Eric Willmot at the University of Newcastle, Australia - 1986
Source: livinghistories.newcastle.edu.au/nodes/view/46668
This photo appeared in the News, Volume 12, Number 20, November 10 to 24, 1986. The text was:
"BEYOND SCHOOL: increasing the opportunities for Aboriginal people in post-secondary education
The Aboriginal Education Conference held at the University on October 23 and 24 brought together over 100 Aboriginal Delegates, a majority of them Aboriginal, people mainly from throughout New South Wales and the Hunter Valley. Many of them were students, teachers and lectures from schools, TAFE, universities and colleges of advanced education who came to hear a number of distinguished Aboriginal educationists from other states discuss ways in which they are increasing opportunities for Aboriginal people to enter tertiary education and providing support for Aboriginal students.
Speakers included this year’s Boyer lecturer, Professor Eric Willmot, Head of the School of Education at the James Cook University, who argued the case for providing some exclusively Aboriginal schools while improving the quality of education for Aboriginal students in state schools.
The role that an Aboriginal community college can play in developing self-esteem, confidence and skills necessary to cope with tertiary education was outlined by Lillian Holt, Deputy Principal of the Aboriginal Community College, Adelaide
An overview of Aboriginal tertiary education in New South Wales was presented by Bob Morgan, President of the New South Wales Aboriginal Education Consultative Group. Barry Thorne outlined the role and direction of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) in Aboriginal education.
The training programmes in business administration offered at associate diploma, degree and postgraduate diploma level by the Aboriginal Task Force at the South Australian Institute of Technology were described by Sonny Flynn, Co-ordinator of the Task Force. This replaced a paper to have been given and in fact supplied by Veronica Arbon, on the Programmes, many of them offered externally, by the Aboriginal Studies and Education Centre, at the South Australian College of Advanced Education designed as the key centre for Aboriginal Studies in Australia. Copies of this paper and some others can be obtained from the Department of Community Programmes.
Eve Fesl, a linguist and Director of the Aboriginal Research Centre at Monash University, emphasised the urgent need for Aboriginal graduates. “White people are at the top of the power structure”, Mrs Fesl said “and unless Aboriginal professional people can attain some of these top position, white people will be making decisions about Aboriginal lives for the rest of our lives and for the generations to come”.
She stressed the need for Aboriginal teachers as well as training programmes in Aboriginal culture and history for all teachers. “We can have the best programmes in the world, but if the teachers are racist, the kids will drop out anyhow”. Aboriginal lawyers are also need. “We are now having to pay white lawyers and then having to try to get across to them what we want on land rights and our feelings on the land”.
There is need too, for Aboriginal political scientist. A National Aboriginal Conference established in accordance with Aboriginal traditional systems may have been far more appropriate than the NAC designed by Europeans. Similarly problems experienced by land councils and co-operatives and decision made by bodies dealing with Aboriginal funding illustrate the importance of training Aboriginal economists, accountants, and business administrators.
Aboriginal philosopher, historians and archaeologists are needed to approach their fields from an Aboriginal perspective; likewise Aboriginal psychologists and sociologists who can not only introduce an Aboriginal perspective, but may throw a new light on such issues as why so many white people in Australia have more race hated towards Aborigines than any other group and what makes many white teachers racist in the classroom.
Aboriginal women in Alice Springs have developed plans for an Aboriginal birth centre since a newly-built Alice Springs Hospital is seen as inappropriate to Aboriginal birthing customs. There is a need for Aboriginal doctors and nurses (and architects) with a perception of the different values in Aboriginal society.
Eve Fesl highlighted the problems faced by Aboriginal graduates in what she described as “Aboriginal industry”. White Anglo-Saxon males are still the decision-makers. When equity programmes are introduced often women are chosen who uphold the values of the men in power, “door keepers” who will keep out ant bright women who may threaten male values. White “experts” and some Aboriginal people in positions of authority feel threaten by Aboriginal graduates and sometimes work against them. There is a need to reassure them that tertiary education does not, as it is sometimes claimed, undermine Aboriginality.
The Monash Orientation Scheme (MOSA) established be Eve Fesl and outlined by the current Director, Isaac Brown, in fact was designed to reinforce Aboriginality while giving support to Aboriginal students and equipping them with skills. Isaac Brown described the difficulties faced by Aboriginal students in universities, which he described as “male dominated, conservative, enlist Anglo institutions with a strong middle class bias”. The aim of MOSA is to help Aboriginal students cope with another culture while enabling their own to develop and strengthen. Aboriginal students come to MOSA from all over Australia, many of them come from remote areas.
Aboriginal students are encouraged to explode their past and attempt to identify their original forbears. Going to university is not seen as being isolated from the community, but getting to know the Aboriginal community and becoming part of it. Students attend weekly lectures given by Aboriginal people from the community and are taken to sacred sites, Aboriginal health centres and to other Aboriginal organisations in the community.
