: that any variation from this ideal would savour of injustice and that anathema to all good teachers – favouritism! Surely, the aim to provide equal opportunity for all implies equal treatment for all – or does it? What of the child who is disadvantaged before entering the classroom, simply because he belongs to a minority culture? How is it possible to erase the inequalities engendered by this situation so that in fact all students ave given equal opportunities? Why not try “Positive discrimination”?

“Positive discrimination” implies treating a student differently in order to assist that student in the acquisition of positive reinforcement regarding his sense of self worth, aims and achievements. This is a sensitive issue so teachers who are unsure of methods of approach or who feel uncomfortable with the idea should not attempt to use it. However, for the caring sensitive teacher who also has plenty of experience, the good news is that positive discrimination works! In order to make it work there are some salient points worth noting:

The following article has been based on personal experiences and dealings with over 40 teachers and three different principals during the period 1976–1981, while at the Mornington Island State School. It is also based on discussions with teachers from other communities, advisory teachers, principals and inspectors during this period.

The article intends to look at the meaning of burn-out oomplaoenoy and how this syndrome so easily affects teachers and other workers, especially in remote Aboriginal communities. Although the article strongly supports all the recent innovations and planning in the area of curriculum development, conferences, and support systems in Aboriginal Education, still, that most fundamental criterion is missing – selection of teachers to work in these isolated areas with these innovated programs.

More importantly, the article also hopes to show what happens to the majority of teachers in these particular areas and how the burn-out oomplaoenoy syndrome operates. Perhaps the reader may then realise why such schools have enormous staff turn overs. Perhaps, also, education authorities should view these proven burn-out teachers in Aboriginal Education with greater understanding, support and value.

It remains my strong belief that each and every one of us is capable of working in •burn-out’. It is, however, much easier to adopt ‘complacency’. ‘Burn-out’ is that period of time during which one strives to work at maximum level and efficiency. Set-backs and failures are brushed aside and the person keeps attacking, keeps forcing himself to reach goals pre-set by himself or by others. By forcing ‘burn-out’, working to the limit, however, one can soon become burnt-out. Burnt-out is a dangerous time for the individual. Either he recognises the situation and opts for complacency, or he ‘cracks’ and is in that situation of being of no use to anyone, or he leaves the situation.