From the centre to the city : aboriginal education, culture and power

Essays describe, analyse and criticise the meaning and place of Aboriginal culture in school curriculum in remote and urban areas; Part 1 discusses National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy, curriculum development, Aboriginal action to reject cultural assimilation; explores concepts of Aborignality as persistence, Aboriginality as resistance; Part 2 discusses issues in urban education including identity, ethnicity, multiculturalism, stereotypes; argues Aboriginality is not to be equated with ethnicity; mentions racism, soft racism of middle Australia; suggests educators need understanding of Aboriginality to effect appropriate curriculum change (p .99 - cultural comparisons); ; Part 3 examines Pintubi cultural values and education including perceptions of western culture (p.125-127 cultural comparisons); mentions education and assimilation at Lake Mackay Reserve and Papunya, bi-lingual education in Northern Territory; outlines process of designing Yanangu bi-cultural curriculum for school at Walungurru (Kintore); argues community based curriculum important; Part4 discusses Aboriginal action to regain autonomy; mentions land rights, history curriculum, Aboriginal studies; discusses bridging courses; outlines shift in national government education policy from culturalist to rationalist approach; (manuscript annotated separately at rec. no. 0006945). In this volume of essays, the author describes, analyses and criticises the meaning and place of Aboriginal culture in the Australian school curriculum. The curriculum for Aboriginal students, in both remote and urban Australia, is set beside the curriculum for non-Aboriginal students to show the ways in which arguments about the place of Aboriginal culture in Aboriginal education are reflected in arguments about Aboriginal power