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the school situation, the consultation carried out with them, and
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the responsibility given to them following the 'troubles of '78'.
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ri-
I
Gaskell (1980:18) supported this view, seeing a major input
coming from ex-students of the Davenport Aboriginal Training Centre
(many of them teacher-aides) who were the main speakers at a conference
designed to help local teachers understand Aboriginal children.
• *
Everyone attributed a different cause to a new reality underlying
typifications.
*
Whatever the cause, the possibility of theorizing positively
about the 'world' of the school was established, as well as the
possibility of Aboriginal personnel theorizing positively about
their roles and their capabilities.
In general, the school situation was perceived as one of great
hope.' There was a feeling both on the part of staff and parents
4
that good things were being accomplished after the problems of
the late seventies; parents felt that school personnel were doing
all in their power to solve problems facing Aboriginal students.
Aboriginal parents felt able to interact with the school and noted
with approval the efforts made by school personnel. School personnel,
in their turn, noted with approval the increased interaction of
parents.
Aboriginal studies was introduced as a unit in curriculum
studies, taught by Aboriginal people. It was located in a special
room and was a source of pride. There was Aboriginal control
of the Aboriginal studies curriculum, in that material was vetted
by 'important men', just as it was at Strelley1. This can be
seen as a recognition by the white staff of an Aboriginal world
of meaning, a recognition that was also an acknowledgement of a
specifically Aboriginal identity at Port Augusta.
1Films about Aboriginal culture shown at Davenport reserve had
first to be vetted by the 'important men* before they could be
shown.