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The Australian Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) established the Taskforce on Indigenous Education to address issues of educational inequity for aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It had a number of terms of reference, including providing advice to Ministers on making these issues a matter of urgent national priority. This discussion paper is a result of Taskforce consultative actions in raising the profile of Indigenous education and highlighting the need to improve educational equity. The Taskforce commends this paper and encourages all involved in the education of Indigenous students to explore the issues raised and to foster greater progress. Appendix 1 describes the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy; Appendix 2 is the Adelaide Declaration on National Goals for Schooling in the 21st Century (1999); Appendix 3 is an extract from draft minutes on the 10th MCEETYA 1999 decision; Appendix 4 is a Taskforce membership list; Appendix 5 gives Taskforce terms of reference; Appendix 6 is statistical details; Appendix 7 gives different perspectives on the nature and purpose of education; Appendix 8 reports preliminary outcomes of strategic results projects; and Appendix 9 states the 1992 COAG National Commitment to Improved Outcomes in the Delivery of Programs and Services for Aboriginal Peoples and Torres Strait Islanders. (Contains 36 references.) (RT)

An Australian national task force examined a number of areas related to achieving educational equality for Australia's Indigenous peoples. This paper reviews recent and current efforts to raise the quality of initial teacher education and presents a draft set of professional standards for accomplished teachers of Indigenous students in early childhood services and schools. Chapter 1 summarizes the international and Australian policy context relating to changes in education in the last two decades and the pressures on teaching and teacher education to respond to changes in attitudes toward the fundamental purposes and functions of education, particularly social justice issues. The outcomes-based approach to schooling has the potential to improve the education and attainments of disadvantaged students, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. However, realization of this potential depends upon appropriate preparation of preservice teachers. Chapter 2 examines difficulties that some Indigenous children experience in meeting national literacy standards, populations statistics, and national efforts to accelerate progress in Indigenous education. Chapter 3 discusses work undertaken in the United States, England, Canada, and Australia to improve teacher quality; describes the Quality Improvement and Accreditation System for day care centers; and presents five draft professional standards related to teacher commitment, knowledge base for teaching, teacher responsibility, reflective practice, and learning communities. Appendices present policy statements of related goals, principles, and standards. (Contains 22 references.) (SV)

An Australian national task force examined a number of areas related to achieving educational equality for Australia's Indigenous peoples. Young Indigenous Australians are disproportionately represented among young people who do not successfully negotiate the transition from school to independence and employment. This paper focuses on issues of transition across multiple pathways. Chapter 1 provides background on the importance of lifelong learning, the Australian national labor market, the nature of "effective transition" for young people, national policy on vocational education in schools, and task force findings on problems in the transition system and the particular transitional issues of Indigenous youth. Chapter 2 summarizes issues related to Indigenous students' transitions between primary and junior secondary school, between junior and senior secondary school, and between school and work. High rates of early dropouts and student absenteeism are discussed, along with effective practices in improving attendance and retention and the benefits of vocational learning for Indigenous students. Back-to-school programs for early school leavers are also described. Chapter 3 examines Indigenous participation in Vocational Education and Training (VET) and practices that ensure successful Indigenous participation. Chapter 4 looks at Indigenous participation in higher education, difficulties during the freshman year, factors that lead to withdrawal in the first and second year, characteristics of Indigenous college students, and academic and institutional factors that influence Indigenous retention and success. Two tables present data on Indigenous college students at Australian universities. (Contains 31 references.) (SV)

An Australian national task force examined a number of areas related to achieving educational equality for Australia's Indigenous peoples. This paper looks at health issues, particularly during ages 0-8, that may affect the educational outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Chapter 1 discusses the importance of the early years of life in terms of brain development and future potential; the low educational attainment of Indigenous students and low Indigenous participation in early childhood services; population statistics; and the national policy context on Indigenous education, including national efforts to accelerate Indigenous progress and recommendations on interagency cooperation between the health and education sectors. Chapter 2 summarizes findings on nine health issues of concern: the lower life expectancy at birth and higher mortality rates at all ages for Indigenous Australians; low birth weight and failure to thrive; malnutrition and poor quality diet; high rates of infectious diseases and high incidence of educationally significant hearing impairment due to otitis media; social and emotional well-being; substance abuse; adolescent pregnancy; childhood trauma, including that related to family violence and child abuse; and childhood injuries. Chapter 3 describes Indigenous conceptions of health and well-being as encompassing family and community, and current initiatives that link community development and capacity building to childhood health issues. The appendix presents the Adelaide Declaration on National Goals for Schooling in the 21st Century. (Contains 43 references.) (SV)

