Reconciliation and Social Justice Library
Reconciliation and Social Justice Library
A school's support for language depends on relationships with the community, the teachers understanding and respect for the language and the rapport between teachers and children. These are generally going to be strongest with ATSI teachers.
Where appropriate, teachers should be fully fluent in the traditional language of the community. Such teachers are almost invariably Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. However, the number of ATSI teachers in community schools is much less than the number of non-ATSI teachers with the proportion of ATSI teachers in other schools being even lower.
Considerable efforts have been made by governments to increase the number of ATSI teachers but the poor schooling received by most ATSI students means that most do not leave school with tertiary entry qualifications. However, from a very low base the number of ATSI students gaining tertiary entry has been climbing steeply. The number of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders graduating as teachers is also increasing but is still well short of meeting the demand. ATSI people gaining a degree often have available to them more attractive employment options than teaching.
If the number of teachers fluent in a traditional language is to be increased then remote area teaching programs are the most likely providers of those teachers. Graduates of these programs are far more likely to stay and teach in their own community and are less likely to experience the high attrition rates for ATSI teachers elsewhere.
The committee recommends that adequate resources are made available to training institutions providing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander remote area teacher education so that the growing demand for such training can be met and accreditation standards maintained.
There is often a localised shortage of ATSI linguists and a heavy reliance on non-Aboriginal linguists. While there is a strong demand for linguistic training by ATSI people there is a sad lack of accessible training courses for ATSI people in the fields of linguistic analysis, language teaching, media and interpreting skills, despite the fact that such training is essential for ATSI control and participation in language maintenance activities.
The committee recommends that the availability of language teacher and linguistics training to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people be substantially increased.