Keeping up with Princess Diana in the Late 90s: A story of denied literacy in remote Central Australian Indigenous communities
This paper has a purpose and that purpose is to tell a story. An important story. A story that will sadden you and perhaps give rise to dismay. But it’s not a story about a princess. This story takes place, not in the glitz and glamour of Europe with fast cars, great shopping and an avid and enthusiastic paparazzi, but rather in the desert of Central Australia where you need a good four-wheel drive to get home on the dusty roads, where shopping is limited to the basics at the local store, but where people are still avidly following the life and times of the ‘Princess of our hearts’.
This paper will tell this story and for many reading this, the story will be enough, for much of what I will say is self-evident, so much so that it seems almost ludicrous to have to analyse the impact of the events I will describe. However, in the interests of academic analysis and to further understand and appreciate the impact of these events, I will firstly frame the context of emergent literacy, give the background to the story and detail the findings of some research which I undertook within this community. Finally, I present the broader implications of these findings and make some recommendations.
Barratt-Pugh, Kaylene and Rohl, Mary (2000) Literacy Learning in the Early Years, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW.
Bat, Melodie (2003) A Tarp, a Troopie and a Teddy Bear: Fostering early literacy practices in targeted remote Aboriginal Communities in Central Australia, unpublished thesis, Charles Darwin University.
Christie, Michael (1989) Literacy, Genocide and the Media, The Aboriginal Child at School, vol 17, no 9, pp 44-47.
Dunn, Myra (1997) Learning to be Literate, unpublished thesis, University of New England.
Dunn, Myra (1999) Tracking Literacy Development in an Aboriginal Community: Summary of a research project, The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol 22, no 2, pp 103-119.
Durre, A (1985) What to do Before the Formal Teaching of Reading Begins, The Aboriginal Child at School, vol 13, no 1, pp 18-30.
Hill, Susan, Comber, Barbara, Louden, William, Rivalland, Judith and Reid, Joanne (1998) 100 Children Go to School Connections and disconnections in literacy development in the year prior to school and the first year of school, three volumes, Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs, Canberra.
Institute for Aboriginal Development (1997) English and Vernacular Literacy in Central Australia, a discussion paper presented by the Curriculum Development Unit, Institute for Aboriginal Development, October.
McNaughton, Stuart (2002) Meeting of Minds, Learning Media, New Zealand.
Nicholls, Christine and Harris, Stephen (1996) Learning to Read Using the Lap Method, Education Australia, no 33, pp 31-33.
Northern Territory Department of Education (1999) Learning Lessons: An independent review of Indigenous education in the Northern Territory, Northern Territory Government, Darwin.
Northern Territory Department of Employment, Education and Training (2006) Indigenous Languages and Culture in Northern Territory Schools 2004 2005, Northern Territory Government, Darwin.
Reid, Lyon (1997) Statement before the Committee on Education and the Workforce, United States House of Representatives, Child Development and Behaviour Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Thursday July 10.
Schuller Tom, Bynner, John and Feinstein, Leon (2004) Capitals and Capabilities, Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning, retrieved on 17 August 2007 from www.learningbenefits.net
Walton, Christine (1987) Learning to Write: A case study, The Aboriginal Child at School, vol 15, no 5, pp 3-32.
Wiersma, William (1995) Research Methods in Education, 6th edition, Allyn & Bacon, Boston.