By the end of 1990, at least three hundred Aboriginal and Islander people had graduated in South Australian tertiary institutions, from associate diploma level and above. In 1990, the annual graduation rate surpassed forty, the great majority at three-year level or above, including at least one Honours, one doctorate and graduates in architecture and law. The eight-fold increase in graduate numbers over the total up to 1980 reflects the active presence on campuses of Aboriginal/Islander-oriented support services and, even more so, of preparation programs: some three-quarters of all graduates had participated in some form of supplementary preparation.

During 1990 the Disadvantaged Schools Program (D.S.P.) funded an Urban Literacies Project in New South Wales. There were two strands; one was investigating English as used by children from Multicultural backgrounds; the second was researching the incidence and use of Aboriginal English in the classroom. Redfern Primary School was invited to participate as part of the Aboriginal English strand. The following is a reflection on the processes by Carol Reid and Helen Velissaris. There are some findings that may be useful to teachers regardless of the childrens’ backgrounds but we found them especially relevant for the Aboriginal children we teach in an urban school.

On the basis of my own experience as a teacher in Torres Strait from 1968-1972 and feedback from preservice teachers studying “Education in Torres Strait”, I have decided to provide teachers and principals new to the region some background information on the context in which they find themselves. My position is that education is constrained by its present socio-political context which has been shaped by its past.

Bilingual education was introduced by a new Federal Labour Government in 1973 when the Northern Territory was still a Commonwealth Territory governed from Canberra.