Carlton Primary School in Port Augusta has an enrolment of approximately 200 students in years R - 7. Over 50% of these students are Aboriginal and a large number of our Aboriginal students have been identified as having English as a second language. This year is the first year an E.S.L. teacher has been appointed to the school. I work in the school for one day a week as E.S.L teacher and the following report is from one of the targeted classes.

1993 has been declared the International Year of the World's Indigenous People (IYWIP) by the United Nations. The major objectives of the IYWIP are to increase international co-operation in finding solutions to the problems faced by the world's 300 million indigenous people and to promote and encourage respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms throughout the world.

Many children come to school with a limited understanding of, and experience with, books and reading. Many do not have a clear idea of what ‘words’ are, nor of ‘letters‘ and ‘sounds’ in words. Some of the Aboriginal children with whom we were working faced these difficulties. In addition, most of them pronounced certain sounds in nonstandard ways.

Many talking activities lead to writing and reading and to activities in other curriculum areas.

Education is a vital political concern to Aboriginal and Islander women. Despite common assumptions that Aboriginal and Islander families do not hold high expectations for their children's education, Aboriginal and Islander families do value education for their children and hold high educational aspirations for them. This general perception of Aboriginal and Islander parents' disinterest has to do with the mismatch between the education provided and the culture of their children. Palm Island women as community other - Mothers, for instance, show a deep concern about their own and their children's education. It is only by gaining a political vocabulary by which to speak that Palm Island women can begin to articulate the educational needs for their children. This voice emanates from their standpoint and speaks in their interests, and contests Anglo-Australian paternalistic models of education. This article will give voice to Palm Island women as they speak about their children's education and their own educational aspirations.

Every curriculum area requires careful and particular thought when being taught to Aboriginal students: it is teaching one cultural context to another culture which is not familiar with it. This paper will deal with a remote Aboriginal community, as familiarity with the mainstream culture is less and the disparity between the cultures is greater. The specific programme will apply to a combined year five and six. The curriculum area to be examined will be science as it has been comparatively neglected in the past (Palmer 1990;34). It must be made explicit that the following is ‘western’ science and that it is no better or worse a system of looking at the world than any other - just a different one.

The Department of Employment, Education and Training (DEET) launched its plan at a ceremony at Parliament House on 26 May.

Among the many controversies associated with learning styles, perhaps the most explosive is the relationship being explored by researchers between learning style and cultural background.