In developing literacy and improving communication skills, use is made if the increasing number of Aboriginal authors and comparison and mad with English authors.
Numeracy is developed by building on the knowledge of the community from which the student comes. Mathematics was a part of Aboriginal culture in so far as it was needed. MOSA starts at that point.
Aboriginal students are presented often for the first time with an account of the violence of contact history and the denigration of their culture. This can produce a group of “angry, bitter, frustrated blacks’. MOSA tries however to develop positive attitudes and to show, according to Isaacs Brown, “what we can do to live alongside and within another culture without losing our own”.
Aboriginal student are vulnerable to a “shame job”, humiliation and a sense of failure, so the emphasis in MOSA is on building up confidence and reinforcing positive attitudes.
It is seen as essential that the Director be an Aboriginal person with the required level of education and experience and that the Director should be accessible and approachable at all times. The emphasis is on security, but not dependency. The enclave, located centrally, continues to be used by Aboriginal undergraduate students fro continuing support.
MOSA is a highly successful programme and is seen as a model to be followed by other tertiary institutions.
The Aboriginal Education Conference arose largely as a result of a recommendation from the committee established by Senate to increase opportunities and support for Aboriginal students. Although we have Aboriginal medical students at the University, there are only three other Aboriginal students studying here. The committee had made a number of recommendations to remedy this situation and the Conference presented a splendid opportunity to find out what is succeeding in other places before we embark on our programme.
It also provided an excellent chance to hear from Aboriginal people involved at all levels in education process in this area
A panel of local Aboriginal staff and students from schools and tertiary institutions discussed the educational situation for Aboriginal people in the Hunter Region. Some clearly defined areas which emerged during the Conference provided topics for workshop during part of the final day. Among recommendations arising from the workshops were the need for greater consultation with Aboriginal groups, especially by funding bodies, the need for improvements to the secondary school system and the need for support systems such as those outlined by visiting speakers.
Resources and organisations were provided by the University, CAE, TAFE, the Awabakal Aboriginal Co-operative ant the Commonwealth Department of Education and the New South Wales Department of Education. The Women’s Committee of the Awabakal Aboriginal Co-operative and the Hunter Aboriginal Children’s Service arranged child-minding facilities. The Conference was a truly co-operative effort which already promises some long-lasting benefits."
This image was scanned from a photograph in the University's historical photographic collection held by Cultural Collections at the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
If you have any information about this photograph, or would like a higher resolution copy, please contact us or leave a comment in the box below.
Eric Willmot at the University of Newcastle, Australia - 1986
Source: livinghistories.newcastle.edu.au/nodes/view/46668
This photo appeared in the News, Volume 12, Number 20, November 10 to 24, 1986. The text was:
"BEYOND SCHOOL: increasing the opportunities for Aboriginal people in post-secondary education
The Aboriginal Education Conference held at the University on October 23 and 24 brought together over 100 Aboriginal Delegates, a majority of them Aboriginal, people mainly from throughout New South Wales and the Hunter Valley. Many of them were students, teachers and lectures from schools, TAFE, universities and colleges of advanced education who came to hear a number of distinguished Aboriginal educationists from other states discuss ways in which they are increasing opportunities for Aboriginal people to enter tertiary education and providing support for Aboriginal students.
Speakers included this year’s Boyer lecturer, Professor Eric Willmot, Head of the School of Education at the James Cook University, who argued the case for providing some exclusively Aboriginal schools while improving the quality of education for Aboriginal students in state schools.
The role that an Aboriginal community college can play in developing self-esteem, confidence and skills necessary to cope with tertiary education was outlined by Lillian Holt, Deputy Principal of the Aboriginal Community College, Adelaide
An overview of Aboriginal tertiary education in New South Wales was presented by Bob Morgan, President of the New South Wales Aboriginal Education Consultative Group. Barry Thorne outlined the role and direction of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) in Aboriginal education.
The training programmes in business administration offered at associate diploma, degree and postgraduate diploma level by the Aboriginal Task Force at the South Australian Institute of Technology were described by Sonny Flynn, Co-ordinator of the Task Force. This replaced a paper to have been given and in fact supplied by Veronica Arbon, on the Programmes, many of them offered externally, by the Aboriginal Studies and Education Centre, at the South Australian College of Advanced Education designed as the key centre for Aboriginal Studies in Australia. Copies of this paper and some others can be obtained from the Department of Community Programmes.
Eve Fesl, a linguist and Director of the Aboriginal Research Centre at Monash University, emphasised the urgent need for Aboriginal graduates. “White people are at the top of the power structure”, Mrs Fesl said “and unless Aboriginal professional people can attain some of these top position, white people will be making decisions about Aboriginal lives for the rest of our lives and for the generations to come”.
She stressed the need for Aboriginal teachers as well as training programmes in Aboriginal culture and history for all teachers. “We can have the best programmes in the world, but if the teachers are racist, the kids will drop out anyhow”. Aboriginal lawyers are also need. “We are now having to pay white lawyers and then having to try to get across to them what we want on land rights and our feelings on the land”.
