The status of Aborigines described above has been considered to be the result of a cycle of causation whereby poor educational standards lead to low-paying occupations resulting in poor housing, poor health and feelings of helplessness and defeat which lead again to poor educational advancement. More recently it has been recognized that the institutions of the dominant white Australian culture play a very important part in perpetuating this cycle and the education system is no exception (McConnochie, 1973). Thus, if the status of Aborigines is to be improved and the cycle broken, institutional changes must occur.

One attempt at bringing about positive change within the education system is the employment of Aboriginal counsellors to work with school personnel, including guidance officers. While guidance officers are in a unique position to positively influence the personal, educational and vocational development of students, the cross-cultural counselling situation poses many problems for guidance officers. These include the tendency for minority groups not to utilize such specialist services, accepting different world views, appropriateness of techniques and tests and establishment of rapport between counsellor and counsellee (Sue, 1977).

Bilingual education programs are being developed in some remote Aboriginal communities that have retained their own languages and a high degree of traditional orientation. As bilingual education in the Northern Territory is today beginning really to mean bilingual/bicultural education, this means that Aboriginal teachers are expected to act in different ways from when they worked as Teacher “Aides” and assisted in programs that were solely based on the non-Aboriginal culture. It is also a new situation for many non-Aboriginal teachers who, particularly in the Early Childhood area, have been trained to work with small children and now find that their most significant activity is the interaction they have with adult Aboriginal teachers as they help these teachers work with children. This paper outlines an approach that assists teachers develop more meaningful early childhood programs for Aboriginal children, and in addition helps teachers function more effectively in their new roles.

At St Therese’s Girls’ School we have initiated a transition from a post-primary program to a secondary program. Part of this change has been a re-thinking and reorganization of the mathematics program.

There are 40 students in the secondary section. In the past they were taught in three different classes – Grades 8, 9 and 10. One teacher taught each class and the secondary section was organized like a primary school. Now the secondary section is organized along different lines, but it is not the purpose of this paper to explain the organization of the secondary section. The purpose of this paper is to explain the philosophy, approach, and some of the content of the secondary mathematics program.

It would seem that in the past the philosophy behind most post-primary programs prompted teachers to engage their classes in one of two activities. Either the class would spend the bulk of its day engaged in some sort of manual study, or else the teacher would engage the class in studies that were aimed at catching up with the Aboriginal students’ non-Aboriginal counterparts. The philosophy behind both approaches saw the Aboriginal students as inferior.

The philosophy behind both the mathematics program at St Therese’s, and the secondary program in general, is based on what I believe to be a far more truthful reality. I believe that it is not acceptable to infer that Aboriginal students are inferior and to organize their schooling around either manual studies or alternatively academic studies aimed at catching up to their European-Australian counterparts.

A number of issues critical to Aboriginal Studies Courses are extrapolated from the literature. These issues are expressed as questions important for evaluators of Aboriginal Studies Courses to ask. They may also be seen as guidelines for the construction of Aboriginal Studies Courses. In conclusion, a summary of the developed guidelines is presented.

The Commission of Inquiry into Poverty (1975:183) reported of Aborigines and Islanders:

The National Aboriginal Education Committee (1980:4) notes that the Australian Schools Commission Report (1975) adds that they also have the least schooling. With this in mind the NAEC, in its policy statement on Aboriginal Education (1980:3), says:

At St Therese’s Girls School, we have initiated what we believe to be a more meaningful and more relevant utilization of our resources in producing a secondary program that is more appropriate to the needs of our students.

During 1980, the program was organized in a similar manner to previous years. Each grade – eight, nine and ten – was in the charge of grade teachers. We were fortunate in having a specialist art teacher, but basically the Post Primary section was organized in the typical primary style.

After much consideration, in 1981, we decided to try a different approach. We were prepared to do some experimenting but we were not prepared to upset our students with too much unjustified change. We spent considerable time in consultation with our Tiwi staff members. We wanted to use the resources of both our European-Australian and Tiwi staff members far more effectively. Also we wanted to provide a program that would cater for the needs of our students in a far more meaningful way. We didn’t feel that we were meeting these objectives with our past mode of organization. Previously our two Tiwi teachers were acting in the capacity of mere teacher aides without any real responsibility. We knew that they had far more to offer and that our Tiwi students had far more to gain by their effective participation in the program.

Just occasionally you hear of a really exciting project being undertaken. The Kalkadoon Cultural and Locality Education Group is one such project.

The highly enthusiastic and motivated team has been unearthing and collecting a wealth of information which they are feeding back into both primary and secondary classes around Mount Isa. At present they are working under the limitations of a Schools Commission Special Projects Program grant, with no guarantee of continued funding once the initial grant is spent.

Too often, due to lack of resources and/or interest, Aboriginal studies in Queensland schools is merely a superficial glance at what is a culturally rich, diverse and many faceted society. The booklet Aboriginal Studies in Queensland Schools, developed by the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Consultative Committee, and published by the Education Department, is too often gathering dust in some obscure corner of the school both unknown and unused by most of the staff.

Hopefully, the Kalkadoon Cultural and Locality Education Group will receive the kind of support that will enable their project to become an integral and continuing part of the schools in Mount Isa. To provide a better picture of the activities of this group I have reprinted two articles. The first is part of a press release by Sunset State School in the North-West Star, Wednesday, 11th March, 1981.