An Australian national task force examined a number of areas related to achieving educational equality for Australia's Indigenous peoples. This paper looks at early childhood education and identifies issues that affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Chapters cover: (1) the national policy context, Indigenous educational attainment, and demographic data; (2) provision and access to various types of early childhood education and day care, and the low levels of participation by Indigenous families; (3) developmental and learning needs of children aged 0-8, continuing tension between early childhood practices and the primary school curriculum, and school readiness issues for Indigenous children; (4) cultural differences in Indigenous children's experiences prior to schooling, and the need for culturally inclusive schooling that builds on children's cultural capital and encourages bicultural competence; (5) challenges in meeting national numeracy and literacy standards, especially for students who do not speak Standard Australian English as a first language or who come from an oral tradition; and (6) the poor level of interaction between schools and Indigenous communities, and recommendations for community development and capacity building initiatives. (Contains 30 references.) (SV)

This paper examines a didactic model of teaching-learning which underlies the approach of many teachers and linguists, and proposes an organic interaction model, which recognizes children's individual needs and characteristics, instead. Problems in interpreting test results in areas of primary or oral language and in the secondary language skills of reading and writing are examined, with particular reference to aboriginal children learning English as a second language. Ethnocentric attitudes on the part of the teacher are opposed to the need for increased understanding of the characteristics of learners, children in general, particular cultural groups, and individual children. Consideration is given to recognition of developmental patterns observed among children and accomodation of such sequences in planning programs by teachers and linguists. Finally, some examples of an organic interaction model of teaching-learning in operation are provided. (Author/AM)

A description of the creole language spoken in the Roper River area of Australia's Northern Territory, this paper is intended for the practical use of Europeans working in the area. An introductory section discusses the role and status of pidgins and creoles in modern Australia, the development of creole in the Roper River area, and the distinction between pidgin, creole, and corrupt English. Subsequent chapters describe: (1) the sound system of the creole, based on the contrastive sounds of English and aboriginal languages and the interference and leveling patterns; (2) a proposed practical orthography; (3) nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and the noun phrase; (4) verbs and the verb phrase; (5) prepositions and the prepositional phrase; and (6) simple sentence structure. (MSE)

A study of North Australia's Kriol language situation identifies the language, its speakers, its functions, and the sociopolitical factors in its emergence as an autonomous language. The first chapter reviews the development of the linguistic field concerning pidgins and creoles, looking especially at the concepts developed to explain the rise and decline of these languages worldwide. Chapter two traces the general development of English-related forms of Aboriginal speech throughout Australia and establishes the position of Kriol relative to Torres Strait Creole and Aboriginal English. The distribution of speakers, the relative use of Kriol in their communities, and variations in Kriol are also described. The third chapter considers whether or not Kriol is an Aboriginal language, based on Aboriginal use of and attitudes toward it. Chapter four examines the effects of government policies in Kriol's development, focusing on one Aboriginal community where Kriol has been spoken as a native language for four generations and the administrative, educational, medical, and church entities within it. The final chapter documents Kriol use by the government in communication and education, especially in a bilingual education program. The importance of Kriol in future educational planning is also discussed. A number of maps and diagrams are included, as well as an extensive bibliography. (MSE)

Aboriginal discourse in central Australia is characterized by a refusal to impose a way of thinking on others, and correct discourse either carries a consensus or is abandoned. In addition, participants avoid being exposed personally in public settings, and good interactional style forbids speakers from forcing themselves on fellow participants in a manner leading to such exposure. Embarrassment occurs when public attention becomes focused on a person in a way that individualizes his participation. This discourse structure conflicts with Anglo-Australian behavior in many kinds of intercultural interactions. Government representatives are impatient to reach decisive resolutions, and hesitation in Aboriginal assemblies may result in loss of beneficial agreements. Aboriginal children in Australian schools often fail to respond to questions when singled out in class, and answers are often single words and highly repetitive of what has already been said. In addition, Aboriginal children speak when not addressed and often fail to "take turns", a hallmark of Aboriginal speech collaboration that generally goes unrecognized. Australian eductors have viewed the secondary socialization of Aboriginal children in Australian schools as an effort to individualize their collective modes of self-perception and social interaction. Such interactional asymmetries are repeated throughout Australian society in all ordinary intercultural contacts, and the Anglo-Australians' relative assertiveness assists their dominance over Aboriginal people. (MSE)

A study of the Kriol spoken in Australia's Fitzroy Valley begins with an overview of pidgins and creoles, and chronicles the historical beginnings of the Fitzroy Valley Kriol and the sociolinguistic situation there. Some grammatical features of Kriol are analyzed and compared to traditional Australian languages. Problems of assigning English etymons to Kriol words are discussed in terms of the contrast in meaning between Kriol lexemes and English words normally equated with them. This misapplication of vocabulary and meaning creates communication problems between Kriol and English speakers. (MSE)

