Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T10:39:06.915Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Schools Do Make a Difference, But…!

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2015

R. Lingard
R. Lingard*
Affiliation:
Kelvin Grove College of Advanced Education
Get access

Extract

Professor Watts’ (1980) review article of Fifteen Thousand Hours: Secondary Schools and Their Effects on Children was a welcome, optimistic view of the positive effect schools can have on pupils. It was particularly welcome for the optimistic view that teachers and schools can achieve something in the area of Aboriginal education. Watts reviewed this book against the background reality that many teachers of Aborigines

come to feel that there is little the schools can do to help Aboriginal children learn; that the problems are so great that until there is a considerable improvement in the socio-cultural and socio-economic conditions of Aboriginal people, particularly in the urban and rural areas where the people do not follow a tradition-oriented life, there is little the schools can do.

(Watts, 1980:3)

While accepting Watts’ view, I will argue that an overly optimistic view of the possibilities of schooling for Aboriginal children can be just as debilitating as the pessimistic view that broader structural inequalities such as poverty, poor housing, poor health have to be redressed before teachers and schools can achieve anything. To this extent it will be argued that teachers need to be positive about what they and schools can achieve. Teachers need to be aware of the specific ways in which schools can make a difference. 15,000 Hours… outlines some of these.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 8 , Issue 4 , September 1980 , pp. 51 - 60
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1980

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Apple, Michael W., 1977: Ivan Illich and deschooling society: the politics of slogan systems. In Young, M. and Whitty, G. (Eds), Society, State and Schooling. Ringmer, Falmer Press, pp. 93–121.Google Scholar
Barry, N., 1980: Alienation in Aboriginal education in the Northern Territory. The Aboriginal Child at School, 8, 2, 41–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bassett, G.W., 1971: The occupational background of teachers. The Australian Journal of Education, 15, 2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernstein, Basil, 1970: Education cannot compensate for society. New Society, 15, 387.Google Scholar
Bernstein, Basil, 1974: Class, Codes and Control, Volume 1. London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 2nd edition.Google Scholar
Bourdieu, Pierre, 1976: The school as a conservative force: scholastic and cultural inequalities. In Dale, Rogeret al, (Eds); Schooling and Capitalism: A Sociological Reader, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Bourdieu, Pierre and Passeron, Jean-Claude, 1977: Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture. London, SAGE.Google Scholar
Bucknall, J., 1976: A plea for alternatives in Aboriginal education. The Aboriginal Child at School, 4, 3.Google Scholar
Connell, R.W., 1974: The causes of educational inequality: further observations. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Sociology, 10,3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connell, R.W., 1977: Ruling Class, Ruling Culture, London, Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cook, T.E., 1977: Teacher training for teachers of Aborigines. The Aboriginal Child at School, 5, 3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisher, E.M., 1977: Prevalent attitudes and school policy toward non-standard dialects. The Aboriginal Child at School, 5, 4.Google Scholar
Fitzgerald, R.T., 1976: Poverty and Education in Australia. Canberra, A.G.P.S.Google Scholar
Forsyth, Chris and Tiranti, Dexter, 1980: Aborigines and mining – the conflict. In Crough, Greget al. (Eds): Australia and World Capitalism. Ringwood, Penguin.Google Scholar
Freire, Paulo, 1972: Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Ringwood, Penguin.Google Scholar
Harris, J.W., 1978: The education of Aboriginal children in N.S.W public schools since 1788. Part 1. The Aboriginal Child at School, 6, 4.Google Scholar
Harris, J.W., 1978: The education of Aboriginal children in N.S.W public schools since 1788. Part 2. The Aboriginal Child at School, 6, 5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ingram, J. and Randall, R., 1977: Education for alienation – or for self-determination. The Aboriginal Child at School, 5, 2.Google Scholar
Keddie, Nell, 1973: Tinker, Tailor : The Myth of Cultural Deprivation, Ringwood, Penguin.Google Scholar
Labov, W., 1971: The study of language in its social context. In Giglioli, P. (Ed.): Language and Social Context. Ringwood, Penguin.Google Scholar
Labov, W., 1973: The logic of non-standard English. In Keddie, Nell, (Ed.): Tinker, Tailor : The Myth of Cultural Deprivation, Ringwood, Penguin.Google Scholar
McConnochie, K.R. and Whitelaw, A.J., 1976: Symptoms and solutions: problems of explanation in Aboriginal education. The Aboriginal Child at School, 4, 1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moodie, P.M., 1973: Aboriginal Health. Canberra, ANU Press.Google Scholar
Rosenthal, R. and Jacobsen, L., 1968: Pygmalion in the Classroom. New York, Holt-Rinehart.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutter, M.et al., 1979: Fifteen Thousand Hours: Secondary Schools and Their Effects on Children. London, Open Books.Google Scholar
Sartre, J.P., 1969: Being and Nothingness. London, Methuen.Google Scholar
Shaull, Richard, 1972: Foreword to Freire, Paulo: Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Ringwood, Penguin.Google Scholar
Watts, B.H., 1976: Access to Education, Canberra. A.G.P.S.Google Scholar
Watts, B.H., 1980: Schools do make a difference. The Aboriginal Child at School, 8, 1.Google Scholar
Windschuttle, K., 1979: Unemployment. Ringwood, Penguin.Google Scholar