There is need too, for Aboriginal political scientist. A National Aboriginal Conference established in accordance with Aboriginal traditional systems may have been far more appropriate than the NAC designed by Europeans. Similarly problems experienced by land councils and co-operatives and decision made by bodies dealing with Aboriginal funding illustrate the importance of training Aboriginal economists, accountants, and business administrators.
Aboriginal philosopher, historians and archaeologists are needed to approach their fields from an Aboriginal perspective; likewise Aboriginal psychologists and sociologists who can not only introduce an Aboriginal perspective, but may throw a new light on such issues as why so many white people in Australia have more race hated towards Aborigines than any other group and what makes many white teachers racist in the classroom.
Aboriginal women in Alice Springs have developed plans for an Aboriginal birth centre since a newly-built Alice Springs Hospital is seen as inappropriate to Aboriginal birthing customs. There is a need for Aboriginal doctors and nurses (and architects) with a perception of the different values in Aboriginal society.
Eve Fesl highlighted the problems faced by Aboriginal graduates in what she described as “Aboriginal industry”. White Anglo-Saxon males are still the decision-makers. When equity programmes are introduced often women are chosen who uphold the values of the men in power, “door keepers” who will keep out ant bright women who may threaten male values. White “experts” and some Aboriginal people in positions of authority feel threaten by Aboriginal graduates and sometimes work against them. There is a need to reassure them that tertiary education does not, as it is sometimes claimed, undermine Aboriginality.
The Monash Orientation Scheme (MOSA) established be Eve Fesl and outlined by the current Director, Isaac Brown, in fact was designed to reinforce Aboriginality while giving support to Aboriginal students and equipping them with skills. Isaac Brown described the difficulties faced by Aboriginal students in universities, which he described as “male dominated, conservative, enlist Anglo institutions with a strong middle class bias”. The aim of MOSA is to help Aboriginal students cope with another culture while enabling their own to develop and strengthen. Aboriginal students come to MOSA from all over Australia, many of them come from remote areas.
Aboriginal students are encouraged to explode their past and attempt to identify their original forbears. Going to university is not seen as being isolated from the community, but getting to know the Aboriginal community and becoming part of it. Students attend weekly lectures given by Aboriginal people from the community and are taken to sacred sites, Aboriginal health centres and to other Aboriginal organisations in the community.
In developing literacy and improving communication skills, use is made if the increasing number of Aboriginal authors and comparison and mad with English authors.
Numeracy is developed by building on the knowledge of the community from which the student comes. Mathematics was a part of Aboriginal culture in so far as it was needed. MOSA starts at that point.
Aboriginal students are presented often for the first time with an account of the violence of contact history and the denigration of their culture. This can produce a group of “angry, bitter, frustrated blacks’. MOSA tries however to develop positive attitudes and to show, according to Isaacs Brown, “what we can do to live alongside and within another culture without losing our own”.
Aboriginal student are vulnerable to a “shame job”, humiliation and a sense of failure, so the emphasis in MOSA is on building up confidence and reinforcing positive attitudes.
It is seen as essential that the Director be an Aboriginal person with the required level of education and experience and that the Director should be accessible and approachable at all times. The emphasis is on security, but not dependency. The enclave, located centrally, continues to be used by Aboriginal undergraduate students fro continuing support.
MOSA is a highly successful programme and is seen as a model to be followed by other tertiary institutions.
The Aboriginal Education Conference arose largely as a result of a recommendation from the committee established by Senate to increase opportunities and support for Aboriginal students. Although we have Aboriginal medical students at the University, there are only three other Aboriginal students studying here. The committee had made a number of recommendations to remedy this situation and the Conference presented a splendid opportunity to find out what is succeeding in other places before we embark on our programme.
It also provided an excellent chance to hear from Aboriginal people involved at all levels in education process in this area
A panel of local Aboriginal staff and students from schools and tertiary institutions discussed the educational situation for Aboriginal people in the Hunter Region. Some clearly defined areas which emerged during the Conference provided topics for workshop during part of the final day. Among recommendations arising from the workshops were the need for greater consultation with Aboriginal groups, especially by funding bodies, the need for improvements to the secondary school system and the need for support systems such as those outlined by visiting speakers.
Resources and organisations were provided by the University, CAE, TAFE, the Awabakal Aboriginal Co-operative ant the Commonwealth Department of Education and the New South Wales Department of Education. The Women’s Committee of the Awabakal Aboriginal Co-operative and the Hunter Aboriginal Children’s Service arranged child-minding facilities. The Conference was a truly co-operative effort which already promises some long-lasting benefits."
This image was scanned from a photograph in the University's historical photographic collection held by Cultural Collections at the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
If you have any information about this photograph, or would like a higher resolution copy, please contact us or leave a comment in the box below.