Five studies of aboriginal language use in Australia's Northern Territory include: (1) "Yanyuwa--A Dying Language" (Jean F. Kirton), which outlines the factors contributing to the demise of the use of Yanyuwa since 1963 and the trend toward use of Kriol; (2) "Kriol in the Barkly Tableland" (Phillip L. Graber), presenting sociolinguistic and linguistic observations about the language use of aboriginal people in eight Kriol-speaking communities; (3) "Sociolinguistic Survey Report: Daly River Region Languages" (S. James Ellis), discussing sociological conditions of each Daly River area language; (4) "Sociolinguistic Survey Report: Wagalt Region Languages" (S. James Ellis), describing the population centers, sociological conditions of vernacular languages and the Belyuen Creole, and language attitudes in that area; and (5) "Tiwi: A Language Struggling to Survive" (Jenny Lee), chronicling Tiwi's history, Tiwi life today, the present language situation and the nature of change within it, and factors influencing the language's survival or revival. (MSE)

The Rural and Remote Education Advisory Council of Western Australia developed a 4-year plan to improve educational access, participation, and achievement by rural people of Western Australia. The plan outlines seven priorities: (1) ensuring that rural students are able to participate in quality education and training; (2) ensuring a broad cross-sectoral partnership approach to educational provision in rural Western Australia; (3) implementing strategies to recruit and retain qualified educational professionals; (4) meeting the needs of rural students at risk; (5) ensuring that cultural diversity, including Aboriginal cultural perspectives, is recognized and supported by rural education and training programs; (6) enhancing community involvement in and support for rural education and training; and (7) providing appropriate resources for all rural education and training programs. Each priority is accompanied by lists of strategies for reaching the objective and evaluation criteria for determining that the goal has been achieved. A glossary of terms is included. (SV)

A descriptive study of Ngaanyatjarra, an Australian Aboriginal language, examines two major areas of sentence structure. First, it describes the grammatical structure of the sentence, beginning with the simplest sentence and moving into verb clusters, complex sentences, and juncture strategies. Second, it outlines the meaning and usage of various sentence types. (MSE)

This paper discusses Aboriginal English speakers in Australia, noting the importance of recognizing prior learning and of recognizing Aboriginal English within the context of programs that understand the particular areas where Aboriginal English speakers need support to achieve outcomes in standard English. It defines recognition of prior learning (learning from experience that children bring to their schooling, particularly when the experience has been in a speech community different from that of the school), then discusses: prior learning and language/literacy acquisition, recognition of prior minority language knowledge and second language acquisition, Aboriginal English prior learning and education, and the relationship of dominant and alternative discourses. The paper goes on to discuss linguistic processes present in Aboriginal English, examining some of the phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, and discoursal processes, schemas, and genres that underlie it. Finally, it examines community (vernacular) literacy practices of aboriginal youth, presenting information from a study of the vernacular literacy practices of Aboriginal high school students. Analyses were conducted at the sociolinguistic, linguistic, and semiotic levels. The paper concludes by presenting outcomes where Aboriginal English speakers' prior knowledge can be utilized and where speakers may need help in literacy education. (Contains 16 references.) (SM)

This paper examines factors impacting the acquisition and use of the standard dialect by Australia's Aboriginal youth. It explains that acquisition of a second dialect has implications for the learner's cognitive-affective and sociocultural life and argues that preservation of an "insider" perspective (related to identity) is a key reason for maintaining the first dialect, even when stigmatized in the wider community and inferior to the standard dialect for accessing goods and services in the larger world. The paper suggests that second dialect acquisition may differ from second language acquisition, because the two dialects are in competition in the same life space in a way that first and second languages may not be. The paper considers three areas from which the insider perspective is derived: historical factors associated with Aboriginal English and Australian English; sociolinguistic factors associated with Aboriginal English and Australian English (identity, structure, and function); and psycholinguistic factors associated with Aboriginal English and Australian English (the way it operates to maintain a distinctive world view). The paper concludes that to come to terms with historical, sociolinguistic, and psycholinguistic factors, there must be a radical two-way approach that brings two histories and two dialects into the education system. (Contains 27 references.) (SM)

This paper argues that a range of forms and modalities of resources should be provided to ensure accessibility and richness on the World Wide Web for all users. Based on experiences in developing virtual exhibitions of Quinkan Aboriginal Rock Art, the authors present a brief overview of the technology available for accessibility. Then they explore some different approaches to providing access through the perspective of the IMS Global Learning Consortium. They further develop these ideas with particular reference to their similarity with current museum practice and consider the implications for accessibility. Finally they recommend that museum exhibitors and authors, developing interactive or electronic resources, include planning for accessibility as part of their initial design process. (MES)