Minister looks to QLD for remote success
The Northern Territory Education Minister has toured a number of remote schools in Queensland to learn about a new education strategy.
NT Education Minister Peter Chandler visited a number of sites in his three day tour of indigenous schools around Cape York.
The final day was spent with Aboriginal leader and rights activist Noel Pearson, who is in charge of the Cape York Aboriginal Australian Academy.
Students at the Academy are taught using the direct instruction teaching method.
The didactic method is focused on constant teacher direction and repetition. Many classes run with this model have strictly pre-ordained lesson plans, sometimes timed to the minute, designed to disseminate the same information to each individual student.
Authorities at the Queensland schools said the direct method has brought positive results.
The schools encourage their students to attend boarding schools in urban areas once their primary education is complete.
Mr Chandler said he was impressed by the system running in the schools, especially the level of student engagement at the Aurukun campus.
He is reportedly considering the model for Territory schools.
Mr Pearson said Queensland’s success can be replicated nationwide.
“Our ‘Five C’ model is completely applicable to Indigenous communities across remote Australia and should therefore be applicable in the Northern Territory,” he told the ABC.
“This is a model for remote Australia really.”
Mr Pearson rejects the idea that strict English literacy and numeracy studies dilute students’ traditional language and culture.
“It's not an assimilation program, it's about keeping your culture, but also being equipped to participate in the wider world,” he said.