Meeting at Kimberley Land Council, Derby, 19 May 1999 - notes
The Kimberley Land Council is situated in Derby. The KLC made a formal appearance at the Inquiry's hearing in Broome. This meeting was organised by the KLC for community members.
Olive Knight prepared comments entitled "Educational Needs of Children". Some of the main points raised in that paper include
- The need for appropriately trained teachers in Aboriginal education. Suggests a need to have incentives to attract mature experienced teachers to go to Aboriginal schools.
- Aboriginal children are missing out on some basic skills. Is there a need for more 'chalk and talk' basics?
- Aboriginal children are used to learning from elders in groups, and individual one on one instruction is barely used.
- Research shows that teaching language in preschools helps with retention rates. Some children have English as not as a second but a third language. There should be Aboriginal language proficient teachers at least up to high school.
- Is the school day appropriate? It might be more worthwhile to have a condensed day of 7am to 1pm rather than 9am to 3pm or 8am to 2pm.
- Are week in weekend out systems inappropriate for Aboriginal children or would a three week in and one week out system work better?
- The need for cultural training of teachers before they are sent out to a school. A new teacher should be taught the history of the area, the uniqueness of language and people, proper behaviour, address techniques and socially approved and disapproved practices.
There should be recognition of the cultural and aspirational diversity of the State, not a blanket Aboriginal policy that could be counterproductive.
"Educational and government leaders must realise that they do not have a monopoly on wisdom."
Secondary education
The state school in Derby imparts a sense of personal confidence and friendliness to students but does not have high academic expectations of students. Many families relocate their whole lives for the children's secondary education.
Retention rates
The retention rate for students across the Kimberley for non-Aboriginal students is only about 21% to Year 12. There is a sudden decline after Year 10. For Aboriginal students retention rates are about 11%. For Aboriginal students the decline starts after Year 7. Attendance rates are perhaps even worse than retention rates.
Leaving town for a secondary education
Because the secondary education in Derby is not seen as high quality, some students leave to study elsewhere. The only real choice is Perth. However, children from Derby or more isolated places are 'totally lost' in Perth. Students need to be fully supported when they attend secondary school in Perth. In order to do this whole families leave town, leaving behind friends, family and work.
When one young student herself decided that she wanted to go down south to Perth to attend high school, the mother had to leave work and travel with her daughter to find a school that was going to support her.
There is a bit of an attitude that students will not be able to make it right through secondary education.
"My daughter nearly didn't make it. But it was only because of my personal resources and the culture and background that I was able to provide that for her, but that did include family support."
"It goes beyond technical teaching or family support. It's almost an attitude to be combined with an awareness of the context of where students are coming from."
It was suggested that there be secondary education alternatives which are closer to home than Perth and which can provide an on-site supportive environment, similar to Notre Dame University. Perth is too far away. There should be somewhere in the Kimberley. Clontarf College in Perth is beginning to cater for the specific cultural needs of the Aboriginal students who attend.
Training teachers to understand non-standard English
Teachers need to have cultural training and training in Aboriginal dialects. One woman commented on her daughter's early education.
"When she first started education her first language was a Kriol. By then she understood Standard English very fluently but her sound system was not Standard English. So she went to a school in Broome and was taught a particular style of phonics and my sense was that right from the start there was a sense of failure of what happened to her and her education. A lack of awareness of where she was coming from."
Community involvement in the school
"What for me has always made a difference working in independent community schools was when a community was part of the school and involved in the school there would be 100% attendance and there truly would be. But when the community was going through a bad time and were away a lot, then the attendance would drop."
"Schools that seem to work the best are the smallest one's, especially the outlying remote ones with a high student teacher ratio. But its expensive...What does seem to make a difference is the connection of the teachers with the pupils and the community."
Teaching out of the classroom setting
"More education could be brought out of school and more education could be provided in people's workplaces or whatever they are doing. This goes across the board. People are motivated when they see a purpose in it. Often it's in that school context for Indigenous or even non-Indigenous students, effective learning could take place in an office or out mending fences if it was tied to people with good teaching skills."
This would be especially good for young men who need to get away from school. This should be a whole approach to way that you learn and develop.
There was discussion about introducing opportunities for real work for young people on a part time basis. They could learn some vocational skills and apply what they learn at school. This stimulates them to look at career options and makes education relevant.
Last updated 2 December 2001.
